Wake Wood

English folk horror version of Pet Sematary with many uncomfortable to watch scenes.

This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of Wake Wood released by Dark Sky Films/Hammer in 2009.This is a horror movie in the tradition of supernatural and witchcraft(more specifically Pagan rituals) films. This movie has been compared by many to Stephen King's 'Pet Sematary'.The movie is a decent but there are problems with it. My complaints below might seem numerous but they almost all could have been eliminated with just a little bit of tightening to the script.For extra's you get some deleted scenes and a trailer.I'm giving this release 3 stars for a decent movie and for it being a Hammer Horror movie.PLOT/SUMMARY: Patrick and Louise Daley have moved to a small town in Great Britain. Patrick is a veterinarian and his wife Louise is a pharmacist. They lose their only child, Alice, when she is mauled to death by a dog being treated by Patrick. Louise cannot have any more children.One night Louise stumbles upon a strange ritual involving many of the local townspeople. The ritual's leader, Mick O'Shea notices her. She doesn't tell her husband about it. The couple decides to leave the town after seeing a local gored to death by a bull. Mick convinces them to stay by telling them that they can see their daughter again if they stay. The catch is that it is for 3 days only and then they cannot ever leave the village. Patrick doesn't believe it but Louise has already witnessed the ritual involved and is desperate to see her daughter again. Mick tells them that this will give them the opportunity to say goodbye the proper way.Patrick and Louise reveal in a conversation that they have with each other that there is something that they are hiding and make it pretty clear that they don't believe the ritual would be allowed to take place if they were found out about.They do everything they need to do and Alice is reborn after a gruesome ritual and she is reborn exactly the same age as when she died. Alice seems to have her memories intact and feels like she just woke up from a dream. Patrick and Louise are as happy as can be but they know they have only 3 days. Quietly they contemplate the possibility of running away with the child but after the first day Alice begins to behave oddly.PRODUCTION/COMMENTS: This is a Hammer Horror movie. The original company stopped making movies in 1979 with 'The Lady Vanishes.' There was a short lived television series. There have been several other movies made since this one. They even managed to get Christopher Lee (one of the two biggest stars of the original Hammer Horror to make an appearance and give the newer studio some legitimacy.-This was by and large a straight to DVD release. It did have a very limited theatrical release.-The movie stars Aidan Gillen (Little Finger from Game of Thrones). There some other recognizable faces, notably Brian Gleeson and Eva Birthistle.-I'm not sure how I really feel about this movie. I waited a few days to write this review (October, 2018). Ultimately, I felt like I have seen it all before. Though the 'rebirth' scene was something new. At least as far as how they did it. Bringing somebody back from the dead is, of course, not all that new.COMPLAINTS:*****SPOILERS BELOW******A lot of my criticism below is made without certain knowledge that might clear up a few things. I have no idea if this movie was based on a novel and if so, if the novel explains my complaints below. So if there is such a novel or perhaps, some things were explained or just went over my head then you can go ahead an invalidate my complaints (You can do so regardless!).-Many of the events,especially the deaths could have been avoided if the locals had just been more truthful with the Daley's. All they really had to do was tell them what would happen if they were lying. They could have told them what would happen if they brought the girl past the town boundaries.-I didn't find it believable that they would leave the girl alone for even 1 minute if they had only 3 days together. I don't believe they would have ever let her out of their sight, especially not leaving her alone in her bedroom. I doubt very much they would play 'hide and seek' and let her wander off. Who would try to take away the kid from it's parents to go on a pony ride when they had such limited time? Of course they end up going along but that was not the premise from the start. Just put yourself in their shoes. Would anybody out there do these things knowing that witchcraft was used and that you had only very limited time together.-I did not like the very end. From the time the girl drags her mom under with her to the final scene was a disappointment, or maybe disappointment is the wrong word since it was unexpected and I wasn't really expectinganything.-I don't like when movies change the rules on you or create something new at the end of a movie. For instance when a wizard in a fantasy movie comes up with a crazy new power that nobody new about to defeat their enemy. You know..it goes something like this....."you see, you have the power of love and the power of love always triumphs over hate...." I"m sure you get my point. Even though there was some crazy stuff going on and not at all believable at that, it's still OK because you were given the rules. You get 3 days, you must not leave the town boundaries, etc. Basically nobody told us that Eva was going to have to die, so I didn't like that part. What's worse followed.-What is up with Louise being pregnant. I get the part at the end with Patrick performing the C-section but how was that even possible. For starters, they never explained how she could have been pregnant since it was impossible for her to be pregnant. Then, Louise is either re-birthed as nearly full-term pregnant or becomes full-term in less than 3 days? How is that possible since she was not 'showing' at the time of her death.-I can suspend disbelief about the ritual but they could have at least given us some sort of back story. Why can this ritual only be done in Wake Wood? Why 3 days? (they do give us a bit of an explanation on this, but not much) Why can you not leave the boundaries. Shouldn't they at least have given some sort of explanation?Even if it was something as simple as the place being cursed or ancient Druids created the borders. Something....anything would have been good.-Why must the ritual be done within a year of death? What happens if they leave the town of Wake Wood after they return their daughter? Why can the ritual still be done after a year and why does the newly reborn turn evil? Whey can't you look at the evil beings? How can the evil beings just turn out the lights, etc. etc. etc.I didn't catch any explanations....just new rules the further we went into the story. I know I'm being fussy, but really any simple explanation would do. They can just say, for instance, they are Satan's spawn after a year and I would accept that and move on.*****END OF SPOILERS*****RECOMMENDATIONS: Recommended for fans of all types of horror films. More specifically, if you like movies that deal with the supernatural and/or witchcraft, this movie will be right up your alley.Recommended obviously for Hammer Horror completists since you must have it, unless of course your collection ends with the downfall of the original company.I'm giving the movie 2 1/2 stars for the movie and adding a 1/2 for the Hammer name. So we get 3 stars.

Wow! I mean, seriously, WOW! As an independent filmmaker myself, I was quite taken aback by this clever, well written, cinematically defined and exceptionally directed film. It is 'different' in so many ways. The acting was extraordinary! This is not so much of an 'edge of your seat' type of film as it is thought-provoking. And I'm not talking one of those 'Oh, yeah, I knew it would turn out like that!' kind of films. This is a ride that goes through to the very last minute of filming. There are numerous surprises, but clearly a lot of time was put into making this ingenious horror twist believable. Obviously it has to do with a foreign urban myth, but the true genius lies in how it was directed. By the end of the film I was simply dumb-founded by the magic employed to make me a believer of the story-line. FYI, I have no ties to the making of this film (I wish I did). Additionally, I haven't heard a lot of hype about it prior to buying and watching the DVD version. As a matter of fact, I bought this film because it was a good price and I was truly expecting a low budget 'B' movie that might possibly give me a good laugh and I could pick it to pieces over 'post' mistakes. Boy, was I in for a shocker! This is a film that has earned its' five stars and credible credentials. You really should watch it. I guarantee you won't be disappointed, and if you are then clearly you are out to be the one to argue any point of a movie whether it is good or bad just for the attention!

It was a bit sleepy, though it had it's moments. Reminded me of an Irish version of Pet Cemetery, but with a celtic/pagan twist. 3.75 stars.

I was hesitant to watch this film. I'm not overly comfortable with child death on screen, and am not a fan of the Pet Cemetery movies to which this is compared. I was lured in by the Irish Film Board once again, and once again, I wasn't disappointed. A couple who have recently lost their only child to a dog attack and are on the verge of divorce move to the rural town of Wake Wood, where pagan rituals are alive and well (so to speak). They are offered the opportunity to resurrect their daughter for three days. Three days to say a proper goodbye, but of course, there are rules. The first is that the person must be dead no more than a year. The second is that they are not allowed to ever leave Wake Wood afterwards, and the veterinarian father with continue to attend the needs of all their animals. The third is that the dead must be put in the earth by the end of the third day. This couple is not good at following rules. Their Alice is not the one that comes back, and whatever she is (she's either soulless or possessed by an evil spirit; it's not quite explained), she's determined stay and will kill anything or anyone that gets in her way. And some things just because, well, she's evil. While predictable, it's a solid movie. The cast is excellent; I love Spall. You have to pay close attention for certain details to make sense, and overlook the fact that this couple are idiots. There is plenty of gore, too, but I don't think it's over the top, and the ritual itself is fascinating. The dog attack is in a flashback, too, at the film's beginning, so I was able to just walk away for a minute and I didn't have to watch it. Just a note for other sensitive mom's like me. Oh, and I definitely prefer this to Pet Cemetery.

Très bon service et bon produit

Wake Wood follows the story of a bereaved family retreating to an isolated village, where they come across locals (the DVD blurb describes them as "pagans") in possession of a ritual which can enable them to temporarily resurrect their daughter for three days. Still grieving, the family desperately take advantage of such an opportunity which leads to a chain of ever more negative events which almost exactly mirror the film  Pet Sematary [1989 ] (based upon Stephen King's  novel ).Despite both the concept and plotline (including the twist) clearly having their origins as mentioned above, it's a well-delivered film with an old-school feel about it, an atmospheric setting, features a gorily organic form of rebirth and is bolstered by some decent acting from the cast. Pet Sematary [1989novel

Wake Wood is a Hammer Horror Film. Set in Rural Ireland. If you like d Edward Woodward in The Wicker Man or the film Orphan.This is a film for you.Actor Timothy Spall who played a Brick Layer in Alf wedersaine pet. Is the equivalent of Lord Sumerisle. Lots of creepy scenes that make you jump.

Thoroughly nasty film , violence to animals is not entertainment , pointless rubbish , don’t waste your money .

Poor movie. Lacks conviction, poor script, poor pacing and a totally bizarre soundtrack.Even Timothy Spall couldn't rescue it.Can't recommend.