Shadow Puppets

Man I was hoping for so much more here. I am a die hard Buffy fan and eagerly anticipated a featured role for Marsters. Tony Todd in my view is one of the great actors working today in any genre, and Jolene was one of the bright spots of a dreary Enterprise. Not to mention I love the basic premise, and am a big fan of Cube. Sadly Shadow Puppets mostly falls into the average category. The acting is good, and there is a twist at the end that may surprise you. I believe the majority of the budget was spent on assembling the cast. I was okay with the generic smoke monster, it was what it was, and it was probably better to do something simple instead of a poor CGI creature. The film is never really that scary or suspenseful and there aren't any clever kills or gore moments so that may hurt it in the eyes of those looking for a Saw or Cube. Because of the cast I was hoping for more, but if it were Lorenzo Lamas and Shannon Tweed headlining my review would be less critical. Still it's a "slightly" above average film with a good cast.

I found this refreshing from the usual vampire, zombie, slasher movies. This movie fits in to the mold of the classic The Thing for the simple fact that you don;t who is out to get you. With that the story was good. On the other hand the acting could have been better. Some of the characters seem lost in the scenes and I give Tony Todd props for trying to keep the story up and going. But it still falls short. It's worth a one time watch if nothing more. If you are streaming for a movie to watch for a long trip just to go to sleep. This is the one. Or a overnight party with friends that like horror flicks that are some what campy but easy on the eyes.

A woman wakes up dressed only in her underwear, in a padded room, with no memory at all. She soon discovers there are more people like her with no recollection of anything. While trying to figure out where they are, a shadow creature is picking them off one by one.

This wasn't bad. Tony Todd joins the cast playing the patient with violent tendencies. The film is similar to Cube (1997) with the unknowns and how they find more people as they explore. They up the ante by throwing in a shadow monster.

Moves along at a good pace revealing more and more as the film progresses.

You know those times in Star Trek Enterprise when we were wondering what the hell does Steve Bakula do and then the writers of the show would gave us one of those "almost naked T'Pol" moments to calm us down? Well, somebody thought making an entire movie on the concept would be nice.

It is not such a bad movie, after all, though. I mean, yeah, the premise is ridiculous, the monster pathetic and the acting poor, but then there is Jolene Blalock, in her underpants! And if it is not enough for you, Natasha Alam looks good enough to eat and she gets a completely naked scene. And if this doesn't do it for you, Buffy fame Spike is there, joined by Candyman's Tony Todd.

BTW, look Tony Todd up. He is at his 136th movie and still acting strong, even if only in secondary roles. When they say supporting role, Tony understands supporting the movie industry. Lol.

So, let's sum it up: the smoke monster from Lost hunts T'Pol, Spike and Candyman in an underground facility where no one remembers who they are. And that's the original part of the movie ;)

I was fortunate to see a special preview of Shadow Puppets. I don't want to give away anything but I will say this: The movie keeps you in suspense from beginning to end, has a believable script, unique special effects, an original premise, and many jump-out-of-your-seat moments. The soundtrack and unusual sound effects increase the terror-level in many scenes. Jolene Blalock and James Marsters are excellent but newcomer Mark Winnick is an actor to watch: he has the best lines and delivers them with adorable ingenuousness. I will definitely see this movie again when it is released in theaters, and look forward to more films by director Michael Winnick.