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Overall Rating : 2.5/10
Directed By : Gregory Lemkin
Jennifer Lee Wiggins (King Of The Lost World)
Vaz Andreas
Ocean
Tom Downey (The Beast of Bray Road)
Supplied By : The Asylum
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Nov. 28, 2005
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| PLOT Inmates and guards alike become trapped in a maximum security prison when they fall prey to a demonic beast that feeds on human flesh. As the creature's power multiplies with every kill, their only chance for survival is to uncover the ancient mystery that holds the power of the shapeshifter. |
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| THE REVIEW Well, the new one from The Asylum entitled SHAPESHIFTER, was one in which I was really looking forward to. Unfortunately what we have here with this flick is one of those that is just to good to be true, leaving you with a feeling of disappointment. The general basis to the story is, a strange and quiet Russian man is sent to a prison, it's not long until the inmates or the prison realize that something is really different about him. Marked with a strange tattoo and in possession of a pentagram medallion in which he wears around his neck, the man has the strange ability to transform into a hideous beast....this is know as "Shapeshifting". So, in order to keep the beast alive, the man must feast on blood, and the only selection he has is the staff and inmates in which surround. Inmates and guards alike must band together and fight off the offending creature. Let's just say, I didn't have my hopes up that high for this film to begin with., but big disappointment here. The prison setting and some of the plot are very similar to The Asylum's other film DEAD MEN WALKING, which was released only last month. I find it strange that The Asylum would choose to release two films that are quite similar, literally almost one after the other. If you compare the two, you will find that DEAD MEN WALKING is far more entertaining and worth while flick, and while I didn't fully enjoy DEAD MEN WALKING, it wins out over SHAPESHIFTER. What's lacking the most in SHAPESHIFTER, is character development. The film doesn't really give us the insight on just who we are watching. I feel that it is very important, if you the audience to care, if you want them to pay attention, you must connect them emotionally and not only just visually. Instead of character development, SHAPESHIFTER jumps right to the gooey stuff right to the gore. I like gore don't get me wrong here, but if you are going to go straight to the gore....you might as well do away with your plot while you're at it. Such films to do so were films like NIKOS THE IMPALER and boy did that reek. The action is here in SHAPESHIFTER but again when you compare it to DEAD MEN WALKING once more, the action has so passion nor energy. As for the acting, I can't really tell you one way or another how I feel about it. I guess I will say that it's average at best, I feel that Jennifer Lee Wiggins could have been the film's breakout performer, had she been put in a more heroic situation, she's mostly just is seen slowly walking around the prison giving orders to inmate. This film has the typical staples, a religious guy, a big buy and the super cool black man. This role is played by a guy named simply just "Ocean", I don't know who this guy thinks he is, but he goes by only one name like he's proven something, well he definitely didn't prove whatever that was here, We also have Tom Downey playing the role of the beast and i'd say Downey did do a fairly decent job here, I thought the creature was kind of cool as, he looks a little like Nemesis from Resident Evil. Great gore, sometimes lackluster effects and uninspired action as well as acting, just wasn't enough to win me over. |
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| GORE
METER 6/10 The gore was great as I said, it seems to be the film's focal point. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 2/10 Horrible soundtrack! It occasionally had some great instrumentals, but the film begins and ends, with some hip hop music which made no sense at all, it did not fit the film period. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM This film is one that has a very continuously slow pace, it leaves you wanting fast paced action in which you never really get. If you want a film that is similar...still not great, but similar. pick up DEAD MEN WALKING instead. |
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