Shallow Grave (1987)

Beautiful, moving film.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Three annoying girls and their more tolerable friend are on their way to Ft. Lauderdale when they have a blowout that strands them on the side of a rural Georgia road. One of the girls needs to use the restroom, but with nothing in sight, she heads into the woods to do the deed. She wanders too far for her own good, as she winds up seeing a man murder his lover. One thing leads to another as the killer, who happens to be the local sheriff, looks to eliminate all witnesses.I originally saw this film many years ago. Figuring it was about time I reacquainted myself with it, I bought an old VHS copy off of the web. I probably enjoyed it even more this time around. While it's not exactly a full-blooded slasher, I'd say it's close enough, and as such, it's certainly one of the more effective entries in the sub-genre. Acting is stronger than the norm, and the authentic southern atmosphere lends the film an added boost in flavor. Tony March is solid as the murderous sheriff. His mental slide from self-conflict to warped mania manages to unnerve. You're left just waiting for him to explode. He also has the trust that being sheriff brings to a person, so the girls have virtually no one to help them.Now, I admittedly didn't care about most of these girls from the get-go. Only Carol Cadby as Patty is likable. She's far more grounded than the others, and it helps that she's quite stunning to boot. The remaining three girls are airheads with grating personalities. Color me surprised when somehow, as the film went on, I actually managed to warm up to Sue Ellen as well. This is important, as there needs to be some emotional weight for one to be invested in their attempts to get Deputy Tom Law to believe them. And emotional weight there is... I wanted to reach into the screen and knock some sense into Law when he left Patty alone and helpless in the jail cell despite her pleading with him not to. The resulting murder scene is the film's strongest moment.Shallow Grave is a winner, slasher or not. Immersed in rural, small town atmosphere and containing a real sense of futility, I'm glad to have this sitting on my VHS shelf. Having said that, a DVD or Blu-ray sure would be nice.

Not to be confused with the British black comedy of the same name that came out in 1994. But this Shallow Grave is a worthy addition to the 80's backwoods slasher.The plot goes = 4 sorority girls from a convent are planning the spring break of a lifetime in Florida, but they're plans are put on hold when one of them witness a man murdering a local woman, and when he realizes that he was seen, well let's just say it becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse and things get even worse when he turns out to be the local sheriff.Shallow Grave in my opinion is one of the more enjoyable slashers that came out in the 80's, especially the late 80's which was when the slashers kinda went downhill, this was one of the few that didn't and this movie should be more well known, it's a pity it isn't. this is one film that actually confounds stereotypes (just try guessing who the final girl is going to be - I got it totally wrong). The principle cast are all likable and it's one of those movies that you kinda hope they all get away, which of course they don't. This, coupled with the fluffiness of the film's first half-an-hour jars (in a good way) with some flashes of real nastiness (the second murder provides a real jolt) and some unexpected sleaziness (even though this isn't a high budget thriller I didn't expect the topless scene where a woman is strangled with her own bra (accompanied by a hysterical religious radio broadcast), in a film from this late in the 80's).There are one or two bad things about this movie, well not bad just minor, like the sub plot with the two teenage boys which doesn't go anywhere and the ending which was stupid and plus the Deputy inability to follow logic. There aren't any sharp implements in SHALLOW GRAVE but, to my mind at least, it's a slasher flick through and through. The scenes where the girls are hunted through the woods by the malevolent Sheriff are tense and exciting.All in all a very enjoyable and worthwhile slasher, with great performances from all four of the main girls and that psycho sheriff.

Shallow Grave: not really a typical and brainless 80's slasher movie, yet not really an obscure exploitation gem, neither. This movie is merely a totally forgotten but nevertheless worthwhile thriller with a handful of genuine scares and fairly likable acting performances. It deserves to be a little more known, actually, since it definitely does contain more suspense than the majority of 80's horror films and because the plot is also rather convincing and compelling. The film opens with a pointless and pretty stupid homage/spoof to Alfred Hitchcock's classic horror film "Psycho", as a (gorgeous) girl gets assaulted in the shower by a knife-wielding figure. Then we learn that this whole set-up actually is a prank of a quartet of naughty catholic schoolgirls on the evening before spring break. The next morning, these same girls head for a beach vacation in Florida, totally unaware that they'll end up in redneck hell. After a very banal car trouble incident, one of the sweethearts witnesses how the local sheriff of a little Southern village kills his mistress and buries her body in the woods. Whilst on the run, two of the other girls get killed when they fatally encounter the sheriff themselves. Now, the two remaining girls are stuck in a strange environment and facing a relentless killer who doesn't want to keep any witnesses alive. The few murders in "Shallow Grave" are pretty disturbing and shocking without showing too much gore. One poor girl is shot in the head from close range and two others are strangled, yet the true horror lies in the fact that the survivors can't convince the deputy that his boss is a wild animal. The unknown actresses perform well enough for you to care about their fades and Tony March (with an awful lot of hair on his chest) makes a pretty impressive villain... Especially wearing his police uniform. There are also some nifty wood-settings, some gratuitous nudity and we better NOT mention the completely stupid sub-plot of two frat boys that fruitlessly search for the missing girls, simply because they didn't show up for a breakfast appointment.

This movie is basically about some girls in a Catholic school that end up getting into trouble because of putting red dye in one in one of their school mates shampoo and after being reprimanded for this act they decide to take off to Florida for a vacation. On their way there they meet up with some guys in a local diner and decide that they would both meet up with each other in another location later on. The girls end up on a road side near the woods and stop for awhile and while one of the girls decides to walk around a bit she sees a murder happen in which the local sheriff himself is involved. She becomes scared and runs to tell the others what happened. The other girls decide to go take a look with her and two of them get killed by the killer. Then the two remaining girls are caught by the killer and are placed in local jail cell. The deputy sheriff meanwhile is keeping watch over the girls and despite their insistence that the sheriff is the killer he ignores them both and acts as ignorant and everybody else in this movie who just can't put two and two together much less some lousy detective work at that. The best part was the rape scene between the killer and one of the girls where he decides to rape her in her jail cell and it seems that the girl actually WANTS to be raped by this man and the bare chest scene I admit was good but before their lips meet he has other things in mind. This movie reminds me of the low-budget thriller "Blood Song" with Frankie Avalon staring in it, the same motive just a different character part. It's not a movie worth renting not even for an 80's low-budget movie and the ending was the worst ending I have ever seen in a movie and it left me wanting my money back!