Too many fans seem to be blown away

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Blistering performances.

In what seems like a totally gratuitous nude shower scene, the film opens as a "Psycho" clone. This prank by four college coeds, sets in motion a relentlessly downbeat tale involving a psycho Southern sheriff. On their way to Florida, a fateful blowout strands the four students in Medley Georgia, where the sheriff, Tony March, has just strangled his mistress. When he discovers that one of the girls has witnessed the killing, March begins a methodical murder spree, eliminating the girls one by one. A frustratingly dimwitted deputy looks the other way, while the sheriff does his deadly deeds. The film is lively, has decent character development, memorable nudity, and a controversial ending. Good of it's type, and recommended. - MERK

Four teenage girlfriends drive to Fort Laurdale for spring break.Unfortunately they get a flat tire in Medley,Georgia and one of the girls witnesses a brutal murder deep in the woods.The local sheriff is behind the crime and the nightmare begins..."Shallow Grave" is a pleasant low-budget surprise.The cast is likable enough,the direction is steady and the violence is particularly nasty and misogynistic.Especially the second murder is pretty grim.The murderous sheriff isn't one-dimensional character-in a couple of scenes it seems that he feels remorse for what he's done.The subplot involving the two boys they meet in the diner goes nowhere,but the stalking scenes in the woods are tense and exciting.7 out of 10.

Now, everyone knows how bad 80's movies can get and this movie is no exception when it comes to girls with bad hairdo's & clothes and bad 80's pop-songs. And the first half hour is pretty tedious in displaying all that. Four girl-students get going on a road-trip towards sunny Florida. At some roadhouse, they briefly meet two boys (also with a stupid 80's outfit) and make a rendez-vous with them at the next truck-stop, the next day. Of course, when being back on the road, their car breaks down because of a flat tire. Naturally, one of the stupidest girls took out the spare tire before they left, in order to make room for the baggage. Then one girl has to pee, goes in the woods and... is witness to a murder. At this point we are half an hour in the movie. But after that, the movie turns into a pretty misogynistic violence-movie set in some backwoods-town. We immediately know who the killer is (we see him commit the murder), but it still is a nice surprise when we (very soon) learn a bit more about his identity. He instantly (and secretly) turns into a serial killer determined to kill off all the girls. And when he becomes aware of the fact that the girls are on to him, he becomes an even more cunning bastard.Now, this isn't exactly a slasher movie and there isn't much gore in the movie. Mostly, the girls are being strangled or just shot dead (there's a nice head-shot in it). The acting is barely tolerable, but that doesn't matter. Even the pretty bad directing and editing doesn't matter. And the soundtrack or cinematography aren't gaining any points either. The subplot with the two boys at the truck-stop leads to nowhere. That blond deputy Scott is a complete moron. And those repeated close-ups of Tony March naked, sweaty, hairy chest didn't do me any good either. But here are the cool things: on many occasions it seems like one girl is gonna make it, but she doesn't. And sometimes help is on the way, but they always arrive too late. Yep, you got it, it goes from bad to worse for our poor girls. And the writer did good by not drawing out a protagonist amongst the girls. That way you have absolutely no idea who's going to die next. And just when you think you know who might make it 'til the end of the movie, you can think again. Also cause for applause is the fact that a lot of boobies are displayed here on several occasions (even right away in the opening-scene during a pretty senile shower-scene-spoof reminiscent of the one in PSYCHO, only this one is better for only one reason: the afore-mentioned boobies!). And probably the best thing (something which I didn't expect): the ending is really good. Abrupt, but good, including a typical 70's & 80's freeze-frame-shot. And we all know what that means, don't we? It's because of those few cool things, that SHALLOW GRAVE receives that extra point it so desperately needs.

I really enjoyed this one, and although the ending made me angry, I still give it 10 out of 10.Four college girls (Baltron, Kelly, Stahl and Cadby) are driving down to Florida, on their way they meet 2 guys (Turner, Davis), they really add nothing to the plot, but are at least somewhat likable. The girls agree to meet the guys in Florida for some fun, but they have car problems and never make it. One of the girls decides to go to a nearby gas station for help, the other three stay by the car.Soon one of the girls has to use the bathroom, being in the middle of nowhere she has no choice but to go in the bushes. Soon she witnesses as a man (March) strangles a woman, in terror the girl flees the area, she doesn't get very far, but manages to get lost.Her friends by the car go looking for her, they too go into the woods and run into the same man, one of them sees the dead woman, the man responds by shooting the girls head off, the other girl runs away, manages to make it back to the car where she is also killed.Eventually the two remaining girls find each other and because they break into the gas station get arrested. This is when I started getting mad, these poor girls are afraid for their lives and the redneck cops don't believe them.They are treated badly and one of them is left alone for the madman to kill her in the cell, the remaining friend manages to escape, but not without getting in dangerous situations.This movie has nudity, good actresses, a shower scene imitating Psycho, graphic violence towards women and solid story. Some women will probably find it offensive and sensitive individuals will NOT like the ending, but over all, this is a great little unknown movie.