29 September 2016

SHADOWS FALL. (2016) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.



SHADOWS FALL. (2016) DIRECTED BY ADITYA VISHWANATH. WRITTEN BY RAJ JAWA AND KUBER KAUSHIK. MUSIC BY ELLIOTT GOLDKIND. CINEMATOGRAPHY BY ARTIOM MAKSIMOV.
STARRING DYLAN QUIGG, JENER DASILVA, CHRISTIAN WENNBERG, KINSEY DIMENT AND TALMADGE TIDWELL.
REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

This is the kind of horror film I love. Independently made and placed in a nice cosy domestic setting, which for me is the absolute optimum location for scares. There's no place like home, after all, and especially not when it comes to spooks and goblins. Home might be where we feel safest, but it's also where we're at our most vulnerable. When we let our guard down, anything might happen...

The film isn't about a haunted house per se, although the little house in a cute little American town is certainly haunted, if you get me. It's more a case of demons being reluctantly invited in by the occupants, and one occupant in particular. A deal has been made with the Devil's henchman and now there's simply no telling what evil is going to be allowed to infiltrate the place...

Senka is an attractive young woman in her twenties who's studying hard to be an architect. Although she's young, she's married to Jonas, a young man to whom she's absolutely devoted. I mean, she thinks the sun, moon and stars shine out of Jonas's backside, although I think he looks like your average drippy boyband member myself. Still, maybe he has hidden talents, haha.

When we meet her first, Senka has already made the aforementioned deal with the Devil's henchman, Amis. See, Jonas died tragically young, right, and Senka promises this Amis fella anything he wants in return for Senka having her precious hubby back again. Where did she find Amis, by the way? Why, in a mysterious old book, of course. In your face, stupid modern Apps For Bloody Everything Nowadays...!

Like a rat up a drainpipe, Amis is super-quick to carpe this particular diem. Clearly the lure of having a good-looking young female in his absolute power is too much for any man- regular or demonic- to resist. He lets Senka have the mopey Jonas back, but one day soon Senka's gonna have to pay the piper, as is always the case, unfortunately, when you make a deal with the Devil or one of his associates.

And in the meantime, the reanimated Jonas seems, well, different, somehow. Not as nice and thoughtful as before, maybe, and possibly a bit more interested in domestic violence than he was in his previous incarnation. Has Senka made the mistake of a lifetime in bringing him back?

Has she brought back a Jonas with whom she'll never be able to live happily ever after? And for what? A deal with an unscrupulous demon who has the power to make her pay for her actions for all eternity? Just what is the price she's going to have to pay? We don't know, but we can bet our bottom dollars that whatever it is, it won't be worth it...

A word about the demon, Amis. He's f***ing gorgeous. One of the best-looking men I think I've ever seen in my life. Dark-haired, designer-suited and suitably stubbly, this cross between Lloyd Cole (from The Commotions) and Pierce 007 Brosnan makes the guy playing Christian Grey in the FIFTY SHADES movies look like a sack of s***e. There, I've said it...!

The actor playing Amis is even called Christian, for crying out loud. Christian Wennberg is his name and, although I hadn't previously heard of him, if there's any justice in the world he deserves to become a household name, even if based on looks and smouldering sexuality alone.

My mate said he looked like a douchebag but I happen to like douchebags, especially if they look like Amis. I'd sell him my soul in a hearbeat, if only it were possible. Sigh. He's the guy who should be playing James Bond and Christian Grey, not the excuses for men they've got playing those roles now. Bring back really good-looking men to cinema, that's what I say. Never mind the guys who look like they might have character. We women want hotties, plain and simple. Well, obviously not plain, haha.

(Anyway, I've made this guy my screensaver. Consequently, I'm not getting much work done...!)

I loved the characters of Rain, the so-called psychic who ironically can never tell when she's not wanted, and her hubby Wilhelm, the lecturer in public speaking who can't get a word in when his wife is going yakkety-yak. They're both good fun characters.

I loved the dinky little house inhabited by Senka and Jonas and you guys already know what I thought of Amis, the Devil's ΓΌber-handsome henchman, haha. There wasn't really anything I didn't like about this film. I loved it all.

Filmed in Los Angeles in what must surely be a record fifteen days, this is one of my favourite horror films to come out this year. It's the first feature film of a group of independent film-makers and I for one am dying to see what they do next. When SHADOWS FALL comes to the cinema or out on home release, you guys should move heaven and earth to get to see it.

It's a brilliant supernatural horror-thriller and it has a super-hot demon in it whom women will be queuing up to sell their souls to. Especially if you're female- and even if you're not!- don't get 'left below.' Do whatever you have to do, but make damn sure you're in that queue...

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.

Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO

 You can contact Sandra at:


http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com







No comments:

Post a Comment