Irish folk horror might sound like an incredibly niche subgenre, but it’s quietly become one of the most reliable offshoots for scary storytelling in the last few years, with Corin Hardy’s The Hallow one of the first to emerge that saw the country’s reputation for top-notch terror begin to explode among gorehounds worldwide.
It’s not even an exaggeration when you consider the likes of Sea Fever, The Hole in the Ground, Nocebo, Grabbers, A Dark Song, You Are Not My Mother, and countless others have scratched and clawed their way into the public consciousness in the years since, while co-writer and director Hardy immediately made the jump to Hollywood and helmed the highest-grossing entry in horror’s most successful franchise ever after being handed the reins on The Nun.
Meanwhile, his breakout feature has been doing a tidy little turn of its own on streaming, with FlixPatrol naming The Hallow as one of the most-watched films on iTunes over the weekend. Made on a shoestring budget but comfortably substituting expense for atmosphere, the backwoods nightmare has deservedly proven itself to be something of a cult favorite.
Steeped in local legend, the story finds a family relocating to an isolated forest home in Ireland, where they become convinced the noises they hear at night are of a sinister nature. The requisite ominous villagers warn them of something lurking in the woods, which unsurprisingly ends up being an apt warning when the real monsters emerge from the darkness to plunge the close-knit clan into a battle for their very survival.