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Written by Larry Clow
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Wednesday, 03 January 2007 |
Deco Filmworks, 2004
starring: Timothy Murphy, Rocky Marquette, Patricia McCormack and Lindsey Stoddart
written and directed by: Sheldon Wilson
the plot: It’s the day before the sheriff’s station in Shallow Grove is about to close. Things are going smoothly until a boy (Marquette), naked, covered in blood and clutching a hunting knife, emerges from the woods and enters the station. Sheriff Jack Sheppard (Murphy), still reeling from the mysterious death of his girlfriend, is called to check out the boy. As Sheppard investigates, he discovers the boy has 10 different fingerprints—each one corresponding to a person who disappeared in the woods in Shallow Grove in the last few years. Deputy Laura Russell (Stoddart) receives a disturbing phone call from her father, a cop in a nearby city, who says a similarly mysterious naked, blood-covered man has been found. Sheppard travels through town, searching for the connection between his murdered girlfriend, the boy and the strange disappearances. Little does Jack realize that the key to the mystery lies in a tragedy that occurred in the town’s not-too-distant past.
why it’s good: A supernatural thriller with some slasher-flick trappings, “Shallow Ground” isn’t that bad, for a direct-to-video horror film. Sure, the movie borrows heavily from “Friday the 13th” and other predecessors, but writer-director Sheldon Wilson weaves all the pieces together in a way that’s somewhat fresh. Don’t come to “Ground” expecting much in the way of interesting characters or stunning performances: the acting ranges from mildly competent to surprisingly sub-par, and Wilson could use some lessons in crafting good dialogue. And, in the case of Sheriff Jack, the casting is also pretty odd; who’s idea was it to cast someone with a thick Irish brogue as a rural American sheriff? But what “Ground” does have is gore, buckets of it, and it’s splattered on walls, windows, school busses and everywhere else with aplomb. It’s a bloody mess to be sure, but if gore’s your thing, you could do a lot worse than “Ground.” Wilson’s also good at building suspense, and the movie retains a creepy edge throughout, even when the plot gets too confusing and the brisk editing induces vertigo. Wilson manages to tie it all together in the end (complete with a pretty neat face-melting scene), but, like most horror directors, he can’t resist sticking in an unfortunate “twist” ending.
why you should own it: If you’ve got a Saturday afternoon to wile away, “Shallow Ground” is worth renting. Universal’s DVD features commentary by Wilson and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
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