Shadow Builder

The movie is not a failure, it has a good story (because of the good writer). Visual Effects look good (I didn't like the eclipse ones tho, those were...shit!). It's still good as a only on video movie. The shadow builder and it's dogs look good. Very good acting by Michael Rooker. It can be noticed that Kevin Zeggers will look good when he's older, but anyways, he doesn't do a very good acting in this movie. The movie, however it is, it's familiar to all of us. It's another Devil , Light and a good priest movie. Like Posessed (altho posessed was much better than this). The movie is entertaining, but it isn't a piece of art. 6/10

Shadow Builder isn't more or less than an average horror-movie with average actors and average special FX. It is not especially bad but it isn't very good either. The story of an evil demon who needs to do something very bad (kill a young boy) to reach his goal (turn the world into hell)isn't exactly original but it's good for 97 minutes of entertainment. The story is highly predictable, though. You almost know exactly what will happen and when it will happen. Don't watch this movie if you expect to see a cool horror movie like Bram Stoker's Dracula only because the name Bram Stoker appears in the title. Watch this movie on a boring, rainy day when you have nothing else to do and you'll enjoy it. 6 out of 10 Stars.

A cult of followers of the evil Shadowbuilder summons the demon using the picture of the son of the scumbag Vic Lambert (Eric Murphy). The group is surprised by Father Vassey (Michael Rooker) that kills the followers but Shadowbuilder escapes to Grand River, a town that will experience an eclipse on the next day. Father Vassey heads to the town and discovers that the demon's target is Chris Hatcher (Kevin Zegers), a boy that caused an stigmata in the image of Christ in his baptism that is raised by his aunt Jenny (Leslie Hope). Shadowbuilder brings chaos to Grand River to collect souls and becomes power. Meanwhile, Father Vassey teams up with the local Sheriff Sam Logan (Shawn Thompson) that is Jenny's boyfriend and together they try to protect Chris and destroy the powerful demon.

I saw "Shadowbuilder" in the late 90's and today I have watched again on DVD. The storyline is great but the screenplay is only reasonable considering the potential of the story and the cast. The boy is Kevin Zegers in the beginning of his career. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Shadowbuilder - O Senhor das Sombras" ("Shadowbuilder – The Lord of the Darkness")

As a direct to video release this isn't half bad.

Shadowbuilder is loosely based on a Bram Stoker short story. The first shadow created when God flooded the world with light is out to plunge it back into eternal darkness. I think.

This film reminded me very much of The Mummy in structure. Evil dude comes back to life drawing powers from souls he devours in the midst of an avalanche of CGI. The film relies a lot on CGI which I didn't like at first. But if you accept it as more of a fantasy film then horror you will recognise its actually pretty well done. The demon also isn't that bad. The garish pink monstrosity (yes it was pink) on the DVD cover led me to believe it would be a yawn inducing man mincing around in a horned rubber suit but I was pleasantly surprised. Good use too of shadow and darkness so what you see of the creature leaves most to your imagination. Just the way it should be.

Some parts of the film drag a lot and there aren't that many great moments. But that isn't to say there aren't any at all. Overrall though Shadowbuilder remains pretty average but still very enjoyable if you aren't looking for something that will blow you away. Unlike the Matrix wannabe priest with the twin 9mm's. The film needed a lot more of Neo shooting vainly at the afro toting bad guy.

This is a decent film. Sure, in modern standards with the top notch special effects, some may say its lacking, but I feel that sometimes its great to watch something with less cgi. The story is okay, and you do get to understand certain characters in the film. There are a couple of well known faces in there. Michael Rooker is the Father, and even better is that Tony Todd is playing the local crazy person. I say watch it, and don't compare to the films that have all well known cast members in. The idea is pretty interesting too. As for the Bram Stoker reference, back in 1881, Bram published some short stories. This wasn't very big, so hence the 'based on..' wording.