Shepherd

After his adulterous wife dies in an accident, a grieving husband decides to take a job shepherding sheep on a remote island nearby to process the situation only to be tormented by a seemingly malicious spirit intent on unearthing a hidden truth about the incident.

Overall, there's not much to this one. The fact that it manages to evoke a mysterious and generally eerie atmosphere here is about all that works as this one generates some impressive atmosphere due to the situation. The sense of isolation here with his physically being stranded on the remote island as well as mentally with the ghosts of his past rendering him incapable of anything other than taking a job on this island offers a fantastic building block to work The supernatural sequences off of. From strange behaviors by his dog forcing him to look around the house, eerie bowling in the distance that no one else can respond to or the strange discoveries around the island he keeps making, this one manages an effectively chilling scenario that may or may not be in his mind. However, while this creates a fantastic starting point the film never does much else with it. That's due to the dreary and depressing tone that carries on throughout here as the quiet, slow-burn setup keeps the overt scares away in favor of a more unnerving series of psychological mind games involving a person not ready to accept their fate. This offers up a highly puzzling setup that might not work for most out there which gets this one off to a rather underwhelming beginning point. Less troublesome but also detrimental is the somewhat overlong running time for this kind of genre effort which does make this one somewhat of a challenge to get through. Otherwise, these are the only flaws here.

Rated R: Violence and Language.

First of all, I'm a horror film fan. The scarier, bloodier and crazier the better. That's not to say I have unsophisticated taste, though. I absolutely loved this movie. It's not "scary" scary, or bloody. It's not particularly crazy either. This isn't a cheap looking home movie, like some low budget flicks out there. It had a Hitchcock style vibe to it (think Vertigo) that drew me in from the beginning. I usually hate dream sequences as a cheap plot device, but here it's really hard to tell what's a dream, a fantasy, or reality. The atmosphere of a foggy, cold island with the creepy sheep and bell from the lighthouse take you on a journey of psychological horror. This is a very well done, well acted movie. I highly recommend this for a more mature audience. It's not a popcorn horror movie, which is actually nice for a change.

We know, we know...lighthouses and loneliness make you crazy. When you've recently lost a wife, it's not a good idea to take a job herding sheep in the middle of nowhere. Bound to be some ghosts.

Far under-rated at 4.9! One of the problems with today's viewers seems to be their extreme need for fast, gory, action packed "horror".

This is a great film for those who can deal with a slower paced show with things to think on. There are fabulous, unusual, eerie views of some very remote and very old scenery of house, and decrepit light house quite possibly now gone.

Would have liked to have seen the sheep theme worked in more. Never did we see a flock of hundreds as mentioned in the want ad. They can have such distinct personalities it would have been cool to see them as representatives of people of his past... and a bit more relationship with his 8 year old dog.

What spurred me to watch this obviously wasn't the ratings. It was the remoteness of the Scottish countryside and part of a trailer showing the great cinematography expressing the power of wild nature.

Recommended for a relaxing watch which might leave you with things to think on about your own relationships, paranoia and phobias. Enjoy - I sure did!

Shepherd is a quiet focused film on the tragedy and grief of a man (and his dog) who leaves his home taking residence on an isolated island to tend to sheep. He's mourning the death of his wife, but given the reticence of this character, all we know is that she died. The woman who instructs him on his duties, and who will bring supplies, takes on a meancing nature as the lead starts his descent into isolation reacrion. Is it psychosis or supernatural? The film continues with elements increasing in their bizarre nature and displays some surreal visions. At the end, we find one piece of the puzzle from the lead character, helping to have some satisfaction at the end without full clarity given.

Tom Hughes does well in carrying this film as he is largely alone on screen. He portrays the numbness of grief expertly, and he manages a realistic depiction of that descent into Hell or madness without falling into stereotypical behaviors or characterizations. His performance makes the resolution and uncertainty credible for the film's end.