DVD review (region 2)
Directed by David Keating
Starring Eva Birthistle, Aidan Gillen, Timothy Spall, Ella Connolly
Release date Out now

A young couple are given the opportunity to bring their dead daughter back to life for two days. But can they be trusted to say goodbye?

Wake Wood, the latest Hammer horror from the revitalised studio, is a derivative experience. Watching it is to be reminded of great horror movies of the past, as it openly borrows from assorted classics such as The Wicker Man, Carrie, Drag Me to Hell, Don’t Look Now and Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.

Despite such shameless plundering, the first half of the film is excellent, as grieving couple (convincingly played by Aidan Gillen and Eve Birthistle) move to the Irish countryside to get over the bloody death of their daughter, Alice. The atmosphere is disturbing and odd, and there’s a pleasingly low-key sense of menace as the local villagers, led by Timothy Spall, are revealed to be hiding sinister secrets. It’s particularly effective how matter-of-fact they are about what goes on in the village.

Sadly, after a promising build-up, the film slips into slasher mode, as the resurrected Alice, desperate to cling on to life, goes on a killing spree. Although this is perhaps designed to appeal to the bloodthirsty teen market, it cheapens the whole endeavour. Do horror films always need a monster? Isn’t the concept of a child realising her time on Earth is limited, while her parents fight having to let her go again, not disturbing enough? Jonathan Wilkins

VERDICT: 6/10
Had it been brave enough to confront the idea of mortality head on, Wake Wood might have been a horror classic. As it is, it’s a valiant effort that stalls when the slashing starts.