Shallow Ground

This strange horror offering has a blood-spattered teenage boy showing up at a police station. What happened to him, and how does this event tie in with the murder of a girl the previous year? This off-beat little horror film came out of the blue (for me at least), because prior to seeing it in my local video store, I'd never heard of it. I rented it, and let me say that while it's not the best horror flick I've seen lately, and it certainly does have it's fair share of problems, it's definitely a breath of fresh air from most of the crap released into cinema these days that people call "horror". Considering it's tiny budget, "Shallow Ground" pulls off some pretty impressive stuff. The film is shot on 16mm but looks great visually, I was shocked afterwords when I found out it WASN'T shot on 35mm. The actors were hit and miss but that's to be expected from a film of this caliber. Steve London's score is very good too, nicely dark and foreboding. One of the best aspects of the film though are the great make-up effects by Patrick Magee. There's lots of disgusting-looking corpses and blood, and the death of the Helen (Patricia McCormack) was great. There's almost no CGI used in this film (thank God) and horror fans will most certainly be pleased by the gruesome set pieces on display here.

Still, there's some stuff that didn't work so well too. The plot takes a long time to unfold and really isn't that interesting. The characters were mostly 1-D, and the ending, though cool, makes no sense whatsoever. This is an odd little horror film, certainly not bad but not *quite* great either. Still recommended, though, as it most certainly is unique and well-done.

7/10.

If I hear that overused description of a non-sensical movie, I am going to scream. This movie does not require Suspension of Disbelief..it requires Abandonment of All Logic. I usually give kudos to a filmmaker that attempts to make something original and falls short, especially in this genre. But this is a bad movie, plain and simple, forget all of the apologetic reviews regarding this waste of time. This is not a movie that "you must pay attention to", this is a movie that absolutely does not make sense and should not be watched. Old lady kills strong viral men, there are soooo many holes in this story, the holes have holes. This film is almost comical, and when I think of the strength in which the old lady exerted in dispatching her victims, I realize that this film actually is a comedy.

A blood-covered, naked teenage boy walks into a small town sheriff's office. The two deputies on duty think they've got a maniac on their hands. Unfortunately, it's not that simple.

SHALLOW GROUND is a twisted tale of supernatural revenge. There's a serial killer on the prowl, but this is a relatively minor problem.

A huge dam is being constructed, forcing the town into near extinction. Most residents have already left. The remaining skeleton crew find themselves caught up in a battle between the guilty living and the vengeful dead.

This is a low-budget (well under $100k) film that makes good use of its funds. The effects are wickedly well done, and the acting is believable. The wonderful Patty McCormack plays a central role in this flesh-crawler. The "family dinner" scene toward the end is unforgettable.

Recommended for lovers of the disturbing and macabre...

Great idea for an opening - a naked teenage boy, covered in blood from head to foot, walks out of the forest holding a big butcher knife - and into the Sheriff's station which is packing up, making ready to leave.

Bad idea - a Sheriff with a heavy Irish brogue, corny dialogue, some truly 'WTF?!' editing, having all the 'good guys' in the film at least 5 minutes behind the audience (in a 'come on, it's obvious!' way), and a final shot that will have people leaving the cinema asking their friends "What on earth was that about?!" The director / DP knows how to do fish-eye shots, slo-mo, reverse-filming, all those bog-standard music-video things (and the lighting was fine) - even the SFX were fine - but the film really falls down on plot, script and editing. The plot, what it is, is revealed too slowly. I'm all for suspense, but not when you waste 45 minutes and leave only the last 45 or so to shoe-horn all the development in. Characters (and red-herrings) are suddenly forgotten / nobody reacts in a normal way / there's no real clue to events (and people) that are revealed later.. And - given the plot, which I'm trying not to reveal - there's way too little explanation of events which we're told are happening elsewhere (and would make what's going on more coherent).

As I say, the final shot - clearly designed to be a 'sting in the tail' (maybe even a hint at a sequel, or events continuing) will instead leave you walking out of the theatre trying to work out why?! / what?! / and, is there any way I can get my money back? (no).

Not be confused with Danny Boyle's A SHALLOW GRAVE, this low-budget horror flick centers around a series of murders in a small town. A sheriff's office is shutting down and preparing to relocate when a bloodied teen walks in the door. The revelation of his identity only makes things more confusing. It is hard to say more about this movie without giving it all away. Suffice it to say SHALLOW GROUND involves restless spirits and their thirst for revenge. The first half has some wonderfully unsettling and occasionally scary moments. The second half loses some momentum, although the killer's identity comes as a neat surprise and pays homage to Hitchcock in its own twisted way. The supernatural elements are kept to a minimum, which works in the movie's favor. Horror film fans will have seen the plot before, but may appreciate the clever way in which it is presented. The acting is hit or miss at best, and the movie is extremely bloody. It deals pretty graphically with torture-murders, so the little ones should be in bed before you watch this.