When (irritating) bickering sisters Sarah (Stephanie Hunt), Marley (Sarah Dugdale) and Emma (Alisha Newton) go to Shelter Island (even though they are repeatedly warned not to go there today) to stay at their aunt Cora’s house, they stumble upon dead bodies in the streets and are attacked by a murderous creature. The sisters then run into other survivors and discover that the island is suffering from a curse that was placed on it by women who were executed as witches some time in the past. As the weird creature continues to hunt down any survivors that cross its path, the sisters must try to keep out of the thing’s clutches until dawn.

THE HOLLOW, directed by Sheldon (RED: WEREWOLF HUNTER) Wilson, who also cowrote the screenplay with Rick (SCARECROW) Suvalle, is a SyFy network original.

The plot is no great shakes, becoming rather repetitive, with characters doing the same thing several times over, such as getting the creature’s attention, even though this risks their own life, so that others can escape from the thing.
There’s a potentially interesting backstory concerning a curse on the island, but this isn’t really gone into, with little explanation given to the source of the supernatural twiggy critter that is on the loose.

The acting really varies in quality too, unfortunately, with some of the supporting cast coming across as pretty damn hammy.

As this is a SyFy flick, the film’s main threat is, of course, an all-CGI monster. So… I bet you’re expecting me to criticise this aspect of the film too, right?

Wrong!

I really like the creature in this movie!

The monster is a strange, humanoid-shaped being that is formed from roots/twigs/vines, constantly glowing with a smouldering inner fire.

It actually looks pretty striking whenever it is on screen. In one scene it rams its burning root-twig arm through a wall to grab the head of one of the characters.

Basically, this creature is just too good for the film that features it!