Actors: Dallas Roberts, Alison Eastwood and Anne Dudek
Director: Matthew Arnold
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
DVD Release Date: March 19, 2013
Run Time: 88 minutes
Film: 3 out of 5 stars
Extras: N/A
Anything that boasts that it is from the producer of “The Devil’s Rejects” and “Capote” draws my interest. What a combination! This supernatural thriller is based on true events and that makes it much more interesting. The focus of the film is on SUNDS, which is the belief behind that your mind can actually kill the body through false belief. Is that crazy or what? Right off the bat, count me in! Dallas Roberts really delivers a great performance. You might know him recently from his role of Milton in season three of “The Walking Dead”. My main issue with the film was the blend of archival footage and actual interview, which takes away from the thrill. Get over that and genre fans should enjoy this quite a bit!
Official Premise: “Shadow People” is based on a true story about small town radio personality Charlie Crowe (Roberts) who unravels a conspiracy about encounters with mysterious beings. These “Shadow People” were the cause of hundreds of unexplained deaths. He encounters CDC Epidemic Intelligence Agent Sophie Lancombe (Eastwood), whose investigations entwine her with Charlie’s own discoveries leading them both into a dark world and a decades old cover-up.
What I liked about this film is that it actually used real historical evidence about SUNDS and the phenomenon of an inverse placebo effect. It is really an interesting topic and is blending with archival footage and actual interviews from people involved with the story that the film is based on. The Blu-ray looks very nice with its 1080p transfer and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track works well to create the suspense and a few good jumps. Unfortunately the Blu-ray does not have any special features included, which is a shame. I would have loved to seen more focus on the behind-the-scenes and many a special or two on the actual events and on SUNDS itself. Oh well, at least we have Google for those looking for more.