This film is streaming now on Netflix (USA). While this is a horror film, it shows interesting and important history of the 8 year war between Iraq and Iran. I found it amazing to watch what these two middle eastern countries did to each other, each in the name of its god. There is a strong and scary film here. It’s not horror in every scene but there are enough jump scares to keep fans happy.
Under the Shadow (2016)
PG-13 | 1h 24min | Horror, War | 7 October 2016 (USA)As a mother and daughter struggle to cope with the terrors of the post-revolution, war-torn Tehran of the 1980s, a mysterious evil begins to haunt their home.
Director: Babak Anvari
Writer: Babak Anvari
Stars: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby NaderiNETFLIX: Available in United States of America
From $3.99 (SD) on Amazon Video
This is the story of a mother and her daughter in time of war. Both suffer extreme stress levels as the father/husband has to leave them alone to go and be a doctor in the war for a time. While home alone in a war zone, the mother and daughter experience a strange haunting that neither can explain.
I saw a comparison to The Babadook early on. It’s a psychological drama that has horror elements. There are times we do not know if the scary elements are real or just stress induced psychosis from the mother. The daughter has these visions too though so it seems something is happening. It’s hard I think to explain away a lot of what happens. It is in my opinion indeed a legend, a ghost story. How much the viewer wants to believe depends on her/him.
This film does have subtitles so if that puts you off, stay away. As for me I found them easy to follow and greatly enjoyed this foreign horror film. The casting and acting is top-notch. This is a must for horror fans as well as psychological drama ones.
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