The Shiftling (2008)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Mason (Cray Thomas) and Allen (Justin Davanzo) are magazine writers and adventurers. Mason was a "paladin" in a secret society who hunt siftlings, an alien that can transfer itself from human to human. They are searching for a rune/ruin rod, the only thing that can capture the alien which can not be destroyed even with fire. Meanwhile the alien is out to kill those that know it exists, even though just transferring itself into their body would have been easier.Most of the film is about two human groups fighting against each other looking for a map to find the rod that apparently has made its way from Europe to the Californian desert. The dialogue was by design corny and the fighting choreography was similar to old movie serials with over hyped sound track. Clearly parts were intentionally a spoof, but the overall film lack entertainment value with the low budget. The actors were not convincing in their roles. The best thing about the films were in inept bad guys. The shifting was low budget and not creepy or interesting. No one whistling "Time is on My Side."Guide: No sex or nudity. No swearing as I recall.

Writer Allen Moore (an excellent and engaging performance by Justin Davanzo) finds out about the existence of an ancient alien parasitic creature known as the shiftling. This creature has the ability to inhabit and manipulate the body of anyone it chooses to take over. Allen must obtain a long lost relic to kill the shiftling or else it will kill him in order to keep its existence a secret from mankind.Writer/director Taegen Carter relates the absorbing story at a brisk pace, stages the chase and fight set pieces with rip-snorting flair and skill, grounds the fantastic premise in a believable everyday reality, builds a good deal of tension, and puts a welcome and refreshing emphasis on plot and characters over excessive gore and cheap scares. The fine acting by the capable cast keeps the film on track: Davanzo makes for a strong and likable hero, the cute Stephanie Katz shines as Moore's perky and loyal secretary Zoe Kennedy, P. David Miller contributes a spot-on snarly portrayal of evil rich jerk Emmanuel Maxwell, and Frank Aaron supplies hilarious comic relief as one of Maxwell's hopelessly clumsy flunkies. Drew Georgia's sharp and dynamic cinematography provides an impressively polished look. The spirited score by Gordy Haab and Kyle Newmaster hits the stirring spot. A pleasant surprise.