Shaky Shivers brings sweetness to the sticky gore of a monster film with nice outcomes. It’s billed as a werewolf film, however I wouldn’t anticipate an excessive amount of lycanthropic motion. Even so, there’s loads of icky goodness to get pleasure from in its 82-minute runtime.
Sung Kang, greatest recognized for his position as Han within the Quick and Livid films, makes his debut behind the digicam in a really completely different type of beast that’s additionally kind of about household.
The story of Shaky Shivers sees mates Lucy (Brooke Markham) and Karen (VyVy Nguyen working at an ice cream parlor by day, striving to be one thing greater than the losers they’re made out to be. Within the movie’s opening, nonetheless, we meet them in additional uncommon circumstances as Lucy is handcuffed to Karen’s automobile steering wheel and the pair have a barely off-kilter heart-to-heart. The dialog unfurls to disclose Lucy believes she is to grow to be a werewolf when the complete moon seems that night time.
The end result of this dialog is considerably grisly, however earlier than we enterprise too far, the story is dragged again to the day earlier than on the Pleasant Freeze ice cream parlor. It seems a relatively eccentric girl of the woods (Erin Daniels) has cursed Lucy after being denied an ice cream (she affords some pine cones as cost to be truthful). Biting her arm with a weirdo puppet.
Again to the current, and Lucy has awoken the morning after the handcuff incident bare and nonetheless hooked up to the steering wheel (sans automobile). We didn’t see her change, however the proof seems to be there. From there’s an usually farcical story of magic spells, zombies, cults, and even an sudden look alongside the way in which.
Whereas there’s loads of monster enjoyable to be discovered, the film’s possibilities lie within the palms of its central duo of Lucy and Karen, and for probably the most half, the chemistry between actors Markham and Nyguyen is current and proper. Their nonsensical banter lifts a number of the quiet stretches, and there are occasions when the supply of comedic strains is fantastically landed. The dialogue has misfires, however these two maintain the hit fee pretty excessive.
I benefit from the pair’s bumbling methods as they attempt to reverse the curse. The darkly amusing penalties of their lackadaisical actions are becoming, and the weird check on their friendship brings loads of hilarity. Possibly all the pieces is resolved too sweetly after a surprisingly darkish begin, and the fixed mishaps begin to really feel repetitive because it reaches the ultimate stretch, however Markham and Nguyen saved me invested.
The monster motion is sporadic, however even with a restricted finances, Kang will get loads of juice from it. The only werewolf transformation scene is dealt with effectively and appears fairly efficient. The zombie design was a spotlight for me. The grey-skinned undead have misshapen jaws, twisted rows of monstrous tooth, and palms fused with twigs and branches. It seems to be spectacular and refreshing by way of zombie design.
There’s some gore and goop in Shaky Shivers that punctuates the talk-heavy nature of the movie, however gaps are additionally crammed in properly by some delightfully disgusting sound work. There’s a scene that entails consuming blood and the audio does simply as a lot lifting as the standard but efficient sensible results to check anybody with a squeamish facet.
If there’s an actual draw back to Shaky Shivers then it comes from the way it constructions its story. There’s no subject with its angsty narrative strolling a predictable path as a result of it’s flavored with a grim eccentricity, however Shaky Shivers tries to do an excessive amount of with too little in any other case.
Would it not have been stronger if it simply targeted on the werewolf dilemma? Maybe. It provides just a few layers to what needs to be a easy curse story and basically shoves the werewolf curse to 1 facet lengthy some time earlier than the credit roll. There’s solely a handful of actors and characters concerned, however some didn’t must have the additional backstory they acquired. It’s clear the place the power of the story lies, and it’s not within the mad girl of the woods or the ice cream parlor proprietor.
Shaky Shivers isn’t the type of horror comedy I initially thought I used to be getting, and that’s largely a welcome revelation. It flits from foolish banter to icky moments with out a care, and instills some much-needed heat with out turning into sticky-sweet. There’s just a little an excessive amount of happening by the tip, and that took my eye off the chemistry between its leads when it ought to have mattered most. Nonetheless, it is a goofy goopy horror comedy that doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Rating: 6/10
As ComingSoon’s assessment coverage explains, a rating of 6 equates to “Respectable.” It fails to succeed in its full potential and is a run-of-the-mill expertise.