Shadow of Fear

I felt quite at a loss after this movie. I wondered and wondered, remembering fine details that might contain some important clue for the story. There might be, but I found none. So I concluded either it may be a very intelligent mystery thriller, or it may be just pure crap. So when they showed the film again four days later I began to see it again and found it intolerable after 30 minutes.

I don't know just what the screenwriter was thinking. Same old premises, average locations, predictable camera angles and not-too-bad acting. You can't make a masterpiece out of this. Probably the director or screenwriter set a goal too high. Well, James Spader as an actor is always nice to watch and here's no exception. But the others were below average (especially Robin Tunney). Really, I expected the film not very good, but I didn't know I won't get the story at all.

This past Sunday evening while waiting for SIX FEET UNDER to start, & having nothing better to do & being a JAMES SPADER fan I watched this.

This is a very confusing film, hard to understand for a few reasons. 3/4 this of the dialog is incomprehensible due to the fact that an annoying music score is heard that was louder than the actors voices. Many times the actors spoke so low I doubt that the actors they were speaking to heard them.

Matt Davis, a newcomer(very good looking) is the lead performer, SORRY TO SAY HE NEEDDS ACTING LESSONS. James Spader, Peter Coyote & Aiden Quinn all accomplished actors in other movies do not shine here.All the actresses seem to walk through there roles.

At 88 minutes it is very long. I cannot remember it being shown in theatres when it was released in July 2004

rating IMDb 4/10 ** out 4 53 points/100

I'm surprised this movie has got such a high rating. It starts out very promising with some nice images in the rain. In fact, it is extremely fascinating about until the time when he gets back to his wife and they begin talking. After that the movie falls apart little by little, until it becomes so borderline non-sensible that I just had to turn it off. It is not a matter of "plot twists" as some viewer suggested. Obviously, it is a question of just not being able to put a decent plot together. I see an alarming trend in the new DVD-market where many movies are put out quicker and easier to DVD than it was possible in the good old video days. American horror has suffered in recent years, and did not improve with the pathetic remakes of brilliant Asian horror. Anyway, "Shadow of Fear" is not a horror-movie. It is hardly even a movie. If it had only lasted until he got back to his wife, and she then turned into a demon or something; then it would have been a good "Twilight Zone"-episode but when a movie-plot collapses like that in one superfluous scene after the other then it becomes irrelevant to watch. As one viewer suggested, we are never told what this "organisation" does. I think, this is a major problem. On the back of the DVD it said something about a secret "cult"-organisation with big power. It sounded promising but in the movie this organisation seems completely devoid of power, so what's the point?

"Shadow of Fear" has some pretty good production values for a low budget direct to DVD movie. It also has some decent acting by the various participants on the screen. Unfortunately, it's hard to build any enthusiasm for the rest of the movie. The story elements and the characters are often so murky that it's hard to understand what is going on at times. It's like starting a novel at chapter 3, since a lot of the elements in the movie movie go are never explained at all. Some elements are (eventually) explained, but much of the movie remains confusing. What went wrong here? Since I find it hard to believe that production would go ahead on an incoherent screenplay, I suspect that the original cut of the movie ran a lot longer, and when the movie was subsequently cut down to run at a more reasonable length, a lot of explanation was removed. It's too bad, because there are signs that the original cut would have been engaging despite its length. You'd be better off waiting for a director's cut instead of watching the movie as it is right now.

I liked this movie. I even watched it a second time so that I could catch the little things I missed the first time around. I suppose it was a lame plot with lame actors (average B movie), but I liked it. James Spader plays his usual sleaze-ball rich guy and as usual, he does so quite well. I thought he was pretty tricky in the way he trapped society's best. I have to admit I was a bit confused the first time through as to the exact purpose of the Tuesday meetings--things became clearer as the movie progressed. Overall I thought the "secret Tuesday society" was a pretty cool (albeit sick) idea. The ending was very cool and worth the wait. I love murder mysteries and this was a good smooth-flowing storyline.