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Overall Rating : 5.5/10
Directed By : Silvana Zancolo
Laurence Belcher (Messengers 2: The Scarecrow)
Hayley J Williams
Beth Winslet
Rod Hallett (The Tudors (TV) )
Supplied By : MTI Home Video
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : June. 15, 2010
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| PLOT Billy Owens is back for another enchanting adventure! Along with his three fellow friends in magic, they come together to help their teacher, Thurgood , when his soul becomes trapped in an ancient amulet. Legend says that inserting the empowered amulet into a cursed scepter will unlock vast powers and unworldly Viking treasures! Now, with the powers of magic, friendship and teamwork, our four young heroes must take on the evil wizard, Mr. Mould, to find a way to release Thurgood before he is trapped in the amulet… forever! |
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| THE REVIEW THE SHADOW WITHIN is a film that takes place in 1930s England and centers around a young boy named Maurice. At 9 years old Maurice has already experienced a lot with his father dying in the war, not to mention that his twin brother Jacques also died of a sickness. Maurice's mother Marie still takes the loss of her child hard, grieving it more than the death of her husband. With Marie's grief also comes frustration, and it's the frustration that she always takes out om Maurice, from verbal as well as psychical abuse, it's an every day occurrence for the Boy. But beneath it all, Maurice is truly gifted, he likes to draw and excels, in school, a place that his mother doesn't believe in. Shortly after Jacques' funeral is when just how gifted the boy is come to light for all who surround him. Almost immediately after viewing his brother's coffin, Maurice has the ability to speak with him. This happens for a time, but soon word spreads around the village about Maurice's ability to communicate with the dead, and every one wants Maurice to help them, especially, Madame Armand. Now acting as a medium Marice tries to contact the dead as they wish, but as they would find out the seance of sorts as a negative affect. The meeting anger's Jacques with causes are evil vibe to be released, and soon people in the village begin to die mysteriously. Meanwhile the deceased Jacques meshes himself with Maurice in order to play out his plan, and that is to take the life of his mother so that he, his father and she, can be reunited on the other side. To be honest with you, I didn't expect much from THE SHADOW WITHIN, in fact, it sounded a lot like things we have seen before, to name a couple, HIDE AND SEEK and more closely, THE SIXTH SENSE, to a certain extent. But what we have he is a little low budget Horror film that is pretty interesting. No it's not some grand Horror spectacle, it's simple and to the point, but at times it can be entertaining. We have a Horror element in that Maurice shares some kind of bizarre bond with his recently deceased brother Jacques, he can see and communicate with him. Of course, his overbearing mother Marie doesn't believe him, and that leads to unnecessary punishment. For the most part, despite what he can do, Maurice likes going to school and learning, much to the dismay of Marie, who believes that teachers no nothing, and what they do know comes from a textbook. All of this changes once what Marice is able to do gets out into the open, which draws attention from the neighbors, and even Marie starts to come around a little, only because Maurice may be able to bring Jacques back. Eventually, what it comes down to is that these old ladies are exploiting Maurice for his gift, but none the less, Maurice continues to contact the dead, which inadvertently conjures up an evil that id vengeful. Predictably the evil has it's way, making this film decent entertainment. The film is shot quite nicely by Director Silvana Zancolo who utilizes a rustic film look for the film look for the film. While i'm not sure if this was purposely done, or if it was due to budget, but I thought that the look of the film, fit the 1930's period that they were portraying in the film rather well. Along with the look was also the settings, from the house and the snowy weather, and the frosted grounds, it's topped off with a really great Victorian style score as well. But as much as this might sound all well and good, I didn't think that this movie was perfect nor great, it does have a flaw that you just can't look past. The flaw that I was bothered by most was the film's pacing. At only 86 minutes in length, THE SHADOW WITHIN is still, at times "stop and go". To explain, there could be a couple of great scenes here and there, and then the film would sort of slow down to a much more lethargic pace, only to pick up again later. For most, this probably will not bother them, but for me, it nagged at me a little, it's not a major distraction, but it still occurs none the less. To sum THE SHADOW WITHIN UP, it's a pretty good time if you invest your interest into it fully. The cast, are for the most part adults(whom include Kate Winslet's sister Beth, who is the town doctor, Dr. Provost, whom is married to one of Maurice's teachers), but the film really rides on the performance of young Laurence Belcher, who just about steals the show doubling as Maurice and Jacques. Belcher seems comfortable enough here that it makes you forget he's a child, being a child in the film, it id his portrayal that makes the film the decent effort that it is, in my opinion. |
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| GORE
METER N/A I can't remember any real gore occurring in the film, other than Jacques eyes blackening, if that counts. All kills are merely suggestive. |
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MUSICAL
SCORE 6.5/10 I thought the film had a great score, really fit the time period, and could be suspenseful when it needed to be. Lots of violin and piano. | ||||
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM As I said, THE SHADOW WITHIN isn't a great film, but it's a relatively fun film to watch when you have some time to burn. It's plot itself is nothing new, but it's done in an interesting way, especially, for what i'm guessing was a fairly low budget film. |
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