Director: Brian Schiavo (as Max Dementor)
Year: 2010
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: The Shriven; Shapeshifter
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
After a series of strange visions, a man meets a strange woman who claims to be shapeshifting creature just like he is and wants to help him control his murderous urges, but doing so upsets his girlfriend as well as alerts a group of monster hunters trying to wipe them out bringing everything to a violent conclusion.
Review:
This was a rather fun and enjoyable if flawed effort. What works nicely here is the rather impressive work on display that showcases the deep and complex storyline at play. The idea of these supernatural shapeshifting demons that are living in the world while being able to offer up various points about their existence, namely the ability to possess extraordinary sensory powers with enhanced smell and hearing as well as their demonic appearance is a solid starting point here. The continuation of the story involving their fateful connection to each other, their way of life as to how to remain undetected as long as they have been from the monsters hunters on their trail, this one gets enough going for it to be quite entertaining.
As well, when the film goes full-throttle on the horror scenes they’re exceptionally fun and over-the-top. The series of violent visions and hallucinations he has before getting to know what he really is starts this off nicely with some freaky visuals. The initial change and attack on the thug in the alley is a gruesome, frenetic sequence much like the later scenes involving them attacking the victims at a strip club which bring about some decent sensuality alongside the violent outcomes for each of their encounters. The big finale, featuring some rather fun action alongside the confrontations with the hunters coming to stop them which brings about some decent indie gore to tie it all together and give this one a lot to like.
There are some flaws to be had here. One of the main features on display to hold this back is the strange inability for characters to spell out what’s happening to everyone else around them. The fact that he spends the majority of the film completely unaware of the type of creature he really is since all they do is just assume he knows anything about the being he really is creates a frustrating experience as if they expect him to know everything about these creatures he’s just been informed of that he is. That is especially true of her induction into the monster hunters tracking him who tend to ignore her reasonable and understandable calls for help and clarity about everything yet don’t, leaving this part quite frustrating.
The last flaw to be had with this one is the generally obvious low-budget throughout here. While the effects are kept to a practical realm for just about everything, their use is still blindly obvious to most about how fake the prosthetics and bloodletting are when the wounds and aftermath effects are shown. Seeing how these are mixed alongside the hilariously out-of-place CGI for the wounds being created, gunfire that goes on, or just trying to enhance the surroundings of their environment that come off as cringe-inducing more than anything. None of this really means the film is able to overcome this feeling at all, and can easily be seen as a detriment for some who don’t enjoy this kind of genre effort overall.
Overview: **.5/5
With some far more enjoyable positives than expected and only a few minor but still obvious drawbacks that bring this one down somewhat, there are some generally watchable features on display here. Give this a look if you’re a fan of these kinds of indie efforts or if you’re intrigued by what’s on display here, but most others who don’t go for this kind of film should heed caution overall.
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