I love movies and try to give everything a chance. While some stick to just the big mainstream stuff, I enjoy digging around in the lower budget market in hopes of finding that special something. One of the latest I recently checked out is Hallowed Ground starring Sherri Eakin, Ritchie Montgomery, Lindsay Anne Williams and Miles Doleac who also writes and directs, but does it offer up that something special to make it stand out or will it be a ritual not worth finishing?

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Hallowed Ground follows a married couple, trying to rebuild their relationship after an affair, who travels to a secluded cabin and stumbles into a blood feud between the Native American owners of the property and the neighboring clan, who obsessively guard their land and punish those who trespass on it in terrifying ways. I knew nothing about this film going in other than really digging the vibe of the poster. As the film progressed I thought it was going one way, but went somewhere else and not all in a good way.

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The first half of the film is a bit confusing to me as I understand they were trying to set up these characters and what they are dealing with, but it never really goes anywhere. There are also moments where they didn’t really act in a way that was conducive with what the characters had done previously. This could have been easily ignored had the second half brought it home with the horror elements that you know is coming, but never fully realizes what I think it wanted to do.

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I give the film props for trying to capture the classic 80s tone and things that make for a great horror film, but the characters themselves are never all that memorable. After its set up and even a moment that happens later in the film I thought there was going to be a big payoff in the end that took it to the next level, but instead it kept to close too predictable for me. This film won’t work for some but I applaud them for putting it all out there and trying to bring a unique vision to their finished product.

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These kinds of films are subjective and while not for me, if you are a fan of any of the horror genre then try it out for yourself as this might be the film for you. Cehck out Hallowed Ground in select theaters now and hitting On Demand and DVD on June 11th from Uncorke'd  Entertainment.