Shadow Puppets

I hadn't heard about this 2007 movie titled "Shadow Puppets" before now, as I sat down in 2021 to watch the movie. All I knew was that it was a horror / thriller, and I do like horror movies, so of course I gave "Shadow Puppets" a chance.

And talk about being a snooze fest. This movie was incredibly slow paced, and to make matters worse, then the storyline was completely devoid of anything interesting, which just prolonged the suffering of sitting through the movie.

As the movie trotted on, slowly losing me in the curve, then all the sudden Tony Todd showed up, and my interest in the movie was given a jolt. But it was short-lived, as not even this horror icon could do much of anything to improve on a dying storyline, nor to quicken up the monotonous pacing of the movie.

I made it about one hours into this ordeal, and believe you me, I wasn't impressed, much less actually entertained. But I wanted to give the movie a proper chance. But writer and director Michael Winnick just utterly failed to deliver anything worthwhile watching here.

Now, the acting in the movie was, for the most parts, wooden and rigid. The performances, generally speaking, were just lacking conviction and enthusiasm.

The movie does, however, have a nice enough atmosphere to it. But that could only do so much to lift up an otherwise complete train wreck.

My rating of "Shadow Puppets" lands on a generous three out of ten stars, mostly because of the atmosphere, but also because Tony Todd was here after all. If you enjoy proper horror movies, then "Shadow Puppets" is an ill-advised choice to watch.

"Shadow Puppets" is movie that has a great cast and a great premise! The biggest problem with this movie that it isn't thrilling! Not one moment you get scared! The ghost isn't threatening enough! The shadow ghost is an interesting concept! It is too bad that they didn't use this idea to it's full potential! But this is a problem the whole movie has! The lack of ambiance! It should be key in a movie like this! It could have been overlooked if they had put in some wonderful twist that would have explained the ghost and actually showed how this ghost was created! We do get some explanation on the situation! But by the time we do you couldn't care less because you were bored to death! The predictable story and the lack of thrills make this a movie that is not worth watching !

I found this refreshing from the usual vampire, zombie, slasher movies. This movie fits in to the mold of the classic The Thing for the simple fact that you don;t who is out to get you. With that the story was good. On the other hand the acting could have been better. Some of the characters seem lost in the scenes and I give Tony Todd props for trying to keep the story up and going. But it still falls short. It's worth a one time watch if nothing more. If you are streaming for a movie to watch for a long trip just to go to sleep. This is the one. Or a overnight party with friends that like horror flicks that are some what campy but easy on the eyes.

What can I say? I'm a big fan of horror (as well as science fiction, and anything generally weird). If you too are a fan you will be entertained by this movie. It's a "trapped-and-hunted" movie which is a common enough plot idea, but the delivery had some originality and was very entertaining.

Basically, an unlikely mix of people (one's a nympho, for instance) wake up (separately) to find themselves in a cell in underwear with no knowledge of who they are or where they are except that they are captives of some sort. They are able to leave their cells and walk around and in so doing they eventually run into each other. There mission is of course to find out who they are, where they are, and generally: What the heck is going on!!!

I don't want to say anything more and ruin it for the rest of you. Suffice to say that you will be entertained, especially if you are into horror and sci-fi like I am. Finally, it's really hard to find a good scary horror movie these days, isn't it? Sometimes I think it's a lost art and nobody out there really knows how to scare the crap out of you anymore. In fairness, maybe it's harder to scare today's crowd who've been there, done that. I guess we've lost our innocence and the challenge for any moviemaker these days is to find the child in us and say- "Boo!" Love, Boloxxxi.

I was fortunate to see a special preview of Shadow Puppets. I don't want to give away anything but I will say this: The movie keeps you in suspense from beginning to end, has a believable script, unique special effects, an original premise, and many jump-out-of-your-seat moments. The soundtrack and unusual sound effects increase the terror-level in many scenes. Jolene Blalock and James Marsters are excellent but newcomer Mark Winnick is an actor to watch: he has the best lines and delivers them with adorable ingenuousness. I will definitely see this movie again when it is released in theaters, and look forward to more films by director Michael Winnick.