Search - Shadow of Fear on DVD

Sharon F. (Shar) from AVON PARK, FL
Reviewed on 9/18/2022...

Keeps your interest throughout the entire movie!

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 9/18/2022...

Quite the plotline buildup!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

A Bizarre, Intriguing Examination of Desperation

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 01/15/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"SHADOW OF FEAR has all the markings of one of those scary French suspense films - evil begets evil in a centrifuge of action and mind manipulation. For first time writers and director this is an interesting concept that unfortunately ends with a too pat resolution.

After opening credits play over moody and very well photographed shoes walking on a rainy pavement bleeding into a hand held glass of liquor, we are plunged into an event of a hit and run by one Harrison French (Matthew Davis) only to discover that this youngest member of a secret society of wealthy men controlled by William Ashbury (James Spader) at first tries to keep his murderous event to himself without involving his wife Wynn (Robin Tunney) or his associates. French deals in real estate and is on the verge of bankruptcy and is dependent on his father-in-law Congressman (Peter Coyote) who strangely warns him to move away from the present environs.

Events develop: French's dope addict brother-in-law is killed after being involved in a bank heist (is this the man French murdered by hit and run?), French is arrested by Detective (Aidan Quinn) who seems to have all of the information about the interweaving scandalous events captured on film but one of French's associates in the society (an associate on the brink of being discovered as womanizer and adulterer), and the very cool and omniscient William Ashbury consistently intervenes to correct each of the evil doings of the secret society - for a price. Money can apparently change all truths and the entire secret society is implicated in some way with odious misdeeds covered up by the evil manipulations of Ashbury.

How all of these interwoven missteps are resolved is left to the very end of the film and therein lies the film's weakness. Too many loose threads are flimsily tied together by a few pertinent deaths and the story simply ends. Up to this point the tension is high and the characters all are well played by a fine cast (especially James Spader), the cinematography is moody and elegant and the musical score heightens the tension and atmosphere. For the first three fourths of this film we are suspended in a bizarre world of shadows and human deceit that could have had much more punch with a better resolved denouement. Still, a good film for a rainy evening suspense addict! Grady Harp, January 2005"

Twisted

N. Powell | Albany,NY | 02/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of those twisted movies that you have to watch more than once to see things you didn't see the first time. I truly liked this movie."

HIT AND RUN = HIT AND MISS

Michael Butts | Martinsburg, WV USA | 03/12/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"While starting out with an interesting premise and maintaining its ominous, what is he going to do mood, SHADOW OF FEAR loses this edge when it brings out an ambiguous ending that leaves the viewer wondering where the movie has taken you. Matt Davis (Below) plays an up and coming real estate fellow who loses a big account. On the way home from a meeting with a group of high powered men, he hits a pedestrian and panicking, he hides the body. Davis does a good job in his role, lending his innocent physical appearance and his overwhelming sense of helplessness to the film's foundation. Robin Tunney as his wife also does well. Davis does find himself in deep doodoo though when James Spader's malevolent William Ashbury offers to help him "cover up" his deed. Seems like Ashbury has done this before for the other gentlemen in their Tuesdy night club. Spader underplays his character nicely, but never lets up on his simmering evil. Aidan Quinn plays a detective with his own checkered past, and the gentlemen in the club include notable character actors Peter Coyote and David Selby. I wanted to like this movie a lot more, but its ambiguity in the finale left me unsatisfied."