Shelter - Identità paranormali

I caught this film on Netflix the other night in the "recommended for me" section. It certainly looked promising: a taut psychological thriller with Julianne Moore as Dr. Cara Harding, a forensic psychologist trying to disprove a diagnosis of multiple personality disorder in mental patient David/Adam/Wesley (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

But it quickly morphs from the cooly clinical and scientific to hillbilly voodoo and fundie religious hokum replete with a hot, steaming, incomprehensible -- some of it kind of fun in its incoherence -- compost heap of plot elements: the 1918 flu epidemic; skin rashes; chronic coughs yielding -- ughh -- dirt; slip-and-falls; spinal injuries; atheism; Catholicism; faith healers; vaccines; curses; snake venom potions; apparitions on video; and a suddenly discovered -- and quite laughable -- silent film, replete with +90 year old narrator. There's even a test for red-green color blindness.

And, like the antagonist, this film suffers from an identity crisis. Is it a psychological thriller? A slasher / stalker film? A medical mystery? A serial killer whodunnit? A witchcraft / occult movie? I enjoyed just trying to figure out what the producers had in mind. This is like a film made my committee (or someone with multiple personality disorder).

Saving grace: A good faith try at making the crazy script work by Moore. And an enthusiastically evil performance Meyers, though he needs to take an intensive "American accents" workshop. That southern twangy thing was the worst, and so not right for upper Apalachia.

But all-in-all, I actually like really bad, messy movies, especially those that try so hard. Maybe Netflix knows me afterall? Hence the six -- how appropriate -- stars rating.

Adding together the presence of Michael Cooney as the writer who gave us 'Identity', which boasted originality and a fast paced story AND with the addition of Julianne Moore who eats this genre for breakfast, my expectations for this were high. The movie starts off well, 'on the edge'; with Jonathan Rhys Meyer's character being introduced perfectly. Plenty of reason to call it a horror/thriller at this point with excellent use of sound to create the jumpy vibe. However the direction from the Swedish duo Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein soon starts to really let the grip of the film slip. OK admittedly there are plot holes and the pace is slow after the initial quick start which covers a lot of explanatory material for the theory behind the story. But to have taken the obviousness out of that, the direction could have been so much more original and less armature looking, with close ups and set ups for jumps so obvious and dull. The first 30 minutes or so of the film has the horror edge, after that a Sunday paced drama with a frankly ridiculous set of ideas behind Meyers character which are not overly original sets this up to mainly let moviegoers expectations down. Meyer's brilliant acting including his shift in accents and characters and Moore's usual type cast brilliant acting make this watchable and average. This could have been so good and does not fit into the horror/thriller genre well and do it justice. An average supernatural thriller with a couple of jumps at best as horror. What a shame.

Based on a previous review here suggesting that fans of The Ring would like this I went to see Shelter and I think the previous advice needs more clarification. If you liked The Ring then yes, you'll probably like this. If however you thought The Ring had pointless cut aways and sudden close-ups just to try to build tension or make you jump, then you will be as equally frustrated with this film. Still in the latter group, I would assume that you loved Ringu and therefore you will appreciate the story this film is trying to tell despite the occasional ham-fisted way it goes about presenting it.

Jonathan (male lead) is really quite good, although Julianne comes across far too much as if she has been cast as Dana Scully. In truth this whole film would have been more believable if this had of been the story line for the X Files 2 movie. Knowing that going in will probably help get past the weird opening 30 minutes where it swings from place to place until we settle on the story it is wanting to tell. Despite the plot holes and some questionable decisions by the characters, I did leave the film feeling pleased and positive about the whole experience.

Supernatural isn't my cup of tea, but I will give points to Shelter for doing more than just keeping me in my seat. At times, it reminded me of Shyamalan's better days. Though very much a slow mover, Shelter is haunting and gripping, shot perfectly and never too superficial. Julianne Moore, is a compelling lead, and there is enough 'human' in the character to deserve some credit, and earn some sympathy from the viewer. Horror movies almost by nature, don't have a heart, but this is one of the few that has some.

The one problem with the movie, is that the plot is heavy. The first hour may seem a little disoriented, but the scenario brings everything together with enough coherency in the last act. The matter in which it does so however raises some questions that are left unanswered, and could qualify as plot holes.

As a straight to video release, one would not typically set high expectations. Shelter exceeded mine, It's not a film for an impatient viewer, but it's an appetizing ghost story if you are looking for one such film.

There's some great acting in this movie and that helps most of the way through.

However it gets to a point where the acting isn't enough to make up for the story which stops making sense about 2 thirds in.

The amount of questions left unanswered and the sudden lack of sense coupled with plot holes stops this being a great movie and drops it into mediocrity.

Not recommended as it feels unfinished.