Shadow (II) (2009)

When a young soldier leaves for a mountain biking excursion he meets the girl of his dreams as well a group of violent locals who want to see them dead at any cost.

Director:

Federico Zampaglione

Writers:

Federico Zampaglione, Domenico Zampaglione,

Stars:

Jake Muxworthy, Karina Testa, Nuot Arquint

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Jake Muxworthy	...	David
Karina Testa	...	Angeline
Nuot Arquint	...	Mortis
Chris Coppola	...	Buck
Ottaviano Blitch	...	Fred
Matt Patresi	...	U.S. Lieutenant
Emilio De Marchi	...	Doctor
Gianpiero Cognoli	...	Customer

Storyline

The soldier and biker David is serving in Iraq and misses biking. He rides his bicycle in Europe heading to Shadow and when he stops in a bar, he meets the beautiful Angeline. The troublemaker hunters Fred and Buck bother Angeline and David and the bar owner defend her. When David camps in the woods, the wind carries his tent and Angeline invites him to share her tent with him. On the next morning, they ride their bicycles together and enjoy the wilderness. Fred and Buck chase the couple with their truck and the quartet have accidents and need to walk through the woods. Sooner they are captured by a strange man that lives in an isolated house and are tortured in the basement. David manages to escape and helps the hunters to leave the place, but they are hunted down by the freak. When David wakes up, he learns that the reality is worst than his nightmare.

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Plot Keywords:

mountain biking | torture | emaciation

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Taglines:

Reality Can Be Sicker Than Nightmares

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Genres:

Horror

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 2010 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Rémképek

Filming Locations:

Tarvisio, Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

€1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blu Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

A Clever and Creepy Film

Truthfully, I'd give this 8/10, but I feel obliged to try and balance out some of those bad reviews, because I think those reviewers didn't get it.

There's a lot more going on here than the usual "sadistic creep tortures people". The film builds up to the punchline twist quite subtly. There are plenty of visual clues, including metal objects of a certain shape and one laugh out loud moment involving a portrait of a well known American, and there are dialogue clues (especially from Angelina). Even the title of the film is a clue as to what this is about.

I think the writer/director struck a perfect balance here (I didn't see the final twist coming until it was almost upon me, and then everything suddenly slotted into place).

It's not "Hostel", not torture porn. The film makes a point. In that regard it's closer to "Martyrs" and "Never Let Me Go"; Although nowhere near as harrowing as those last two films, it's still a cut above the usual genre flicks.

Great pace. Good acting. Nice soundtrack. The villain is brilliant. Worth watching for him alone.

A horror film that deliberately plays with clichés but ultimately has more depth. It really doesn't deserve the low score.