Film review
Directed by Federico Zampaglione
Starring Jake Muxworthy, Karina Testa, Nuot Arquint
Release date 29 April 2011

A young Iraq War veteran embarks on a hiking trip whereupon he meets a beautiful young woman. However, trouble looms in the shape of a duo of gun-happy rednecks - although the entire group will soon be at the mercy of a much bigger problem: a lanky, fast-moving lug with a taste for torture...

The glory days of Italian horror may be long gone but that hasn’t stopped erstwhile musician Zampaglione from attempting to give the genre a much needed kick. It may be small praise to say that the end result is the best spaghetti splatter shocker since Michele Soavi opted to call it quits with his 1994 masterpiece Dellamorte Dellamore, but Shadow at least attempts to follow in the right footsteps.

Stylish, and often evoking the sense of gothic dread and beauty that Mario Bava called his own (his grandson, Roy Bava, is credited as the assistant director), Shadow also boasts a corking Goblin-style soundtrack and the sort of colourful, bloody theatrics that bring to mind not only Dario Argento but also Lucio Fulci and Sergio Martino.

Add to this a surreal finale, a total lack of misogyny (all the victims are big, burly blokes) and a hilarious jab at a certain war-mongering ex-American President and you have an unexpected terror treat. Calum Waddell

VERDICT: 7/10
Stands in the shadow of giants but still manages to hold its own.