Shadow - Na Escuridão

I was compelled to write a review after seeing some negative reviews. A lot of the other reviewers were expecting some kind of Italian horror like argento etc. When they didn't get what they expected they wrote a bad review.

I cant stand those geeky Italian horrors from film makers like argento so my views are not tainted by it! just because the directer is Italian doesn't mean its going to be similar to those films dur.

This film was nicely filmed in beautiful locations with some smooth editing and quality camera work. I was interested from start to finish in what was happening. For those reviewers who said the film was mixed up obviously didn't get what it was all about. I wont ruin it by telling you.

There was some gruesome imaginative torture porn for those of that are into that sort of thing but what kept me interested was the creepy atmosphere and how invested i was in the characters struggle from the start of the film right through to the end.

In summary really not bad for a lower budget film, a directer who knows how to capture the moment and not give us enough time to question what just happened before the next drama ensues! This is something Hollywood fails with again and again with every genre so i gave it an 8 / 10

When a young soldier leaves for a mountain biking excursion he meets the girl of his dreams as well a group of violent locals who want to see them dead at any cost.

What really attracted me to this film was seeing Fabrizio Bava as assistant director. Bava, as you may guess, is the son of Lamberto Bava and the grandson of Mario Bava. To see a third generation of horror films directed by the Bava clan is quite a treat. Not saying this is a great film (it really is just so-so), but I am still happy to see the tradition continue.

The best part of this film is the villain, a toad-licking Lord Voldemort. He looks as if Doug Jones played Buffalo Bill playing Ingmar Bergman's Death. Throw some Nazi symbolism in there for good measure. A great villain, both creepy and mysterious, not to mention senselessly vicious.

The sad thing is that while the film is alright once it gets going, it just cannot keep the momentum. As always, I cannot talk about spoilers, but I will say the twist and I did not get along. Maybe you will be thrilled. I was let down.

This was... most certainly indi to say the least haha it was a little all over the place but still had some positives.

Conceptually I found this decently interesting and in a big way was saved from being unredeemable by the twist in the end. Nothing all too interesting happened until about half way through and I think a lot of the beginning filler could have been cut. In all honesty, keeping it as close to its original form, I think it could have been most successful as a 30 minute short.

They had some really neat filming locations and set dressing so props for that. Also main guy and girl did a decent job, the two bad guys... not so much. And the bad bad guy, while he didn't say anything he was super creepy. Honestly, could have done with more of him all around.

You have to have a true appreciation for indi for this one. Also I think the concept could inspire something really interesting to work with. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't recommend.

I was sort of iffy about watching this due to the rating and such and I try not to watch trailers or read reviews so I don't get my hopes up but decided to watch the trailer and was surprised. The beginning of the movie is slow but is done excellently. The story line was a great idea and was also done great. The kill scenes were not gory or gruesome but I let it slide. I for once didn't expect the ending or the killer in a foreign horror movie and was glad I didn't. To cut it short this was a great way to spend some time and I would love to watch it again. I give "Shadow" an 8 out of 10.

~Joe

Saw this at Frightfest in London a few days ago.

Director Federico Zampaglione comes across as a really nice guy, the film seemed like a bit of a labour of love for him (he even got his old dad who helped with the script up on stage for the Q&A which was quite sweet) and he's obviously a real genre fan. That's the good news...

However, on the bad side... the story is horribly confused, the direction is all over the place - but the music isn't too bad (Zampaglione is the singer of an Italian pop-rock band) There are a few fairly gruesome moments, but there's all too much boring, nonsensical build up, with badly drawn characters running around in the woods before the "horror" bits kick in. There's also a good deal of needless mountain biking (a passion of the director) which makes the film feel like someone's switched onto an extreme sports channel for 5 mins before we can get back to the film! As I say, there are moments of promise but as an overall film it just doesn't work. I don't think that Zampaglione is really ready to be writing and helming his own films at this stage... it's a far cry from a 3 minute music promo.

Hopefully for his sake he'll maybe try and work with an outside influence who might be able to give his next project a little bit more focus. In a way you have to salute Zampaglione for making exactly the kind of film he wanted to make - but unfortunately that doesn't make it something that other people will want to watch.

One to avoid.