{"id":90794,"date":"2016-09-06T12:38:43","date_gmt":"2016-09-06T11:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=90794"},"modified":"2016-09-06T12:41:41","modified_gmt":"2016-09-06T11:41:41","slug":"under-the-shadow-film-review-scariest-horror-film-of-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/reviews\/under-the-shadow-film-review-scariest-horror-film-of-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Under The Shadow film review: the scariest horror film of 2016?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Babak Anvari\u2019s debut has been compared to Jennifer Kent\u2019s phenomenal The Babadook<\/em><\/strong>, and genre fans should be excited to hear it\u2019s not just because both films feature a difficult relationship between a mother and her child and a metaphor-laden supernatural foe. It\u2019s also because this one of the most terrifying supernatural horrors in recent years.<\/p>\n

Tehran, 1988, and the Iran-Iraq war is raging. Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is struggling with the fact that her political past means that she cannot resume medical school, a frustration that causes friction between her, her husband Iraj (Bobby Naderi) and her young daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi). When Iraj is conscripted, he begs Shideh to take Dorsa and leave their apartment block and head to the hills but she refuses. As the missiles get closer, a strange presence begins to make its presence known\u2026<\/p>\n

Guillermo del Toro\u2019s The Devil\u2019s Backbone<\/em><\/strong> is clearly a strong influence, with its use of the spectre of conflict (and an unexploded bomb). However, Anvari\u2019s film deserves much more than comparisons. This is an intelligent, sensitive and extremely scary film with psychological and sociological layers that will reward repeat viewings.<\/p>\n

Shideh is a fascinating and complex character and Rashidi is superb. She\u2019s sympathetic but not sugarcoated, a woman who\u2019s been held back by the society she lives in, but never reduced to a statement. Her relationship with her daughter feels incredibly honest in its affection and difficulty, and it makes the terror all the more affecting.<\/p>\n

During the opening scene, in which Shideh makes her case to a university official, we see a distant explosion through a window. This state of ever-present danger is expertly used, as Anvari never overplays it but keeps us constantly on edge. The tape on the windows, the power cuts, the sprints to the basement bomb shelter\u2026The shadow of death is always there.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the horror itself. Anvari keeps his spectres just out of sight, in the corner of the frame, so that we\u2019re never sure if something\u2019s there\u2026until it moves. It\u2019s incredibly tense stuff, and when the film wants to frighten you, it really does. This is superb horror with got modern classic written all over it.
\n