Now this is storytelling! With all of the drivel out there trying hard to pass itself off as Horror, in comes this film with its superb acting and terribly terrifying plot. Ireland has never seemed so scary! (I lived there for a year, saw some strange things, etc. but thank God never saw anything like this!) I give this one a 10 because there are no flaws, and the finale is both tender and utterly shocking! There's been no film made like this before, and it would be a good thing not to begin a trend or franchise with this one. Leave it as the singular gem it is, and enjoy!

An Irishman brings his neurotically pregnant English wife home to the Irish Republic, where the local villagers are just as weird as you'd expect. Following a tragic house fire they adopt a troubled girl named Daisy. The wife is besotted but the husband has suspicions. As tensions between the parents and their adopted daughter become unbearable, a sinister secret emerges. Stars Michael Finn Seamus McDonnell O'Flahahaherty as Matthew McDonagh.I rate The Daisy Chain at 9.99 on the Haglee Scale, which works out as a dismal 3/10 on IMDb.

Female directors are too rare, particularly those willing to approach the horror genre. Walsh uses the beautiful Western Irish coast to create a bleak atmosphere of isolation and vulnerability. The plot is somewhat obvious, a young couple move away from the bright lights of London to raise a family, the wife is pregnant, and the husband has inherited his childhood home in Ireland, but the neighbour's child Daisy is suspected of being a fairy changeling, born in a fairy ring on Halloween. The Neighbour's son is killed under mysterious circumstances and the parents are soon to follow, the child is then adopted by the London couple, the motivation for this aspect of the plot is addressed but remains unconvincing. The superstitious locals become increasingly scared of young Daisy. The film lacks originality but has some redeeming qualities, the child actress Mhairi Anderson who plays Daisy is remarkable, providing a genuinely disturbing performance, the cinematography and score combine to give the film a unique character that is tense and compelling. The theme of fairies and the supernatural remains unaddressed which is frustrating, it is never made clear whether the girl suffers from autism, is very disturbed or is really a fairy changeling, a question left unanswered deliberately by the director, but in a clumsy way, that doesn't encourage the audience to feel sympathy for the girl, who is properly identified neither as victim nor as aggressor. Despite the flaws The Daisy Chain, a combination of Straw Dogs and the Wicker Man, is a beautiful and at times moving addition to the horror genre.

I saw this film at a sold out screening at the recent Raindance Film Festival. It is a beautiful piece of work both haunting and affecting. Samantha Morton gives an amazing performance as does Steven Mackintosh but it is newcomer Mhairi Anderson's perfectly judged performance as the waif Daisy that stays with you and keeps you guessing right up until the end. Shot in the magical but often bleak landscape of the West of Ireland this is a haunting and beautiful film that will stay with you for a long time. Another very very fine film from one of Europe's finest female directors whose individual voice and point of view is always interesting. Congratulations.