[SHELTER
screens Saturday May 19th at 9:00 pm at the Ohio Independent Film
Festival.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
Five people who barely know each other
find themselves locked in a bomb shelter after what appears to be an
apocalyptic event takes place. The shelter is reasonably well
stocked, but the question isn't so much whether the survivors will
run out of food as it is whether they will run out of patience with
each other. SHELTER jumps
back and forth in time, we know fairly early on that something has
happened to at least one of the five survivors since they aren't
present in any of the later scenes, but the film draws out the
mystery of exactly what took place almost to the end.
Despite
being a micro budget production, there's no need to grade SHELTER
on a curve. The writing and directing team of Adam Caudill and Wrion
Bowling have crafted a taut little thriller here that feels like an
episode of The
Twilight Zone
that's been stretched out to feature length without feeling padded.
Like even the best TZ
episodes, SHELTER
is a bit contrived at times, and perhaps a bit too reliant on plot
twists, but that's not to say the film isn't entertaining, and even
thought provoking at times.
The
cast (Joyce Hshieh, Michael Lane, Sarah Street, Jeffrey Green, and
Carlos Garcia) is surprisingly good for a movie of this budgetary
level, with Lane in particular standing out as someone with a real
shot at bigger things. But really, no one embarrasses themselves
here; there's maybe one or two awkward line readings, but that's
about it. And while Caudill and Bowling may not wow anyone with their
style, neither is their film visually bland, despite being confined
to just one location.
This
being the Cleveland Movie Blog, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention
that SHELTER
was shot in Akron, Ohio, where Bowling is originally from. Not that
you can tell since one basement looks about like any other, but it's
still nice to see the Rubber City represent. 3 out of 4 stars.
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