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GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Review by Gordon Justesen
Stars: David Andrews,
Kelly Wolf, Stephen Macht, Brad Dourif
Director: Ralph S. Singleton
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround, French Stereo
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: Paramount
Features: None
Length: 88 Minutes
Release Date: May 28, 2002
“This place is infested.”
“That might be the
understatement of the year.”
Graveyard Shift is no doubt based on one of the many
short stories written by Stephen King. Watching the film, I realized that many
of the horror films based on King’s short stories don’t fare very good as
movies, with the big exception of Apt Pupil and Silver Bullet,
which are worthy of superb entertainment value. Graveyard Shift, on the
other hand, lacks any sort of entertaining value. It’s one thing to have a
tired premise for a horror movie (a group of people trapped in an abandoned mill
setting up against someone or, something) but to mix in some bad acting, an
extremely sloppy screenplay, and most of all, an array of unimpressive set
pieces and lackluster visual effects is a whole other set of issues no moviegoer
should ever have to experience. You know you’re in trouble when the simple
presence of multiple sewer rats upstages the performances of any of the human
actors.
I seriously wonder if any of the filmmakers applied as much
thought into the proper execution of this project as they did when applying the
name of Stephen King in front of the titles, thinking it would sell the film and
make it a hit. The story involves the run down mill, Bachman Textile, where
working conditions are so demanding, the room temperature never dips below 100
degrees. The most fascinating plotline that baffled me the most is the fact that
the mill isn’t doing the numbers it should, and yet, it’s the only place in
town to get a job. What are the odds of that? I know I’m not the world’s
most renowned genius when it comes to discussing the economy, but if this mill
is the only place in a single town where one is able to apply for employment,
should it even have to worry about numbers?
To make matters even worse, the ever so growing population
of rats in sewers that lie below the mill have pretty much taken over, having
been linked to several mysterious deaths and disappearances of numerous mill
workers. This leaves the pit boss, Warwick (Stephen Macht, in a truly awful
performance), with no other choice but to gather up a short notice clean up crew
to begin a week long job, cleaning out the basement before the mill is shut down
for good. The only catch is, the majority of the work has to be done during, you
guessed it, the graveyard shift.
The rest of the film consists of the endless series of
scenes we’ve seen in countless movies before, such as Aliens, and even
better scenario-clones as The Relic, Deep Rising, and even such recent
horror outings as Jeepers Creepers. The group of mill workers are
stalked, one by one, buy a mysterious something lurking in the sewers. All I
will say about this mysterious thing is that it is big and slimy, and since the
area is infested with rats, I’ll leave it up to you to guess this big thing
actually is.
Another recent horror film I saw recently that has a similar scenario is the much-superior Session 9, which is about a clean up crew engaging in a week-long job at an abandoned mental hospital, that delivers a truly chilling outcome. That film worked because I at least bought into its chilling effect, and found myself more engaged by the performances and creepy atmosphere. For your viewing sake, I explicitly recommend you, dear reader, spend your money wisely on a worthwhile thriller like Session 9 than waste enormously on repetitive garbage like Graveyard Shift.
With this somewhat dull
transfer, I’m actually glad that Paramount chose to present the movie this
way, since it just may illustrate how much they probably disrespect this film as
I do. The anamorphic presentation does the most it can with a movie that relies
mostly on darkly lit settings, which don’t turn up that impressively. The
presentation is mostly laced with softness and noticeable grain for a good
portion of the viewing. Several outdoor sequences fare much better, though.
Though I pretty much
panned whatever effect this film tried to apply to me, Paramount’s nicely done
5.1 audio mix does deliver the same level of impressive sound I’ve experienced
for similar horror outings. The production level might be lacking, but this disc
attempts to make the most of it, and nearly pulls it off.
Features (Zero Stars)
Nothing,
though even if the disc was a loaded one, I’m not sure I would care enough to
look at any extras.
Summary: