Jennifer's Shadow (2004)

Great Film overall

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Imagine if you will that it's your birthday and you wake up and feeling exuberant thinking of all the wonders that today will offer. Then just as your leaving your house you get a phone call saying that your entire family was just killed by a freak accident. You ask what they were all doing together and the police say that all evidence reveals that they all secretly hated you and were planning a glorious murder to rid you from their life; and in fact that documents had been found in your mother's possession saying and they quote "my offspring is a horrible cancer upon this earth who I regret not drowning at birth." You break down in tears and stumble over to your car and just start to drive to the scene of the accident. While in route your sideswiped by a drunk driver. Waking up in the hospital three years later you discover that your paralyzed from the waist down, and while the doctor had you in the emergency room they happened to discover that you have a brand new type of illness, unique only to you. They don't know how to treat it and your death will be slow and painful, also your insurance has dropped you and their throwing you out. That night as you meekly wallow in terror and your own feces under your new underpass home you try to think of what went wrong, desperately trying to find something to give you hope. Then it comes to you lighting up your brain. At least you've never seen Chronicle of the Raven, realizing this you suddenly have nothing to complain about and drift off to sleep.That said I watch of lot movies especially horror movies and this is probably the second worst i've ever seen. Don't let the premise trick you like it did me. I'm hear to warn you. Stay away! eating glass would be a better use of your time.

I liked this movie a lot. It wasn't very scary for me, but it wasn't the scare factor that made the movie good. The atmosphere was what made the movie fantastic. There was a definite atmosphere to this picture. Horror is OK but atmosphere is makes it better. The plot was alright too. I didn't know this movie even existed until I saw it on satellite. The acting was in and out as far as quality. The visuals had something to say though. The theme of the story is very interesting as well. You will just have to see it to understand how strange it is. That is if you appreciate these kinds of themes. Also, it was a little relief from the usual teenagers in the hack and slash horror kind of film. There was a story. The cinematography was nice too.

Don't bother. A little prosciutto could go a long way, but all we get is pure ham, particularly from Dunaway. The plot is one of those bumper car episodes... the vehicle bounces into another and everything changes direction again, until we are merely scratching our heads wondering if there were ever a plot. Gina Phillips is actually good, but it's hard playing across from a mystified Dunaway playing Lady Macbeth lost in the Marx's Brother's Duck Soup. Ah, the Raven...now there's an actor. And there is the relative who just lies and bed and looks ghostly. Or Dr. Dread who's filled with lots of gloom and no working remedies. I'm one of those suckers who just has to see a movie to the end. Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Jennifer Cassi (Gina Philips from "Dead and Breakfast") returns back to the house she grew up in which she recently inherited from her deceased sister, unbeknownst to her grandmother (Fay Dunaway) who's still living in it. Jennifer decides to sell it as she's in dire need of the money much to Granny's chagrin. She also begins to have troublesome recurring nightmares of a mysterious raven. There was really no one to relate to in this film. Jennifer seemed cold, distant, unsentimental, and narcissistic, whereas the grandmother seemed spiteful, sad, and also narcissistic. The film is good and well-made, but with no one to empathize with I found it hard to care about what happened to them.My Grade: C-