Arrow within the Head opinions the horror comedy Shaky Shivers, directed by Sung Kang of the Quick & Livid franchise
PLOT: Fearing a witch’s curse goes to make her flip right into a werewolf, Lucy heads to an deserted camp together with her pal Karen to attend out the complete moon. However lycanthropy will be the least of their issues.
REVIEW: The horror comedy Shaky Shivers takes its title from a chilly, candy concoction created by ice cream store employee Karen (VyVy Nguyen), however we by no means truly study what substances she has put into this deal with. The film itself is sort of a mix of sub-genres, that includes lycanthropy, zombies, a witch, cultists, a Trapper Keeper Necronomicon, a Bigfoot fanatic… and perhaps even an look by Bigfoot itself.
Karen works on the aforementioned ice cream store together with her pal Lucy (Brooke Markham), and when a witchy woodsy girl referred to as Mama Nature (performed by Erin Daniels of Rob Zombie’s Home of 1000 Corpses) is available in after closing time, wielding an odd puppet and asking for meals, Lucy tries to show her away. She pays the value for that call, as Mama Nature locations a curse on her that she says will flip the ice cream disher right into a “satan wolf”. Not liking the sound of that, Lucy decides to exit to a distant, deserted camp with Karen to attend out the complete moon, fearing that she’s going to remodel right into a werewolf. However whether or not or not she’s a werewolf quickly begins to appear irrelevant, as the buddies get their fingers on a e book of spells that may resurrect the lifeless in varied methods, Mama Nature is discovered to be lurking within the wilderness with a cult, and there’s indication that there could be some Bigfoot exercise within the space as effectively.
From that description, Shaky Shivers sounds prefer it ought to be a continuous blast of madness… however regardless that it manages to pack all of these components right into a working time of simply 83 minutes, it’s by no means fairly as enjoyable or thrilling because it looks like it ought to have been. As an alternative of being high-spirited and fast-paced, it’s oddly sluggish. It feels prefer it solely managed to succeed in 83 minutes as a result of each scene is stretched to the breaking level. More often than not is spent on the characters bouncing dialogue off of one another fairly than creature sequences. However it nonetheless delivers an satisfying viewing expertise, as a result of a number of the jokes do land and the creature sequences are enjoyable to see once they come alongside. Particularly the zombie scenes, as a result of particular results artist Gabriel Bartalos and his crew had been in a position to make these zombies look very cool and distinctive.
The first promoting level for lots of viewers could also be the truth that this marks the characteristic directorial debut of actor Sung Kang, finest identified for enjoying fan favourite character Han within the Quick & Livid franchise. Whereas the movie is about within the Nineties, it has been stated that Kang was aiming to seize the spirit of the ’80s classics that he grew up adoring. He didn’t fairly obtain that purpose, as this didn’t actually deliver any ‘80s classics to thoughts for me, however his film does have its moments. Kang additionally gave himself an oddball cameo that ends the film on a considerably awkward be aware – however what his film comes throughout as greater than something is a showcase for the abilities of VyVy Nguyen and Brooke Markham. Each scene is carried on their shoulders, as Kang clearly cherished watching them work together. Like I stated earlier than, there are scenes that take longer than essential, however it comes off like Kang was so enamored with Nguyen and Markham’s performances that he didn’t need to minimize them down… And in addition didn’t need his film to finish up being too brief.
Fortunately, Nguyen and Markham do robust work within the movie, even when their characters can generally be grating. They usually have a small however strong supporting solid that features Herschel Sparber as their boss Bob, Jimmy Bellinger as their co-worker Eric, and Skyler Day as an annoying buyer.
Shaky Shivers was written by the duo of Andrew McAllister, whose earlier credit got here on dramas and documentaries, and Aaron Strongoni, who does have some horror cred: Darkish Medication, Furnace, Madhouse, the usually ignored Return of the Residing Lifeless sequels Return of the Residing Lifeless: Necropolis and Return of the Residing Lifeless: Rave to the Grave, and even the Full Moon manufacturing Gingerdead Man 2: Ardour of the Crust. A few of these aren’t the very best credit to have, however Shaky Shivers turned out higher than the lesser ones.
This can be a bizarre little film with a shocking lack of liveliness, however it’s price a glance to see the creature designs, to observe Nguyen and Markham in motion, and to fulfill your “what if Sung Kang directed a horror comedy?” curiosity.
Cineverse and Fathom Occasions are teaming as much as give Shaky Shivers a theatrical launch on September 21st.
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