This time her tormentor doesn’t wear a mask; nor does he bear the scars of a hatchet; but instead wears a mask of normality: at least at first glance. We first meet ‘Franklin Rood’ (played by John Jarratt) in a diner and witness his awkward and unsuccessful attempt to invite Kathy, a beautiful waitress (Nikita Esco) out to the movies. Unsurprisingly rejected, something inside Rood snaps and whilst initially appearing to leave the diner, he is in fact waiting in his car for darkness to fall and for Nikita to finish her shift. Rood brutally beats Kathy to death in the car park, and with his until now latent bloodlust fully ignited, ‘The Griffon’s’ trail of slaughter begins.
12 years later and Rood has set his sights on ‘Wendy’ (Danielle Harris), a legal secretary who lacks the self-belief to ask her boss for a well-deserved pay rise; has a platonic relationship with nice-guy ‘Jeffrey’, and an incredibly unsupportive mother played by Valerie Harper. As Rood closes in on Wendy, and bodies begin to pile-up all around her, Detectives ‘Sebastian Delgado’ (Casper Van Dien) and ‘Mavis Burdine’ (Rae Dawn Chong) are left to deliver some fairly clunky dialogue whilst playing catch-up with ‘Rood’ using pre-digital 1990’s methods of investigation.
12 years later and Rood has set his sights on ‘Wendy’ (Danielle Harris), a legal secretary who lacks the self-belief to ask her boss for a well-deserved pay rise; has a platonic relationship with nice-guy ‘Jeffrey’, and an incredibly unsupportive mother played by Valerie Harper. As Rood closes in on Wendy, and bodies begin to pile-up all around her, Detectives ‘Sebastian Delgado’ (Casper Van Dien) and ‘Mavis Burdine’ (Rae Dawn Chong) are left to deliver some fairly clunky dialogue whilst playing catch-up with ‘Rood’ using pre-digital 1990’s methods of investigation.
We’ve been here many times before of course, but director Julian Richards (Darklands, The Last Horror Movie) just about manages to navigate a path through generic thriller clichés whilst pulling off some genuinely unsettling and disturbing moments. Veteran Australian actor John Jarratt (terrifying in Wolf Creek) here gives a more restrained - if at times uneven - performance as Rood, with sudden outbursts of violence punctuating more quieter subtle moments of suppressed threat. But the film is carried head and shoulders on the intense performance of Danielle Harris. Having faced-off against the likes of ‘Michael Myers’ (four times in total, including twice as a child), and having beaten deformed swamp-monster ‘Victor Crowley’ (Hatchet II & III) into a bloodied pulp, it’s hard to be in any doubt that ‘Wendy’ will eventually find the strength and courage within to fight-back and overcome her tormentor. It is a testament to Danielle Harris’ award winning performance that the journey her character is forced to undertake is made more riveting than either the script or her onscreen nemesis fully warrants.
Filmed largely in rain-drenched Portland Oregon, director Richards makes the most of some visually arresting locations; gives us several powerfully visceral set-pieces and a deliciously macabre unveiling when killer ‘Rood’ treats ‘Wendy’ to his little ‘light-show’. Some ropey digital blood effects lessen the impact of a key shoot-out scene; law-enforcement officers seem to practically queue up to be dispatched by ‘Rood’, and naming a detective ‘Mavis’ really doesn’t work on a dramatic level. But Shiver is Danielle Harris’ film, and her performance alone is worth the price of admission.
***(out of 5*)
Paul Worts
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