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Wake Wood (2011)

Dark Sky Films
Blu-ray Disc Released: 7/5/2011

All Ratings out of

Movie:
1/2
Video:

Audio:

Extras:
1/2

Review by Mike Long, Posted on 6/21/2011

In the 1950s, British company Hammer Film Productions became the new voice in horror movies. The company took a cue from the Universal Studios films of the 1930s and went for the classic monsters -- Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy (I guess the Wolfman had fallen out of style). The movies, kicked off with 1957's The Curse of Frankenstein, were immediate hits and made stars of actors Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Hammer would continue to crank out monster movies and psychological thrillers until the early 70s when they quietly disappeared. In 2007, a Dutch producer decided to start the Hammer machine once again. Since that time, they've released three movies. The Resident was a bona fide stinker. Let Me In was a polished, but un-exciting, remake. Will the latest entry, Wake Wood, be the return to Hammer glory which everyone is looking for?

Patrick (Aidan Gillen) and Louise (Eva Brithistle) are a couple in mourning. Patrick is a veterinarian and their daughter, Alice (Ellen Connolly), was mauled to death by a dog in his care. To deal with the grief, the couple have moved to the small town of Wakewood, where Patrick continues his vet work (but now with farm animals) and Louise has taken over the local pharmacy. Patrick works for Arthur (Timothy Spall), a nice and wise man. One night, Patrick and Louise have car trouble and go to Arthur’s for assistance. Once there, Louis witnesses many of the townspeople involved in a bizarre ritual. Following this, Arthur approaches the couple and tells them that he know a way for them to see Alice again. The procedure sounds fairly harmless, but if they go through with it, Patrick and Louise will be bound to Wakewood. But, how can anything which wakes the dead, no matter how promising it sounds, be harmless?

Wake Wood joins a long line of movies set in small towns in the British countryside which carry a dark secret, and the movie’s first half does an excellent job of setting up the atmosphere of dread. The movie’s opening is especially impressive, as it sets up the movie’s story using a limited amount of dialogue. The movie introduces Wake Wood as a normal place, but also a cold and cruel place. When the plot twist is introduced, it’s simple enough (sort of) and we know that Patrick and Louise can’t resist the offer.

Which brings us to the big problem with Wake Wood. Once the movie’s big plot revelation comes, the movie turns into a waiting game. Unless you’ve never seen a movie before, you know that something bad is going to happen. We are forced to simply sit and wait for the real horror movie aspects of Wake Wood to begin. This portion of the film isn't necessarily boring, but it feels tedious. There's a definite difference between suspense and waiting, and the middle of this movie feels like waiting.

When things do start happening, the shallow nature of the script becomes apparent. We can see what is happening, but it's not clear why it is happening. The movie is far too vague in its explanation of the rituals and the rules of the occurrences in the town. There is a twist in the third act that throws the spotlight on what is happening with Alice, but it all feels very arbitrary. I must say that I liked the coda, as it echoed something which had been seen twice in the movie.

Wake Wood is a frustrating movie with offers a mixed bag. The story, while it is reminiscent of The Monkey's Paw and Pet Sematary, is interesting and the movie does a great job of creating its setting. But, the script never finds its footing, and one can only tolerate so many shots of people wandering a village. Someone should have conducted a ceremony to bring this movie back to life.

Wake Wood makes one wonder why Patrick and Louise spent so much time sleeping on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Dark Sky Films. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no defects from the source material and no overt grain. The picture here is a good example of the pros and cons of HD. The picture's sharpness and clarity look great, but they are so good that we can see every blemish on the actor's faces. (I'll bet they hate watching something like this.) This level of detail is certainly appreciate, but it can actually be distracting at times. The colors look very good and the image is never overly dark or bright. The Disc contains a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.0 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are nicely detailed and reinforce sounds coming from the left or right of the screen. The surround sound effects aren't dominate, but in certain key scenes, they are effective. Some "shock" moments deliver good subwoofer effects.

The Wake Wood Blu-ray disc is limited on extra features. The Disc contains eight DELTED SCENES which run about 14 minutes. Some of these are just a few seconds long. The longest is an extended version of the resurrection sequence, but while it's more detailed, it doesn't bring us more information. On the whole, there isn't much new here. The only other extra is a TRAILER for the film.

Review by Mike Long.  Copyright 2011.