'Shadow of the Missing' could easily have been watchable. The title does grab your attention. The cover is a creepy one. And the concept really interested me, not exactly creative but with those things on paper 'Shadow of the Missing' had all the makings of being a film with a creepy atmosphere and an entertaining enough mystery.
Neither were the case watching 'Shadow of the Missing'. Instead 'Shadow of the Missing' is yet another complete waste of a good idea, with terrible execution, with nothing standing out as remotely good, and the complete opposite of what it had potential to be. Not one of the worst films ever seen throughout my life, but 'Shadow of the Missing' is one of the most frustrating and worst recent viewings, which although variable actually on the most part have been above average or more.
Its least bad asset is the scenery, which did have some atmosphere. It was hard to appreciate it however because the lighting is too drab and goes too far on the dimness and darkness and the camera work lacks focus constantly, being blurred and chaotic. The editing is haphazard. The audio can be placed randomly and the over-obviousness, its tendency to be intrusive and how some of it is completely ill-suited in terms of how it's used and how it sounds really hurts the atmosphere.
Not that there was much atmosphere to begin with in 'Shadow of the Missing'. The deadly dull pacing, especially in the middle with some very long-winded stretches, kills it. Likewise with the lack of suspense and surprises. The mystery is never really that engaging and very routine at best, again containing nothing surprising and at times it gets silly. Too much goes nowhere, being introduced randomly and out of the blue and then dropped too quickly. The interviews are not illuminating, sometimes are pointless or don't say much of interest and value and also not particularly well written or acted.
Furthermore, none of the characters are developed enough to make them interesting. Neither do they have any distinct or endearing traits to make one root for them, basically they are all bland and annoying with vague motivations that never ring true and too many of them are ill-used. The acting is either histrionic or robotic and the directing is barely there.
Overall, terrible. 1/10 Bethany Cox