ThiefHott Too much of everything

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Yvonne Jodi Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

merklekranz In what seems like a totally gratuitous nude shower scene, the film opens as a "Psycho" clone. This prank by four college coeds, sets in motion a relentlessly downbeat tale involving a psycho Southern sheriff. On their way to Florida, a fateful blowout strands the four students in Medley Georgia, where the sheriff, Tony March, has just strangled his mistress. When he discovers that one of the girls has witnessed the killing, March begins a methodical murder spree, eliminating the girls one by one. A frustratingly dimwitted deputy looks the other way, while the sheriff does his deadly deeds. The film is lively, has decent character development, memorable nudity, and a controversial ending. Good of it's type, and recommended. - MERK

Cujo108 Three annoying girls and their more tolerable friend are on their way to Ft. Lauderdale when they have a blowout that strands them on the side of a rural Georgia road. One of the girls needs to use the restroom, but with nothing in sight, she heads into the woods to do the deed. She wanders too far for her own good, as she winds up seeing a man murder his lover. One thing leads to another as the killer, who happens to be the local sheriff, looks to eliminate all witnesses.I originally saw this film many years ago. Figuring it was about time I reacquainted myself with it, I bought an old VHS copy off of the web. I probably enjoyed it even more this time around. While it's not exactly a full-blooded slasher, I'd say it's close enough, and as such, it's certainly one of the more effective entries in the sub-genre. Acting is stronger than the norm, and the authentic southern atmosphere lends the film an added boost in flavor. Tony March is solid as the murderous sheriff. His mental slide from self-conflict to warped mania manages to unnerve. You're left just waiting for him to explode. He also has the trust that being sheriff brings to a person, so the girls have virtually no one to help them.Now, I admittedly didn't care about most of these girls from the get-go. Only Carol Cadby as Patty is likable. She's far more grounded than the others, and it helps that she's quite stunning to boot. The remaining three girls are airheads with grating personalities. Color me surprised when somehow, as the film went on, I actually managed to warm up to Sue Ellen as well. This is important, as there needs to be some emotional weight for one to be invested in their attempts to get Deputy Tom Law to believe them. And emotional weight there is... I wanted to reach into the screen and knock some sense into Law when he left Patty alone and helpless in the jail cell despite her pleading with him not to. The resulting murder scene is the film's strongest moment.Shallow Grave is a winner, slasher or not. Immersed in rural, small town atmosphere and containing a real sense of futility, I'm glad to have this sitting on my VHS shelf. Having said that, a DVD or Blu-ray sure would be nice.

Vomitron_G Now, everyone knows how bad 80's movies can get and this movie is no exception when it comes to girls with bad hairdo's & clothes and bad 80's pop-songs. And the first half hour is pretty tedious in displaying all that. Four girl-students get going on a road-trip towards sunny Florida. At some roadhouse, they briefly meet two boys (also with a stupid 80's outfit) and make a rendez-vous with them at the next truck-stop, the next day. Of course, when being back on the road, their car breaks down because of a flat tire. Naturally, one of the stupidest girls took out the spare tire before they left, in order to make room for the baggage. Then one girl has to pee, goes in the woods and... is witness to a murder. At this point we are half an hour in the movie. But after that, the movie turns into a pretty misogynistic violence-movie set in some backwoods-town. We immediately know who the killer is (we see him commit the murder), but it still is a nice surprise when we (very soon) learn a bit more about his identity. He instantly (and secretly) turns into a serial killer determined to kill off all the girls. And when he becomes aware of the fact that the girls are on to him, he becomes an even more cunning bastard.Now, this isn't exactly a slasher movie and there isn't much gore in the movie. Mostly, the girls are being strangled or just shot dead (there's a nice head-shot in it). The acting is barely tolerable, but that doesn't matter. Even the pretty bad directing and editing doesn't matter. And the soundtrack or cinematography aren't gaining any points either. The subplot with the two boys at the truck-stop leads to nowhere. That blond deputy Scott is a complete moron. And those repeated close-ups of Tony March naked, sweaty, hairy chest didn't do me any good either. But here are the cool things: on many occasions it seems like one girl is gonna make it, but she doesn't. And sometimes help is on the way, but they always arrive too late. Yep, you got it, it goes from bad to worse for our poor girls. And the writer did good by not drawing out a protagonist amongst the girls. That way you have absolutely no idea who's going to die next. And just when you think you know who might make it 'til the end of the movie, you can think again. Also cause for applause is the fact that a lot of boobies are displayed here on several occasions (even right away in the opening-scene during a pretty senile shower-scene-spoof reminiscent of the one in PSYCHO, only this one is better for only one reason: the afore-mentioned boobies!). And probably the best thing (something which I didn't expect): the ending is really good. Abrupt, but good, including a typical 70's & 80's freeze-frame-shot. And we all know what that means, don't we? It's because of those few cool things, that SHALLOW GRAVE receives that extra point it so desperately needs.

jerjerrod013 SHALLOW GRAVE begins with either a tribute or a rip off of the shower scene in PSYCHO. (I'm leaning toward rip off.) After that it gets worse and then surprisingly gets better, almost to the point of being original. Bad acting and amateurish directing bog down a fairly interesting little story, but the film already surpasses many in the "Yankee comes down South to get killed by a bunch of rednecks" genre because it is actually shot in the South.A group of college girls head to Ft. Lauderdale for summer vacation and are waylaid in Georgia by a flat tire after getting off the main road. (Note to Yankees: stay on the highway when you go to Florida.) Sue Ellen (Lisa Stahl) has to pee so she heads into the woods. When she finally finds a good spot to do her business she witnesses the local sheriff (Tony March) strangle his mistress (Merry Rozelle) to death. (Note to Yankees: do not wander off into the woods when in the South; not because you might witness a murder, but you may run across a marijuana plantation.) This is the point where the story, not the movie, actually comes close to being good.While Tony March will never have to practice his Oscar speech, his Sheriff Dean becomes a creepy facsimile of a normal guy torn by what he has done and what he must do. Tom Law is likable as Deputy Scott and is as authentic a Southern deputy as I've seen since Walton Goggins (Deputy Steve Naish) in HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES.A few scenes in the movie are worth the mention. The girls stop at a BBQ in South Carolina and display their racism when a big black guy checks them out. Sue Ellen runs into a barn to hide behind some hay bales and in a shockingly realistic moment a large snake is hiding in the hay with her.And in the strangest scene, Sheriff Dean makes like he's about to rape Patty (Carol Cadby) and tells her to take off her clothes. Dean has turned the radio up to drown out the noise of what he's about to do. The preacher on the radio needs to go back and read his Bible. His sermon is about how Jezebel is saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. I feel sorry for this preacher's flock. Jezebel was in the Old Testament a few thousand years before Christ was born and by no means is she one of the five people you are going to meet in Heaven.