Title: Shadow People
Title: Matthew Arnold
Starring: Dallas Roberts, Alison Eastwood, Anne Dudek
Running time: 89 minutes, Rated PG-13, Available on DVD
Special Features: Featurette “Shadow People: More to the Story”
Charlie Crowe, a graveyard shift radio talk show host takes a call from a teenage boy who claims to be hunted by “shadow people” and threatens suicide. After being accused of making an elaborate hoax to boost ratings, Crowe discovers that a professor at a local college conducted sleep experiments that caused several people to die from ‘Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome’ after reporting visions of these “shadow people.”
This movie is portrayed as a dramatization of real events with clips of the alleged real people inserted throughout the film. I found the storyline of Crowe, his disrespectful son and his ex wife to be rather boring. Nothing is really resolved in the end. Crowe experiences an encounter with a shadow and comes out of it alive and is conflicted with bringing proof of their existence to the public in fear of what may happen if more people know about it. His son comes in contact with the proof and then uploads it to Youtube. The audience is left to wonder what happened after the public gets exposed to this information.
This film seems to have been made to cater to the tweens and teens, however the pace is rather slow and boring. I like the concept, but this intended thriller fell flat. I was never exposed to any press on this film, so I viewed without any expectations and ended with nothing as well. It’s lacking something or some things I just cannot quite pin down. Shadow People really didn’t do it for me, but it’ll appeal to those who are easily startled.
Reviewed by: JM Willis
Total Rating: C
