Shallow Grave (1994) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

Here’s my review of the 1994 cult movie, Shallow Grave.   Thanks for watching and please subscribe.  New videos dropping every week.   For Exclusive Content:  https://www.patreon.com/filmsceneinvestigation   Rumble:  https://www.rumble.com/filmsceneinvestigations   Odysee:  https://odysee.com/@filmsceneinvestigation:e   Help Support Me At:  https://www.PayPal.me/beaucarter91

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00:00hey everyone it's beau back again on the film scene investigation channel thanks so much for

00:18checking out this review in today's video i'm going to be taking a look at the 1994 cult drama

00:27shallow grave now i first remember seeing this movie many years ago when it was first broadcast

00:34on tv on channel 4 and from what i remember yeah i enjoyed it at the time but as the years have gone

00:43on i've uh kind of kind of forgotten about it anyways i thought it was about time that i go

00:52back and revisited this film and uh see if it still holds up just before we get into this review guys

00:59if you haven't already please do consider subscribing to the channel all the support

01:04is greatly appreciated so shallow grave from 1994 was written by the screenwriter john hodge

01:15and was directed by danny boyle marking his directorial debut even though this film was set

01:24in edinburgh the movie was actually filmed in glasgow scotland on a budget of around two million dollars

01:33now when it comes to this movie's narrative it's centered around three flatmates alex david and

01:41juliet who all lived together in this very spacious apartment all three of them had well-paid jobs

01:50so yeah it wasn't really surprising that between all three of them they could afford such a big place

01:58at the start of the film the trio were in the process of finding a new flatmate someone that could

02:06help out with the bills and generally fit in with them we saw the guys having a good time interviewing

02:14various prospective tenants but no matter how many people that they actually interviewed

02:20no one seemed like the right choice until a businessman called hugo who was played by keith allen

02:27hugo seemed like he would fit in with the group since he himself was someone that was quite pompous and uh

02:39you know liked to talk about himself he was interviewed by juliet and immediately the two got on really well

02:48but while on the outside hugo seemed like a normal guy in actuality he was anything but

02:58so he eventually moved in but within a few days the rest of the guys alex david and juliet all started

03:07getting suspicious over hugo's sudden disappearance one minute he was there the next he wasn't without any

03:16explanation so of course naturally the guys did wonder where he'd got to the trio initially discussed you

03:25know what to do and this all led to the guys breaking down hugo's door only to find him dead of an apparent overdose

03:35i think the guys were in shock really uh i don't think they expected to see a dead body

03:41and for them initially i guess they thought that hugo just might be severely hung over but uh no no he was

03:50stone cold dead adding to all of this confusion was a suitcase that was found under hugo's bed

03:58a suitcase full of money and well this really was the beginning of the guys downfall as soon as

04:08this suitcase full of money appeared suddenly juliet alex and david's judgment started to

04:19become clouded as you can imagine the debates the discussions the conversations all began over what to

04:29do with the dead body but more importantly what to do with the money alex and juliet made no bones about

04:40their intentions they wanted to spend the money they wanted to enjoy themselves and you know fair play to

04:48them for being honest david on the other hand was a lot more apprehensive you see david was the

04:57the accountant he was the straight laced one so you know dealing with dead bodies and suitcases full of

05:07cash certainly wasn't his forte you know as i was watching all this play out you know in reality those

05:16guys should have just called the police and yes of course that is the kind of boring thing to do but

05:24um you know if we were actually in those situations that that would be the best thing to do i mean it's

05:31not like the guys were responsible but as i said once the cash was right there in front of them it

05:40clouded their mind and well they weren't thinking straight eventually the guys all decided to wrap up hugo's

05:50body and basically bury it in the woods pretending like nothing could ever happened as if hugo never

05:59existed in their eyes you know once hugo was out the way well and they could all just concentrate on

06:07spending the cash it was a disgusting yet a simple plan that should have basically worked out

06:17but eventually things started to go wrong when the authorities eventually found and dug up the dead

06:24body we saw the various teams the forensics all the experts at the crime scene digging up hugo's body

06:33and uh well so began the police investigation alex david and juliet were all subsequently questioned

06:42over the disappearance of hugo by detective inspector mccall who was played by actor ken scott

06:50mccall had strong suspicions that one if not all of them were involved in hugo's disappearance yet he

06:58didn't have enough evidence to charge any of them not only were the cops sniffing around trying to find

07:04information but the whole dismembering of the dead body had a serious effect a serious psychological

07:14effect on david we saw the character in the woods muddy wet with a hacksaw just hacking away and uh yeah

07:27that whole situation definitely scarred david's mindset and he definitely started to act very erratic

07:39while those two had no qualms about taking hugo's money david felt very different he was uncomfortable

07:48with that amount of money being in the flat and his behavior just became more and more strange

07:57alex and juliet did try to you know say to their friends you know that he should lighten up

08:04but this was no normal situation and the fact that the authorities were kind of hovering around and

08:12had their own suspicions it was all too much for david he eventually snapped he lost it and well took the

08:21money went up to the attic and locked himself in to make things even weirder david used a drill and

08:29started drilling holes in the ceiling so he could basically spy on alex and juliet as they lived below

08:38him it was a confusing situation for juliet and alex because there was no kind of major fallout or

08:46anything like that it simply was david just having enough and locking himself away with the cash juliet

08:56and alex knew that their friend was having some sort of mental issue he wasn't acting the normal person

09:05that he was the straight-laced accountant and they knew that something needed to be done

09:11but could juliet and alex even trust each other now one of the central themes in shallow grave was its

09:22criticism of wealth and how such large amounts of money can really change someone's character in other

09:32words the suitcase full of money was the catalyst that exposed the group's willingness to betray one

09:43another what we once assumed was a strong friendship between three people soon turned ugly once the cash

09:55appeared i mean by the end of the movie these guys were a shadow of their former selves they were

10:03completely different to when we'd first seen them introduced they were fun loving at the start very sociable

10:10but as i said their judgment had just been completely clouded and their moral compass had been truly tested

10:19tested what was also interesting was the group's rationale behind their heinous actions and how they could

10:28well basically justify it to themselves you know we need to remember that alex david and juliet

10:38they were normal people you know they were just young adults living together in a flat in edinburgh

10:45but as soon as hugo's money appeared you know they started to betray each other and

10:52basically prioritize their own self-interests you know me personally i can see and understand the

11:02criticism and to a certain extent it is true i mean once certain people get a certain amount of money

11:09you know their their mindset does change how many times do we see celebrities or politicians

11:17or what have you kind of in their own bubble well that's what they are they are in their own echo

11:23chamber the the whole criticism of that um does fall more in line with socialism and stuff like that

11:31i'm a kind of capitalist you know i believe in a meritocracy but yes i can understand the filmmaker

11:41danny boyle's uh view on how money really can be the root of all evil now when it comes to the

11:52performances in shallow grave i have to give credit to ewan mcgregor who really did steal the spotlight

12:02from his co-stars his character was the practical joker the light-hearted comedian who would always chime

12:11in with his quirky thoughts and opinions but alex's charm was also a way for him to mask his self-serving

12:23nature mcgregor brought this charismatic energy to the film and overshadowed the lead star christopher

12:34eccleston this was an early performance from ewan mcgregor who of course went on to have a big

12:40hollywood career and i think even just from watching this movie um it's quite obvious to see that

12:48this guy in particular had a lot of potential actress kerry fox delivered a solid performance

12:56as juliet a nurse who had a very vindictive side to her personality it was an understated performance

13:07about a woman who started out this upbeat sociable flatmate and then turned into this

13:17cold-hearted opportunist she was very good in this movie i've always been um an admirer of kerry fox and

13:26you know i don't really think that she gets the credit that she deserves i also have to give her credit

13:32because he was a young actress you know starting out she'd done films um in australia but she took the

13:41chance took the opportunity and traveled all the way across the other side of the world by herself to

13:48star in this production you know that's a big step for a young woman a young actress to do and don't

13:54forget this was a very small budget production this was a movie from a first-time director who at the

14:02time was you know relatively unknown so you know there was no guarantee that shallow grave was going

14:08to become this big cult movie success which it later did her bravery encouraged to you know travel across

14:17the other side of the world and you know get involved in this movie you know it certainly paid off and you

14:22know credit to her for basically you know chasing her dreams and believing in herself as for christopher

14:31eccleston i thought he did a really good job playing david the accountant turned recluse his character

14:40started out as this reserved yet insecure guy but soon turned into this crazed madman after his

14:52experience dismembering hugo's body i mean you know in some ways you know can you blame him i mean it's bad

15:03enough to stumble upon a dead body let alone to get a hacksaw and literally cut it into pieces i mean that

15:12would likely have a psychological effect on me so yeah you know i can definitely understand david's

15:18journey within this movie now to be honest christopher eccleston um i've seen him pop up in things from time

15:27to time i only really know him from the rebooted series of doctor who which he then quickly disappeared

15:35from he wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination no no he was solid i just think that uh yeah he was

15:44overshadowed but nevertheless this certainly was a career highlight for eccleston i should also mention

15:53actor keith allen who played hugo the actor had a very small part really but um the actual character

16:02of hugo obviously was very significant to the story keith allen's one of those guys that i continuously

16:10saw throughout when i was a child watching tv in the 90s you know he's got a famous daughter and a

16:17son and stuff like that so i can't say i really care much for those guys but i thought keith allen was

16:22um you know an okay actor really i'm surprised he didn't really carry on um acting saw him in a movie

16:29called the young americans which i've reviewed on his channel uh he played the bad guy pretty good in

16:34that and of course he was also in a very similar role to this uh in shallow grave when he appeared

16:41in train spotting danny ball's uh follow-up to this movie uh once again playing a dodgy drug dealer type

16:48of guy so you know typecast as well now before we get to dislikes i wanted to take a moment to share my

16:58love and admiration for the film's early 90s aesthetic of course at the time this was just a

17:06movie that was set in present day but as a fan of the early 90s counterculture i mean i'm a 90s kid

17:17after all you know shallow grave acts as a perfect time capsule even if i didn't like the actual movie

17:26which i do just the actual look of the film i have to you know praise it i also really did like the

17:37apartment that the movie was predominantly set in the apartment that was shared between alex david and

17:45juliet it was a great looking place i really just love that you know with the dynamic colors you know

17:51the green and the yellows or the blues and even just the stylings you know very spacious you know the

17:59big windows and the wooden table all that stuff i just loved it i you know don't own my own place

18:08but um if i were to one day fingers crossed then um yeah i'd definitely be interested in stealing some of

18:18the concept designs from from the apartment uh it just does or look like a great place to hang out

18:25with friends so um yeah awesome and so dislikes for shallow grave from 1994 my biggest dislike for the

18:35film would have to be the whole horror element that was included into the narrative now when it came to

18:45david's psychological breakdown the movie did lean into the horror elements you know the horror aspects

18:54and showed some very dark visuals to represent david's mental downfall that you know was fine but um

19:05what i didn't really like about it was i think that danny boyle and the filmmakers i think they

19:11leaned into it a little bit too much to the point where it was almost like they were trying to make

19:16david out to be some sort of serial killer personally i thought that it would have been better if the

19:25filmmakers had just kind of concentrated on the greed aspect and how money can you know manipulate people's

19:33lives but the movie kind of took this horror like detour with david's character and um you know it's fine

19:43but uh i just wasn't really that into it to me having a group of friends you know fight over money

19:52that's way more maybe not necessarily interesting to some but it's definitely way more relatable i'm

19:59sure we've all had you know issues uh or seen you know how money can affect people's mindsets

20:08so yes we can relate to that but um as for you know dismembering a body and then you know hiding up

20:14in the attic that's uh something i can't really relate to you know to clarify i'm not criticizing

20:23christopher eccleston's performance while he wasn't fantastic i thought he was still very good

20:30david's journey into madness was a tragic one despite him and his heinous actions

20:39but you know when you break it down the movie did spend a lot of time on david's psychological

20:48downfall only to then at the very end go in a different direction things got kind of very

20:55convoluted and you saw the guys at the end double crossing each other yeah just um as i said very

21:03unbalanced and so ratings for shallow grave from 1994 i'm going to be rating this movie a solid 5.5 out

21:16of 10 i thought shallow grave was an entertaining 90 minutes with its exploration into the fragility

21:25of people's morality we saw this trio of flatmates who at one point were all you know

21:33good friends but over time tore themselves apart over money that uh it wasn't even theirs to begin

21:43with you know for a first time director i thought danny boyle did a very very good job with shallow

21:50grave and as i mentioned earlier i'm not surprised that he went on to produce some other brilliant films

21:59like train spotting and the beach from 2000 the same also applies to ewan mcgregor who as i said

22:09um overshadowed his co-stars with his quirky and charismatic performance where does this rank in terms of

22:17danny boyle's best movies um i'm not going to say it's his best film no but um i certainly would say

22:27it's in his top five it's definitely a strong entry and i think once you apply the context of the fact

22:35that this was his directorial debut hey congrats to danny boyle if you've seen shallow grave please let

22:44me know your thoughts and memories in the comment section below for all those who haven't yet this is

22:51is a recommendation from me especially if you're a fan of danny boyle's work especially you know

22:58films like the beach and train spotting this film shallow grave definitely falls in line with those

23:05other films overall there was this sense of optimism and i think that was obviously more to do with the

23:13the actual practical side of things i mean these were all a bunch of young creators young actors

23:19filmmakers all getting their chance their big opportunity to make a movie and you could you

23:27could sense you know the enjoy i'm sure regardless of you know what they felt of the actual finished

23:33product all of the actors everyone involved must have had a great time you know making this movie

23:38and it definitely showed and well that is all from me today guys i do hope you've enjoyed this review

23:46of shallow grave from 1994 i'll be back next week of course with another cult movie review just want to

23:54say a big thank you to all my current subscribers really do appreciate you guys and if you haven't

24:01please do consider subscribing anyways i'll be back next week take care guys

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