Wake Wood

A low budget Irish horror that borrows heavily from The Wicker Man and Don't Look Now.

A grieving couple whose young daughter was killed in an horrific dog attack just over a year before, move to the small town of Wake Wood. Here they uncover a mysterious pagan past and a village steeped in ritual. The villagers offer to bring the couple's daughter back from the dead - but only for a period of 3 days. There is a condition - she cannot have been dead for more than a year. In their desperation to see their daughter again the couple lie and submit to the ritual.

This film has a lot of good points, it's an interesting story with good characters, a few chills and a fair amount of underlying menace. Unfortunately, it falls far short of the two films it tries so hard to emulate - and this comparison ultimately serving only to underline its own inadequacy. The second half of the film devolves into a bit of a boring slasher with a blatantly obvious ending. Whilst Wake Wood may leave the discerning viewer with a sense of missed opportunity - it's a solid, if understated return for Hammer.