Shadows Side

I love horror movies. I grew up watching the really old horror movies in black and white, that were very low budget. I even like a lot of horror movies, that the reviews on here say the movie sucks. I still watch them and find a diamond in the rough, sometimes. Unfortunately, this was a horrible movie. The acting was terrible, the story was terrible, and the "horror" parts were just awful. I get it had a very low budget, but there are plenty of low budget horror films, that are fun to watch. This is not one of this horror movies, though. I actually tried to finish it, but shut it off with ten minutes left, I just couldn't watch anymore. Don't waste your time on this one.

Stumbling upon the 2024 horror movie "Shadows Side" by random chance here in 2025, of course I opted to watch it on account of it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, much less actually heard about. So I virtually didn't know what I was in for here, and as such, I suppose that director Silvio Toledo had every opportunity to entertain and impress me.

I have no idea who wrote the script and storyline to this movie, but whomever it was then the person didn't do a particularly good job. The narrative was sluggishly paced and rather devoid of things that were entertaining, much less actually scary. And a horror movie without any scary bits, well that just made for a lousy viewing experience. The script felt like it was written by some kid in elementary school who just started out in film making class.

Initially I was lured into picking up the movie from its somewhat interesting and impressive cover, which I found to be somewhat Lovecraftian, so perhaps that was what I would be in for here; some cosmic dread.

I was not familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. The acting performances in the movie, especially from actor Fábio Campos, left much to be desired.

The movie's cover was the best part about this 2024 movie, sadly so. The cover over-sold the movie by a landslide, making it look way more interesting than the movie actually turned out to be. And let me just state that the movie does not have an ounce of Lovecraftian elements to it; no tentacles, no portals, no nothing.

My rating of director Silvio Toledos 2024 movie "Shadows Side" lands on a rather generous two out of ten stars.

Cast

Not familiar with anybody involved. Alice Oliveira was surprisingly good here.

Verdict

It's a rarity I give a movie a 1/10, because that means a movie has absolutely redeeming features and that's quite the accomplishment if I cannot see one single memorable, enjoyable or competent thing throughout its run time.

Shadows Side from all the artwork looks like we're going to see something Lovecraftian, one poster I saw even featured portal right out of Dr Strange. Let me be clear, there are no portals, no tentacles, and everything used to advertise this movie is just a lie.

The movie a cheap and nasty tale with cringe inducing special effects, a plot that makes absolutely no sense and where ultimately nothing actually happens and I found myself unforgivably bored to the point that the movie became a chore to watch.

It's so dull, and the dubbing? Or at least I think it was dubbing actually managed to make it worse.

Shadow's Side isn't worth your time, it doesn't even have a novelty value like Scyfy/Asylum/ITN movies it's just terrible.

Rants

Cover art seems to be the way indie filmmakers really push their film. They can't make the film look good but they can at least reel you in with some striking memorable artwork (Even if most of it is AI). They can create anything regardless of whether it's actually featured in the movie. Shadows Side is a fantastic example of this, they lie before the opening credits have even rolled.

The Good

Nope

The Bad

Terrible dubbing Incredibly boring Plot makes no sense Really ugly Dishonest cover art.

THE SHADOWS SIDE is a mystery horror movie which has received especially low ratings. This made me curious because typically, one can recognize the bare bottom of the lot from the first few minutes, and this was not the case here.

While the opening did seem a bit cheesy, it did not feel like other grade Z- movies: the set design of the opening scene and the opening music seemed nice enough, so I decided to watch.

First off, I think one thing that works heavily against this movie right away is the aural experience it offers (apart from the music score, which is actually not bad): the sound design is not good, and the actors are clearly not native English speakers, both of which imbue the scenes with a stilted feel that repeatedly takes one out of the movie.

This is listed as United States movie, but I suspect that is a marketing/distribution ploy. A more honest and IMO more effective approach would have been to market this as a foreign movie spoken in Portuguese with subtitles. There is an audience for that, even in the States. It is not nearly as big as the audience which wants to see American-made movies only, but it won't be as harsh in judging the language issues.

Another problem is that many tropes in this films are familiar and have been done better; I kept thinking to myself "haven't I seen a scene like this before, but executed with more skill?"

The concept of the story, about a woman trapped in a vacation chalet where the boundary between dream and reality is blurred, is not very original, but could still have turned into an interesting B movie. Unfortunately, the problems mentioned above and a general cheesiness, particularly of the monster, undermine this effort.

The cinematography maintains a consistent color tone yet it is uneven when it comes to the quality of tve shots. A few inspired takes are sandwiched among many mediocre ones.

The movie does not resolve whether what the woman experiences is real or not, and bookending the film with philosophical quotes struck me as pretentious.

All in all, not a good film but still a little better than bottom of the barrel.

"Shadows Side offers a compelling experience for fans of classic horror, with sound and visual effects that create an intense atmosphere of suspense and terror. The film excels in building tension, using eerie sound design and dark visuals to heighten the horror experience. However, character development is somewhat lacking; while the plot is intriguing, it would be more impactful if the characters were given more depth and complexity. Greater focus on their growth would allow audiences to connect more deeply and make the unfolding events feel more realistic and engaging."

"The greatest enemy you can ever meet will always be yourself."

"We can only see the light when we are in the dark."