|
Eight people
wake up inside, what looks like, a mental
institution. None of them remember who they are or
how they got there. What's even worse is that none
of them know what's trying to kill them. It seems as
if there's something lurking in the shadows, waiting
for them to let their guard down. Will they be able
to find a way out before the shadows consume them?
Anchor Bay might not release their movies with the
flashiest of covers or the hottest of marketing
campaigns, but one thing that you can always count
on when it comes to Anchor Bay is that they almost
always deliver quality horror movies. I was actually
going to skip "Shadow Puppets" as I thought that the
artwork looked like an awful no-budget movie, but
naturally I was wrong (as I am so often). Shadow
Puppets is actually a well-produced horror movie with
a somewhat original story and a decent pace.
The movie revolves around eight people who wake up
inside a mental hospital or something similar to it.
They have no memory of who they are or how they got
there. While trying to find a way out, they stumble
onto a shadow creature who seems to want to kill them
for whatever reason. It's all a bit far-fetched and
the explanation as to why the shadow creature
existed was extremely silly, but Shadow Puppets turned
out to be a surprisingly decent movie where the poor
cgi-ghost from "House On Haunted Hill" meets "Saw 2".
Sure enough, the main concept has been done to death
recently but there are enough turns and twists in here
to keep the viewer interested. The movie's strongest
side is that there isn't actually a killer in here
torturing the victims, it's a shadow creature that
feeds on peoples souls. Why? I didn't really understand.
I don't even think the actor who delivered the
explanation understood the reason. But that doesn't
really matter. What matters it that we have a huge
shadow creature impaling people in here, and there's
really no way to defend yourself against a shadow.
After the first death scene you will be hooked.
Unfortunately, the first death scene is probably the
best thing in the entire movie. From there on out it's
just mediocre entertainment. Technically competent and
all (this is not another homemade horror movie gone
DTV), Shadow Puppets does look the part though. The
acting could have been better and the story did tend
to occasionally drag at times, but overall I was
positively surprised by Shadow Puppets. It's a decent
horror movie - and those are not easy to come by these
days. If I give a horror movie 3/5 these days, that's
considered worth checking out since most of the
movies I review only get 0-2/5 since quantity seems
to be more important than quality.
Ultimately, Shadow Puppets has its fair share of flaws
and might not be the most innovative horror flick
ever, but at least these guys tried to make something
different. It won't remain in your memory for long
but it's mindless entertainment and very easy to
watch so if you're in the mood for a mildly
suspenseful horror movie about killer shadows, then
Shadow Puppets might be worth checking out.
Several impalements. Nothing huge though.
Great sound effects, a little empty in the music
department. Could have used some more suspense music.
Forgettable but mildly entertaining horror movie where
a shadow creature kills off people with amnesia. It's
not very fresh but it tries to be different and for
that I applaud it. Don't judge it by its cover, give
it a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised.
|
|
