Shadows
By John Oak Dalton • Jan 25th, 2004 • Category: HorrorMatthew Nichols (Micah Shane Ballinger), a socially stunted young man with few prospects, is tormented by violent visions that began after his parent’s deaths and have recurred over time. Now, with a young child missing, Nichols begins to question what these visions really are, and what they mean to his life.
Shadows, from director Jarrod Ketchem, is an interesting character sketch, though with few surprises. A sense of foreboding, and bleakness, settles over the events as they unfold, creating an interesting atmosphere, and the two leads are solid.
But my biggest problem with Shadows is that it is shot almost all in master shots, with few edits, creating a disconnection from the characters and situations. Perhaps that distance, as shown in long takes and wide shots, was intended to mirror the protagonist’s dislocation from society; but I suspect it comes more from an unsophisticated presentation.
Shadows is certainly watchable, but offers little that hasn’t been seen or done before in the genre. I think director Jarrod Ketchem has potential, if he thinks outside of the box in terms of content and execution.
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John Oak Dalton is a Community Television Station Manager by day, and a DIY acolyte by night. In the 80s he made Super-8 movies and his own basement mix tapes. In the 90s he hosted a cable-access show and made his own zines and minicomics. In the 21st Century he began working with grassroots video and microcinema and writing b-movies, and has more than a dozen projects on the shelf, on screen, in development, or in production.
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