The Man in the Shadows

Last updated

The Man in the Shadows
The Man in the Shadows poster.jpg
Directed byJoshua Fraiman
Written byAdam Tomlinson
Produced by
  • Brigitte Kingsley
  • Tasso Lakas
  • Adam Tomlinson
  • (executive producers
  • Andrew Cymek
  • Brigitte Kingsley
  • Adam Tomlinson)
Starring
CinematographyAndrew Cymek
Edited byAndrew Cymek
Music by Adrian Ellis
Production
companies
Good Soldier Films, Thunder Wolf
Distributed byTombstone Distribution [1]
Release dates
  • 1 June 2015 (2015-06-01)(Dances With Films)
  • 22 September 2015 (2015-09-22)(Cinéfest)
Running time
89 minutes [2]
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

The Man in the Shadows (US/UK video release: The Shadow Man) [3] is a 2015 Canadian supernatural horror film, [3] the first feature film directed by Joshua Fraiman and written by co-star and co-producer Adam Tomlinson, based on a personal experience, as well as on reports by "millions of people around the world" of so-called shadow people, [4] a phenomenon associated with sleep paralysis. The plot centres around a prescription drug-addicted [5] newlywed photographer (Sarah Jurgens) who appears to be stalked by a dark man in a brimmed hat who follows her from her nightmares into reality. [4] Rachel is aided by William (Adam Tomlinson) who has been investigating the "Hat Man" phenomenon. [3]

Contents

Plot

Rachel Darwin, a pregnant woman going through a career crisis, has recurring dreams in which a shadow man wearing a fedora forcibly removes a deformed baby from her womb. Searching online, she discovers a world of night sufferers like herself, visited by watchers while they sleep. Her husband Scott believes that her experiences are hallucinations born from a subconscious still coping with his previous infidelity and a fear of childbirth. She seeks help and determines she is suffering from sleep paralysis. Troublingly, she also sees the "Hat Man" while awake, as a distorted blur in the background of a photograph, or a flicker in the corner of an eye. Rachel believes she may be being stalked by a malevolent supernatural entity.

At her regular group therapy session for recovering addicts, Rachel shares her experience and befriends the only person who believes her, a strange man named William who claims to suffer from a similar sleep paralysis and visions. Rachel goes to William's apartment to learn more about his investigations into shadow people. His research has convinced him that multidimensional beings surround everyone, creatures who feed on human souls.

Rachel is now even more terrified. She slips into an intoxicated dream confronted by horrors from her past. The nightmares get worse and Rachel begins to struggle as she slips between reality and nightmare. Scott takes her on a weekend getaway to an isolated winter cabin to take Rachel's mind off the Hat Man and rekindle their feelings for each other.

Meanwhile, William examines photographs he secretly took of Rachel during group therapy and sees the Hat Man standing behind her. Rachel continues dreaming of the Hat Man at night and catching brief glimpses of him during the day. Frustrated with Rachel's aloofness and strange behaviour during her waking nightmares, a drunken Scott tries to rape her. Rachel knocks him out and returns to the city in their car.

Rachel spends the night at William's. He shows her the pictures he took of her, but the Hat Man is not there. Rachel believes him; the same thing happens to photographs she has taken. Rachel and William have sex. He is sure that, with her help, he can put a stop the shadow figure.

The next morning, Scott wakes and has his legal assistant Sally pick him up. Scott learns from the recovery group leader that Rachel was last seen with William. Scott bribes the group leader for William's address.

William hypnotizes Rachel in an effort to explore her subconscious and confront the shadow man. Rachel once more has a vision of the Hat Man removing the baby from her womb. Rachel sees her childhood home, where the shadow man appears behind Rachel's mother after she kills herself in the bathtub. Rachel sees William's apartment and her own hypnotism session. William realizes that Rachel is astral projecting. She sees the Hat Man appear and kill William by supernatural means. Rachel stabs herself in order to wake up, and discovers William has indeed been killed.

Arriving at William's during the attempt to fight the shadow man, Scott finds the door locked. The Hat Man attacks Rachel, who wrests his knife away and stabs him. He dissipates. Scott tries speaking with Rachel through the door, and she realizes that her belly is bleeding. The Hat Man reforms out of the shadows and stabs Rachel repeatedly to death. The door then unlocks on its own, and Scott discovers to his horror the two corpses.

Scott is arrested for the murders. During questioning, Scott realizes that his wife was telling the truth when he sees the Hat Man materialize in a photograph as well as behind the interrogating detective.

Cast

Production

Background and inspiration

Adam Tomlinson first clarified what was meant by the "inspired by true events" tagline at the film's post-premiere question-and-answer session; that the core story is based on his personal experience of seeing "a hat man" and then discovering his nightmare sighting was a worldwide phenomenon. [6] Tomlinson's fascination with shadow people began with a nightmare in which he was being followed by a man in a hat, and then awakening to find the man was in his bedroom, watching him. He actually forgot about it until a friend told him of a similar dream. Tomlinson then turned to the Internet, and found thousands of similar reports from around the globe: "No one really knows what they are ... You wake up from a dream and find a man in a hat standing over you or sitting on your bed and you're unable to move." [7] [8] Tomlinson said shadow people first gained prominence in 1999 when Art Bell mentioned them on a radio show. More than 4,000 people responded with their own reports of encountering shadowy figures after waking. [7] However, according to co-executive producer Brigitte Kingsley, "People through hundreds of years have seen this figure, or shadow person appearing in their dreams, causing sleep paralysis and sometimes seen in waking life as well". [8] Estimates of how many people experience sleep paralysis vary from 5 percent to 60 percent; the scientific explanation for it is "a disconnect between body and mind" in which one becomes mentally aware before the body "wakes up" from its paralyzed state, potentially a terrifying experience, especially if, as frequently happens, these episodes are accompanied by hallucinations and the sensation of breathlessness. [6] There may be a sense of an intruder:

shadow figures, malevolent watchers and the Man In the Hat. The Old Testament is filled with stories of night terrors. In the Middle Ages, people were visited by demons and incubus. The word "nightmare" refers to the Scandinavian "mara", a spirit sent to torment or suffocate sleepers. [6] [9]

Writing and characterization

Tomlinson wrote much of the script while living with his parents in Grimsby, Ontario, and insisted on the factual basis of his story: "It's fiction based on real life ... Everything is based on fact. I think that's scarier because it's real." [8] The Man in the Shadows is the first full-length film Tomlinson has both written, co-produced, and starred in. [7] His character is a Fox Mulder-like character "who walks the main character down the path of learning about shadow people." [8] The downward spiral the main character experiences was inspired by interrupting comments made by a homeless man who approached Tomlinson while talking to a friend about shadow people: the man approached him and said: "They will ruin your life and take all your money." Those comments "set the tone for the journey the main character endures." [8]

Sarah Jurgens is the actress who portrays that main character, Rachel Darwin, a photographer addicted to prescription drugs who begins to lose her sense of reality as she grapples with her broken marriage and her nightmares. According to Jurgens, the most challenging thing about this project was "arcing" the character's descent into delusion. [5]

The Man In The Shadows gave me the permission to explore the experience of being haunted, hunted and stalked ... I was given the opportunity to live in a state of mental unraveling. I enjoyed the challenge of playing a character who was wrestling with truth and illusion, experiencing the slippage of her own sanity. [5] [9]

Filming

Joshua Fraiman's background in film was primarily as a cinematographer, [10] with The Man in the Shadows representing his directorial debut. [8] Principal photography took place over a tight twelve days [6] in Toronto, Muskoka, and Port Perry. [8] At least 50% of the material written into the original draft was cut. [6]

Release

The Man in the Shadows had its world premiere at the Dances with Films Festival in Los Angeles, on 1 June 2015, [10] [11] and its Canadian premiere at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival on 22 September 2015, [9] where it was presented by Fraiman and Kingsley, who grew up in Sudbury and still has family there. [12] The film was also chosen as an Official Selection of the 2015 Scare-A-Con Film Festival where Jurgens was nominated for a Best Actress Award, and the film nominated for a Best Feature Award. [9] [13]

Home media and streaming

The Man in the Shadows was expected to debut on iTunes in Canada some time in Spring 2016, and globally in June. [7] The DVD was released in Canada on 16 December 2016, including special features, deleted scenes, and feature length audio commentary, the feature run time 88 minutes. [4] In the UK, a DVD was released on 16 October 2017 from High Fliers Films. [14] In the US, both DVD and VOD releases occurred on 31 October 2017 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. [2] The special features include deleted scenes and audio commentary by director Joshua Fraiman, writer Adam Tomlinson, and executive producer Andrew Cymek. [3]

Reception

Critical response

The Man in the Shadows received mostly negative reviews upon its release, with criticism directed towards the film's acting, and script. Critics also felt disappointed that the film failed to explore the real-life phenomenon which it was based on.

Peter Hopkins of HorrorScreamsVideoVault stated that, while the film's story was intriguing, the result was "a boring plodding mess". Hopkins criticized the film for its drawn out scenes, and finale. [14] Shannon McGrew from NightmarishConjurings was highly critical of the film, panning the film's acting, lack of chemistry from the film's leads, storyline, and script. McGrew concluded his review by writing, "If you want a film as background noise in which you don’t have to pay any attention to it, then check out The Shadow Man. However, if you want to save 89 minutes, I suggest watching something else." [15] Ian Sedensky of Culture Crypt gave the film a score of 45 out of 100, offering similar criticism towards the film's story, script, and lack of chemistry between the two leads. Sedensky also felt the film never fully explored the phenomenon which it was inspired by, and lacked sufficient depth to warrant any interest. [16]

Nominations

Sequel

Tomlinson had already written the sequel by the time of the film's release; filming would depend on the success of the original. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Ring</i> (2002 film) 2002 film directed by Gore Verbinski

The Ring is a 2002 American supernatural horror film directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Ehren Kruger. Starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, and Brian Cox, the film focuses on Rachel Keller (Watts), a journalist who discovers a cursed videotape that causes its viewers to die seven days later. It is a remake of Hideo Nakata's 1998 film Ring, based on the 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleep paralysis</span> Sleeping disorder

Sleep paralysis is a state, during waking up or falling asleep, in which a person is conscious but in a complete state of full-body paralysis. During an episode, the person may hallucinate, which often results in fear. Episodes generally last no more than a few minutes. It can recur multiple times or occur as a single episode.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> (franchise) American supernatural slasher franchise

A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American supernatural slasher media franchise consisting of nine films, a television series, novels, comic books, and various other media. The franchise began with the film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), written and directed by Wes Craven. The overall plot of the franchise centers around the fictional character Fred "Freddy" Krueger, the apparition of a former child killer who was burned alive by the vengeful parents of his victims, who returns from the grave to terrorize and kill the teenage residents of the fictional Springwood, Ohio in their dreams. Craven returned to the franchise to co-script the second sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), and to write/direct Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). The films collectively grossed $472 million at the box office worldwide.

A shadow person is the perception of shadow as a living species, humanoid figure, sometimes interpreted as the presence of a spirit or other entity by believers in the paranormal or supernatural.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Langenkamp</span> American actress, director, disk jockey and producer (born 1964)

Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp is an American actress, director, disc jockey, and producer. Langenkamp played Nancy Thompson in Wes Craven's slasher film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), which earned her recognition as a scream queen and in popular culture. She reprised the role in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and played a fictionalized version of herself in the meta film Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). In 1995, she was inducted into the Fangoria Chainsaw Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Jo Minter</span> American actress (born 1966)

Kelly Jo Minter is an American actress. Minter made her acting debut as "The Pilot" in an after-school short movie of the same name in 1984. She made her film debut as Lorrie in Mask (1985). She subsequently portrayed Denise Green in Summer School (1987), Maria in The Lost Boys (1987), Charlotta in Miracle Mile (1988), Yvonne Miller in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), LaDonna in House Party (1990), Cheryl in Popcorn (1991), and Ruby Williams in The People Under the Stairs (1991). Outside of film, Minter has made guest appearances on a variety of television series including Hill Street Blues (1987), A Different World (1988), Martin (1993), ER (1996), Providence (2001), and Strong Medicine (2002). In 2010, she appeared as herself in the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy.

<i>They</i> (2002 film) 2002 American supernatural horror film, directed by Robert Harmon

They is a 2002 American supernatural horror film, directed by Robert Harmon and starring Laura Regan, Ethan Embry, Dagmara Dominczyk, Jay Brazeau, and Marc Blucas. The plot is centered on a group of four adults experiencing night terrors and attempting to deal with the fallout from their prior childhood experiences. The film was produced by Ted Field and Tom Engleman; Wes Craven served as one of its executive producers and was its presenter.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> 1984 American slasher film by Wes Craven

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Johnny Depp in his film debut. The film's plot concerns a group of teenagers who are targeted by Krueger, an undead child killer who can murder people through their dreams, as retribution against their parents who burned him alive.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master</i> 1988 film by Renny Harlin

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is a 1988 American fantasy slasher film directed by Renny Harlin, and is the fourth installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Serving as a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), the film follows Freddy Krueger who, following the death of Nancy Thompson and completing his revenge against the families who killed him, reappears in the dreams of Kristen Parker, Joey Crusel, and Roland Kincaid, where he uses Kristen's best friend, Alice Johnson, to gain access to new victims in order to satiate his murderous needs. The Dream Master is often popularly referred to as "the MTV Nightmare" of the franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Parker</span> Film character from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series

Kristen Parker is a character from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. She is a co-protagonist and final girl of the third film of the series A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and the false protagonist in the following film A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, and has appeared in various merchandise as well. She is played by actress Patricia Arquette in Dream Warriors and Tuesday Knight in The Dream Master. She is the central member of the titular Dream Warriors, seven teens who have to learn to fight as a group in order to survive their spectral tormentor, enigmatic murderer Freddy Krueger, and has the ability to bring others into her dreams as well as being an Olympic-level acrobat in her dreams.

<i>Marianne</i> (2011 film) 2011 Swedish horror film

Marianne is a 2011 Swedish horror film, written and directed by Filip Tegstedt, that premiered at the 2011 Fantasia International Film Festival on 2 August 2011. Thomas Hedengran plays a father who is plagued by guilt over the death of his wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Night hag</span> Supernatural night creature

The night hag or old hag is the name given to a supernatural creature, commonly associated with the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. It is a phenomenon which a person feels during a presence of a supernatural malevolent being which immobilizes the person as if sitting on their chest or the foot of their bed. The word "night-mare" or "nightmare" was used to describe this phenomenon before the word received its modern, more general meaning. Various cultures have various names for this phenomenon and supernatural character.

<i>The Nightmare</i> (2015 American film) 2015 film by Rodney Ascher

The Nightmare is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Rodney Ascher. The film had its world premiere on January 26, 2015 at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and focuses on the topic of sleep paralysis. Ascher chose his subject because it had happened to him in the past.

<i>The Curse of Sleeping Beauty</i> 2016 film

The Curse of Sleeping Beauty is a 2016 American fantasy horror film directed by Pearry Reginald Teo and written by Teo alongside Josh Nadler. The film stars Ethan Peck, India Eisley and Natalie Hall. It is based on a comic book of the same name by Everette Hartsoe and the story Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault.

<i>Dead Awake</i> (2016 film) 2016 American film

Dead Awake is a 2016 American supernatural psychological horror film written by Jeffrey Reddick and directed by Phillip Guzman. It stars Jocelin Donahue, Jesse Bradford, Jesse Borrego, Brea Grant, James Eckhouse, and Lori Petty.

Tina Gray (<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i>) Fictional character

Christina "Tina" Gray is a fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. She was created by Wes Craven. The character was portrayed by Amanda Wyss in the original film and Katie Cassidy in the 2010 film. Julianna Damm also portrayed the character as a preadolescent in the 2010 film's flashbacks and dream sequences. A high school student whose death is the catalyst for the events of the series, Gray is the false protagonist of the 1984 original film. She also appears in the novels, Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), 2010 reboot, merchandise based on the films, and a claymation version of the character is shown in the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010). The imagery featuring Gray in the body bag during the dream sequences have been regarded as iconic.

<i>Mara</i> (film) 2018 American film

Mara is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Clive Tonge in his feature-length debut and written by Jonathan Frank. The film stars Olga Kurylenko as criminal psychologist Kate Fuller, who investigates the murder of a man and is haunted by the eponymous demon who kills people in their sleep. The film also stars Craig Conway. Tonge and Frank based the film's story on conditions and mythology surrounding both sleep paralysis and Brugada syndrome. The film was released by Saban Films on September 7, 2018. It received negative reviews from critics and was a box office bomb.

Lou Jurgens, is a British-born Canadian actor, producer, casting director, model, photographer, and multimedia artist. Known mainly for their acting work in film and television, Jurgens is also the co-founder of The Blood Projects, a Canadian theatre company through which Jurgens and co-founder Sasha Singer-Wilson have produced a number of projects including Little Tongues, This Is It, and Inside.

<i>She Never Died</i> 2019 Canadian film

She Never Died is a 2019 Canadian horror comedy film directed by Audrey Cummings and written by Jason Krawczyk. The movie is intended as a follow-up sister-sequel to Krawczyk's 2015 movie He Never Died, which starred Henry Rollins, and is set within the same universe. Krawczyk had initially intended the 2015 film to be expanded into a miniseries and follow-up film, but repurposed the script into She Never Died after the endeavor was cancelled.

<i>Come True</i> 2020 horror film

Come True is a Canadian science fiction horror film written and directed by Anthony Scott Burns. The film stars Julia Sarah Stone and Landon Liboiron. The film plot follows a teenage runaway who takes part in a sleep study that becomes a nightmarish descent into the depths of her mind and a frightening examination of the power of dreams.

References

  1. ↑ "The Man in the Shadows". Cover City. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  2. 1 2 "The Shadow Man (2017)". The Numbers . Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Shadow Man – Canada, 2015". Horrorpedia. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Man In The Shadows (DVD)". Defiant Empire Distribution. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 Greenbaum, L. (interviewer) (15 September 2015). "An Interview with One of Canada's Hottest Actresses, Sarah Jurgens!". International Film Review. Retrieved 28 March 2019.{{cite web}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Menken, Robin (21 July 2015). "The Man In the Shadows". Cinema Without Borders. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Moore, Amanda (11 March 2016). "Grimsby cafe to screen film exploring 'shadow people' phenomenon". Niagara This Week. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Cinefest: 'Shadows' a creepy thriller". Sudbury Star. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilder, Lorraine (interviewer) (25 September 2015). "From "Swearnet: The Movie" to "The Man in the Shadows," Sarah Jurgens is an Actress We Love to Watch". Tinsel Town News Now. Retrieved 28 March 2019.{{cite web}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  10. 1 2 Mack, Andrew (27 May 2015). "THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS: Watch The Trailer For Indie Horror Flick". Screen Anarchy . Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  11. ↑ Moore, Debi (25 May 2015). "2015 Dances with Films Lineup Includes The Horror, All I Need, Shevenge, Bad Exorcists, and More!". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  12. ↑ Stradiotto, Laura (21 September 2017). "Cinefest: From Timmins to the jungles of Laos". Sudbury Star. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  13. 1 2 "One of Canada's Hottest Talents of the Stage and Screen: Sarah Jurgens". Ground Report. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  14. 1 2 Hopkins, Peter (12 September 2017). "Film Review: THE SHADOW MAN (a.k.a. The Man In The Shadows) (2017)". Horror Screams Video Vault. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  15. ↑ McGrew, Shannon (10 November 2017). "Blu-ray/DVD Review: THE SHADOW MAN (2017)". Nightmarish Conjurings. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  16. ↑ Sedensky, Ian. "THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS (2015)". Culture Crypt. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.