Search - Hallowed Ground on DVD

Deidra C. (Deidra670) from GARRETT, KY
Reviewed on 3/21/2011...

HALLOWED GROUND was a pleasant surprise. The story felt like a Pepsi throwback:) No, just kidding, but HALLOWED GROUND does feel like the horror we grew up on in the 80's. Feisty girl trapped in a small, isolated town where a deadly religious cult exists.

But the real shocker for me were the familiar faces that really weren't publicized. Jaimie Alexander(REST STOP), Ethan Philips(I know he's a sitcom actor from the 80's--Benson, maybe), Hudson Leick (XENA) and Chloe Moretz (LET ME IN). And with that many talented actors, the movie holds together well.

Is it THE SHINING? No. But it's a good time if you have a rainy afternoon and want to be entertained.

HALLOWED GROUND? I'd go there. With a stick of dynamite!

2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Not the worst direct-to-DVD horror available... but is that

D. Wilson | NY by way of Cali | 10/21/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Hallowed Ground is one of those direct-to-DVD releases that you pick up off the rack at your local movie chain and instantly your gut tells you to pass on it... but against your better judgement you decide to take a chance on it, "hey, maybe it'll even suprise me" you wonder aloud (to wich you may or may not recieve some odd looks). Well, unfortunately this one gives you exactly what you expected. This is the story of the town known as Hope (groan) and the evil preacher that sacrificed "sinners" by hanging them as living scarecrows to keep the crops healthy. Eventually the neighboring town finds out and hangs him as a scarecrow... then burns him alive, his final words being "I'll be back" or something to that effect. Fast forward to the present as our female lead (Jaime Alexander who's solid throughout, although her running could be considerably more convincing) gets broken down in Hope a 100 years after the aforementioned events and just in time for the ancient evil to be resurrected. The plot is pretty busy here and they seem to jam plenty of ideas together (probably too many), which results in odd spots of exposition with characters ranting important plot threads to keep us in the loop. The movie also commits the cardianl sin of attempting CGI effects without the budget to get away with it (you'll see what I mean within the first 5 minutes and especially in the finale). The movie isn't a complete waste of time and provides a few decent moments but overall I'd recommend the recently exhumed 1980's film Scarecrows for better killer-on-a-stick entertainment."

Stupid fun.

Robert P. Beveridge | Cleveland, OH | 01/29/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Hallowed Ground (David Benullo, 2007)

I must be going soft in my old age. I watched two SFCOMs this weekend, and (to some extent, mind you-- I didn't say I was going senile) I enjoyed both. Hallowed Ground doesn't have nearly the potential that Something Beneath did, but it delivered what was expected, and despite the godawful low-budget special effects, it was a pretty fun little movie.

The plot: Liz Chambers (Kyle XY's Jaimie Alexander), on the run from something traumatic in her past (we find out what later in the film), has her car mysteriously break down near the town of Hope, a nasty little piece of rural America where, we find out in the opening scene, a psychotic preacher spent many years crucifying folks as live sacrifices to ensure a good harvest back in the nineteenth century. In this extremely odd town, Liz meets plucky reporter Sarah (Chill Factor's Hudson Leick), who's doing a story on the preacher for a tabloid, and after some prodding, Liz decides to tag along to the preacher's farm with Sarah for a photo shoot. The two of them build a scarecrow and erect it on the site where the preacher is buried. Complications ensue when the spirit of the preacher possesses the scarecrow so he can be reborn. (The ins and outs of this process are a little complex.) The only person in town Liz can find to help her out is the sheriff (I Know Who Killed Me's Brian McNamara), who's also an outsider. All the rest of the townsfolk, well, they're kinda weird.

Benullo's first feature film is derivative, silly, and low-budget, but he wasn't really aiming for deathless cinema here. If you enjoy mindless monster movies, this should be right up your alley; it's fast-paced, fun, not that horribly acted, and is actually shot well enough that you can see what's going on the entire time ("too dark to see" has been an increasingly annoying feature of low-budget horror flicks in the past decade or so). Yeah, you've seen it before, but so what? There are seven basic plots, every movie uses one of 'em. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. ***
"

Jaimie Alexander Rocks

shark jumper | California | 10/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to find a low budget horror film that's not a rip off of a bigger movie or a sequel. Hallowed Ground is neither. It's an original, well acted, movie with just the right amount of gore and plenty of scares. And what really makes this film cook is Jaimie Alexander's performance. There wasn't a moment in the film that felt false. Unlike most horror shows were the girls do a lot screaming and call it acting, Alexander is very believable. Don't worry, I'm not her manager or her boyfriend, I'm just a horror fan who's seen enough to know when something is really working and she totally kept me in the story. Cool deadly scarecrow and good scary music put this one high on my Halloween list."