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Shallow Grave

Shallow Grave

List Price: $14.95
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Freaky and disturbing...very good.
Review: Shallow Grave tells the story of three young adults who live together in a small apartment. They are looking for another person to live with them. And they find one...and one day, they find him dead...they are about to call the police when they discover their friend's little secret...a suitcase full of green bills...You know the rest; they hide the body and they keep the money without saying anything to anyone. Admit it, you would have done the same thing...and you'd probably be in the same grave...but a near ton of money isn't a gift from "God"...and two criminals are looking for the dead guy and the money, so they finally find the address of the apartment and attack our three friends...but they loose the fight...and there are two more corpses to hide...This film shows how far people can go for money. It's also a lesson about friendship. The atmosphere is freaky and will make you insane. This film is full of surprising twists too (especially at the end). The way people react is just disturbing, and the way the whole film is shot is just scary. Bravo to Danny Boyle...the actors are amazing too; they are all freaky, they all give excellent performances. Some scenes are intense and macabre instead of stupidly violent (like Scream). Is that my favorite Danny Boyle picture? Let me think.....well.....nn.....yes. It is. It's hard to choose between Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, but Shallow Grave is the happy winner. Very good.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A bit boring
Review: I looked forward to viewing "Shallow Grave" not only because my friends in England had raved about it but also to see Danny Boyle's effort before he shot the masterpiece that was "Trainspotting." That's why my expectations were too high for this film to attain and I was a little disappointed.

"Shallow Grave" is close to the dynamism of "Trainspotting,". The main heroes are three roommates looking for a fourth, but their requirements are that this person be as twisted and extraordinary as they are. They finally locate one man who seems to possess enough guts to face the three (one of whom is played by a long-haired Ewan McGregor), but he is found dead the next day. He has, however, left behind a suitcase full of money, which the three roommates decide to keep, while disposing of the body in a very gruesome yet practical way to eliminate any traces.

Naturally, a series of entanglements ensues, relationships among the roommates sour, and a certain eerie Kubrickian mood sets in. You will wonder which one of the three, or maybe the police, or maybe the "rightful" owners of the case (a pair of thugs), will end up with the cash.

Despite the fast pace, the music, the acting, and the writing which should provide the makings of a good "Trainspotting" predecessor, "Shallow Grave" lacked considerably in the originality, atmosphere, and overall feel. Maybe watching "Trainspotting" too many times had its effect....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best character development in 2 hours you'll ever experience
Review: You clearly can see these are 3 best friends for life & you also get to watch their lives & friendships take numerous turns for the worse in this excellent film. Much goes on in a short period of time, yet you never disbelieve any aspect of the friendships & the downward spiral.. And then on top of all of that - you got the rest of the movie spinning & whirling all about you. Very exciting movie!

The title does as much to suggest the gruesomeness of some aspects of the moview as it does the depravity of human nature as depicted in the flick. It ain't what you think, folks!! CHECK IT OUT!

A truly fantastic film you can watch over & over - it is that entertaining. A great story, great screenplay, awesome direction and excellent performances from the actors. Not to mention the best & most satisfying ending of any movie I have ever seen!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Room Mates from Hades
Review: Black humor is a forte of the Brits and Shallow Grave is no exception. When three self-important room mates invite a fourth to share their oh so chic flat they have no idea their new found friend is a drug dealer with no-nonsense friends. Finding their new mate dead from a drug overdose and a suitcase filled with money under his bed, the flat mates must decide how to resolve splitting the tedious household chores like disposing of the body. Equitably they draw straws and the looser has the honor of cutting up the corpse. The first film outing of the successful trio of actor Ewan McGregor, director Andrew MacDonald, and producer Danny Boyle who later scored with Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary, this fast comedy is full of great music and is a bonus for any collector of British 90s films. With great supporting cast, Kerry Fox and Christopher Eccelson, Shallow Grave is humorously most irreverent toward all that yuppiedom holds dear -- a good address, professional job with lots of opportunity for career advancement, and tons of money to blow on AV equipment. How the three resolve their upwardly mobile quest for the ultimate lifestyle is a surprise.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I couldn't believe the ending....
Review: What a great movie. I was "forced" to watch this movie with friends. One of top 3 thrillers I've ever seen. Good story, GREAT ENDING!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Ravensong's Reviews: Shallow Grave
Review: "So, when you sacrifice a goat, and you rip its heart out with your bare hands, do you then summon hellfire?" This movie is set up like a bad joke: a doctor, an accountant, and a journalist are looking for a new flatmate... The line above is one of the questions asked of the applicants. But things suddenly get less and less funny, starting when they find their new roomie dead in his bed with a suitcase full of money under it. They keep the money and hide the body. The scales gradually tip away from comedy and toward suspense as we are drawn into the minds of the three friends trying to deal with what they've done, until there is no reason at all to laugh except that it isn't happening to you. This movie is not as blatantly warped as Trainspotting (same director); rather, it is subtly bizarre. I rented it more for the chance to stare at Ewan McGregor with long hair than anything else, but I found it was darn good too. I couldn't tear my eyes off the TV screen.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great thriller on a low budget.
Review: Three flatmates...
A suitcase filled with money...

This is your classic tale of what happens to "normal" people when a lot of money enters the picture.

The Director and Director of Photography must have spent weeks watching Alfred Hitchcock movies. I'd say it paid off. This movie slowly builds from humor to tense suspense to action horror. The camera angles also evolve as the movie goes along.

While the acting was believable, I never really felt "connected" to the characters. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it did detract a bit from my enjoyment of the film.

The "twist" at the end, while slightly predictable, was still very enjoyable.

Have a few friends over, pop some corn, and throw it at the screen. It's an enjoyable flick, but I'd recommend renting it. I don't think you'll need to watch this one over and over.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is how movies are supposed to be
Review: A good thriller that is fun from start to finish the ending isnt what makes a good film it is the yuppied out trip along the way that makes this a must

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Well Worth the Watch!
Review: I confess: I watched Shallow Grave for the simple fact that it had Ewan MacGreggor in it. I had heard whisperings about scenes that no ewan-phile should miss, and eagerly trotted out to grab a copy.

What I found was a fascinating movie that held my attention and imagination from start to finish. There were times that I was terribly confused from hard cuts between scenes, but in retrospect I have understood what was going on. It's one of those movies that you have to pay full attention to, or risk missing too much.

The changes that the three protagonists go through are human, understandable changes, though not necessarily easily foreseen. And I must say that the ending (without giving away too much) was VERY well done.

I give Shallow Grave 3 stars out of 5 for a plot that may have been a bit too convoluted but was fascinating nonetheless, and for characters that I would have liked to understand a bit more of, since the teasers of their lives were just enough to have me asking for more.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Three Shallow Yuppie-Scum Twits and A Dismembered Corpse
Review: While I'll admit that SHALLOW GRAVE is very well-made I cannot understand what all the hubbub's about. I can't recall another film about who's main characters I cared less. Or rather, I wasn't concerned about the outcome of their story because after the first five minutes of the movie I wanted them all dead!

Yes, yes, I know it's meant as a black comedy but no one involved seems to have understood the basic precept that there has to be at least one character the audience can identify with. They don't have to be a good person (films noir are filled with low-life characters who we end up caring about) but we have to be able to at least understand what they do. The three "protagonists" of SHALLOW GRAVE are all depthless, cruel, hedonistic morons. The entire running time was one endless slog waiting for them to finally...FINALLY!...bite it in the end. Their individual and collective fates carry no significance, amusing or otherwise, only a sense of relief that the drudgery is over at last.

In the end all I could so was shrug and wish I'd been able to push their annoying, spoiled-brat faces in myself.


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