FILM REVIEW: OUT OF THE SHADOWS

​When a newly married detective and his pregnant wife move into their dream home unaware of its dark history. When his wife claims their baby is being tormented by a supernatural force and seeks the help of a renegade demonologist, he must investigate the past to save his family.  

Sounds very familiar, doesn't it?  OUT OF THE SHADOWS can best be described as a hotchpotch of nearly every other haunted house/ some supernatural entity is after my child movie.  Ranging from The Conjuring, to Insidious, with a wee bit of The Babadook (the monster bares more than a little passing resemblance to the Baba), OUT OF THE SHADOWS could so easily have come across a piss poor man's Poltergeist, luckily the film isn't a complete disaster it.  

Out of The Shadows is beautifully shot throughout, a surprise for a film with such a low budget, and the use of zoom and pan out to panoramic drone shots of the Australian countryside work really well to give a real sense of isolation.  Complementing the stunning cinematography is a very good film score, that reinforces the tension on the screen.  

The two main leads provide a solid if not outstanding performances with Blake Northfield's portrayal of the beleaguered police detective is the better of the two.  There is a nice subtly to his acting that allows for a sense of believability as his character develops and reacts to the unfolding storying line. Kendal Rae's performance isn't exactly bad, it just lacks a stable middle ground, she is excellent when the plot demands the needs for hysterics, and she is good at the start of the film when everything is all good and happy.  It is the spaces in between where she has problems, and her acting only appears to have hot and cold, which hampers and blindsides her character completely.  

Lisa Chappell's Demonologist character is also a slightly missed opportunity as she comes across almost like a failed comic relief, too much Bonzer and not enough bang.  

However, the biggest failure of this film that keeps it from fulfilling its potential is the somewhat muddied and confused use of mythology.  It can't seem to decide if we are dealing with ghosts, demons, or creatures from another dimension.  Whether this is down to the film's troubled production, or just down to an unnoticed mistake, it does hamper the films ability to entice the viewer into its world.  

Having said all this OUT OF THE SHADOWS, may not be original, and it may also suffer from some lack of unified vision. However it is still a reasonably decent supernatural thriller, it won't set your world on fire, but it will keep you pleasantly entertained for its running time.  It finished with a  sort of a cliffhanger and based on this film if there were to be a sequel I for one would tune in for it.  

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