Tyler Chipman’s debut horror feature, The Shade, is almost a good movie. It has solid production values, a compelling lead, some genuine scares, and an ambition that cannot be denied. It’s also sluggishly paced, way too long, and boasts an ending bound to infuriate. Still, I’m not trying to throw too much shade – there’s enough here to warrant a halfhearted recommendation.
Ryan (Chris Galust) leads a tough life: he works multiple jobs, tries to maintain a healthy relationship with his girlfriend Alex (Mariel Molino), and takes care of his mom (Laura Benanti) and little brother (Sam Duncan). To make matters worse, he’s haunted by recurring lucid nightmares/flashbacks that his psychiatrist, Dr. Huston (Michael Boatman), labels as mere panic attacks: watching his father set a tombstone on fire before shooting himself and getting surrounded by hooded figures.
Things don’t stop here: Ryan’s even more troubled, not to mention hostile, brother, Jason (Dylan McTee), returns home to blast heavy metal music in the middle of the night, assault Ryan, and generally creep the family out. Soon after an unexpected tragic event, Ryan starts seeing hooded figures everywhere, as well as a horrific pale naked entity with long fingernails. Dr. Huston suggests that Ryan is experiencing hallucinations. The abrupt finale, while effective in invoking chills, is confusing, to say the least; Chipman quite literally gives his audience the finger.
“…he’s haunted by reoccurring lucid nightmares…”
The narrative takes a while to get going, and it never really does. It meanders from one tragic event to another, carrying a weight normally attributed to heady dramas and cerebral studies of the human psyche. While The Shade does a decent job examining grief and the complexities of a brotherly bond, it never digs too deeply, relying heavily on its central actor to reveal more depth than it contains.
Thankfully, he’s up for the challenge. Chris Galust anchors the film, conveying multiple facets of his character, the highlight being a meltdown at a campfire party. Dylan McTee serves up “unhinged” by the gallons, perhaps dipping too far into “ham-fisted” here and there. Luckily, the splendid Laura Benanti is there to save the day, imbuing each one of her scenes with genuine authenticity.
Chipman knows his way around a creepy sequence, of which there are several throughout The Shade. He and his cinematographer, Tom Fitzgerald, do a great job of sustaining a mood of amplifying tension. Every shot is framed impeccably. Someone just needed to take a scalpel to this thing.
"…do a great job of sustaining a mood of amplifying tension."
