Sundance 2016 – Under the Shadow

Under the Shadow is the definition of a slow burn. This Persian horror flick is one of the creepier and tense horror movies I’ve seen in a long time and a perfect addition to the Sundance Midnight section.

Set in war torn Tehran in the 80’s, a mother (Narges Rashidi) and her daughter must survive a mysterious evil that haunts there home.

This movie is like the Persian version of The Babadook (2014).  Though it was creepy as some parts and had a decent story, I was not a big fan of The Babadook and thought the scares needed to be heightened. But I really liked “Under the Shadow”.  This is a movie that depends on the payoff, and when it comes, it comes strong and fast and creeped the hell out of me.  We also dive into the mind of the mother, and watch her mental state deteriorate as the hauntings become more and more extreme and her personal problems and anguish come to a head.

Director Babak Anvari does an excellent job of knowing when to cut a scene and when to show the scares.  The first hour is all about the build up and Anvari cuts away at just the right moment to leave the audience with an uneasy feeling of intrigue.  The scares are really scary and come when you least expect it.  And the way he balances the real life situations with the things going on in the mother heads and then blending them together so that we aren’t sure what’s real and what isn’t adds to horror.

With good performance, great tension, horrifying scares, and a perfect ambiguous ending, Under the Shadow is a perfect late night screening and a film horror fans of all kinds will enjoy.

MY RATING – 3.5/4

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