Did you ever see the movie Cube? If so, then the first thought that will come to your mind when you start to watch this film is that it’s the same plot as Cube just in a mental hospital. Well I was half right, the characters in this film are in fact locked in a mental hospital, but the film is far from anything like Cube at all. However while watching this movie you’ll actually see similarities between this movie and other well known films.
Shadow Puppets starts off with a group of people who wake up in a series of rooms in a mental hospital, none of them remember anything about how they got there, and they also don’t remember their names or who they are. The only thing they do know is that they are stuck in this place and that they each have some kind of skill. They soon all come together and try to figure out the mystery of why they are all there and what happened. However there is an evil shadow lurking though the dark hallways of the hospital and it’s out to kill anyone whom happens to come across it.
Here’s the thing, the script has many elements of things we have all seen in other films, however the over all script, beside the similarities to other films is actually a very solid one. The plot is very easy to follow and although the story may be somewhat confusing at first, it all comes together very quickly. There are a few plot twists here and there but the overall script is very easy to comprehend.
The weak point in this film is the acting, Besides Tony Todd who was the only decent actor in this film, and the mediocre performances by Jolene Blalock and James Marsters, the rest of the cast performances was really bad. It almost seemed like they were being feed their lines in some scenes or were reading off of cue cards. Very unconvincing.
The overall production value was decent, I’m not going to say that the film had these over the top great sets, like we get in a big budget movie, because I’m sure the budget for this film was probably around a million dollars or so. But for what it’s worth the sets looked pretty good and the overall art direction was not half bad. The cinematography was very good, as well as the editing. In terms of effects the CGI Shadow ghost looked very fake, it kind of was a cheap version of the tooth fairly in Darkness Falls. Other than that we do get a lot of blood, some stabbing and a shooting. It’s not much in terms of gore, but there is a lot of blood.
Overall, Shadow Puppets is an alright film, nothing more, nothing less. It kind of evens itself out by not being a bad film but not being a good one either. It is a bit suspenseful and it is entertaining, but don’t expect it to be a major breakthrough film that will have horror fans going crazy over it. It’s an alright film to pick up and view at the video store if you can’t find any other horror films to decide on. The DVD is packed with some decent features such as Director and Cast comments, a behind the scenes featurette, and audio commentary with writer/director Michael Winnick and Cinematographer Jonathan Hale. So if your a fan of films like Cube and the likes of Saw. It might be one you would like to add to your DVD collection.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
