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The Shadow of Death
UK 2012
produced by Gav Chuckie Steel, Emma Haynes for DeadBolt Films
directed by Gav Chuckie Steel
starring Daniel Carter-Hope, Sophia Disgrace, Jane West, Corinna Jane, Dan Bone, John Brown, Charlie Bore, Mary Elliot, Abi Thorpe, Martin Penrose, Stewart Dakers, Patric Howe, Ross Doney, Victoria Logan, Catherine Hoare, Max Thorpe
written by Gav Chuckie Steel, music by Gav Chuckie Steel, special effects by Mark Kelly
review by Mike Haberfelner
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3 girls - outspoken Nancy (Sophia Disgrace), nerdy Jamie (Jane West)
and cute Debra (Corinna Jane) - and a guy - annoying but amusing Dan
(Daniel Carter-Hope) - on a roadtrip want to pay Dan's weedgrowing friend
Marley (Charlie Bore) a quick visit to pick up some weed ... and get lost
in the woods. Now that wouldn't be too bad, not even the fact that the
group doesn't get along too well, or Dan gets more and more drunk, nope
it's the fact that a killer - the insane secret son of a priest who thinks
he acts in the name of God - is on the loose in the area .... and he by
the way has already long killed Marley. As all too often in stories like
this, Nancy and Dan leave the group to make it out of the woods on their
own ... and are brutally slaughtered. Jamie and Debra barricade themselves
in a hut they have stgumbled upon and get help from special police agent
Craven (Dan Bone) - problem though, he isn't a cop at all, just a nutter
who likes to listen in on police radio, and who eventually makes easy prey
for the killer. The girls eventually manage to escape the hut they have
barricaded themselves in, and they manage to overcome and kill the killer
- thing is, in this story, this isn't a good thing ... One
thing up front: In writing, The Shadow of Death doesn't sound like
much, just your standard slasher - and that's even true to a point ... and
yet, thanks to its original approach, it feels like a totally fresh movie.
Thing is, the film comes across as totally light-footed where others of
its ilk are heavy-handed, features colourful characters instead of
character clichées, the murders are original and genuine fun rather than
just going for gore, and the whole thing is steeped in irony. In other
words: Totally recommended!
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