A British horror film by recently refinanced "Hammer Films" starring Aidan Gillen, Eva Birthistle, and Timothy Spall. It tells the story of a couple who, after losing their daughter to a crazed dog, learn that the small English town of Wake Wood, to which they moved, brims with pagan magic. After the death of one of the locals, an opportunity arises to revive their daughter, Alice, for three days. The ritual works and the parents are overjoyed, but something is very wrong with their returned daughter.
This film provides examples of:
- Back from the Dead: Alice, and later on Louise. Both for only three days, though.
- Came Back Wrong
- Campbell Country
- Chekhov's Gun: The windmills.
- Chekhov's Skill: Patrick's ability to perform C-sections.
- Closed Circle: Those who perform the resurrection spell are bound to the town and unable to go beyond its borders. What this means for the living is unclear, but is particularly painful to the dead, at least until they're brought back inside.
- Creepy Child: Alice grows increasingly creepier as the three days go on.
- Critical Existence Failure: If Alice steps outside of Wake Wood, her body begins to fall apart; the gashes that appear seem to be the same damage caused by the dog that mauled her before.
- Enfant Terrible: Alice following her resurrection.
- Equivalent Exchange: One recently deceased body must be used to bring one person back from the dead. The resurrected will also acquire some traits from the recycled body; in Alice's case, her resurrected body has the brown eyes of the man who's corpse was used, rather than their previously green color.
- Genre Blindness: Patrick and Louise are given very specific rules about resurrecting their daughter which they willfully violate at every turn. Then there's the act of a husband and wife holding one another, sobbing with relief that the nightmare is finally over while standing directly on top of the shallow grave of the unstoppable undead abomination they just finished burying seconds before.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: You'd think someone as smart as Littlefinger would know better than to get mixed up with the likes of Wormtail.
- Kick the Dog: No animal that crosses Alice's path remains unscathed.
- Infant Immortality: The aversion of this trope is what kicks off the whole plot.
- Our Zombies Are Different: A very intriguing example. Those who have been dead for less than a year will return to life exactly as they were for three days. They may show confusion and agitation by the third day but can easily be calmed by a special talisman/restraint and will return to the earth willingly. Those who have been dead longer appear normal but gradually grow homicidal. They possess superhuman strength, the ability to disrupt electricity, and are immune to the talismans.
- The Reveal: Patrick and Louise lied about Alice being dead for less than a year. Because of this, the resurrected Alice grows increasingly evil as the three days progress.
- Rule of Three: The resurrected only have three days in the living world before they must return.
- Taking You with Me: One way to interpret Alice pulling Louise down with her in the film's climax, especially if one notes that Alice seemed to make a comment about being "alone."
- Town with a Dark Secret: Subverted. The villagers give every indication of being an evil small-town cult. It turns out they really do just want to help people see their dead loved ones again while doing their best to ensure the dead don't come back wrong.
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