I wanted to like this movie more... the boy was actually quite a good actor, and the premise is quite good. But the depressing atmosphere and the cold, hard-hearted bitch of a mother who essentially emotionally abused her son his whole life took any possible enjoyment out of this movie for me. When I started hoping she would die horribly, I thought I should probably stop watching - but stayed til the end for the sake of closure, and in the vain hope that it would be less dreary and depressing. Which it was, at the very end. In terms of filming and production values, it was good... and maybe if the mothers behaviour wasn't something of a trigger issue for me, I might have gotten more out of this. Basically there's no reason not to give it a try, just be aware that there's no joy or relief from the depressing tone throughout.

Surprisingly little has been written about this quirky little horror film, which I watched last night. It's intriguing on a number of levels: when it's set and where it's set for that matter I found to be bit ambiguous but oddly enough that wasn't to the film's detriment.

Because of the lack of information surrounding it, I presumed it would be some low-budget independent affair but The Shadow Within is anything but. The cinematography is wonderful and the town setting gloriously picturesque. The story tells of a nine-year-old boy who lives with his widowed mother. The youngster, Maurice Dumont - it has to be said, a remarkable performance by Laurence Belcher effortlessly out-classing the adult stars of the film - has a unique gift. Well, not exactly unique in movie terms - Haley Joel Osment had it in The Sixth Sense. But Maurice's gift is slightly more specific in that he is able to communicate with the spirits of his deceased school chums - many of whom have been killed by the plague wiping out the village's young.

The bereaved mothers of the village realise Maurice has a gift and want to harness that power so they can contact their lost loved ones. But Maurice and his mother have also suffered terrible losses and now she realises she could turn to her son's gift to be reunited with someone she has been obsessing over. All at a cost to young Maurice who has endured a cold loveless childhood at the hands of his grieving mother. Plot-wise I'll leave it at that. Suffice to say this is definitely worth checking out. It looks sumptuous, there are some good creepy effects (one particular use of CGI to show the spirits shadowing the living is particularly effective) and as I said the youngster's doomed, haunted performance is flawless.

Once upon a time Italy were the true masters of horror, the staple that every other was held against and the rest of the world rarely could compare.

Over the years they shifted from their traditional zombie film to the mystery/ghost-esque films and it all seemed to fall apart.

The Shadow Within tells the tale of a boy with the ability to communicate with the other side including his recently deceased brother. Dealing with his highly abusive obsessive mother his life is full of hardship and becomes even more stressful when his mother and her friends seek to use his gift.

Sadly Maurice's story simply isn't engaging and I found myself more frustrated with the mothers behavior than anything to do with it's primary story of ghosts.

Italy has lost it's way and this is further evidence, messy messy horror.

The Good:

The concept is okay

The lead actors performance is quite good

The Bad:

Very dull

Story is simply badly told