Movie Review: THE SHED

I’m a little disappointed. I was hoping for, and even expecting, a new candidate to sit atop the mountain alongside such films as ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, BYZANTIUM, THE TRANSFIGURATION, A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, and WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS as the finest of the vampire movie genre, the cream of the crop of the modern vampire movie age. (Everything that came after BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA and INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE constitutes the “modern age” of vampire movies, in case you didn’t know.) Unfortunately THE SHED doesn’t quite belong in such august company. That’s not to say it isn’t good. It is. But it could have been great.

So what keeps it from achieving the heights reached by those other listed films? For one thing, there are way too many damn dream sequences. Dream sequences are so played-out. Then there’s this setup in the second act that feels so contrived. “I’m sending the Sheriff to your house to get your grandfather, and I’m telling you this not because it makes any kind of sense that I’d tell you this at this particular moment—it doesn’t—but because you need to be at your house to confront the monster, so you’d better get going.” That kind of contrived. Blech.

The biggest problem with THE SHED, though, is that it plays it straight, deadly serious, for the first two-thirds of the film, then it downshifts and tonally becomes something more akin to FRIGHT NIGHT or THE LOST BOYS. This shift causes the movie to feel unbalanced. The acting is topnotch, though, and once the movie decides what kind of movie it really wants to be, it’s a lot of fun. If you go into it expecting a little tongue-in-cheekiness from the outset you’ll probably have a great time. It’s just that THE SHED sets you up to expect something different than what it ultimately delivers. Grade: B+.

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS, specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced, and directed (and occasionally acted in) over two dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and True Crime genres. He obtained a doctorate in Occult Studies from Miskatonic University and is an active paranormal investigator. Is frequently told he resembles Anton Lavey. And Ming the Merciless. Denn die totden reiten schnell!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: