SHADOWS OF THE DEAD is DOA. Horizon Motion Pictures Ltd. presents A No One Cares production, the latter credit reflecting the viewer's mood after having watched this extremely slow moving, dull and pointless film.
A young couple, driving from we know not where to we know not where, are stalled by a flat tire on a backwoods road. The appearance of what seems to be a dead body at the edge of the woods sets into motion events for which there will be no explanation or pay-off. John leaves the safety of their car to relieve himself and is bitten by the woodland corpse. The loss of a pulse and a desire for raw meat sets him wondering. He infects the girl and as their bodies die, while they continue to "live," they find refuge in a forest cabin where the rest of this snoozefest takes place.
Lensed with Panavision equipment in 35mm, the film has a novice feel to it; long takes, awkward framing, a lack of punchy editing, poor to adequate acting. Producer, writer, editor, director Carl Lindbergh pilots his limp horror film to its "ironic" conclusion.
The proceedings brighten up when the girl must steal inside a hospital to procure drugs. It seems that Lindbergh might be setting us up for a suspenseful sequence while also drawing a parrallel between the dying couple and those disenfranchised from the health system. But the sequence is perfunctory, the girl gaining access to the drugs far too easily with no threats to her safety. Neither does the film work as a meditation on the meaning of death or what it might be like to die. The liner notes suggest that there may be some rumination on what it means to murder others and what the consequences might be but nothing like this materializes on screen.
The two leads exhibit no chemistry. Their relationship -- never fully defined -- seems highly unlikely since they don't click as a couple and bicker quite a bit. The lack of a strong dynamic in their relationship is a definite minus in a film where they are on screen virtually the entire 92 minutes running time. Obviously, we are meant to care for these people but the characters fail to draw an emotional response. Lindbergh also favors smoke effects so that beams of sunlight streaming into rooms is visible. The problem is that the smoke is clearly visible which creates the effect that the cabin is on a moor.
As is said in the movie, "All great love stories end tragically." While that may be arguable, it is not arguable that a love story can end tragically and not be great, in fact, not even be good. So it is with SHADOWS OF DEATH.
A young couple, driving from we know not where to we know not where, are stalled by a flat tire on a backwoods road. The appearance of what seems to be a dead body at the edge of the woods sets into motion events for which there will be no explanation or pay-off. John leaves the safety of their car to relieve himself and is bitten by the woodland corpse. The loss of a pulse and a desire for raw meat sets him wondering. He infects the girl and as their bodies die, while they continue to "live," they find refuge in a forest cabin where the rest of this snoozefest takes place.
Lensed with Panavision equipment in 35mm, the film has a novice feel to it; long takes, awkward framing, a lack of punchy editing, poor to adequate acting. Producer, writer, editor, director Carl Lindbergh pilots his limp horror film to its "ironic" conclusion.
The proceedings brighten up when the girl must steal inside a hospital to procure drugs. It seems that Lindbergh might be setting us up for a suspenseful sequence while also drawing a parrallel between the dying couple and those disenfranchised from the health system. But the sequence is perfunctory, the girl gaining access to the drugs far too easily with no threats to her safety. Neither does the film work as a meditation on the meaning of death or what it might be like to die. The liner notes suggest that there may be some rumination on what it means to murder others and what the consequences might be but nothing like this materializes on screen.
The two leads exhibit no chemistry. Their relationship -- never fully defined -- seems highly unlikely since they don't click as a couple and bicker quite a bit. The lack of a strong dynamic in their relationship is a definite minus in a film where they are on screen virtually the entire 92 minutes running time. Obviously, we are meant to care for these people but the characters fail to draw an emotional response. Lindbergh also favors smoke effects so that beams of sunlight streaming into rooms is visible. The problem is that the smoke is clearly visible which creates the effect that the cabin is on a moor.
As is said in the movie, "All great love stories end tragically." While that may be arguable, it is not arguable that a love story can end tragically and not be great, in fact, not even be good. So it is with SHADOWS OF DEATH.
