The cinematography of Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen is so beautifully framed and textured that it's possible, during the most mesmerizing stretches, to believe that Valley of Shadows is a great debut.

There's real confidence in the filmmaking, creating a shadowy world that washes over you, in which a boy gets lost in his nightmares, perhaps learning that the monster all children fear is a force to be protected.

It would make an admirable short film, but at feature length the terror becomes tedium.

An intriguing if rarely completely successful piece of work...