Shallow Ground
Shallow Ground is the best horror movie that I have seen all year, as of yet. This story takes place in a small rural town filled with average characters. Out of the woods comes a mysterious, naked boy covered in blood and carrying a hunting knife. Three police officers, at the tiny Shallow Valley Police Department, try to unravel the mystery behind the boy’s appearance.
I was sucked into this movie as soon as the opening credits started to roll. Immediately, I was assaulted by the disturbing imagery; I’m talkin’ about blood, decaying flesh, and hooks. Following the opening credits, the bloody boy appears, stalking through the woods covered in an abnormal amount of Karo syrup. That has to be uncomfortable. I mean who wants to spend the better part of an hour scrubbing Karo syrup out of their ass hairs… but that’s what I like from my actors, a little bit of dedication.
The special effects in this movie are great. You won’t find any CGI in this gem of a movie. All of the effects are practical and very effective. Blood runs up and down walls at will. The wound make-ups are outstanding. The flesh looks properly decayed in a way that will turn your stomach. Blood is splattered all over the place. I can imagine the director now, screaming, “More blood! More blood!” Patrick Magee does a stellar job of creating realistic effects and delicious imagery.
The directing in this movie is a mixed bag. Sheldon Wilson does an excellent job of capturing the amazing imagery. However, he does a substandard job of making the mundane world as interesting as it could be. Unless something amazing is happening, the shots and angles are very lackluster. The overall look of the film leaves a little to be desired, even though Wilson does do a fair job of capturing the gore in this movie.
I absolutely hated the score in this movie. It wasn’t actually that bad, it was just used in an annoying way. I didn’t appreciate the many times that the score was elevated to create a sense of tension, even though nothing actually happened. It is a cheap way to create and elicit emotion from your audience. This film would have been better served by not having a score at all.
I truly enjoyed the progression of the story. I especially enjoyed the fate of Deputy Stuart. I can honestly say that I wasn’t expecting that. One thing that I did find weird was the eventual revealing of the killer, because the methods the killer used to kill the victims did not seem to match up with the motivation of the killer. Watch the movie and you will find yourself wondering why all of the girls are stripped naked. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying it doesn’t seem to fit into the killer’s motivation.
The end of this movie was fantastic. At first, I was kind of disappointed in the end of the movie. It seemed a little textbook, but the more I thought about it I liked the ending. The ending leaves an opening for a sequel, which I would pay good money to see. Why can’t movies like this be released in the theaters? They probably would have had to cut out all of the jiggly boobies and Karo syrup covered asses.
Final Synopsis: I picked this movie up, expecting nothing; I was pleasantly surprised. The special effects and the story are definitely the strong points of this movie. The acting is extremely average, but never gets in the way of the movie. This movie is definitely worth the rent. If you’re tired of ball-less American re-makes of Japanese ghost movies, then you should watch this. This is definitely worth a rent.
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