Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

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

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

merklekranz 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

Cujo108 Three annoying girls and their more tolerable friend are on their way to Ft. Lauderdale when they have a blowout that strands them on the side of a rural Georgia road. One of the girls needs to use the restroom, but with nothing in sight, she heads into the woods to do the deed. She wanders too far for her own good, as she winds up seeing a man murder his lover. One thing leads to another as the killer, who happens to be the local sheriff, looks to eliminate all witnesses.I originally saw this film many years ago. Figuring it was about time I reacquainted myself with it, I bought an old VHS copy off of the web. I probably enjoyed it even more this time around. While it's not exactly a full-blooded slasher, I'd say it's close enough, and as such, it's certainly one of the more effective entries in the sub-genre. Acting is stronger than the norm, and the authentic southern atmosphere lends the film an added boost in flavor. Tony March is solid as the murderous sheriff. His mental slide from self-conflict to warped mania manages to unnerve. You're left just waiting for him to explode. He also has the trust that being sheriff brings to a person, so the girls have virtually no one to help them.Now, I admittedly didn't care about most of these girls from the get-go. Only Carol Cadby as Patty is likable. She's far more grounded than the others, and it helps that she's quite stunning to boot. The remaining three girls are airheads with grating personalities. Color me surprised when somehow, as the film went on, I actually managed to warm up to Sue Ellen as well. This is important, as there needs to be some emotional weight for one to be invested in their attempts to get Deputy Tom Law to believe them. And emotional weight there is... I wanted to reach into the screen and knock some sense into Law when he left Patty alone and helpless in the jail cell despite her pleading with him not to. The resulting murder scene is the film's strongest moment.Shallow Grave is a winner, slasher or not. Immersed in rural, small town atmosphere and containing a real sense of futility, I'm glad to have this sitting on my VHS shelf. Having said that, a DVD or Blu-ray sure would be nice.

acidburn-10 Not to be confused with the British black comedy of the same name that came out in 1994. But this Shallow Grave is a worthy addition to the 80's backwoods slasher.The plot goes = 4 sorority girls from a convent are planning the spring break of a lifetime in Florida, but they're plans are put on hold when one of them witness a man murdering a local woman, and when he realizes that he was seen, well let's just say it becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse and things get even worse when he turns out to be the local sheriff.Shallow Grave in my opinion is one of the more enjoyable slashers that came out in the 80's, especially the late 80's which was when the slashers kinda went downhill, this was one of the few that didn't and this movie should be more well known, it's a pity it isn't. this is one film that actually confounds stereotypes (just try guessing who the final girl is going to be - I got it totally wrong). The principle cast are all likable and it's one of those movies that you kinda hope they all get away, which of course they don't. This, coupled with the fluffiness of the film's first half-an-hour jars (in a good way) with some flashes of real nastiness (the second murder provides a real jolt) and some unexpected sleaziness (even though this isn't a high budget thriller I didn't expect the topless scene where a woman is strangled with her own bra (accompanied by a hysterical religious radio broadcast), in a film from this late in the 80's).There are one or two bad things about this movie, well not bad just minor, like the sub plot with the two teenage boys which doesn't go anywhere and the ending which was stupid and plus the Deputy inability to follow logic. There aren't any sharp implements in SHALLOW GRAVE but, to my mind at least, it's a slasher flick through and through. The scenes where the girls are hunted through the woods by the malevolent Sheriff are tense and exciting.All in all a very enjoyable and worthwhile slasher, with great performances from all four of the main girls and that psycho sheriff.

Coventry Shallow Grave: not really a typical and brainless 80's slasher movie, yet not really an obscure exploitation gem, neither. This movie is merely a totally forgotten but nevertheless worthwhile thriller with a handful of genuine scares and fairly likable acting performances. It deserves to be a little more known, actually, since it definitely does contain more suspense than the majority of 80's horror films and because the plot is also rather convincing and compelling. The film opens with a pointless and pretty stupid homage/spoof to Alfred Hitchcock's classic horror film "Psycho", as a (gorgeous) girl gets assaulted in the shower by a knife-wielding figure. Then we learn that this whole set-up actually is a prank of a quartet of naughty catholic schoolgirls on the evening before spring break. The next morning, these same girls head for a beach vacation in Florida, totally unaware that they'll end up in redneck hell. After a very banal car trouble incident, one of the sweethearts witnesses how the local sheriff of a little Southern village kills his mistress and buries her body in the woods. Whilst on the run, two of the other girls get killed when they fatally encounter the sheriff themselves. Now, the two remaining girls are stuck in a strange environment and facing a relentless killer who doesn't want to keep any witnesses alive. The few murders in "Shallow Grave" are pretty disturbing and shocking without showing too much gore. One poor girl is shot in the head from close range and two others are strangled, yet the true horror lies in the fact that the survivors can't convince the deputy that his boss is a wild animal. The unknown actresses perform well enough for you to care about their fades and Tony March (with an awful lot of hair on his chest) makes a pretty impressive villain... Especially wearing his police uniform. There are also some nifty wood-settings, some gratuitous nudity and we better NOT mention the completely stupid sub-plot of two frat boys that fruitlessly search for the missing girls, simply because they didn't show up for a breakfast appointment.