“They’re called propellers, baby. And they help us fly.”

ZombieDog’s rating: Some really cool shit!

ZombieDog’s review: I am constantly on the lookout for new movies. I utilize every source available to me, however in this one particular case, I just flipped the channel, and Shadow in the Cloud was on. I was mesmerized and pulled into its goodness.

Shadow in the Cloud is a mostly single-location film that creates this unique feel, and you want to keep watching. It’s World War II, where Maude Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz) jumps on board a B-17 carrying a fairly large package — and is told, almost immediately, to get off. However, Maude produces orders that say she is on a top-secret mission, and they are not to question either her or what she’s carrying under penalty of court-martial.

The beauty of this opening scene is that we have absolutely no idea what’s happening or where they’re going. We are just dropped into the mystery and it captures your attention almost immediately. The crew, as you would imagine, isn’t pleased about a woman being on board, let alone one on the secret mission. Because there are no extra seats they make her sit down in the ball turret until they can basically figure out what to do.

Get comfortable, because this ball turret is where Maude is going to stay for the next hour or so. It almost plays out like a one-woman dialogue on a stage having a conversation with people through the radio. During this time, she tries to coerce anybody who will listen to protect the package she brought on board. At the same time, she tries to survive something attacking her.

Shadow in the Cloud was written by Max Landis, who I have come to appreciate over the years even though I’ve also heard some negative aspects to his personal life. His cowriter was Roseann Liang, who was also the director. In her mid-40s, she’s directed a handful of films, and based on this movie, I think she’s deftly climbing the ladder and showing her skill and vision as a director. I would definitely like to see what she could do with a little more money.

The movie itself is without a doubt an homage to ’80s films, if not an outright attempt to copy them. I don’t want to call it an outright attempt to mimic the ’80s; if anything I would call it Nouveau ’80s. It’s an attempt to use that style while at the same time pushing it forward. I thought it totally worked. Above all, I loved the synth wave soundtrack. It pulled me into the movie and only served to enhance the visuals.

It’s messy, though: This film is part Twilight Zone, part action movie, and part thriller while being foisted onto a script that is mostly dialogue. I felt like a lot of these parts don’t necessarily go together, nevertheless I was along for the ride. Once I let go of that part of my brain that was critical, I enjoyed myself.

This is a strong B-movie with a “who cares?” attitude. It is the kind of experience that I been longing for studios and directors to make, which is a crazy premise that filmmakers run with just for the fun of it. Unfortunately, there is no way a movie like this is going to compete with even the worst Marvel movie. With the box office of under $1 million, there’s little if any motivation to get future directors to follow in the footsteps.

Chloë Grace Moretz is acting with such passion and intensity it kind of makes me wonder if she’s about to lose her home in real life or hasn’t eaten in weeks. Either way she gets the job done. This isn’t a story that forces a woman to be in a role that wasn’t historically the case, it’s a role that has a woman in the center of it. And Max Landis has showed himself to be a competent writer and capable of developing new and interesting material.

So, is Shadow in the Cloud any good? Yes. With a couple of caveats. It’s short. With a running time of 1:23 (10 minutes of stretched credits), it mostly feels like an episode of some serialized show. I think it would work perfectly for a double feature Saturday night. If you’re a fan of Chloë Grace Moretz or the World War II genre, definitely seek this one out.