Movie Review: SHE'S JUST A SHADOW (2019)
Pimptresses, Murder, and Orgies oh my. Welcome to the electric world of SHE'S JUST A SHADOW directed by Adam Sherman. For those of you are familiar, he also directed Crazy Eyes starring Lukas Haas, Jake Busey, and Madeline Zima.
I love horror. I love gore. I even love porn. SHE'S JUST A SHADOW has elements of the things I love, but somehow can't seem to bring them together in a way that makes my senses come alive. It's like having all the instruments to play a beautiful song, but no one to play them.
I'm rarely at a loss for words when it comes to movies and, to be honest, I'm still not sure how I feel about this film. I may have to come back in a few months to see if my feelings have settled.
I will start by saying this. There is a vibrant beauty to the film. The color palette is used to really enhance the mood of the scenes. Vibrant and sexy, and then dark and seedy. I do love the way the colors seem to flow seamlessly through the film. Visually, some sections were like being in a candy shop. My eyes were excited when those pops of color came alive on the screen.
With that being said, my interest dropped as soon as a naked woman was bound to train tracks and then killed as a man came heavily all over her. I'm not a prude by any means, but it left a bad taste in my mouth and that was right out the gate.
It really starts to drop off for me from that point. There is a disjointed feeling that comes from the cast, who are mostly English speaking, seeming to muster up the strength to make the lines not feel forced or overly comical.
The film's lead Tao Okamoto, who plays Irene, states that she and her mother are pimptresses of the city. Aligning themselves with local mobsters, the film seems to go downhill from there for me. I'm trying to not give too much away because I feel as though this is something you're either going to love or hate. This crime drama from Adam Sherman left me feeling dirty, but not in a good way.
Make a decision for yourself when it's released on July 19, 2019.
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