Shadow in the Cloud is an all-over-the-place campy WW2 action/horror flick about a bomber under attack from gremlins (and Japanese Zeroes). At various times, I kind of loved and kind of hated it… it’s so scattered that there’s surely something someone will find enjoyable at some point. Certainly I could see this as a slightly long Twilight Zone (or Amazing Stories) episode… it clocks in at about 80 minutes.
Chloe Grace Moretz plays an RAF (non-combat) pilot who catches a ride with a bomber on the way from New Zealand to Samoa. She brings with her orders that the flight crew do not respect and a mysterious package. Since there’s no available seats for takeoff, she’s relegated to the belly turret. And then the misogynist crew and her have some beef, she gets trapped in the turret… and that’s even before the gremlins attack.
About half of this movie was shot in that ball turret exclusively with Moretz on camera and the rest of the cast over the radio. There are some scattered visual FX shots but mainly it’s a one-woman show. Almost a radio play. And it’s pretty interesting example of film making on tight limitations. Moretz is good enough with the dramatics that it even made my disappointment as secrets are revealed a little less disappointing.
But it’s when she leaves the turret and the movie becomes a bit more traditional a B action/horror flick that things go wrong (and sometimes right). There’s some stunt sequences that defy credibility…. and that’s saying something for a movie about WW2 bomber beset by gremlins. That’s followed by some ups and downs that endlessly frustrated me… I would be into a scene and then be taken out immediately. What a mixed up mess of a movie.
And did I mention the techno electronic soundtrack? I’m not sure it fits… but, then again, I’m not sure what music WOULD fit a WW2 movie about gremlins attacking a bomber. Crooning? Bebop? Dancehall? It was pretty discordant and I’m sure that was the point… high energy chaotic beats to accompany a gremlin assault.
For a period of time, Moretz does not handle the screaming-while-firing action scenes very convincingly. In fact, I think she’s still a little too young in the face to play this character. But then, suddenly, she loses a sleeve and turns into a face-pummeling badass and it works on a total B movie action level. Like I said, this movie is just all over the damn place.
Yes, all the over the place but I ultimately come down on the side of admiring it’s gumption. Just being this radio drama focusing fully on one actress was pretty cool. Being a monster drama and a WW2 action flick was also good work. The flick was also inconceivably unbelievable at times and that took me out of it. So what does that mean? I bet if you like the idea of a gremlins attacking a bomber then you’ll enjoy the movie. If you don’t, you should probably treat this as the January movie it is.
Score: 75