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Shadow Of God
Michael Peterson (director)
Shudder (studio)
87 (length)
11 April 2025 (released)
10 April 2025
Two priests: one cool, the other not so, are conducting an exorcism that unfortunately sees the not so cool priest killed. The deaths are becoming an issue for the Catholic church, with six dead that day.
Cut to survivor Mason Harper (Mark O’Brien) now in snowy Alberta, Canada. Waiting to be picked up by Tanis (Jaqueline Byers) he thinks he sees his father Angus (Shaun Johnston) jump off a bridge.
Through flashbacks, it starts to become clear that as children, Mason and Tanis were in a religious cult led by Angus. Angus was shot and killed when the cult was raided but has now seemingly come back life. A fact noted by the surviving cult members now led by the ruthless Beau (Adrian Hough) and ready to finally implement their plan.
There are a number of good ideas in Tim Cairo’s screenplay, directed by Michael Peterson that unfortunately don’t get going. That’s mainly because the film has a stodgy feel from the start not helped by some ponderous dialogue scenes. It doesn’t mange to create much tension or the dread that the developing narrative requires.
Another element are the SFX sequences. They in themselves shouldn’t be an issue as this is a low budget film and allowances have to be made for that. But there’s an unintentionally funny sequence that will be vaguely familiar to those who have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The cast meanwhile are going through the motions of their stale characters: the tormented priest, the regretful father, token female, psychopathic killer, and demented cult followers. They take the story towards a potentially interesting conclusion that in the end doesn’t quite deliver.
Even allowing for the for the low budget and limited resources Shadow of God is a disappointment from Peterson and Cairo who are both experienced and familiar with the horror genre.
Shadow of God have its exclusive premiere on Shudder on 11 April 2025.
Cut to survivor Mason Harper (Mark O’Brien) now in snowy Alberta, Canada. Waiting to be picked up by Tanis (Jaqueline Byers) he thinks he sees his father Angus (Shaun Johnston) jump off a bridge.
Through flashbacks, it starts to become clear that as children, Mason and Tanis were in a religious cult led by Angus. Angus was shot and killed when the cult was raided but has now seemingly come back life. A fact noted by the surviving cult members now led by the ruthless Beau (Adrian Hough) and ready to finally implement their plan.
There are a number of good ideas in Tim Cairo’s screenplay, directed by Michael Peterson that unfortunately don’t get going. That’s mainly because the film has a stodgy feel from the start not helped by some ponderous dialogue scenes. It doesn’t mange to create much tension or the dread that the developing narrative requires.
Another element are the SFX sequences. They in themselves shouldn’t be an issue as this is a low budget film and allowances have to be made for that. But there’s an unintentionally funny sequence that will be vaguely familiar to those who have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The cast meanwhile are going through the motions of their stale characters: the tormented priest, the regretful father, token female, psychopathic killer, and demented cult followers. They take the story towards a potentially interesting conclusion that in the end doesn’t quite deliver.
Even allowing for the for the low budget and limited resources Shadow of God is a disappointment from Peterson and Cairo who are both experienced and familiar with the horror genre.
Shadow of God have its exclusive premiere on Shudder on 11 April 2025.
