Shallow Ground (2005)

hyped garbage

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The plot of "Shallow Ground" is as follows:naked teenage boy appears at a soon-to-be abandoned sheriff's station,drenched in blood on the one-year anniversary of the murder of a local girl that remains unsolved.Sheriff Jack Shepherd searches for the boy's true identity and intentions while dealing with his guilt over failing to save the girl or solve her murder.It seems that the dead across the world are rising up and seeking revenge on the people who killed them.A blood-covered humans are stalking their killers.Visually creative supernatural mystery/slasher flick with fair amount of gore.The acting is decent,the storyline moves at brisk pace and the climax offers shocking surprise.I disliked quick and disjointed MTV-like editing in a couple of scenes,but "Shallow Ground" is worth checking out.7 bloodied bodies out of 10.

This is the much lauded Shallow Ground---I heard a lot about this one a few years ago when I first started watching these kinds of movies. So, the basic premise is, this naked kid shows up covered in blood at this backwoods sheriff's office, and all hell breaks loose. A lot of stuff about the dead coming back for revenge, etc, etc, nothing that new. It's not a bad horror flick, but I can't say it lives up to the hype poured on it on the front cover or the critics. It's got some good scares, and it seems like something you'd want to watch around Halloween, that sort of thing. There's lots of gore and the first twenty minutes of the movie are very interesting and creepy. And the acting is alright, as well as the directing. The supernatural elements of the story and the revenge stuff was well done overall.But, the ending sucked, and most of the movie seems really...pointless, makes you scratch your head. A lot of things aren't properly explained, such as the back story behind the whole thing, and you get confused a lot. The plot is built up a lot, and that's good, but it all gets mushy and unclear after a while, which ruins it. They focused way too much on giving us bloody, naked men and beautiful women stripped nude and tied to trees, and on the gore, and they didn't seem to care about the story they were giving us. A lot of it didn't stick with me as memorable, either, which is not a good sign. So it turned out as half baked crap. Thus why I'm not spending too much time on this review, either. This movie lives up to it's name...it's shallow ground, little to no substance at all.PS, the trailers before the movie were some of the worst put together trailers I have ever seen. Screen Media Films should be ashamed.

"Shallow Ground" is a hugely underwhelming film when it could've been a pleasant surprise.**SPOILERS**Turning in for the night, Deputies Stuart Dempsey, (Stan Kirsch) and Laura Russell, (Lindsey Stoddart) are leaving their remote sheriff's station for good when a , (Rocky Marquette) walks in, naked and covered in blood. His appearance sparks Sheriff Jack Shepard, (Timothy V. Murphy) to resolve a year-old missing person's case that has plagued the community. As the clues begin to come together and a mystery about the boy is found regarding his connection to a slew of missing person cases in the area. As the mystery deepens and more bodies turn up, they race to solve the mystery and find the killer before another strike is had.The Good News: This wasn't that bad, and there are certain parts that aren't that bad. One of the best features is that as the film progresses, the mystery deepens. It's not that clever or complicated, but it's something we simply cannot predict or unravel on our own and it leaves us feeling off-balance from the beginning. Just when we begin to think we know what's going on, it throws us off the scent. Not that bad. It also works as a really great gore-fest. We get mangled corpses with hooks pieced into their flesh, a carved-in face, a slashed chest, gun shot wounds, a hand slipping under one's skin, a ripped out heart and more. Even more is thrown in with the fact that blood plays an initial component in the creepiness in the beginning, as a pool of blood creeping under the door and turning direction in one creepy instance. The effects were mostly of a practical nature and are well done. It also packs in a constant stream of strange images, such as the naked boy bleeding from his eyes and mouth or covered in blood, or at one point in spiders, the boy's fingerprints turning out to each be one of the missing people in the area, and a deputy managing to tear up photos of the missing people and finding that they form into a composite image of the boy. Pretty creepy and well-done, but otherwise, there wasn't much else.The Bad News: There are a couple of problems with the film, and it mostly stems from the fact that it really doesn't make you want to care what happens. Everything passes by in a so-what manner, and after a while it just reverts to a series of incidents that make you question why it's still going on. My biggest problem with it was that it started giving some answers way too late into the game. So for the longest time, it was frustrating as the chain of events had nothing to hold to. It eventually almost forces you to give up on the narrative about halfway through and found myself struggling to care about what was happening. The other complaint is that none of it makes any sense at all. It's said that he has comes back to seek retribution on the killer, but then the bulk of the film take place in the police station with the boy sitting there manifesting blood and the like, and it's revealed the police station has nothing to do with the murders so it's just a large chunk of screen-time eaten up without accomplishing anything. There is the confused sense that all of this seems to be happening for purposes of vengeance, but none of this is really made clear at all. It is also not entirely clear why the killer is going around tying people up in the woods and killing them. There is no explanation of why the dead seem to be coming back everywhere. This is compounded by a never-ending stream of plot-holes that are so easy to find it's almost an insult. If the boy is a composite of the murdered dead, then why is he targeting people who are not connected to the killings? A trained forensic expert can tell at first glance if blood is human or animal, but can't discern if the blood cells are dead or not. Don't get me started on the killer's "slim fast" motive. I didn't buy it, it was way too thin to come close to justifying the beyond-insane and sexually deviant actions. This was a gigantic missed opportunity.The Final Verdict: As a gruesome gore-fest, it's not that bad, but as an engaging horror film, it fails remarkably. It's a shame, as it had a lot of potential and promise, but it's ruined by a largely uncaring feel and too many plot holes to really ignore. If it sounds like something that appeals to you instead of the standard grain, go for it, but if not, seek caution with it.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Nudity, and some Language

I believe this movie sets a new standard for horror films.I believe it has EVERYTHING a horror movie should be.It's got ambiance,gore,plot,nudity,blood,and of course the horror(most important part).The musical score REALLY sets you in the mood,with eerie violins just like old school horror movies.The scenery is absolutely perfect for this kind of film..starts out daylight,but with an overcast and it stays that way till later in the film which becomes night-fall(obvious in a horror flick) but not so obvious with the rest of it)The acting is "desent" I'm not gonna lie.One of the main characters,"jack" tries to pretend he can speak like an American but turns out British somewhat.Other than that,,i have no complaints.All and all,,I LOVE THIS MOVIE.I have seen it 6 times now.It never gets worse,only better.This movie actually "creeped me out" or "got to me" you could say.Which is rare for me to find in a horror film these days.In the late 90's in early 2000,,horror movies have totally lost their touch,,until now.I worked at a video store for a good year,renting every horror film from A to Z trying to find a worthy horror flick..i almost lost hope,But then finally,I found Shallow Ground.Don't rent it,,BUY IT!!!!! its a mile-stone in horror films i promise. if you disbelieve or disagree i DARE you to comment back lol I'll say it again,,this is a GREAT movie.