By Geno McGahee
I get a lot of submissions for review and the two most popular sub-genres are zombies and found footage and most of the time, they are terrible. Found footage is the most common and it is typically just an example of lazy filmmaking. You have an ad-libbed film with 90 minutes of meaningless conversation leading to a shocking conclusion. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is a good example of this sort of approach. Then you have found footage films that are better planned and do not bank on one big shock. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT understood that a found footage movie needed a story and needed to have a certain pace to maintain the viewer. In the low-budget found footage film SHALLOW CREEK CULT, there was a good story and great pace. It did found footage correctly.
Written and Directed by King Jeff, SHALLOW CREEK CULT, we have two brothers that are going to a pond to spread the ashes of their grandfather. While there, they stumble upon a cannibalistic group of demons that trap them in a house and have them fighting for their lives.
It doesn’t take long for the action to kick in. Getty and Jessie spot a monster in a cult robe standing outside the house. They kill it, but soon there are more and then they infiltrate the house. The just keep coming and they look very neat. There is a huge fun factor in this film. As the two brothers fought the demons, I found a lot of enjoyment. Parts of this reminded me of that Sega CD game “NIGHT TRAP.” The way that the bad guys hobble around and the monitors reminded me a great deal of it. Thankfully, this story and movie was far better than that game.
The brothers wait for the morning but have to fend off the constantly aggressive demon cult members. It’s pretty intense at times and the film wraps up in an unexpected way. The ending of this film leaves room for a sequel and ends in a way that is very memorable but didn’t rely on a shock for the audience. It decided just to present something really cool instead. I loved the ending.
SHALLOW CREEK CULT is not without its problems. I found the audio levels pretty bad and the actors sometimes mumble, making it difficult to hear what they are saying. I think that the audio equipment just wasn’t that good. At times, it’s OK, but at other times, I kept rewinding it to try to hear what was said. The acting is so-so. The biggest problem with the acting is the lack of emotion. When they find a severed head, there really isn’t much reaction and when the ghouls are attacking, they are pretty relaxed. Had the acting been better, it would have really raised the tension and made this film that much better.
In the end, SHALLOW CREEK CULT is a winner. It isn’t a perfect production, but it has the right idea, a story, and plenty of heart to make this found footage a standout in a sea of bad found footage low-budget horror films. I recommend it!
Rating: 7/10
