5) Shiver
A movie with Danielle Harris and John Jarratt should not be this bad. Seriously, she’s the Scream Queen of our generation, and he’s one of the best psychopaths of our generation. This teaming should have been a bit of horror history, but instead it’s a bit of bargain bin horror drivel not even worth the mostly ignored direct to home video release. There’s poor acting, a horrible spoiling of talent, not an iota of terror, and the positively worst killer I’ve seen all year. Again, this is JOHN F#CKING JARRATT, he belongs nowhere near a worst of the worst list – unless we’re talking about his portrayal of “The Griffin” in Shiver.
The more Shiver tried to make Danielle Harris a helpless victim, the worse it became. Harris plays the aggressor so damn well, yet here we’re forced to watch Danielle Harris rely on every character around her for safety – as they all fail miserably. Jarratt’s killer character turns into one of those superhuman murderers who happens to be absolutely everywhere, no matter where Danielle goes. Shiver is a cat and mouse game with absolutely no strategy or intelligence, with John Jarratt killing the mood every time he opens his mouth to spout increasingly ridiculous dialogue. Danielle runs, Jarratt is right behind her. Danielle falls asleep, Jarratt is in her house. Danielle breaths, Jarratt is breathing right behind her. Can’t she get even the slightest of breaks?!
Shiver is serial killer fodder that absolutely fails in establishing a tense chase between killer and victim. It’s a shame Danielle was part of this production, because it didn’t call for any of her She-Woman talents. Miscast, poorly written, and struggling to remain an entertaining horror film – that’s Shiver.
