Synopsis:

From the film’s ominous opening scene and everything leading up to its open ended finale, this film does a good job building up its characters and defining their motivations. One of the more entertaining aspects of this film is its rogue gallery of villains many of which provide comic relief with lines like “You’re Fired!”, as he blows up a car. Pacing wise everything moves along briskly as no moment ever overstays its welcome. The plot is a mixture of three genres, action, adventure and Sci-Fi.

At the center of this film’s plot is a character named Allen Monroe, a writer whose friend goes missing. As the story progresses he learns that his friend is part of a secret society who have been tracking and getting rid of a parasitic creature. Their job is not as easy as it appears. Since parasitic creature is aware of their missing and now the hunted has become the hunter as the parasitic creature sets its sights on eliminating anyone who knows of its existence. Along the way another character is thrown into the mix, a wealthy businessman who wants to gain control over the parasitic creature.

Even though there are a handful of times that this film’s limited resources are apparent. The end result is an extremely satisfying film that works as well as it does because of the engaging performances from the cast.

The DVD:

Digital Shadow Films presents The Shiftling in an anamorphic widescreen that preserves the film’s original aspect ratio. This is a good looking transfer that has healthy looking flesh tones, colors look nicely saturated and details look crisp throughout.

This release comes with two audio options, Dolby Digital 5.1 English and Dolby Digital stereo. Both audio mixes are sound clear and balanced, with the Dolby Digital 5.1 English sounding more dynamic of the two audio mixes. The Dolby Digital 5.1 English really stands out during more action heavy moments.

Extras for this release include a trailer for the film, trailers for other films also released by Digital Shadow Films, a blooper reel and a production slide-show with music from the film playing in the background and audio commentary with writer / director Taegen Carter and actor Justin Davanzo. Additional extras can be accessed when you register your purchase on Digital Shadow Films website. This is a lively audio commentary in which both participants have plenty to say about the film. They discuss a wide variety of subjects like locations, the look of the film, the cast and the difficulties this film had to overcome due to its limited budget. Overall The Shiftling gets a fully loaded DVD release from Digital Shadow Films that is highlighted by the insightful audio commentary track with Taegen Carter and Justin Davanzo.