Shiver is a weak psychological horror-thriller with poor performances outside of the delightful Danielle Harris who seemingly continues to over-perform some of the dreck horror films. Although she is pretty good in this one, everything else is low-rent and cheap looking to go along with a story which never quite clicks. The DVD doesn’t have a whole lot to offer with no bonus material and average audio/video transfers.
Shiver (2013)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Horror
RLJ Entertainment | NR – 91 min. – $27.97 | October 8, 2013
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Julian Richards
Writer(s): Brian Harper (novel); Robert D. Weinbach (screenplay)
Cast: Danielle Harris, John Jarratt, Casper Van Dien, Rae Dawn Chong, Valerie Harper
DISC INFO:
Features: None
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Subtitles: None
Region(s): 1
THE MOVIE – 1.5/5
Plot Outline: The Gryphon (JOHN JARRATT) is a serial killer with a flair for the dramatic – and a grisly trophy case of victims. But when he sets out to add shy, young secretary Wendy Alden (DANIELLE HARRIS) to his macabre collection, he gets more than he bargained for. Always one step ahead of the pursuing Detective Delgado (CASPERT VAN DIEN), the brilliant psychopath penetrates police lines as well, circling ever closer to the target of his deranged fantasies. Until, finally, the only thing standing between Wendy and the Gryphon’s unthinkable desires is her own desperate, indomitable will to survive.
Quick Hit Review: A poor, low-rent, production, Shiver is a bad movie with a premise that could’ve been relegated to an episode of “Criminal Minds”… but with better acting… except for one: Danielle Harris does deliver a good performance and uplifts this forgettable direct-to-video horror flick, though given it’s only Harris, she can only do so much. Casper Van Dien is particularly bland and laughable as a police detective and John Jarratt, known as the villain in the Australian horror Wolf Creek, I guess gives it his best but his appearance at times comes across as silly rather than frightening.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0/5
No features were included.
VIDEO – 3.5/5
RLJ Entertainment distributes Shiver on DVD presented with a 16×9 enhanced video (2.35 aspect ratio) and while it looks fine, because of the numerous darkly lit scenes, there is a noticeable amount of banding and artifacts.
AUDIO – 3.0/5
The movie comes with a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track which is serviceable but hardly anything amazing and can sometimes be weak and audio more centrally located with the front and rear channels relegated for the music or minor ambient noises.
OVERALL – 1.0/5
Overall, Shiver is a weak psychological horror-thriller with poor performances outside of the delightful Danielle Harris who seemingly continues to over-perform some of the dreck horror films. Although she is pretty good in this one, everything else is low-rent and cheap looking to go along with a story which never quite clicks. The DVD doesn’t have a whole lot to offer with no bonus material and average audio/video transfers.
Published: 10/18/2013