SHOW YOURSELF -- DVD Review by Porfle

Imagine if a sensitive, contemplative tale of emotional turmoil was peanut butter, and a spooky, blood-chilling ghost story was chocolate, and two guys collided on a street corner and got their peanut butter and chocolate all over each other.

The result might very well be SHOW YOURSELF (2016), but whether or not these two great tastes go great together is entirely up to the individual taster, or, in this case, viewer.

The premise is pregnant with possibilities either way the story goes, with semi-successful filmmaker Travis (Ben Hethcoat, THE BABYSITTER MURDERS, DEAR DAD) heading to a very secluded off-season rental cabin deep in the woods right after ducking out of an old friend's funeral with his ashes.  Travis is intent on spreading Paul's powered remains upon the very nature spots Paul once visited with Travis and Travis' girlfriend Nicole.

The cabin is a chance to really get away from it all, except for the fact that Travis' cell phone never stops ringing and he's always in contact with old friends who keep blathering about Paul (during which we learn that Paul committed suicide and Travis feels guilty about it) and his naggy, needy girlfriend who keeps blathering about their relationship.  I swear, I'd have that phone on the chopping block within my first five minutes there.

What really sets all this stuff into motion is when Travis starts experiencing little things here and there that seem to be of a paranormal bent.  Paul's urn  changes positions overnight, Travis wakes up with his eyebrows half shaved off (reminiscent of a prank he once played on Paul), and there are knocks on the front door at night but nobody there when he opens it.

The scary stuff really shifts into high gear when Travis goes way deep into the woods and sets up a camping site complete with tent.  I won't go into what happens, but suffice it to say that if the filmmakers had chosen to go that route, and poured more effort into it, this movie might've produced some serious goosebumps.

But as that's happening we keep being reminded that the most important part of the story is Travis' guilt over not being a good enough friend to Paul and his possibly even being a reason for Paul's suicide.

In other words, the scary parts are always leveled out by the soul-searching, introspective parts, and neither is really fleshed out as well as they could've been.

The dramatic aspects do eventually get resolved to a reasonable extent, and those not disappointed by the fact that this otherwise competently-made film isn't a wall-to-wall scarefest (whose supernatural elements may actually be occurring only in Travis' mind) might come away from it feeling quite satisfied.

Those expecting a genuine shocker, on the other hand, will have to settle for some pleasingly spooky goings-on earlier in the cabin and a few promising shocks during the long, dark night of Travis' camping trip.

And so SHOW YOURSELF is a hard one to decide whether or not to recommend.  You may feel that one or both of the two main ingredients hasn't been sufficiently developed, or you might very well find the combination to be just right.

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Show Yourself: English / USA / 79 min 

The DVD release of Show Yourself (SRP $19.95) will be available from all major online retailers.