Stay Out of the Woods: Shiver

There's something exciting about watching movies. Those of us who seem to be ceaselessly, obsessively watching movie after movie, squeezing every last dime out of our Netflix subscription are hunters. We watch a lot of bad movies. Come up empty-handed and a little depressed that our enthusiasm yielded less than stellar results. But when you do find a movie that touches you; that you didn't have any expectation for (aside from what the description read and let's face it, the Netflix descriptions are often misleading), it's like a revelation. While watching horror movies, I feel that the hunt is amplified because not only are there so many terrible horror movies but the viewer is actively seeking something out that will thrill and terrify them.

Shiver isn't the best horror film I've ever seen, but it's easily the tensest and scariest one I've watched this month. There are aspects of the story that aren't very tight and the resolution is a bit disappointing in light of the rest of the film. Minor complaints as those don't detract from the experience at all.



Santi (Junio Valverde) has an unfortunate condition. He's sensitive to sunlight and his canines are distinctly larger than they should be. This makes him an outcast at his school in the city. After some skin lesions are removed, the doctor suggests that he and his mother (Mar Sodupe) move to an area that gets less sun. Santi is more than happy to go along with this plan. They move into a small community in the valley and bad things start to happen almost immediately. Sheep are getting killed and eventually, humans. The townsfolk blame the new kid and his bad luck doesn't help his case.

I wish Shiver had done more with the anger and paranoia of the townsfolk and waited a little longer to reveal that Santi isn't responsible for anything. As it stands, the community just sort of flows in and out of the movie at random so that when we get to the big chase at the end, there isn't much sense at how scared the people are. It's also not clear why whatever is killing people started right when the new people showed up or why it kills those that it does.

Actually, if you read my notes on the film, you'd probably think I hated it since they are filled with questions about (possible) plot holes and dumb character decisions, but I really like it a lot. There's a strong sense of terror. It's shot incredibly well with a few stunning images and lots of cool time-lapse inserts of the clouds passing through the mountains. The acting is very good and there's no cheap scares. Nearly all of the films I've watched so far this month I've known very little about. I don't even bother watching the trailers since I'm going to watch the movie anyway. Shiver is easily the most rewarding viewing experience I've had so far even if it's not the best movie.