Shallow Ground
(2004)
review by Suspiriorium

One of the most pleasing things of being a movie fan is when you sit down to watch a film with absolutely no expectations, only to be somewhat taken aback by the quality & talent on display. So it was with Shallow Ground, a great little example of indie filmmaking done right, a surprising treat which makes up for its unspectacular budget with style, intelligence, invention & a pervasively creepy atmosphere.

A remote police station in the woods of rural America is closing down. On the last day, as all the remaining files & equipment are being moved away, out of the woods stumbles a naked boy, covered in blood & carrying a huge knife. Sheriff Jack Sheppard (Timothy V Murphy) has been haunted by his inability to catch a serial killer who has been operating in the area, & blames himself for failing to save the last victim who he found still alive dangling naked from a tree a year earlier. Has he finally found the killer? With blood creeping across the floor as if possessed & horrifying warnings mystifyingly appearing on the walls, it’s clear there’s something very unusual going on, but what is it?

Whilst the script for Shallow Ground is not entirely free from clichés, somehow writer/director Sheldon Wilson manages to find new angles on superficially familiar material & re-invigorate them in such a way as to make you not notice – or at any rate not care. He has stated that he wanted to start with the very image of a standard “slasher in the woods” movie, but then take it somewhere unexpected, & in this he has succeeded. Early moments are slightly awkward with jumps being engineered through Steve London’s pleasingly big orchestral score. It’s as if Wilson starts off showing us what we think the film is going to be, before slowly revealing his films true nature. Indeed, one of the big themes in the film is the difference between the way things appear & the way they actually are, & as such there are many surprises along the way as various characters & event’s true natures are cunningly revealed. He also gets great mileage out of the conflicting loyalties between the characters & our shifting perceptions of them. This is a film where it pays to actually use your brain, a movie filled with layers of grey rather than simple black & white.

As pleasing as the unexpected narrative developments is the film’s reliance on doing its horror the old-school way, with predominantly physical effects by Patrick Magee & literally gallons of blood. There are some cracking moments in here that should satisfy the gore-hound in you. In addition there are several genuinely upsetting & disturbing images, notably the victims left dangling naked from the trees to contemplate their fates before their tormentor returns, & a room of corpses that calls Texas Chain Saw to mind. The film builds up an odd & unnerving atmosphere which is hard to shake, & is aided by some strong performances – particularly Rocky Marquette as The Boy, a genuinely creepy & unsettling character.

Wilson also says that he intended to make a film like “The Exorcist, The Shining & The Thing; they were about more than who was going to get killed next, they were truly horrifying dramas.” The term horrifying drama does apply to Shallow Ground, in that the horror & effects do come out of the drama & the characters, rather than being a hollow & superficial gore-fest. But don’t let the drama part put you off, unlike so many films of the past decade, Shallow Ground isn’t playing & hiding behind a silly “thriller”-type tag. Refreshingly it sees no disparity between being both a genuine horror movie, & an intelligent, adult & serious minded piece of cinema. There is little higher commendation I can give to a film, & this should see it being something of a cause for rejoicing for genuine horror fans. Whilst (unlike those three films its director mentions) it is perhaps not likely to wind up on your list of all-time favourites, it is a strong & decidedly superior genre piece, & one that marks its creators out as being talents to watch.