Bram Stoker's Shadowbuilder [VHS]

good film

Back in the 1980s I replaced most of my collection of 8mm movies with VHS and now I am going through a same process of upgrading to DVD. This also gives me the excuse to sample films of the genre which have appeared over the past 20 years.The film was new to me, the actors were new to me but I was intrigued by the Bram Stoker link in. Overall, it really was a 'not bad' demon movie with some nice moments of tension although the story was a little weak and I have been totally mystified as to which of Bram Stoker's works it is taken from. The film has the atmosphere of the type of movie of the genre made in the 1970's, good fun to watch, no real nastiness, and has added in a 'shoot-em up' element to satify the modern tastes. The special effects have been handled quite satisfactorily, 'discretion is the better part of a low budget', so 3 out of 5 for entertainment value.

I actually thoroughly enjoyed this movie, as far as horror flicks go. The acting was largely believeable and the effects were vivid without being over-the-top. But... the reason I give this movie only 3 stars is due to a few holes I spotted, or scenes that I feel could have been better shot/explained. Firstly, if I hadn't read the blurb, I would have had no idea why the shadowbuilder was chasing after the boy, not until it was almost casually mentioned that he had displayed signs of the Stigmata at his Christening. And as for the shadowbuilder himself, I couldn't help wondering if he was simply supposed to be a demon, or the Devil... Father Vassey was sometimes more of a hardened vigilante, with no credible history in religion, rather than the "struggling-with-my-faith" priest.All in all, a pretty much run of the mill horror film that could have been (and SHOULD have been) better. Definitely worth a watch if you love the genre, and like I said, I *DID* enjoy it, but don't expect to come away from it with anything more than a feeling of basic satisfaction and a niggling question: "What was that bit all about...?"