O Despertar das Sombras

I seriously can't figure out how I managed to watch this from beginning to end! This film is incredibly slow, horrible and very confusing! The story is lacking, with absolutely no explanation for anything! The acting was mediocre at best as well, which made for chronic yawning. The ending was completely horrible with no loose ends tied up. The whole thing made little to no sense and was just overall terrible! Whatever you do, DO NOT watch this film! Oh and P.S. this shouldn't be classified as a horror or thriller since it isn't even remotely terrifying, suspenseful or scary. Crap!

Currently half of the reviews for this movie (the earlier half) are 8-10 stars, while the other half is very low. The high ratings are all from new accounts who have written no other reviews. Hmmmm. This is a pretty good indication that the high ratings are coming from people involved with the film, which I think is really shady. I would have given this 5/10, but am rating it lower to counter the obvious astroturfing.

Anyway, this is an OK indie project that does its best to be eerie/creepy/subtle, and I can appreciate that. No part of this production is Hollywood-grade, but that's not always a bad thing. My main gripe is the rushed ending. It feels like they ran out of time/money and had to wrap it up as quick as possible. There are so many things left open. Not "open to interpretation," but completely ignored. Like parts of the story are missing. Near the end everyone is spouting overly cryptic things at the main character, and he keeps saying, "What are you talking about!?" Then someone says, "Now you know. Now you understand." And he's like, "No actually I don't." This is the moment I really connected with him.

Oh, and then right after that exchange, we flash forward an unspecified amount of time, with no explanation of what happened after the cult did its thing, why it was doing the thing in the first place, or how the guy escaped them and got out of the basement. Roll credits. ...ok thanks?

Sadly it really is one of those boring, unoriginal horror movies, that makes ma crave the horrors of the nineties. There is a big difference between deliberate suspense and out and out boredom, and sadly the latter fits this film. So little seems to actually happen, apart from the melodrama among the rather odious family. I think they tried to make a statement with the content, and provide a shock with the tone and plot, but sadly it simply fell flat.

It's hard to find many positives, the acting wasn't bad in fairness, but that alone couldn't make up for the film being so boring. 4/10

Not the worst film I've ever seen. It fell prey to the curse of Hollywood horror. You know.... no ending. Movies have a setting, a cast, and a plot. The plot needs a begging, middle and and end. It was missing the ending. It also leaves you with more questions than answers. It could've been decent.

I was initially lured in by the movie's cover/poster, as it did seem somewhat interesting, and the fact that this was a supernatural horror movie also just jabbed at my interest.

Now, I have to be bluntly honest and say that I didn't get to the end of the movie, nor do I think that I actually made it halfway through. This movie was an ordeal to watch, because it was an unfathomably boring movie, and nothing much of any interest happened. And the lack of anything even remotely worthwhile watching made me give up on the movie. And I have no intention of returning to it and finish watching it.

The characters in the movie were generic and could essentially have been in any other horror movie. They were lacking depth and distinctive qualities and characteristics, which made for a very bland viewing experience. It was not the fault of the actors and actresses, but the writers were to blame here. The acting was adequate, but the talents were definitely struggling with the limitations imposed on them by the script and storyline.

As for special effects, well I saw very little, and what I did see didn't really impress me. And this was a supernatural horror movie, yet I managed to see only very little in the supernatural department, which was also not working in favor of the movie.

There is nothing recommendable about "Awaken the Shadowman", and thus I cannot come up with a reason for why you should actually take the time and effort or throw money after this movie, because it was just not entertaining at all.