Movie Review: The Shadow within

Also known as „Ghosts”, also known as “Les meres noires” (the black mothers), while I personally like the last title the most. Because, although it is a tale about ghosts and a shadow within someone, the mothers are what makes it special. But first things first:

In a little French village in the mountains set in the forties, the nine year old Maurice lives with his mother. The war has taken away the husbands, the phthisis is taking away the children. After losing his twin brother at birth, his mother has become a bitter woman, obviously and irrationally preferring the dead twin over him. And the bond to his dead brother is still strong – and threateningly so. And now the women of the village want to use said bond to communicate to their dead beloved children.

Well, what could go wrooong?

A shocker or thriller this is not. Instead it is what I would describe as a drama with added mystery. The movie moves slowly and in low tones, probably a trait that outs it as an adaption of a book. The recurring themes and the atmosphere are nicely done and gloomy. The special effects are meh, but i´d still recommend this movie. While the dead twin/ dead child schtick has been done to dea- a LOT – what I liked about the movie was its grounding in reality and its pessimism. The relationship of the mother to the child is sad and believable and so are the circumstances that lead up to the decision that they want to use Maurice as a medium to the other side. The real horror, if any, lies in the daily life of Maurice between the coldness of his mother and the closeness of his dear brother.

So if you are waiting for jump scares or masses of ghosts, you won´t get them – no matter how much the cover art tries to make this movie look like a screamer-picture or a gore-fest* – but if you are in the mood for some solid spookiness mixed with melancholia, this might be for you.

*= Pfft, seriously, look at this:
This one is actually rather accurate, all things considered...

... but then this one´s like:
Damn, sales are dropping, we gotta up the scariness!
And BAM: Scream/er face is gonna eat your SOUL!
Only scary thing is that this reminds me of a blow-up doll
... hrrr... okay, that implication IS scary.

... and on to the Mega-Digitation:
LOOK AT HOW DARK EVUL AND TRUE I AM!!!111eleven
I´M FSK 18 BEEATCH!
LOOK AT ALL THAT KETCH- I MEAN BLOOD!
IT`S SO RED!
YOU SCARED YET!?
No?
BUT LOOK THERE´S A VAGUE MONSTER HAND
 AND A VAGUE MONSTER SKULL!!!
Or something.
BE SCARED!!!
Please?