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This is an average-grade horror film based on the more primitive 1881 short story by Bram Stoker originally appearing in his collection entitled "Under The Sunset". Jamie Dixon, who's most prominent contributions were the visual effects on the James Cameron films of the 90's, takes a shot at directing this low budget effort featuring the intense acting ability of Michael "Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer" Rooker as a gun-toting Catholic priest on the hunt for a cult-leader turned demon wrecking havoc on a quiet town in the form of a shape-shifting shadow entity. Sure enough, the demon needs the soul sacrifice of a prophetic young boy (terribly portrayed by child actor Kevin Zegers.) It just so happens that the shadow demon is susceptible to the effects of bright light. (What a coincidence), and all this evil causes the town to go bonkers. Just about every plot device is predicable and contrived as typically dumb, hunky sheriff, Shawn Alex Thompson tries to piece it all together, and Tony Todd is just plain stupid as the wise-cracking town crazy, complete with phony "Pirates of the Caribbean" wig and eye-patch who is conveniently obsessed with artificial light. The visual effects and thinly crafted script are average at best as well as the demon creature itself. Overall, this has a lively pace, and Michael Rooker's pistol packing priest is a hoot. This little horror/action flick came around just when this type of genre was dying out, and the VHS craze was being replaced with the DVD revolution, so it is considered by many to be a "transitional rarity". You could do worse...considering.
score 6/10
kclipper 25 June 2014
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3039195/ |
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3-3-2021 04:57:08