Shallow Ground (2004)

Director:

Sheldon Wilson

Writer:

Sheldon Wilson (writer)

Release Date:

28 April 2005 (Russia)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Fear your past... it will find you.

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Woods | Small Town Sheriff | Public Nudity | Flashback Sequence | School Bus

Cast

Rocky Marquette	...	Boy
Timothy V. Murphy	...	Jack Sheppard
Stan Kirsch	...	Stuart Dempsey
Lindsey Stoddart	...	Laura Russell
Patty McCormack	...	Helen Reedy
Natalie Avital	...	Darby Owens
Chris Hendrie	...	Albert Underhill
Tara Killian	...	Amy Underhill
Myron Natwick	...	Harvey
Steve Eastin	...	Detective Russell
John Kapelos	...	Leroy Riley
Christine Avila	...	Mrs. Underhill
Ori Pfeffer	...	Curtis
Victor Campos	...	Bus Driver
John MacKane	...	Passenger #1

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore, nudity and some language.

Runtime:

97 min | Germany:93 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Germany:18 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Finland:K-18 | Sweden:15 | Australia:MA | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Deco Filmworks

Goofs:

Factual errors: The sheriff carries a Ruger Mini-14 rifle throughout the film, however there is never a magazine in the weapon. Though Ruger does make a version of the rifle with a fixed internal magazine, you can clearly see the open magazine well in a few shots; he's carrying an empty weapon.

Quotes:

Detective Russell: Mark's dead, they found him in his patrol car this morning.
Stuart Dempsey: Oh my God, what happened?
Detective Russell: You remember that little junkie, Curtis Weaver?
Stuart Dempsey: He was a dealer...yeah...what's that got to do with anything?
Detective Russell: That's what I was hoping you could tell me.
Stuart Dempsey: Look, the only person who knows for sure what happened to Curtis, is Curtis, and he's dead.
Detective Russell: And that would be a problem.
Stuart Dempsey: And how is that my problem?
Detective Russell: Stuart, they've come to clear the books, they've come to make things right once and for all.
Stuart Dempsey: Who?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mortuary (2005/I)

Soundtrack:

No One Leaves

Ought to be titled "Shallow Plot"

Picked this one up at the library, thus thankfully saving myself any expense, mostly because of the deceptive blurbs on the DVD case: "Refreshing and ambitious," (thoroughly wrong on the first count, debatable on the second) "Easily one of the most original horror films of the last year," (possibly, if you've never seen another horror film that year, or have extremely low standards) "Winner Best Picture, Dead by Dawn Film Festival 2004" (not a terribly glowing recommendation to attend any future DbD festivals, I can assure you), and several others that were mercifully covered with library stickers.

Others have already sufficiently commented on the weaknesses of this low-budget effort, including the choppy editing, the meandering, slapdash plot in hopeless search of focus (and intelligence), the forgettable acting, the serviceable but otherwise unremarkable camera-work, the competent but undistinguished score, and the effective but pointless gore effects.

Who greenlights crap like this? Who is dumb enough to put up the money for a project that only serves to prove Sturgeon's Law? Do no-name actors actually swell with pride at having a joke like this on their resumes? One can only scratch one's head and wonder.

Safe to say, a wreck like this makes films like "High Tension" or "Saw I/II" or even "Hostel" look like Oscar contenders.

Invest your time in this one only if you are really, really desperate for entertainment. Whatever promise its creators have or had was completely squandered on this turkey.

I had an epiphany after first submitting this comment, noticing as I did that one of the supporting actors is thanked in the credits, a guy who just happens to run an acting school. No doubt the school was in the vicinity of this film's shooting locations. No doubt the school provided a number of warm bodies for various roles. No doubt the school was counting on an influx of students and their cash via this movie. No doubt this school has failed to produce any recognizable talent since its inception, which is a shame, since it appears that the actor running this school works steadily, if only in television (and I say that facetiously, knowing that teeveeland offers far more and steadier work than film could ever hope to do). Which, if nothing else, once again goes to prove the truth of Sturgeon's Law.