Shellter (2009)
Reviewer: Scott Shoyer

Wow.  My head is still reeling after watching this one.  SHELLTER took me completely by surprise and is easily the most disturbing, violent, hateful, bloody, and intense film that doesn’t offer even one thin gimmer of hope … and I fucking loved every second of it.  Written and directed by Dan Donley (who also did the cinematography), SHELLTER is a well acted and well paced horror film that will have you shocked at how evil human beings can be towards each other.

The story starts with Zoey (Cari Sanders) waking up in a hospital bed in a pretty grungy looking shelter.  The doctor (William David Tulin) explains to her that a virus has torn across the world infecting the earth’s water and food supplies and has also killed off the majority of the population.  Survivors of the virus have been turned into ferocious, murderous psychos.  The doctor (by the way, we never learn his name in the film) goes on to explain that she is safe in the shelter and their mission is to go out and find uninfected survivors.  But strangely enough the good doc keeps drugging her after each time they talk so she can “get her rest.”  Actor Tulin is really fantastic as the doctor here.  He looks harmless enough but it doesn’t take long to realize that he’s a raving fucking psycho.  Tulin plays the role brilliantly; at first you don’t know if he’s just burned out or if there’s something else going on here all together.

We also get a huge punch in the gut when we meet “The Nurse” (Maria Olsen).  She is also given no other name in the film and she seems even more off balanced than the doctor.  And to make matters worse she walks around with her nurse’s uniform covered in blood and has a crazy look in her eyes, not unlike a wild animal.  See, the nurse’s lips (“all of them”) have been glued shut so she can’t talk, and every time she comes to see Zoey their interactions get more and more violent.  And keep in mind that all this happens in like the first 10-15 minutes of the film!!

It doesn’t take long for Zoey to find out that the doctor, with the nurses assistance, are conducting bizarre and horrific experiments on the survivors he finds.  And as events unfold the doctor is trying to get Zoey to take the place of the nurse, who dies in a truly horrific way.  Zoey is very reluctant at first but during one of their “experiments” the victim undergoing the “treatments” tells the doctor that she’d willingly do anything he wanted her to do to anyone.  It’s at this point that Zoey realizes that if she doesn’t “help” the doctor then she’ll be the one undergoing his torturous experiments.  As the tagline of the film asks, “How far would you go to survive?” 

Actress Cari Sanders (Zoey) does an absolutely amazing job.  The role of “Zoey” looked like a very demanding role both physically and emotionally; she’s practically naked the first half of the film and is then covered in blood and gore the second half.  In her role the doctor first emotionally breaks her down and then slowly tries to reconstruct her into something that she isn’t.  Sanders does a really amazing job and is believable every step of the way.  The shit her character endures is unbelievable.  We have forced lobotomies, invasive surgeries with no anesthesia, brutal rapes, forced cannibalism, people being fed their own bodies, and skin being stripped from live bodies down to the bone.  But this isn’t just a sadistic “torture porn” flick; this has some really disturbing ideas and philosophies behind it that elevates it above the typical genre fare. 

As much as I loved this film, it’s far from being perfect.  Some of the dialogue is a little forced and there are many times when Zoey has the opportunity to kill the doctor but just knocks him out and walks away.  I don’t know; maybe (and I’m just throwing this out there) there was some kind of “Stockholm Syndrome” going on and she just couldn’t get herself to kill him.  But its hard to imagine that she wouldn’t take advantage of the situation and kill him when the opportunity presented itself.  I mean the doctor seriously fucks Zoey up repeatedly!!  SHELLTER also has a twist (sort of) that won’t really come as a surprise.  Part of me thinks it really wasn’t supposed to be a surprise twist, but the way it’s presented and it’s placement in the film makes me wonder if it was indeed suppose to shock the viewer.  Like I said, if you’re paying attention you’ll figure out the twist about 10 minutes in.  This, though, won’t take anything away from the overall film.

What I really liked about this film is that it wasn’t afraid to explore and dive into some truly dark territory.  I mean some REALLY dark territory.  If you think the SAW and HOSTEL films are dark and too brutal then you most definitely won’t be able to handle SHELLTER.  This is a serious genre film exploring some serious ideas in a very dark and brutal fashion.  The camera here never flinches but you’ll find yourself debating whether or not you need to take a breather about half way through.  It’s that intense people!!

I can’t recommend SHELLTER enough.  The acting is fantastic, the pace will have your heart racing, the f/x are extremely well done, and the ending is completely satisfying.  Sure you’ll see the twist coming a mile away, but you won’t care.  If you like your horror films nihilistic, dark, and leaving you with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness (just like 2006‘s BROKEN) then SHELLTER is for you.  But be warned you might be sleeping with the lights on after seeing it!!  Highly recommended.

My Summary:

Director:  Dan Donley (and writer & cinematographer)

Plot:  4 out of 5 stars

Gore:  8 out of 10 skulls