Wake Wood is one of the new breed of Hammer horror films, this one getting a direct to DVD release (as many horror films seem to do).
The film that Wake Wood seemingly bases itself on is The Wicker Man. In Ireland somewhere, there’s a community of people who have some slightly unusual beliefs. But unlike that classic film, they’re not enticing some kind of innocent to his death.
Instead we meet a young couple played by Eva Birtwhistle and Aiden Gillen. She’s a pharmacist and he’s a vet, and they moved into the country after the tragic death of their daughter (allowing us to recall The Wicker Man’s original shared double feature Don’t Look Now).
Then they discover that the locals have a way of bringing back to life the recently deceased for just three days…
As much as anything, this is a character piece and nicely handled. The couple are believable and the only flaw in their thinking is the realisation that if you were to bring back their daughter, at the end of three days it gets very tough very quickly again.
Worth a look at on DVD.