The Shed (2/5) – Movie Review

THE SHED is a new horror drama that starts out really strong. It’s a vampire story that also has some core elements about bullying. The movie is at its best in the first half while the final half disappoints. Read more in our full The Shed review here!

The Shed is a new low-budget horror drama about both vampires and bullying. In other words, a classic horror niche and a classic drama subject.

Interestingly enough, The Shed is by far at its best when it really embraces being a horror drama. For the final half of the movie, it focuses a lot more on classic horror tropes. Unfortunately, not in all the best ways and at the expense of those drama elements that was working in the first part of the movie.

Continue reading our The Shed movie review below.

The good, the bad and the predictable

This is a low-budget movie but the effects are actually impressive. So is the production quality and the acting. The problem with The Shed is its story. It starts out being really interesting with important issues about abuse and bullying.

However, by the end, it feels like just another low-budget horror movie. 

The kind of movie where the all-important cuts were not made. This movie should have been a good 15 minutes shorter and the end result would have been a lot better. Also, enough with the dream sequense jump scares. They become predictable and just plain irritating.

Jay Jay Warren works really well in the lead. Especially in the scenes with his grandfather, who is played by Timothy Bottoms.

The Shed is coming out on DVD & Blu-ray in January 2020 (and Shudder in August 2020)

Frank Sabatella directed The Shed and also wrote the screenplay based on a story by Jason Rice. This is only the second feature film directed by Sabatella since he made Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet in 2009. I haven’t seen that one so I can’t comment on whether they differ much.

Both have an IMDb rating under 5, but honestly, I would have given The Shed 2½ if we gave out half blood splatters here at Heaven of Horror. The Shed is a movie that works so incredibly well during the first half-hour or so, which is why the ending is so disappointing.

The ending isn’t boring or bad, it’s just so damn predictable. Also, the drama elements that worked so well, in the beginning, seem to have vanished completely. If Frank Sabatella would focus more on the elements of the strong beginning, then he could turn out some truly awesome movies. We’ll be keeping an eye out for whatever comes next from him.

The Shed is out on DVD & Blu-ray from January 7, 2020. From August 27, 2020, it will also be on Shudder.

Details

Director: Frank Sabatella
Writers: Jason Rice, Frank Sabatella
Stars: Jay Jay Warren, Cody Kostro, Sofia Happonen, Frank Whaley, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Chris Petrovski, Timothy Bottoms

Plot

In THE SHED, Stan and his best friend Dommer have put up with bullies their entire lives. All of that changes when Stan discovers he has a murderous vampire living in his shed. Seeing the bloodshed and destruction the monster is capable of, Stan knows he has to find a way to destroy it. But Dommer has a much more sinister plan in mind.