A young couple’s mountain biking holiday goes seriously awry when they arouse the wrath of a couple of local hunters. Fleeing form the hunters however leads them into greater danger and the clutches of a seriously mal-practicing surgeon. 

Italian rock star turned movie director, Federico Zampaglione has produced a slick and visually impressive piece of work in Shadow which is unfortunately let down by a lack of any real ideas or innovation.

The bulk of the film consists of a strange and silent surgeon (played by an intense and emaciated Nuot Arquint) strapping his victims down and inflicting various tortures upon them for no apparent reason. This set-up has already been used so many times that it is simply impossible to recommend a film which rolls it out again as if Hostel hadn’t already been made nearly half a decade ago now.  

There is a little more going on in the film in this to be fair and the photography is distinctive and at times truly beautiful. The film just tries to be too many things at once which is damaging enough but combined with a seriously misfiring twist ending which undermines everything that has occurred in the film up to that point, the result is an unfortunate but good-looking mess. 

Rating: 6/10

Click here for our exclusive interview with the director of Shadow, Federico Zampaglione.