If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I give this a 3 out of ten, and that's only because cuties Quinn, Spader, and Coyote (in that order) were in it. Aidan Quinn gave the best performance, living up to his sensual, commanding presence as a cunning detective. He is as handsome as handsome gets and was quite frankly the only reason I kept watching the movie until it ended (the end being reminiscent of a "Ya seen one, ya seen 'em all: SuperHero Saves the Day" moment). I suspect he had no clue the final cut of the movie would render such a poor product, much less that it threatened to weaken his very reputation as a reputable actor! Spader gave likely the worst performance I've ever seen him yield--with virtually no emotion and even less vocabulary employed throughout. His performance was faarrr from "commanding" or even engaging and was flatly unconvincing. The movie was played out like everyone was rehearsing the script for the first time in an audition and someone just happened to have a videocam nearby and decided to kill some time. To see a bunch of grown men sitting around sobbing in their drinks like the poor, helpless victims of a single Mastermind Grim Reaper (more like MustardMind) was beyond ridiculous and I came out thinking of Quinn, Spader, and Coyote: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? (Or were they all just really hard up for some cash that month?) The only thing missing was Spader's tights, cape, and evil mask as some cartoonish villain and hearing everyone that passed him cry, "Heil Ashbury!" The movie is a blight to them all. Such great actors and so poor a finished product . . . I'd hate to have something like this on my resume . . . especially so late in my established career.

I'm surprised this movie has got such a high rating. It starts out very promising with some nice images in the rain. In fact, it is extremely fascinating about until the time when he gets back to his wife and they begin talking. After that the movie falls apart little by little, until it becomes so borderline non-sensible that I just had to turn it off. It is not a matter of "plot twists" as some viewer suggested. Obviously, it is a question of just not being able to put a decent plot together. I see an alarming trend in the new DVD-market where many movies are put out quicker and easier to DVD than it was possible in the good old video days. American horror has suffered in recent years, and did not improve with the pathetic remakes of brilliant Asian horror. Anyway, "Shadow of Fear" is not a horror-movie. It is hardly even a movie. If it had only lasted until he got back to his wife, and she then turned into a demon or something; then it would have been a good "Twilight Zone"-episode but when a movie-plot collapses like that in one superfluous scene after the other then it becomes irrelevant to watch. As one viewer suggested, we are never told what this "organisation" does. I think, this is a major problem. On the back of the DVD it said something about a secret "cult"-organisation with big power. It sounded promising but in the movie this organisation seems completely devoid of power, so what's the point?

They say that Hollywood always is looking for something new. So how come they decided to produce this film? There's nothing new in "Shadow of Fear". I mean: rainy night, a moment of inattention and the dead guy in the middle of the road. There rest is as unimaginative as the beginning.Well, there were some positive moments. The concept of the secret society created by demonic William Ashbury is quite entertaining and relationship between main character and his father-in-law is somewhat original. But that's it. The main character is rather dull and Matthew Davis isn't the best actor for the part. What's more, Lexi Nikitas must really hate him, since his make-up was overdone. What's with the lipstick? Davis looked almost like a lazy drag who didn't remove the make-up after the show was over.

I felt quite at a loss after this movie. I wondered and wondered, remembering fine details that might contain some important clue for the story. There might be, but I found none. So I concluded either it may be a very intelligent mystery thriller, or it may be just pure crap. So when they showed the film again four days later I began to see it again and found it intolerable after 30 minutes.I don't know just what the screenwriter was thinking. Same old premises, average locations, predictable camera angles and not-too-bad acting. You can't make a masterpiece out of this. Probably the director or screenwriter set a goal too high. Well, James Spader as an actor is always nice to watch and here's no exception. But the others were below average (especially Robin Tunney). Really, I expected the film not very good, but I didn't know I won't get the story at all.