Shiver is a fairly entertaining horror movie from Spain about a boy who moves into a rural town and finds something living in the nearby forest that likes to rip out people's throats and drink their blood. If you can handle the subtitles, it's worth checking out. I watched it online via Netflix.

The main character in this is a photophobic boy named Santi who has so many problems in the big city that his mother decides to move them out to the countryside. Photophobic people have problems with bright light, and Santi has it so bad that his skin will burn with prolonged exposure. To many of his classmates, he comes off like some kind of vampire, and most don't like him. When Santi and some boys go playing in the woods and one of them winds up dead, people all over town start to think this new kid is a killer.

The killer is revealed about halfway through the movie, then the story takes an entirely different direction. I won't give any spoilers here, suffice to say that it wasn't what I expected at all. Most of the last half hour of the movie involves a bunch of people running around the woods at night. I liked the many different twists that take place, and the story turned out to be more complicated than I had imagined.

Don't expect this to be some special effects driven action movie, because it's really more of psychological thriller about things hiding in the dark, unknown places, strangers, and so on. There is some gore and a few cringe-worthy scenes, but there really isn't much in the way of action besides a couple of quick scuffles. Even so, some of the violent images are quite nasty, especially because the killer likes to slash Achilles tendons to slow down the victims.

This movie employs a lot of the tried and true aspects of horror and thriller movies - perhaps too many. You have a creepy old house with a history, and the main character just happens to find an old photo that is a clue. I'm kind of tired of these ‘scary house' type stories where there are always old photos to be found and things sneaking around at night. I know these are staples of horror films, but it gets to be kind of old.

One thing I did really like about this movie was the general lack of CGI, or at least obvious CGI. The whole purpose of really good effects work is for you not to be able to tell if something is an effect or not. Sometimes the night scenery can be chaotic and shaky (think Blair Witch) but it still worked pretty well. There were no big CGI monsters or any crazy cartoonish sequences. It gets major bonus points for not having a montage.

In the end, I liked Shiver. It wasn't great and had some weird plotholes, like a random woman at Santi's house in one scene, but for the most part it is a pretty decent horror/suspense film. Given its American popularity, I wouldn't be surprised if it got remade.

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older