Shadow Builder (1998)

Director:

Jamie Dixon

Writer:

Michael Stokes (writer)

Release Date:

7 February 1998 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

When God created light, the first shadow was born.

Plot:

A demon is summoned to take the soul of a young boy who has the potential to become a saint. By doing this he will open a doorway to hell and destroy the world.

Plot Keywords:

Young Boy | Bare Chested Male | Bare Chested Male Bondage | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Michael Rooker	...	Father Vassey
Leslie Hope	...	Jenny Hatcher
Shawn Thompson	...	Sheriff Sam Logan
Andrew Jackson	...	Shadowbuilder
Kevin Zegers	...	Chris Hatcher
Tony Todd	...	Evert Covey
Hardee T. Lineham	...	Nestor Tibbot (as Hardee Lineham)
Catherine Bruhier	...	Maggie MacKinnon
Gordon Michael Woolvett	...	Larry Eggers (as Gordon M. Woolvett)
James B. Douglas	...	Doc Cole
Richard McMillan	...	Father Finler
Charlotte Sullivan	...	Jazz
Andrew Sardella	...	Paul
David Calderisi	...	Bishop Gallo
Lawrence Bayne	...	Quinlan

Also Known As:

Bram Stoker's Shadowbuilder

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence/gore, language and some nudity.

Runtime:

Greece:90 min | Sweden:97 min | USA:120 min | 101 min (DVD)

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | France:-12 (TV rating) | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | UK:18 | USA:R | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Paris, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Apple Creek Productions

Trivia:

The credits show the film as "introducing" Kevin Zegers, but, counting both theatrical and TV movies, this is his eleventh feature role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Vassey drives his car into town, he opens a pill bottle to take a white tablet, yet you can see that he drops the pill just before his hand mimes popping it into his mouth.

Quotes:

Maggie: What is a priest doing with two nine millimeter cannons?

Dreadful.

Michael Rooker plays Father Vassey, a troubled priest who seeks personal redemption by hunting down and destroying a demon before it can unleash Hell on Earth. Following a trail of death and destruction to the sleepy town of Grand River, home of stigmatic teenager Chris Hatcher (Kevin Zegers), whose pure soul is vital to the creature's success, the pistol packing priest teams up with a local sheriff (Shawn Thompson), a veterinarian (Leslie Hope), and a crazy hobo (Tony Todd) to try and foil the evil creature's plans.

But with the townsfolk succumbing to the demon's evil influence once the sun goes down, they have their work cut out for them...

The UK DVD of Shadowbuilder, directorial debut for CG FX artist Jamie Dixon, comes in a day-glo pink case with a poorly rendered image of a multi-horned creature on the cover; reasoning that the film couldn't possibly be as bad as the packaging, I decided to give it a watch.

Hoo boy, was I ever wrong!!! Dixon might be adept at manipulating pixels, but his directing skills are virtually non-existent, and this iffy demonic horror, based on a short story by Bram Stoker, is a joyless mess of botched ideas, incompetent storytelling, and ham-fisted editing that no amount of CG effects can save.

In short, it's utter garbage and definitely one to avoid.