The Hallow

Adam (Joseph Mawle) moves his family to a house in the Irish countryside. He has a nice wife (Bojana Novakovic), a beautiful child, and a bunch of demonic creatures living in the backyard that want to kidnap the kid. The creatures are a variety of tortured souls, some of them people who were kidnapped and transformed into slimy monsters. In short, they are really gross and scary, and Adam picked the wrong place to live. Writer-director Corin Hardy does good things with a small budget. When the monsters finally attack, Hardy gives the film a true sense of dread, with Adam's plight becoming the stuff of nightmares. It'll make you think twice before purchasing a remote home in the wilderness, and will inspire you to purchase a cannon and 57 guns if you should opt for such a home. The second half of the film is full of dread as Adam's duties as a father and protector are put to the test. He discovers that some of the folklore and stories his neighbors warned him about are true. Hardy's film owes a lot to The Descent, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and The Shining, and it continues a good year for horror in 2015. (Available for rent during a limited theatrical release on On Demand, iTunes and Amazon.com.)