The trailer for Voice of Shadows hooked me right away. It has that eerie, mysterious vibe that’ll pull in any horror fan. But whether it accurately represent the whole movie? Well, you’ll have to judge that for yourself. Written and directed by Nicholas Bain (going by Nick Bain), this flick was shot in Minnesota. That’s surprising, considering the film’s house and setting feel more European than American. Turns out Bain is a Minnesota native, though he left for LA in 2014.
The film seems to embrace classic B-movie horror, with a potentially haunted house and an elderly woman named Milda (Jane Hammill) who lives and dies there. Her niece Emma (Corinne Mica, Always, Lola) inherits the house, and, of course, spooky things start happening. There are references to Milda dying twice and some unexplained hints at occult activities that feel a bit thrown in.
The tagline? “A young working-class woman stands to inherit an estate if she and her boyfriend abide by a set of bizarre stipulations.”
THE GOOD
Right now, horror is one of the hottest genres, and Voice of Shadows taps into that trend. The cinematography by Neil Murphy and the eerie score by Utkucan Eken and Elif Karlidag really set the tone for this creepy B-movie.
The acting is fine. No one here is vying for an Oscar, but horror rarely gets Academy love anyway. The actors do what they can with the material, and honestly, that’s all you can ask for in a genre film like this.
At 90 minutes, the runtime is a blessing compared to the recent wave of 3-hour movie marathons. It’s short and (sometimes) sweet, like the old-school horror flicks we grew up with. Plus, the house set is impressive, even if the timeline is a bit confusing. I mean, a rotary phone? Are we in the ‘80s?
The visual effects by Jeff Sardar won an award at the Los Angeles Crime and Horror Film Festival. Sure, having black goo come out of the heroine’s mouth isn’t groundbreaking, but it still works. The film’s racked up a few accolades, including Best Feature Film at the Latitude Film Awards and Romford Horror Festival.
THE BAD
“Voice of Shadows”
Guillermo Blanco (“The Queen of Flow”) plays Gabriel. It seems that Milda (Jane Hammill), the old woman who owns the house, doesn’t like Gabriel. One of the “bizarre stipulations” that Milda has put on the inheritance of her impressive house by her niece Emma is that Gabriel never stays there—not even for one night. Given the “plot spill” that the script begins with, where Gabriel is in the confessional and confesses to being a murderer (for good reasons) the explanation makes his first murder seem reasonable initially, (just as the television series “Dexter” used to justify Dexter’s homicidal acts with excuses).
Gabriel’s character throughout is difficult for the audience to determine. He is swilling liquor from a bottle while in the confessional. We can conclude from that that he drinks too much (and not in inappropriate places); which might influence his decision-making. But, as the plot progresses, Gabriel still seems very willing to murder people at a moment’s notice. I’m not sure that we find that coincides with how Gabriel is depicted throughout the film.
The worst assault by Gabriel was Ernest (Martin Harris). Gabriel’s motives for plunging a knife into Ernest are unclear, and it goes downhill from there. I wanted to sympathize with and like Gabriel because he initially seemed like a good fellow. Milda’s instant dislike for Gabriel seemed to be petty jealousy, but murdering multiple people with little or no motivation was a bit much, even for me.
The acting by female lead Corinne Mica as Emma (“Always, Lola”) and Maria Jose Vargas Aguidelo (“Las Villamizar”) as Celeste and Guillermo Blanco as Gabriel was satisfactory, if not particularly memorable. Father John, played by Michael Paul Levin (“Beyond Bob,” “I Am Not A Serial Killer”) was stronger in his supporting part. Bee Vang (“Stranger Things.”Gran Torino” ) plays Father James.
PLOT REVEALS
There was a lot of information dumped on the audience, beginning with the very first confessional scene. For me, it was too much telling and not enough showing. It’s best to assume the audience is savvy enough to put two-and-two together, rather than having your main characters ranting on about why they did this or why they did that. It’s easy to see that Emma’s character and behavior change once her Aunt Milda leaves her the house. She begins disappearing with Ernesto to “the art gallery.” Overall, most of the climactic scenes in the film—murders and the like—either have no explanation or are overly explained. So, for me, the script needed work.
There was nothing extremely original or new in the film, but the trailer is very well done. “Voice of Shadows” was a good effort. VOICE OF SHADOWS will arrive September 17 on digital and streaming platforms, including iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Fandango at Home, Vimeo, and local cable & satellite providers.