Shadow of Fear

Plot synopsis:
To learn more about the Mysterons and Mars, Spectrum has conceived "Operation Sword". The objective is to place a space probe in orbit around Mars to capture detailed images of the surface. Although the Mysterons destroy a first probe, a second — Mini-Sat 5 — successfully lands on the Martian moon Phobos to carry out surveillance. When Phobos has completed one orbit of Mars, the images will be transmitted to Earth for reception at K14 Observatory in the Himalayas at 3 a.m., local time. Since K14 is beyond the range of the Spectrum Angels, Cloudbase is moved into Himalayan airspace on its horizontal jets. Captains Scarlet and Blue have been dispatched to K14 to assist scientists Carter, Breck and Angelini. From the astronomers' perspective, Mini-Sat 5 was able to touch down on Phobos thanks to the "shadow of fear": "phobos", the name of an attendant of Mars in Greek mythology, means "fear" in Greek, and the probe avoided detection by the Mysterons by approaching the moon from behind.
That night, a few hours before reception, Breck is observing Mars through a telescope when the planet begins to flash brightly. Overcome by the dazzling light, he is killed and duplicated by the Mysterons. Knowing that K14's aerial will have to be retuned to receive the images from Mini-Sat 5, his reconstruction fixes an explosive device to the rotation gear — set to detonate when caught in the machinery — and then hides among the rocks above K14. With the aid of a Spectrum helicopter piloted by Melody Angel and Captain Grey, Scarlet and Blue locate and confront the reconstruction minutes before 3 a.m. Firing on the officers, the duplicate is killed by Scarlet, but not before revealing its act of sabotage. Before Scarlet and Blue can warn Carter and Angelini, the astronomers rotate the aerial and the bomb detonates, causing the structure to crash down onto the K14 observatory. However, although Carter and Angelini are dead, and Earth has missed the reception of the images, Colonel White insists that the setback does not mark the end of Operation Sword.

Tags: murder

Review:
"Shadow of Fear" draws upon the elements of suspense from the famous genre of film noir.
All three films focus on a secret male society that goes outside the law to protect the interests and advance the agendas of its members.
I admired director Rich Cowan's camera angles and stylish cinematography in "Shadow of Fear." There was also good suspense sustained in the mysteries activities of the secret club.At the heart of the action is the character of Harrison French, admirably played by Matthew Davis.
He is subsequently manipulated by the ringleader of the secret brotherhood, performed with great relish by James Spader.
The cast is rounded out with veteran actors Peter Coyote and Aidan Quinn, along with good support from Robin Tunney, Alice Krige, and Lacey Chabert.Beyond the effective and suspenseful plot, I was especially intrigued by the consistently morose and clinically depressed cast of characters.
Despite the great affluence portrayed in the film, the main characters all suffered from guilt for their past conduct and by the obsession of keeping their skeletons in the closet, through assistance of Spader's oily attorney, William Ashbury.
It is especially revealing when throughout the film, the protagonist Harrison is chomping on prescription antidepressant medication in order to cope with even the slightest setback.In "The Brotherhood of the Bell" and "The Star Chamber," the secret society went outside the lines of society's ethics in the pursuit of such concepts as "truth" and "justice." By contrast, in "Shadow of Fear," there were no redeeming ideals as the members of the society sought only to cover up one another's past transgressions.
The only thing that attracted us to watch it was the presence of James Spader, Peter Coyote and Aidan Quinn, perhaps the best known actors in the cast.
First of all, the screen play is vague in explaining what we are watching.The opening sequence shows us Harrison sitting near the table where his father-in-law and his cronies, presided by the creepy William Ashbury are discussing things that probably Harrison can hear, yet, he is not invited to participate in the discussion.
No, instead Harrison disposes the body not too far from the road, a move that will carry terrible consequences for this young man.This being said, sounds like the premise of a good mystery film, but instead, the writers have complicated the story in such a way, that at times, one wonders with incredulity all the twists and turns in a plot that doesn't ultimately prove anything at all.
By not making clear the activities of the group, we start losing interest in the film, and nothing that is done later on to explain why everything happened makes sense.James Spader doesn't add anything to his otherwise excellent career in the movies.
Ditto for Peter Coyote, Aidan Quinn, and the rest of the cast.
Matthew Davis who is at the center of the story appears to be miscast for the role of Harrison.
***SPOILERS*** Convaluted suspense drama that gets more and more confusing as it goes along with a conclusion that had to be inserted in since it makes no real sense at all to what you saw up until then.
Being a member of this secret society headed by reclusive and weird high-power attorney William Ashbury, James Spader, young Harrison France, Matthew Davis, learns right away what is needed for him to belong to that secretive group; Ashbury having the goods on you and using them to make you do whatever he want's you to do.
Having trouble paying off the mortgage and also having a big real-estate deal fall through Harrison is up sh*t's creek with him too embarrassed to ask his father-in-law Congressman Henderson (Peter Coyote), also a member of this secret society, for help.
Driving home in a rain storm Harrison hit's this stranger on a lonely country road and finds out that he killed him.Panic-stricken Harrison pulls the dead body off the deserted road and hides it in the brush as he drives home feeling that whatever happened is between him and his conscience and no one else; until the next morning when he sees the news.
A bank robbery took place the day before and two men got away with $200,000.00 but the bank security camera video taped one of the robbers who was dressed,in a black hood and leather jacket, a lot like the person that he ran over the previous evening.
Realizing that he must have run down one of the the robbers of the bank Harrison goes back to the underbrush where he hid the strangers body and finds a sack with the stolen $200,000.00 in it.
Burying the robbers clothes on his property it's later dug up by his dog Shane, William Shakesbear, which alerts Harrison's wife Wynn, Robin Tunney, in thinking that it somehow has to do with the bank robbery!
It's now when the story takes a very strange turn when it's discovered that the person that Harrison killed is, after DNA tests proved it beyond a doubt, non-other then Chris Henderson Harrison's brother-in-law a local town junkie and petty criminal.
It's then when things starts to get bizarre for Harrison with Ashbury coming to his aid to help even though he never told him anything about his accident.
Harrison took the $200,000.00 and put it in a bus station locker but Ashbury had him photographed doing it where he could use the photos to blackmail him.
Picked up by the police, who Ashbury obviously tipped off, poor Harrison is interrogated by Det. Schfield, Aidan Quinn.
Just when it looked like he was going to crack and confess for Chris' death or murder as well as the armed robbery of the bank Schfield's boss chief Webb, John Grant Philips, comes into the interrogation room and tells Harrison that he can go free.
There Ashbury again came to Harrison's rescue by getting this pasty Patrick Treadway a homeless drunk and drifter to go to the bus locker and take out the money, or half of it,out and have him photographed!
Showing that Harrison had nothing to do with the bank robbery or Chris' death!
Now if you think that the movie was strange up until then it gets even stranger when Harrison later being at a social gathering, with his wife and father-in-law, goes up to Ashbury's suite in the hotel where the gathering was taking place.
there he finds that Chris Henderson, whom he though he killed in a road accident and hid his body, is really alive and staying with Ashbury in his hotel room!
The film completely falls apart after that in trying to make Harrison French into some kind of avenger and have him concoct this unbelievable plan to turn the tables on the conniving Ashbury and have him face the music that he forced him and all the other members of his weird society to face all these years.
The ending taking place on the same road, and even in a likewise rain storm, where all the troubles for Harrison began in the movie is so outrageous that you wonder if "Shadow of Fear" wasn't really meant to be a comedy instead of a suspense drama and that the real story got lost during the final rushes and editing of the film..
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.
Well, James Spader as an actor is always nice to watch and here's no exception.
Really, I expected the film not very good, but I didn't know I won't get the story at all..
poor plot+average acting= poor movie.
a movie about a secret society of men who are made to pay too high a price to redeem themselves of their sins.
The movie focuses around main actor Harrisson French who is made to believe that he ran over his brother -in -law by the leader of this secret society, William Ashbury and the only way he is to keep from getting busted by the cops is to provide favours for Ashbury.
This past Sunday evening while waiting for SIX FEET UNDER to start, & having nothing better to do & being a JAMES SPADER fan I watched this.This is a very confusing film, hard to understand for a few reasons.
Many times the actors spoke so low I doubt that the actors they were speaking to heard them.Matt Davis, a newcomer(very good looking) is the lead performer, SORRY TO SAY HE NEEDDS ACTING LESSONS.
James Spader, Peter Coyote & Aiden Quinn all accomplished actors in other movies do not shine here.All the actresses seem to walk through there roles.At 88 minutes it is very long.
I liked this movie.
I suppose it was a lame plot with lame actors (average B movie), but I liked it.
James Spader plays his usual sleaze-ball rich guy and as usual, he does so quite well.
I have to admit I was a bit confused the first time through as to the exact purpose of the Tuesday meetings--things became clearer as the movie progressed.
I'm surprised this movie has got such a high rating.
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.
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.
Anyway, "Shadow of Fear" is not a horror-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.
It sounded promising but in the movie this organisation seems completely devoid of power, so what's the point?.
Spader is lost and tries to find confort by looking into his box of tricks but they don't fit since the story is going south.
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.
The main character is rather dull and Matthew Davis isn't the best actor for the part.
Davis looked almost like a lazy drag who didn't remove the make-up after the show was over..
Spader is the Best thing about this movie!.
I mostly liked this movie for James Spader's terrific performance as an enigmatic and powerful lawyer.
The girls have hardly anything to do in the movie sadly.The story is different and manages to keep the viewers engaged, though the end seemed a bit implausible.
If only the screen play had been a bit tighter and someone better had been cast in Harrison's role, it wld have worked even better.
Still, I wld say the movie is worth the watch for Spader's work.
Now some movies have been known to be boring and Shadow of Fear is nothing different.And this is no movie for a fan to watch.Shadow of Fear try is a boring movie.There's no point so trying to figure out the story is a pain.Also the movie can't be worth anything.The movie limits the enjoyment of the movie, so the movie itself becomes rather boring, rather fast.The acting in the movie is just simple awful it's not even funny.Don't get me wrong, I like the cast of the movie.The music is not all that great.Shadow of Fear is a failure.If you really want a great movie, try something else, this movie has nothing that makes it worth watching.I give Shadow of Fear 4 out of 10.AVOID AT ALL COST.
"Shadow of Fear" has some pretty good production values for a low budget direct to DVD movie.
Unfortunately, it's hard to build any enthusiasm for the rest of the movie.
The story elements and the characters are often so murky that it's hard to understand what is going on at times.
Some elements are (eventually) explained, but much of the movie remains confusing.
You'd be better off waiting for a director's cut instead of watching the movie as it is right now..
Harrison French(Matt Davis)is a young businessman who's career is headed for the crapper.
On the way home from a gathering he accidentally runs over and kills his own brother-in-law on a rainy highway.
The man to help cover up this crime is a smart and powerful attorney William Ashbury(James Spader), who is the leader of an underground society of other men of notoriety trapped in a web of fear and blackmail.
But sometimes a new future is able to slip away from the shadow of fear.Intense and gripping with a well thought out finale.
In the supporting cast: Peter Coyote, Robin Tunney, Aidan Quinn and Lacey Chabert.
A good movie with a nice twist.
I found the movie a lot more interesting than the trailer was.The trailer looked a bit boring and I figured it would be a simple movie.It was anything but simple.It was very well acted and a bit complicated to figure out at first.It may not be for everyone and not completely original but I personally found it enjoyable and got wrapped up in the plot and couldn't wait to see what would happen or unfold next.Right from the start of the movie after a guy was hit by a car on a rainy night and the driver didn't know what to do about the body I was interested in what would happen to him.Good performance's by all the actors.I thought James Spader's character was the most complicated but fun.You couldn't tell if he was a good guy or bad guy.The movie was anything but boring and I liked how all the characters in the movie were connected to each other in some way or another..
If you had James Spader, Aidan Quinn and Peter Coyote in your cast, would you make Matt Davis the star of your film?
How is a young actor virtually no one has ever heard of like Davis supposed to avoid getting blown off the screen every time he's in a scene with one of those veteran performers?
These filmmakers had the money/connections/Columbian nose candy to get Spader, Quinn and Coyote in their motion picture, but then the best they could get for the most important role in the whole shebang is Matt Davis?
Shadow Of Fear certainly has other problems, but this thing never had a chance to be any good due to such an inexplicable imbalance in experience and star power.Harrison French (Matt Davis) is a young businessman who just lost a big deal.
One, it turns out the guy Harrison killed robbed a bank that very morning.
Two, it seems the guy was also the brother of Harrison's erratic wife (Robin Tunney).
Desperate for help, Harrison turns to the enigmatic William Ashbury (James Spader), who promises to help Harrison avoid the dogged pursuit of Detective Scofield (Aidan Quinn).
Throw in the disapproving father of Harrison's wife (Peter Coyote) and a sister-in-law (Lacey Chabert) who wants to jump Harrison's bones, and that's Shadow Of Fear.I can't say Matt Davis does an awful job in this movie because Harrison French is such a worthless character that all but the best would be hamstrung in their performance.
And he's the HERO of this affair.The only interesting thing about Shadow Of Fear is William Ashbury, both because Spader is always interesting and because the character is like the Star Trek Mirror Universe version of the hero of a Stephen J.
Ashbury assists rich and powerful men in covering up their misdeeds, then punishes them by making their repeat their sins over and over until they're sick of them.
Why he does it all and to what end is never explained or even hinted at, but there's something intriguing about a character who could very easily be a good guy instead made out to be a villain.
It's also amusing to see how incredulous Ashbury is at the end to be taken down by such a nonentity as Harrison, largely because it comes off equally as Spader's incredulousness at how his talent has gone to waste in this turkey.If Robin Tunney and Lacey Chabert had gotten naked and Davis had been replaced by someone capable of standing up to his older co-stars, Shadow Of Fear might have made an implausible but tolerable pot boiler.
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.
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.
(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.
first it was an interesting movie I saw it on TV late at night.
so far that is what I have seen and only half way thru the movie.