Shadow (2009)

()
Directed by:
Written by: , ,
Starring: , , , ,

Shadow (2009)
Directed by Federico Zampaglione
Starring Jake Muxworthy, Karina Testa, Nuot Arquint, Chris Coppola and Ottaviano Blitch

 

Jake Muxworthy plays David, a young Iraqi war veteran who has a passion for mountain biking. His hobbie leads him to a unnamed country in Europe with beautiful woodland and mountain scenery. Whilst having a beer in the local hut bar, he meets a young woman (Karina Testa) who’s being harassed by two hunters. David stands up to the bullies and the young woman flees.

Whilst riding his bike through the sprawling landscape, he decides to pitch up camp for the night, but ends up loosing his tent. Luck is at hand when he bumps into the mysterious girl who lets him stay in her tent. She introduces herself as Angeline and is also there for a mountain biking break. She questions him on how he knew about the location, known as the Shadow, and he informs her his best mate told him all about it. She then starts to tell him how part of the Shadow is haunted with ghosts of dead rebels who were mercilessly killed in the dead of night and that anyone who dare venture into the part will never return. This doesn’t bother the two as they continue to ride together the following morning. Gazing over the stunning scenery, they spot some deer grazing and Angeline spots the bothersome hunters in the bushes, taking aim. She alerts the deer who flee, and both her and David decide to escape as quickly as possible when the hunters turn the gun on them.

Cue a chase scene between a land rover and two cyclists for about 10 mins, until finally they all end up in the spooky part of the Shadow, where each of them are systematically attacked and abducted. David and the hunters awake strapped to individual metal bed slabs and are tortured by a frog-licking, skeleton of a man named Mortis, who has a fondness for wars, terror attacks and dictators, including a certain George ‘Dubya’ Bush.

From here on, the film slips downhill and before we know it it’s the end, which is clearly inspired by Jacob’s Ladder. The mountain biking woodland scenes are stunning, and you’ll find yourself captivated by the beauty of the sport and awe-inspiring natural surroundings the characters ride through. It’s no surprise to learn that director Federico is a keen cyclist with the attention to detail he invests in on the cycling sections of the film. The first half of the film is gripping and I cannot fault, with the viewer an engaged spectator to the events that unfold. Howeever, as soon as we get into the Saw/Hostel territory, it feels out of character and indeed feels like another film has been spliced into the one we’re watching. This is very disappointing as the director, Federico Zampaglione, crafted such a brilliant opener that was full of promise, only for the film not to deliver when it needed it most. I would have liked for the horrifying final third to have remained in the woods and maintained its running theme rather than change tack and opt for something different. The cast in Shadow are likable and put on a good performance to allow the viewer to invest in them. Nuot Arquint, who plays the Nazi loving sadist, is one spooky guy but he never speaks and his character lacks depth, which is a real disappointment come to the final scenes.

Rating: ★★½☆☆

Avatar photo
About Bat 4368 Articles
I love practical effects, stop-motion animation and gore, but most of all I love a good story! I adore B-movies and exploitation films in many of their guises and also have a soft spot for creature features. I review a wide range of media including movies, TV series, books and videogames. I'm a massive fan of author Hunter S. Thompson and I enjoy various genre of videogames with Kingdom Hearts and Harvest Moon two of my all time favs. Currently playing: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Yakuza Zero and Mafia III.

6 Comments

  1. Oh dear, I’ve got this ready to watch but just haven’t got round to it. Think i’ll give it a miss

  2. Very bad review. Shadow is definitely one of the best terror flick i’ve seen in a while..the writer did’nt get the film at all…. it’s a shame. Paulie

    • Hi Paulie. The thing about reviews is that they are one person’s view point. So thank you for your comments. I understood the film fine, and how the film ended tied in with what it had portrayed throughout. I just thought it was poorly executed in the latter half and done much better in Jacob’s Ladder, the film it appeared to be inspired by.

  3. I agree with Paulie, it’s weird you have’nt got the flick at all… watched a couple of weeks back with my BF and we both thought it was creepy..very creepy ! on top of this, there’s a very stong message against horrors of war..you may say it reminds u to Jacob’s ladder but in this case its pretty different, this guy is not dead, he will keep living in those conditions..wich is terribly worst.. don’t u think , mate ? Btw truth has be told..reviews are just one person’s point of view, even if it’s totally wrong.

  4. I like it that you Shadow lovers are getting in touch. It’s giving a broader spectrum to the response to this film. For me, it was a bit of a let down. As soon as it showed a glimpse of him in a truck during the war at the beginning of the film, I pretty much guessed the ending. This is where I felt let down. Secondly, although the guy in Shadow live on with injuries, the whole process and ending is not dissimilar from Jacob’s Ladder. To tip things off, I felt the ‘torture’ scenes in Shadow were pretty tame and quickly executed. I know they were meant to mimic what was really happening in the ‘war’ to the character, but it all seemed a bit rushed, when compared to half the film which was taken up with mountain biking. If they developed the latter end of the film, it would have been better. I didn’t totally slate it… i gave it 2.5 stars after all! 🙂 Oh, and one more thing… toad/frog licking?!?!
    Btw, if anyone reading this feels strongly against my review, please sign up and post your own version. It’d be nice to have two different opinions.

  5. See I was confused at the end of this blood letting film. You assume he is in a hospital without legs, but the last last minute you see black and white film still filming, which then goes back to the toad sucker who is filming the whole sadistic encounter, so I thought it was still the iraq vet in the grips of this psycho but with a twist, no legs to run, but still filming. Why the last shot with the film still recording?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*