Shallow Ground is a movie that true cult horror fans will love and mainstream horror fans will go "huh?". Its a good movie in its own right and exemplifies the motto of "the little movie that could". The movie was shot by Sheldon Wilson with a crack team of actors and production people on next to no budget. MoviesOnline has been covering it for some time and given it plenty of hype.. now the question is does it live up to all the hype? My feeling is when you compare it apples to apples and take all the factors into "factoring" the answer is YES.
A naked teenage boy covered in blood appears at a remote sheriff's station one year after the brutal unsolved murder of a local girl. Now sheriff Jack Shepherd, guilt ridden over the girl's murder must confront his own demons as he desperately searches for the boy's true identity and possible victims. Little does Jack realize that he had started down a path that will bring him face to face with an unthinkable horror. Before sunrise the living will pay for the pain the dead have suffered.....
The basic premise is a bunch of people get murdered, and their spirits come back as one, in the form of a bloodied boy and slowly the story unravels. Does it ever. It goes in at least 3 different directions and really has you wondering where its going to go in the end. The movie itself moves along at a slow pace similar to most foreign genre flicks building and building until you finally get the big she-bang. You really dont have a clue what the whole story is until its thrown in your face in the end and then takes a roller coaster twist just as you think its over.
The style is similar to what you would expect from Tobe Hooper, yet quite unique. Most certainly those of you who love nasty FX will dig this flick.. this movie had some great "what the f*ck" scenes. I know you are probly asking.. how messed up can it be. Well lets just say that the FX although done on a shoestring budget, ( ok so the whole film was ) were sick. They would do a George Romero Zombie flick justice! Look below to exhibit A to see exactly what I mean.. and yes little warning here it is not pretty. From half naked people hanging from trees and being gutted, to corpses hanging out strung from the ceiling and throats being ripped out.. this movie has no end of carnage. I have only just touched on the tip of the iceberg.. watch the film to see just how much carnage there is.
The movie is filled with some great visuals and the FX really stand out and give this movie alot of polish. I will be the first to admit that it does not have the production value of a mainstream horror movie, but it wasnt shot on a mainstream budget. It easily outshines other low budget horror films.
The direction by Sheldon Wilson leaves you wondering what he is going to try next (Its called Dark Days for those of you who dont know yet). The FX guys who worked on this film, I just can not say it enough, their level of creativity in making top notch fx with no budget deserves them not just our respect but some sort of award. Somebody get on that ok? How the production team, cast and crew were able to pull together a film like this on its budget makes me wonder.. but also gives me great hope that other film makers will follow suit.
For its great fx, creepy scenes, interesting characters and a great "what the f*ck' twist ending I give it an 8 out of 10. Be warned fans of House of Wax will hate this movie. Fans of Evil Dead & anything by Tobe Hooper will dig it. I can not wait to see what this team come up with next. Give them a bit of time and a bit more money and I see a big horror name in the works!
