Shapeshifter

Another early Asylum cheapo creature feature, it's pretty much like there other effort The Beast of Bray Road just take the werewolf and replace it with a demon and insert a prison setting. It's full of people who don't react when they die and entrails that are exposed before the monster ever kills them. The creature costume does look decent and there is some insane gore on display. In other words, it's not good or well made, but it's enjoyable trash at only 81 minutes.

After watching an hour of this movie, I want my hour of life back.

First of all, the previous reviewer really hits home with his/her analysis of the plot, acting and effects. I was immediately shocked how bad and lame the acting is. The story opens up to a psychotic inmate with a stupid pentagram-like tattoo on his chest having a "seizure". He briefly cannibalizes his own arm, where the lame effects show him cross-fading over thirty-seconds into a hairy guy in a Styrofoam "demon" suit.

The most funny plot part is that once the inmates and guards team up to survive the prison, one prisoner seems to be a demon expert. He proclaims crazy theories about why demons eat flesh, essentially to make them stronger, duh, and the rest of the inmates and guards agree.

Most Sci-Fi Channel movies are really bad, but there is something compulsive in that regard that makes you keep watching them. And believe it or not, there are a few of their movies that are tolerable. Shapeshifter is not one of them, it instead situates under the many terrible Sci-Fi Channel movies. The difference though is that there is nothing that has any kind of novelty value or unintentionally hilarious, Shapeshifter is an example actually of a move that is so bad that it's bad and makes you cross after watching. The limited budget really shows here, with scenery that is too small and compact and special effects that look unfinished and jarring within the rest of the production values. The camera angles further cheapen them, everything feels really rushed and quickly headache-inducing. The music bears no improvement either, it is very annoying and doesn't fit at all in the atmosphere, which has no suspense whatsoever. The writing reeks of banality, the story never excites or surprises and the monster is reminiscent of someone in a very cheaply-rendered monster suit. On top of that, the direction brings nothing distinctive or effort to the movie, the characters are shallow and get on your nerves and the acting, especially the ex-priest with an accent that is noticeably inconsistent, is atrocious. Overall, terrible, don't waste your time. 0/10 Bethany Cox

Shapeshifter is the story (if I can use that word) of a monstrous shapeshifting beast wreaking havoc inside a prison ... and that's about as deep as this thing gets. The acting is terrifically bad, the script was written by someone who has no idea how people act and react and the monster suit is just laughably bad ... as if they took something off the discount rack at the Halloween store. Add to all that a director who masks the lack of any special effects with that frenetic flash-editing style that probably causes some people to have epileptic seizures and you have one terrible, terrible movie. Across the board, there is simply no talent associated with this movie. Strictly amateur. If you're into watching train wrecks, rent this one. If not, find something else. My wife asked me why I wanted to rent it and I said you never know when you'll find something pretty good ... which is almost never. If you want to see a low-budget, amateur movie with some talent then see The Revenge of Bloody Bill.

I don't believe I have ever seen a worse film in my life. Everything about this movie is the lowest of the low, it is putrid. (And that may be its good point!) Seriously, it is THAT BAD.

Shapeshifter is set in some remote prison with guards who have the mentality of a middle-school dropout both in intelligence and training. They walk around the facility with nothing of substance to say or do. There is nothing of quality in this movie, there is no story, no value, no reason to watch. The Shapeshifter appears to be some Russian immigrant prisoner who is able to transform himself into a flesh-eating monster. He starts by biting on his arm until it bleeds, with some terrible music and special effects that will make anyone watching prone to seizures, does some metamorphosis dancing, which takes about 5 minutes for him to change, than becomes this monster, The Shapshifter. The Shapreshifter than eats the flesh of the people at the prison. I didn't even get that far into the movie, but other reviewers have said that he does the same thing EVERY TIME.

I cannot think of one positive thing to say about this movie, not one. Terrible camera angles, annoying rap music that has no place or reason to be in any of the scenes, and rapidly changing movements of the director going from shot to shot add up to garbage. This movie is beyond bad.

What is even worse, is that some films that are bad at least have some unintentional humor to make them what some industry people call, "Golden Turkeys" The type of movies that are so bad, they are good, because they are corny. Shapeshifter can't even save itself from even the smallest bit of intentional humor to give it any redeeming qualities at all. How did this trash even get made? Shame on The Chiller Channel for showing this garbage, and any other stations that may air it for that matter.

This movie should be pulled from distribution and destroyed. If that happened, I guarantee you that whoever had to sit through this moronic film would celebrate. Please don't waste your time with this film. It's an insult to all viewers that this crap was even made. I feel sick and angry just from watching it. I have no idea what the cast and crew were smoking when they made this hideous picture.