Under the Shadow

The first thing that stood out about this film was it's unique setting for a horror flick, it take's place in 1980's Iran during War Of The Cities. Our main character Shideh (Played by Narges Rashidi) has just learned that she won't be able to attend Medical school due to her background in activism. On top of all that her husband is being drafted to fight in the war leaving Shideh in a war torn country raising her daughter alone. The whole set up/first half was excellent, the acting is believable and director does a great job of establishing a tense tone. It definitely did not feel like the usual set up to a horror movie, in fact if I hadn't known before hand that this was a Horror flick I probably would have just assumed it was a Drama depicting live in Iran during a hard time.

So as the story progresses the horror elements are introduced, Shideh's daughter starts having trouble sleeping because she is afraid of Djinn (Demons). Some paranormal things start happening around the house and eventually things do get a little creepy. This part of the movie started to drag a bit a bit on the tension died down a bit for me. There are some scares that were well done and caught me off guard, however a few were too obvious and came off a bit too cheesy. Overall the second half is good but parts of it just felt like a run of the mill ghost movie. Plus the last fifteen minutes or so kind of fell flat on me, I felt like that was suppose to be a big tense scene but I just wasn't feeling it.

I enjoyed "Under The Shadow", it has it's flaws but it does enough right to make it a worthwhile experience. If you are interested in watching a decent ghost movie that has very interesting setting then this one if worth a watch, it doesn't do anything mind blowing but it does a good enough job at being an effective horror film.

I saw this at the Phoenix Film Festival. I'd say this is tied for my favourite horror movie from that festival (with Eyes of my Mother...also amazing).

Ghost movies are really the only horror films that stand of chance of scaring me these days. There were a few times during this film that I was completely tense, and a few times, absolutely on the verge of terror as to what was going to happen next. The film was just so well done in terms of pacing.

Unfortunately, ghost movies also suffer from poor endings, quite frequently. This ending was better than most, but something about it didn't sit right with me, and that's all I'll say to prevent spoilers. You may disagree entirely. I'm a tough one on endings.

I really hope this gets a wide distribution, because if you're at all a fan of ghost movies, this movie is just fantastic. A definite must see!

"Under the Shadow" was such a wonderful surprise for me. I had already read some reviews and everybody was speechless about it. I didn't really expect something THAT good when I started watching it.

The film takes place in Iran somewhere in the 80's when the Iran-Iraq war was on. Shideh and Dorsa, a mother and a daughter, find themselves "abandoned and unprotected" after the father has to leave in order to give his services as a doctor in the war zone. This is when they start realizing that something evil haunts them in their apartment, and there is not much they can do to escape since it's dangerous to leave their home.

Many compare it to 2014's "Babadook". I can see why but at the same time I don't see so many relations to each other. The only thing that I know is that there were moments that I seriously considered turning the lights on for a while... Sometimes the graphics were not that great, definitely not disappointing but seriously, I didn't mind at all. Narges Rashidi's acting is a huge plus for the movie as long as the direction.

Scary, touching, simple though powerful, "Under the Shadow" is a pleasant surprise not only for the horror genre but for cinema in general.

In the 80's, during the war between the Islamic post-revolutionary Iran and Iraq, the former leftist medical student Shideh (Narges Rashidi) tries to return to the university but is barred by the dean. The upset Shideh returns home and when her husband Dr. Iraj (Bobby Naderi) is assigned to work in a war zone, she refuses to move to his parent's house with their daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi). Shideh prefers to stay in her apartment with Dorsa, who loves her doll Kimia and has constant fever. Dorsa is afraid of demoniac Djinns and when Shideh asks who told her about the legend, she tells that her friend that lives downstairs. Shideh visits her neighbor and asks his mother to tell her son to not tell horror stories to Dorsa and she learns that the boy is mute. Then Kimia and Shideh's Jane Fonda workout tape disappear. When a missile strikes their building, the neighbors decide to leave Tehran, but Shideh stays in the apartment with Dorsa, who is increasingly disturbed. Soon Shideh reads about Djinns and finds that there is an evil entity in the apartment. Further she must find Kimia; otherwise Dorsa will be in danger since the Djinn will be attached to her.

"Under the Shadow" is an atmospheric and spooky ghost story in an unusual environment – Tehran in the 80's. The difference to the Western cultures is another attraction of this film, such as punishment of the woman for not wearing headscarf or for having a videocassette at home. The story has elements from "The Babadook" but is better than the 2014 film. The conclusion is open for a sequel, like most of the films of this genre. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available.

If there is one thing horror movies do best, it's taking real life, psychological fears and making them as tangible as possible, forcing us to experience the dread that we prefer to push into the back of our minds, yet this is something often traded out for cheap shock in horror movies today. While "Under the Shadow" may miss a few beats in terms of its actual scares, it is an atmospheric and smart film that is about the real oppression that many people had to deal with and how it affects its main character.

It takes place in Iran during the 80s, a very divisive time in the country's history, when Iranians could be bombed by Iraq at any moment. Anyone who didn't follow their strict rules was horribly punished, and one could be discriminated against for their past political views, and the end of the war was nowhere in sight.

The film begins with Shideh attempting to finish her medical studies, but being turned down for her past political views. Her mother has just died, and she always dreamed that Shideh would be a doctor. Her husband, while loving, doesn't seem very supportive, and they get in an argument which details her past, showing that her husband has subtly oppressed her in the past. He leaves for work around a time that rumors begin to surface about Iraq bombings. He insists she take her daughter to his parents' house, and she denies, mostly as a way to prove that she can take care of her daughter.

However, after the first bombing, Shideh begins to lose control of her daughter, who starts to talk to supernatural beings brought on by the anxiety and fear caused by the attacks. Most people begin leaving, and soon she is left alone, desperately clinging to her daughter, but often failing.

The horror is said to be supernatural, but it is mostly brought upon by her fear that she is useless. She fears that since she can't be a doctor, she must be a good mother, but everything around her is telling her she is failing.

As far as the actual scares go, they are executed impressively for the most part. The shots are held just as long as they need to be held in order to build tension, and cuts are made at the right moments. There are a few jump scares that felt predictable (such as the first dream sequence, and moments towards the end), but most are built up perfectly and used just sparingly enough to truly be unaware of what would happen next. A few moments during the climax felt dragged out, as tends to happen with many horror films, good and bad. But what is most striking about this film is its atmosphere. It has a very dream-like atmosphere and some of the imagery is pretty hard to forget.