Soul Survivors

This is a terrific movie. The cast is strong, the story is strong, it is a thoughtful, interesting examination of death and remorse. I knew that with Luke Wilson in it, and Casey Affleck it had to be a decent movie, with good acting, at the very least. Wasn't disappointed. If you're an adult, or with an adult perspective, and not expecting some kind of horror/slasher movie, you'll be ready to enjoy it :) *sigh* It helps if you've lost people dear to you, gotta say that.

Like a relative that gives you a bad gift, Soul Survivors has its heart in the right place but trips up with a bad execution. Stephen Carpenter's writing/directing effort borrows freely from other, better films, such as Jacob's Ladder and Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes). For those who haven't seen either of these films, I won't give the premise away; suffice to say it's not nearly as well handled here than in those two superior films.

Melissa Sagemiller stars as Cassie, about to go away to college. Her current boyfriend Sean (Ben Affleck) and ex-boyfriend Matt (Wes Bentley), both friends, and Annabel (acerbic Eliza Dushku) are in a car accident after being pursued by two killers (?) in transparent masks. She survives the wreck, but while attending college has visions of the hospital ordeal and dead people reappear and disappear, leaving her in a state of total confusion: who is dead? Who's alive? What's real?

Soul Survivors has the look of a bad been-there, done-that, gore-filled, blood-splattered, body-stacking teen exploitation flick. True, it has its share of killer-stalking-the-victim scenes (plentiful, repetitive, and mind-numbing), but at least it attempts to build suspense through ideas rather than cliches, unfortunately rather unsuccessfully. It breeds confusion much more often than cohesion, as the story becomes jumbled, messy and incoherent near key points of the mystery (predictable as it is.)

Horror fans who pick up a copy will have no idea they are in for a film that is more concerned with building an uneasy facade of reality than delivering a body count. Credit goes to Carpenter for attempting to create something beyond a derivative teen horror flick; too bad he's created a derivative psychological thriller. Sagemiller also deserves kudos for showing strength in the central performance, actually developing her character and evoking some sense of emotion as the unraveling Cassie. It's great the filmmakers try something different, but the film ends up a mixed bag and failed experiment.

4 out of 10

Soul Survivors reminded me a lot of Jacob's Ladder, but it doesn't have the foreboding mood or the suspense of the latter. A girl gets in a car accident and suffers a brain hemorrhage of sorts, which results in her going through some nightmarish experiences. Is she dead? Is she alive? We don't know until the end, and despite some artistic visual flourishes, Soul Survivors never seems to really take off. It doesn't generate any real suspense or give us any real scares. But it is not a total failure, either. Director Steve Carpenter has given us a film that seems to play the notes of psychological horror, but doesn't quite manage to play its music.

I sure wish this movie was a dream, so I wouldn't have wasted 90 minutes of my life. It is way too confusing for the viewer. And I didn't like how it was edited together. The story, what you could make of it, was way too choppy. I guess part of the problem was I thought this was a scary movie with ghosts or something. But, it is supposed to be more suspenseful than scary. And last, I got to say this had the stupidest scene with 2 girls in the shower. What was the point of that?

FINAL VERDICT: I guess they were trying to make a 6th sense type film, but missed the mark. It'll hurt your head trying to keep up with what is going on since it jumps around so much, so don't waste your time with this one.

This movie is highly UNDERrated....why? It has teen stars and was therefore promoted to a teen audience that was expecting another "Scream" or "I Know What You Did.." movie. This was one of the biggest studio marketing mistakes ever because this movie is WAY TOO DEEP for a teen audience. The symbolism and theology coupled with a complex storyline was geared for adult moviegoers in the fashion of "Memento" or "The Sixth Sense". No, this movie doesn't compare to either of those, but in no way is this movie as bad as the young reviewers will have you believe. Some moron studio exec thought they could make more money by taking the movie down to a PG13 rating and selling it to teenagers. Those teenagers were overwhelmed by this flick and weren't expecting a thoughtful suspense movie, they wanted another "Jason" thrasher gorefest, which this isn't. So they trashed it because they don't GET it. The editing could have been better and the very final scene stinks, but overall this is a well filmed, slightly erotic, captivating film that will make you think. 7 stars out of 10.