Hallowed Ground (2007) Online

HALLOWED GROUND is a peculiar little movie. Good camera work. Decent actors. And dull as watching paint dry.

Somebody forgot that the first six letters in "thriller" are t-h-r-i-l-l. The object is to make people's pulses race, not to put the audience to sleep.

Elizabeth's car breaks down in a strange (and underpopulated) little town. She gets it to a garage, only to be told that the needed part can't be gotten until tomorrow. Stranded.

She goes to a diner and gets into a conversation with a tabloid reporter conveniently in town to do a story on strange events in the area many years ago. The reporter conveniently provides exposition establishing the main conflict that the story will cover.

And so we're treated to Elizabeth's adventures trying to escape a crazed cult. So we have a little CHILDREN OF THE CORN, a touch of THE Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and a dash of those movies Hammer Studios made where Christopher Lee's cult got outsmarted by Peter Cushing. For seasoning add a cute little girl. But no original ideas involved.

This would have been a great thirty minute episode of Tales from the Darkside. But stretching it to feature length was just cruel.

This movie is fairly predictable, nothing that you will not be able to figure out rather quickly. However, there are a good couple of kills, and the flow of the movie is very fast. The story, gal gets stranded in a town with a bizarre past of a preacher using living scarecrows to scare off actual crows. He was subsequently killed by people in the neighboring town. Our stranded lady learns this from a reporter of a tabloid paper who is doing a story on the town. Some how they become best buds in what is essentially maybe an hour worth of time, I somewhat enjoyed this flick, but then it is not without some flaws. There is a scarecrow, and lots of religious nuts and we have quite a few chase scenes. The movie is not without its many faults though as it is a cheaply made direct to DVD movie. The opening features a horrible computer animated scene of a guy in a cornfield with crows and it looks awful, I was expecting a much worse picture from that scene as I hate computer generation that is completely unnecessary. How hard is it to find a cornfield and to put skeletons on crosses in it, I would wager not to difficult. The scarecrow angle was rather good then abandoned and forgotten near the end where we have a crappy looking crow attack. Still, it passes some time and I found it on the whole somewhat entertaining. Just do not expect to much.

Hallowed Ground starts out in isolated Midwest of the US where Liz Chambers (Jaimie Alexander) has car trouble & breaks down, Liz manages to make it to the small town of Hope where local mechanic Earl (Jim Cody Williams) says he will have to order a part for Liz's car & she's stuck there for the night. Liz heads over to the local diner & meets newspaper reporter Sarah Austin (Hudson Leick) who is writing a story about Hope's sinister past & it's evil founding Preacher Jonas Hathaway (Nick Chinlund) who used to crucify sinners & leave them in the corn fields so their anguished screams would scare away the Crow's who ate the corn before Jonas himself was crucified & burnt by neighbouring townspeople. Liz decides to join Sarah & they drive out to Jonas's house where legend has it his evil spirit still lurks, as Jonas himself prophesied he comes back from the dead to reclaim a new body for himself & he needs Liz to provide a baby for him to possess...

Written & directed by David Benullo this originally premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel before going direct to video & isn't that bad a film I suppose but at the same time it's far from great, a mix of Children of the Corn (1984) & Rosemary's Baby (1968) if you can even begin to imagine such a thing Hallowed Ground passed 80 odd minutes harmlessly enough & it had one or two good ideas if nothing else. I did like the idea of crucifying someone & stringing them up in the middle of a cornfield like a human Scarecrow to let their screams of pain scare all the Crow's away but apart from the opening flashback it's an underused idea & the climax where the soul's of the murder posses the Crow's to dish out some justice is a nice idea too but again underused & a bit random & how did Liz know the Crow's were possessed anyway? At only one hour & twenty minutes long it has a good pace & never lets up but things start a bit quickly without much build-up, there's never any given reason why Liz is the chosen one or how Hathaway can possess a baby without it dying but not an adult or how the town of Hope was planning to get away with it especially after murdering the entire neighbouring town including the police force or even why the townspeople of Hope believed Hathaway's ancient prophecies. Character's are alright, the plot is alright & it moves along at a fair pace so I guess you could do worse but you could do better too.

For those who like to spot film mistakes there's a biggie at the end, when Liz & Sabrina are in that old dude's jeep listening to the radio look at the window next to them & you can clearly see the reflection of the camera filming them from the opposite side. There's a bit of gore, a few nails hammed through peoples hands, a pitchfork shoved through someones body & through someones throat. The first half of Hallowed Ground feels like a Halloween (1978) style slasher in which a Scarecrow novelty killer is running around bumping people off but thankfully the film abandons the killer Scarecrow idea & becomes a demonic possession flick. The Scarecrow looks alright if a little silly, although competent Hallowed Ground isn't that scary or atmospheric but it is well shot.

With a supposed budget of about $1,500,000 the production values are fine & it's quite a nice looking film although some of the CGI computer effects are poor as they are in most low budget films so Hallowed Ground isn't unique on that point. The acting is OK, Hudson Leick is quite good & brings some life to her character but she is killed off early on.

Hallowed Ground is a middle of the road direct to video low budget horror film that isn't terrible but at the same time just isn't that good either. If you actually think about it the script falls apart but at least it's short & provides a few decent scenes & a one or two nice ideas.

Most reviews make this out to be horrid. I watched it because of Jaimie Alexander and Hudson Leick. I wasn't expecting very much, especially with plot keywords like "Killer scarecrow", and it's not my particular favorite horror sub-genre.

In the end, it wasn't that bad. It was somewhat predictable, falling prey to many clichés of the genre. It had a couple twists to make it seem to break away though. Overall the acting was OK...some of the townspeople seemed a little cardboard, but the leads do a good job.

It could have done with a few less scenes of people running through cornfields, but at 83 minutes with credits, I think it needed all the time it could get. If you like Jaimie, it's a good view. While the storyline is a little generic, overall it is mostly put together well and better than some things out there.

Compared to most of the dreck I've seen on the Sci Fi Channel, this wasn't bad. It had descent production values, acceptable acting, and a generally involving pace.

But as many other reviewers have pointed out, it's so ridiculously derivative that it's sometimes difficult to watch. CHILDREN OF THE CORN is definitely an inspiration. Creepy town. Creepy cornfield. Crazed zealots loose.

It's the climax that did me in, though. It was stolen verbatim from 1963's THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, although HALLOWED GROUND substitutes CGI crows for animated bats (and comes off the worse for it).

It's always frustrating to see a film with potential, particularly an independent film, fail to capitalize on its assets. An original idea is all that was needed.

This is my first IMDb review, and I'll keep it short.

I watched this movie on the sci-fi channel during the never ending writers strike when nothing good was on TV. I expected it to be a poorly acted generic horror flick, which it was. The acting wasn't AWFUL, but it was far from good. The plot was really bland and predictable. It basically borrows from classic horror flicks (e.g. Children of the Corn) and doesn't contain much in the way of originality. Also, I am incredibly easily creeped out by horror movies, and this barely had an effect on me.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend it. It isn't scary, the acting and characters make you cringe constantly, and there isn't anything interesting about the story.

"Hallowed Ground" is decent for what it is, but is hampered by it's incessant clichés.

**SPOILERS**

Experiencing car problems, Liz Chambers, (Jaime Alexander) finds herself stranded in a small-town along with reporter Sarah Austin, (Hudson Leick) who is doing a story about the area. Arriving at the spot, they come under attack from a mysterious scarecrow, forcing Sheriff O'Connor, (Brian McNamara) to rescue them. As the encounters between them start to grow, she soon discovers that there's something strange going on around the town involving the townspeople. Coming across Sheriff O'Connor, (Brian McNamara) who is also an outsider to the town, she is let in on the secret of the town, when a maniacal preacher a hundred years earlier had placed a curse on the town for their torturing and killing him to cover up his plan to sacrifice the locals to God for better crop production, and she's chosen to bear his seed to bring him back to life. Stuck in the town, she tries whatever possible to escape their clutches.

The Good News: This one here wasn't bad when it got some good parts to it. The main point in this one is the spectacular plot in here. Even with a soft spot for the dark-brutal-history-of-a-weird-town plot used in many horror films, the buried town secret set-up and the religious zealotry, along with the intriguing prophesying and general freakiness of the town's population makes the plot amusing. These are time-tested tricks which come into great play here and make it really chilling. It's also filled with a large amount of rather cool-looking scenes in here. The film hits the ground running with its approach, as right away, the mythology is tossed into the creepy mythology as we see a nutty preacher condemning some poor sap, and then, with no warning, with it's crucifixion time. Crucifixion scenes are pretty awkward and uncomfortable scenes, and this one slathers on the awkwardness of having a grown man nailed to a cross and planted in a cornfield. All semblance of terror is swept up with a cool sweeping shot of a series of crucified folks in a cornfield that is really impressive and unique. There's also an impressive scene of an apocalypse worth of crows towards the end, and there's a really nice aura given off by this sense. This one even has some nice action scenes, with enough shooting, house fires and a tater sacked mask scarecrow killer that eventually becomes unnecessary to the story. The film basically became a series of chase sequences involving the followers that want to impregnate her against her will. There's some nice gore in here as well, with plenty of nailed bodies to walls, pitchforks through the neck, a few impalings, some gunshots and more in here, leaving some rather nice views in here. Overall, this one here is better than expected but still decent.

The Bad News: This one isn't bad, but did have a couple of problems. The biggest one is that the story and setting weren't sufficiently scary and original enough to create a serious horror flick. Way too much of the time, the actions coming from the film have a sense which isn't original, thought provoking, or meaningful enough for anyone to care. This one contains a lot of parts, from the stranger just happening to break down in a town that just happens to have a prophecy concerning someone like them to come to the town right when they need them to is a little out-there as far as credibility goes, and it does make for some really groan-inducing moments. The Scarecrow, as a main character in the movie, comes to life and begins to seemingly terrorize the town. However, the fault lies in the fact to not to stick with the horror film staple of letting the audience create their own fear by keeping them in the dark. Instead, they present the scarecrow every chance they get. They generally show where he is and what he is doing at all times, which is usually standing around with a pitchfork waiting and stalking. The movie also betrays its one halfway decent chill, where the sight of blood on a minivan that knowingly contained a family. However, not too surprisingly, only the parents died, as the little kid managed to escape. Not enough movies have the balls to kill kids off on screen, but if you can't even bring yourself to kill one off-screen, then it really deprives of the sense of fear and dread. This one should've had the chance to offer up even more chills through it's ability to be that discriminate. These few flaws drop the film down somewhat.

The Final Verdict: Not all that bad, and having some good points to it, but too bogged down with it's clichés to come up as anything beyond the ordinary. Worth a look for passing interest fans, or for those with a special appreciation for these films, while the others would better off with a more traditional fare.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language

The film honestly isn't that outstanding, but I do give credit to the cast members, Jaimie Alexander,Nick Chinlund, and Chloe Moretz, they made the film bearable, Chloe being at such a young age did splendidly. About the film itself, it is nothing less of mundane sci-fi film.We have all seen the film before, crazed man back from the dead, goes on killing spree. The only twist being this one was a preacher, and he was a bit beyond insane when it came to sacrificing to "God" to keep away crow that had infested his fields. All in all it isn't a bad movie, but could have been much better, particularly the highly unbelievable CGI crow. I give the film a 7 out of 10, and that is being highly generous.

Every week I stop into Blockbuster and rent the new direct to video horror movie and every week I'm pretty much disappointed. Most are shot with non-actors in lead roles, some with home video equipment. Some are boring and some are painful. This is the rare gem of a movie in this field of crap.

For a direct to video feature, the movie has scope. Yes, the CGI isn't top notch but great CGI doesn't make a great movie.

This is a horror movie with complex characters that does not conform to a specific genre's rules. It could easily have been a scarecrow slasher movie with lots of dead teenagers but it tries for more.

I applaud it for that.

For those direct to video junkies like myself, Hallowed Ground has great production value, great acting (for the genre), and best of all...

An original concept.

OK, let's start off by saying this is not "Halloween," "The Exorcist," or its ilk. It is B-Movie horror, which is fine. The people giving this movie 1 out of 10 and whining about "bad CGI" obviously didn't bother to look at the budget of the film ($1.5 million - considerably lower than the classic horror blockbusters). Is it predictable? Of course it is. So what? If you were expecting to sit down and watch a timeless classic, you should have rented "Casablanca" or "The Wizard of Oz." Ranting about bad acting (which, while not the best acting in the world, is certainly not the worst) and bad directing (if you can do better, let's see it), and claiming that anyone who gave it a good review "obviously" worked on the movie (oh, you're omniscient now?) makes for a really amateur review. If you didn't like the movie, that's your opinion, but at least give actual examples of why you thought the acting and directing were bad, and don't shoot off at the mouth insulting reviewers who disagreed with you. Just because someone has only reviewed one movie on IMDb doesn't automatically mean they worked on that movie. Maybe they actually have a life and don't have time to review five billion movies like some people apparently can.

Now, as I say, this isn't some high-caliber horror flick that is going to win an Oscar. It isn't meant to be. It is a fun suspense flick that makes for nice Halloween fare for a horror movie marathon. The plot isn't completely unique, but it is a decent concept of good vs evil. It utilizes the idea of someone perverting religion to suit his own needs, and we see the consequences of that - pure evil. We have a protagonist that is not perfect, but is overall a decent human being. The cinematographers make good use of lighting, though I would have liked to see more usage of angles to make the views more dramatic. I'm not sure why people are complaining about "bad CGI," since there is very little CGI used in the film, and it is certainly not needed. People have become far too dependent upon seeing flashy SFX in order to be entertained. The acting is sometimes a little stilted, but for the most part, the emotion is raw and realistic.

The important thing to remember is that this is low-budget horror meant to entertain horror fans. If you don't "get it," that may be why. If you are used to only going to the movies to see lots of blood, explosions, and cleavage, with everything neatly wrapped up so you don't have to think, then this movie isn't for you. Not everyone is going to enjoy these types of movies. Insulting those who do doesn't make you a good reviewer, though, it just makes you immature.

Hallowed Ground was neither a good or great movie. In my eyes, I'd say it was mediocre. I did like the stylish camera work, there are some haunting moments in the score, the acting is decent considering what they had to work with and there are a few good ideas in the mix. On the other hand, while not bottom-of-the-barrel awful, the effects do still have a rather cheap look to them, the scarecrow is alright but not as menacing as he should be as a result. The characters are clichéd and not really that engaging and the script has a rather stilted nature about it, but the biggest let down was the story, which promised much but was too derivative and dull in alternative to thrilling and atmospheric. All in all, not good and disappointing but not as bad as some have made out. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Mr. Benullo is certainly evolving as a director. There are lots of bird's eye shots, inset shots and POV--a lot of great camera work, actually, as well as well choreographed action and a very good score. Mr. Benullo can tell a story with his camera. I was impressed by the cast. There were a lot of familiar faces. Nearly all the performances were far superior to what one would expect from direct to DVD fair and the DVD production quality was good, also. There were some interesting computer generated effects as well. Mr. Benullo (the Wizard of Park Dr.) has his chops down. I think Mr. Benullo is a director with a bright future.

What is this movie about? I mean, I'm willing to suspend my belief to enjoy a good sci-fi or horror flick, but not to a ridiculous degree.

I am writing this as I watch the movie. Prepare for a stream of consciousness review of this not-so-amazing film.

Wow, a gasoline station. A corn field. This is absolutely unoriginal. The reporter isn't bad, but her demise is far too fast. Where is the character development in this movie??? FLAW: The lead actress started the police car when she first escaped from the corn field, but cops don't ever turn their vehicles off while on duty.

FLAW: The cop left her alone in the police station, not to mention with shotguns conveniently mounted on a wall rack. Of course you'd leave a distraught young lady alone in a station with unlocked guns... This is just completely unbelievable.

Whoa, suddenly a congregation appears, as told by the bland priest who seemed to be reading his lines off a teleprompter. The acting in this movie is sub par, to say the least.

"Take her to the gas station!" What? I'm not a video connoisseur, but how come all these movies involve city-boy cops, nutty religious folk, fields, and a gas station? During the crying scene in the police car, I assume this was an attempt at further developing our main character. However, it is a very lame performance and adds nothing to the film whatsoever.

FLAW: Wow, those congregation folks sure do travel fast, don't they? They're all in the church when the cop drives off, assuming a 40mph clip. But those crazies know exactly where to find them, even though they're 'ordinary folk', not the undead scarecrow with powers, who we see again. Up to this point, he had been trying to kill the girl, but a tattoo changed all that. What?! For the bedroom scene, I was hoping for a good horror-rape by a scarecrow. This is supposed to be a horror movie, isn't it? But no... a way too fast death by pillow of an undeveloped priest character.

FLAW: Holding a lighter out to the left side of the body immediately causes a reddish spot to shine on you from the right. No laws of physics here! FLAW: There's that little girl Sabrina, now hiding out underground. The townsfolk are able to find anyone anywhere, but some how a CHILD outwitted them and escaped? Not probable.

FLAW: Our heroine swears not to let anything happen to Sabrina, but then she leaves her to fend for herself. Ah yes, the pinnacle of protection there. She's going to run to the next town to get help from cops, most likely due to the fact that it worked so well in this town.

The town down the road is unpopulated. The phones are dead. The people are dead. This movie is far too predictable. But at least our heroine showed up, just in time to find all the strung up bodies, which any other person would've seen, I think.

Again, the conversion of the sheriff is obvious when he reappears. This is far too predictable.

Okay, so it's more than an hour and a half into this mess (on TV, so that's including commercials), and I honestly have no idea what this movie is really supposed to be about. A mad scarecrow killer? Some mad townsfolk killers? Somehow the scarecrow-reverend needs a baby overnight to come back to life, but he won't get it from this non-virgin womb. Don't forget the little-girl-trapped-in-the-shelter rescue subplot. Despite its predictability, this flick is confusing.

Thank goodness for the arsonist child. Thank goodness for the wild and random shooting of the cop. We are grateful for the conveniently-placed pitchfork.

FLAW: Notice the fire that quickly envelops the house but then burns consistently. In fact, it looks like the same footage of the burning house over and over again...

PSEUDO-FLAW (this is derived from common sense, or really the lack thereof): You'd think, perhaps, one would consider getting the heck OUT of the corn fields, especially since the majority of the murders happened there.

FLAW: Being a vegetable gardener and rather familiar with things like corn, I must pose the following: corn does not grow on a vine, nor does it have a deep or extensive root system. Therefore, where are these vines coming from to hold the prisoner? Neighboring grape fields? FLAW: Is that blood or BBQ sauce? Daddy looks great for having been nailed up on a cross for more than a day, especially considering the local crow population.

FLAW: What is up with the fake crows... that live underground(?). Death by crows in a horror flick is good (though unoriginal now), but I distinctly heard the screeching of a hawk amidst these rather poor CGI crows. Those birds are not of the same feather.

So now we're hitch-hiking. Apparently we haven't learned our lesson about strangers in a small town.

PSEUDO-FLAW (again, common sense): The driver has no questions when picking up a bloody, scratched-up woman and a disheveled child. Perfectly normal, perfectly natural. The very end is the most confusing of all when we see that the preacher is still alive, then pan to the open road ahead, and then show the credits.

Relatively well-filmed, but completely lame in all other aspects.

After she becomes stranded in a small town, a young woman (played by Jaimie Alexander of "Rest Stop") discovers her arrival there was foretold a century earlier by the town's founding preacher and that she is an integral part of his impending -- and terrifying -- rebirth. Oh, and there's a scarecrow that likes to kill people, too.

So I waited too long to write this review and the film is no longer fresh in my mind. Therefore, I cannot make very good specific criticisms. Sorry. But maybe the film isn't worth a thorough dissemination, as it really wasn't particularly good. I enjoy Jaimie Alexander, so it was nice to see her in another horror movie (are you a horror actress or a TV actress, Jaimie?) but besides that... I don't know.

Having seen both "Superstition" and "Horror Rises From the Tomb" this year, the idea of a prophecy that has an old religious fanatic coming back from the grave really wasn't a shocking new development in cinema for me. So this time it was a preacher instead of a warlock or witch... it was still a man who believes in the supernatural who had turned to killing in order to get his way with things, so there's not really a huge stretch.

What really struck me as the mistake with this film is the focus on the city of believers (not unlike "The Reaping" or any other film with a religious, isolated city) and not so much on the scarecrow that came back to kill people. I didn't quite understand the scarecrow, but I wanted to see more of him (an maybe get a better background). People with cult beliefs just don't do it for me, unless there's some really, really good explanation (which there rarely is). I'd complain about the cop being in on the whole thing, but I already made that complaint today in my review for "Lake Dead"... just stop it already! Should I complain about the gas station being in on it, too? You know, like "House of 1000 Corpses" or "Vacancy" or many others? Do all these small towns take notes from the same textbook?

Sure, you get a crucifixion. I like them, you like them... we all like seeing people nailed to the cross. Some of us like to look at this sort of thing once a week or more (I'm not one of those people). So there's blood. I don't recall any nudity, though... unfortunately. I mean, I like Jaimie Alexander with clothe on -- she's classy. But she had a friend in the film... if you're going to die anyway, why not just take your shirt off?

Like I said, I cannot make very good specific complaints. But I wasn't impressed. Everything about this film reeked off some other films. Oh, scarecrows like "Jeepers Creepers" or corn rows like... "Children of the Corn"? And I've already made numerous other references in this review. I suppose if you're going to rent this, you're going to rent this. Some of you may even be gullible enough to buy it. But I want you to know if you're going to do it, it's not going to be because of me. My copy is getting less play than Richard Simmons at the Playboy Mansion.

I don't care for thrillers, however, this one was better than most I've been forced to watch. I saw it on Sci-Fi, and watched it from beginning to end.

That, in and of itself, speaks volumes about the film. I'm not one to watch films if I become bored or if I dislike it.

The highlight for me was a stupid bird flu joke, which, now, I cannot recall. It will drive me crazy all day. Care to help a gal? I enjoyed the film... was drawn into it and had the opportunity to leave half-way through it... but stayed til the end just because I was having a good time.

It was enjoyable. Not bad.

Liz Chambers (a solid and sympathetic performance by fetching brunette Jaimie Alexander) finds herself stuck in a small town after her car breaks down. Chambers soon discovers the town's grisly past involving a crazed deceased priest and his legacy of sacrifices. Liz eventually winds up thrust into a battle for survival with the deranged locals as well as a lethal murderous scarecrow.

Writer/director David Benullo relates the derivative, yet still effective and enjoyable story at a quick pace, delivers a decent amount of mild gore, and builds a reasonable amount of tension and spooky atmosphere (the scarecrow in particular is genuinely creepy and unnerving). Moreover, the sound acting from the capable cast holds this picture together: Chloe Grace Moretz does well as frightened little girl Sabrina, Brian McNamara likewise registers nicely as the earnest Sheriff O'Connor, Nick Chinlund has a field day as evil preacher Jonas Hatheway, and Hudson Leick provides plenty of winning spark as eager and unscrupulous tabloid newspaper reporter Sarah Austin. Keith J. Duggan's sharp cinematography provides a neat stylish look. Neal Acree's spirited shivery score does the rousing trick. Marred by some regrettably cruddy CGI, this one overall still sizes up as a better than average shocker.

I saw the premier of this movie and i had high hopes, over all it was a very good sci-fi movie. Now the first problem i had with the movie was the beginning scene, when they are putting the man on the cross, now would'NT that make you think that the man on the cross is the scar crow trying to get the women? Other than that it was good, kept you on the edge of your seat. Some of it was confusing, the little girl's dad, is the dead Reverend, it's been like 3 months since the premier, and i forgot how the dad became the Reverend, that part really mad me confused. In closing, i'd watch it again, i saw it at BlockBuster a few months ago, but we did'NT get it, instead we rented Hostile 2, which was horrible.

JAIMIE Alexander is a young woman who inadvertently stumbles upon a town full of loonies who believe a legend about a demented preacher involved in human sacrifices. The ghost of a town is the wrong place for a gal like Alexander to be, for she's in immediate peril from them and a scarecrow that comes to life.

It's all very reminiscent of every horror film ever made about cornfields and "children of the corn" and skies full of menacing black crows. This one had a lot of potential if it knew that the real scares would come from the scarecrow coming to life and had developed that theme in a more compelling way. The scarecrow angle could have been played for better thrills.

BRIAN McNAMARA, as the town sheriff who knows more than he's willing to say about everything, is fine, but JAIMIE Alexander gives the impression that she's not capable or willing to give the role of the distraught woman more than a basic reading.

I just happened to come across it while surfing cable TV and stayed tuned to see whether it developed into a logical fright film. It didn't. Too many loopholes and implausible circumstances throughout, but it was at least an average thriller of its kind. The cornfield scenes were extremely well photographed but there was a tacky "direct to TV" look about the rest of the film.

This film is photographed well and the acting is actually decent; but the story line seems so familiar. Ms. Jaime Alexander carries the movie and makes it worthwhile. This supernatural horror rendering has an attractive young woman(Alexander)being stranded in a seemingly quiet small town while her car all but dies. She is befriended by a reporter trying to gather information on a local farm that has been the site of human sacrifices. An animated scarecrow wants her...dead. A satanical preacher(Ethan Phillips), who also has a taste and hankering for her, convinces her and anyone with sanity to escape.

Other players include: Brian McNamara, Chloe Moretz, Ned Vaughn and Tamara Clutterbuck. It is not too hard to figure why this went direct-to-video. Kudos to director David Benullo, who did successfully present a good project, albeit predictable.

In the next Star Trek film slated for 2011, Leonard Nimoy's intrepid Spock, again, travels back in time this time to warn the crew of the Starship Voyager of the dangers of the Bad Lands, thus sparing them their encounter with the Caretaker and thus sparing us the tedium of Ethan Phillips' Neelix, the Jar-Jar Binks of the Star Trek universe. I can dream, can't I? It is Ethan Phillips that stars along Jamie Alexander and Brian McNamara in David Benullo's Hallowed Ground, an insufferable exercise in rolled out horror clichés. Please, Ethan, this is what we get from an MFA from Cornell? Hallowed Ground, director David Benullo's second foray into directing since his nearly impossible to track down and deeply creepy (not in a good way creepy) incest fantasy, Cupid, left me with a few questions. Where in Kansas does corn grow on vines? How does one fall from a walk on role in I Know Who Killed Me to a starring role in Hallowed Ground (McNamara)? And how does crap like this get made in the first place? Does the pitch—or pitchfork— for an abortion like this go something like, "Yes, it's Children of the Corn meets Dark Night of the Scarecrow, you know a dense, indecipherable, mish-mash of every horror or slasher film made in the last thirty years." Who thought this was a good idea? At least Cupid had the paraphilic angle (I am truly praying Mr. Benullo doesn't have sisters), Hallowed, however, is early (pre-sobriety) Stephen King vomited up as uninspired horror, though a truly inspired and fervidly presented middle finger to rural, agricultural and Christian Americans. I don't know the man, however, my guess is he's a run-of-the-mill USC or NYU film school type, a typical, unthinking, and blinkered, North Easterner that has never spent time in the Midwest nor interacted with the people of rural America he so crudely portrays. It's a strange kind of bigotry. I'm not personally a religious man, but I find the way Christians are portrayed in this film deeply offensive. Would Mr. Benullo portray Muslim Americans in this kind of light? Unlikely. So that's it. Red state America is populated by mullet sporting, human sacrificing, scarecrow worshipping, Talaxians that grow mutant corn which grows on killer vines. Stay away from this garbage.