Rating: Summary: SOUL SURVIVORS Review: Four friends get in a horrible car accident and three of of them survive, and one doesn't. Then Cassie, the main character, begins seeing the dead friend, well her boyfriend, around campus and around town, and she begins having strange visions. But her dead boyfriend is the one who is drawing her closer to the light and closer to the truth, it is the two other friends that draw her further away and closer to the dark side.This film is just incredible! It is scary, very suspenceful and the ending is just purely shocking! All the cast gives great performances, especially Melissa Sagemiller as Cassie and Eliza (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Bring It On) Dushku as best friend Annabel. Other cast members include Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley, Luke Wilson and Angela Featherstone. This is definitly a horror film you can watch over and over again and find something new, and it will always entertain you! Overall: A great horror film with a purely shocking climax! Grade: A+
Rating: Summary: Finally...a break from teen slash-and-gash Review: First of all, I'd love to know what it was that Artisan Entertainment edited out of the movie to pare it down from an R to a PG-13. I first saw the trailer attached to last summer's Bring It On and...really, almost a whole year they spent toiling with this project. Well, hopefully they'll put all deleted scenes on DVD. Anyway, the story goes that Cassie (Melissa Sagemiller) is involved in a horrific car accident one rainy and stormy night shortly after her move to college. Her boyfriend Sean (Casey Affleck) is killed, but her best friend Annabel (Eliza Dushku) and Annabel's boyfriend Matt (Wes Bentley), survive with Cassie. Matt goes back to Harvard after Sean's funeral and Annabel's behavior becomes increasingly strange, especially after she hooks up with The Raver (Angela Featherstone), who may or may not have been involved in the accident. Cassie is feeling the pain of losing Sean which is alleviated somewhat through her gradual friendship with Father Jude (Luke Wilson), a local priest, when she begins to see Sean and several other strange figures around every dark corner. Cassie must finally wage a battle to confront her own demons at being involved in the car wreck and must try to catch her sanity. Overall, I thought the movie was good. Not great but good. I also agree with the fact that the movie seemed pretty sloppily-edited; scenes begin and end with no resolution and the movie just ends. I also didn't buy the twist at the end. The director, Steve Carpenter, had a good idea but it got lost somewhere along the way. Thankfully, there's none of the dreaded "boo" moments in the movie and they do make use of some nice imagery. The movie is largely anchored by Melissa Sagemiller's good performance, which makes it two movies Sagemiller has now singlehandedly elevated this year: this one and the otherwise awful Get Over It. Here's to hoping that she has a long and prosperous career. Casey Affleck also deserves center stage once in awhile like his big bro so it's nice to see him playing a (sort-of) lead. Eliza Dushku, Wes Bentley and Angela Featherstone are little more than extras, and does anyone know if Featherstone was supposed to be a man or a woman? Luke Wilson for once didn't get on my nerves, which is good, as he's a good actor when he wants to be. My advice is to see this movie, which is pure escapist entertainment, and don't try to figure out the ending. Also loved the score by Daniel Licht!
Rating: Summary: The title of the movie explains it. Review: First, I want to say that I gave it 4 stars, because it was a little confusing. The ending was confusing, but it was a good ending. Some scenes were disturbing, but not so that you can't even look at the movie. It was a really thought out movie, it's compared to other movies also, because of the hallucinations involved. It was a good movie, and the soundtrack would probably be cool.
Rating: Summary: It kept me in my seat. Review: Four friends go to a club. While driving home in the rain, they hit another car and go through a guardrail. One of the girls is now having nightmares, and her other surviving friends are real angry with her distance. The story is not that great. The acting is okay, and we do want to know what was edited out to get a PG-13 rating. But it still manages to hold your attention to see what kind of tacky ending it will have--like all other "scary" movies. Really worth three stars; but it kept me guessing--not to mention in my seat since I wanted to walk out so many times--so it gets extra credit.
Rating: Summary: Survival of the Fittest Review: I viewed Soul Survivors with friends on opening night. Despite the lack of press for her, Melissa Sagemiller is the focal point of the movie and is to be commended for that. She is the main character, with Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley and Eliza Dushku in supporting roles. This film is truly focused in on one girl's journey, life, struggle, with the friends (or would-be enemies or strange folks and happenings) all around her. Even with just a supporting role, Eliza Dushku turns in a good performances, in spite of the dialogue she is given to work with. Wes and Casey also turn in good performances, but they as well as Eliza get very little to say or do. The score music was gorgeous, particularly in the first half of the film. When it all comes down to it, the film is escapism - and possibly something that will make you think. This movie has ups and downs like every other feature film, and though I wished there was a more difficult ending (versus an easy way out, so to speak), I was entertained, and I was pleased that it was not just another horror, slasher, twist-your-ankle-and-scream movie. All in all, it depends on what you are seeing the movie for, and how you react to the development, the symbolism and the ending.
Rating: Summary: Um...what? Review: I have to say, Soul Survivors had me going for a while. I was interested, intrigued, and having a pretty good time. Then, about fifteen minutes before the movie ended, I was deluged with a series of nonsensical images and moments, strung together in a line of hyper-editing, with a plot twist that I still don't understand. I was left wondering what the movie was all about as the lights came on and the credits rolled. The movie is not your generic teen fright-fest slasher film. There aren't too many "boo!" kinds of moments throughout. The acting is fine, but the characters weren't really given much to do and so much of the film comes across and flat. Not bad, really...just flat. I literally have no idea what the movie was striving for, and it lacks an identity. Wes Bentley (from American Beauty) shows that he can be in a bad movie and still be a good actor. The other thing that is so odd about the film is that it seems to have been cut and edited by a fool. Scenes just end without resolution, the story speeds up and then stops dead in it's tracks, and, worst of all, there is a moment in the movie where the f-word is edited out of the audio, but the character still mouths it. It's messy film making, and needlessly unpolished. Now, after all of my ranting, I'm sure you would assume that I would give this movie no stars. I'm not going to do that because I did enjoy big portions of the movie. The end of the film is just so bad that I can't, in good faith, give it more than two stars. I'm glad I saw it, but I'm really disappointed.
Rating: Summary: The Best Movie I Saw This Summer! Review: This movie is the best I saw the whole summer! The story is about a girl named Cassie(Melissa Sagemiller)who just lost her boyfriend Sean(Casey Afflect)in a terrible car accident, Cassie and her best friends Annabel(Eliza Dushku)and Matt(Wes Bently) survived the crash. After Sean's death Cassie experiences supernatural moments, she also has a stalker who seems to want Cassie REAL BAD.Then Cassie learns the shocking truth about the car accident. The only thing wrong is at the end was a little confussing, but not much. Oh yea, if your thinking this is a slasher film, it's not.
Rating: Summary: EXCUSE ME? Review: THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HORROR MOVIES? I don't think so! There is no gore, no tension, no scares, no NOTHING! The plot is stupid and boring, there is a twist ending that doesn't really fit in with the rest of the movie and doesn't explain everything that happened throughout(it explains some things like the scenes that involved the boyfriend, but not others), the acting was way below average and after the first 30 minutes you feel like you'll pass out if the movie doesn't end soon. Now I know I may seem harsh, but that's the way it is. The movie starts off decently, then we have a big car crash and it just goes downhill from there, we get constant invisible ( and sometimes visible but evaporating ) stalkers that aren't even a part of the plot, the characters fight and get EXTREMELY mad at each other, yet a scene later they're all a buncha happy teens again ( you slept with my boyfriend, so i'm gunna come cheer you on in the swimming competition...WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?). Then we get hallucinations and hints of the urban legend with the girl who was supposedly dead for a long time (when will they stop using this one?). Oh there is one VERY scary thing in the movie...SEEING THAT WEIRDO ...! Raven or something...NOT THAT IS JUST FREAKY. DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE, PLEASE!
Rating: Summary: Soul SUCKERS Review: I am here to warn the world! Beware! I just walked out of a screening for the film 'SOUL SURVIVORS', and I must say that this had to have been the worst film I have seen in a long time. This movie sucked like no other movie has ever sucked before. There have been two films in my lifetime where I have walked out of while giving the screen the bird...'Bats', and this piece of garbage. I cannot fathom how or WHY this would ever get a green light. Have you seen JACOB'S LADDER? OK, now think of JACOB'S LADDER and make it suck...real bad...then replace every actor in JACOB'S LADDER with Keanu Reeves...that's right...ALL of them! Even the girls. And just when you think it can't get any worse, enter Luke Wilson's character. I HATE that guy. Didn't mind him in BOTTLE ROCKET, but hated him in everything I've seen him in since. ACK! Steve Carpenter (the director and writer who should be blamed for this travesty) stole any somewhat half-decent ideas from the movie that did it right the first time around 11 years ago (yes, JACOB'S LADDER). Even after stealing ideas from one of the scariest films of the past 25 years, they still do not achieve a single emotion from anyone (OK, maybe laughter). This is NOT by ANY means a horror film. It is not a thriller. It is not an interesting film...it is a SH**TY film. In fact, this is the first film *marketed as a horror/thriller/slasher* where there is a ZERO*0*ZERO body count...NOBODY DIES! NO ONE! In fact, people come BACK TO LIFE (and no, not in a good zombie-like way)! I know I am giving away spoilers, but I am also assuming that you guys will NEVER waste what precious time you have on this earth watching excrement like this. I would rather shave my scrotum with a rusty cheese grater while tearing out my fingernails. And a note to all you horny Eliza Dushku fans out there, despite what you saw in the trailer, don't get any ideas...NOTHING HAPPENS save for a scene where the 2 leading ladies end up in the shower together (with all of their clothes on). So, I think I've given you my over-all impression of this film. Believe me when I say that I would be more inclined to watch BATS all over again instead of hearing the title of this movie. Now, let's all forget about it and watch JACOB'S LADDER!!!
Rating: Summary: Soul Survivors Review: Soul Survivor is the most confusing film I've ever seen.The cast is great.Eliza Dushku is a does a good job as she does in most everything she plays in.Actually alot of the acting is good.The plot started of well but soon just ended up confusing itself.The dialogue is also confusing.I couldn't find heads or tails on this confusing flick.There was also practically no gore; even though it was only rated PG-13.It was a little better than I had heard but it still only gets a two.By the end of the film you feel just as confused and lost as the main character.Melissa Sagemiller acts like she has no frecking idea what she's doing in this movie.I don't reccomend this flick unless your extremely bored. After surviving a car crash that killed her boyfriend (Casey Affleck), Cassandra (Melissa Sagemiller) finds herself haunted by his ghost. A priest (Luke Wilson) tries to exorcize these frightful visions from Cassandra's mind, but her college friends see her vulnerability as the perfect outlet for their malicious plans. She tries to carry on her life like all the other college freshmen, but it unravels when she begins to believe she is being stalked. Then Cassandra has horrifying hallucinations; during a midterm, she bleeds profusely all over her desk, and the drain in her shower explodes with blood. Gradually, Cassandra understands what is happening to her, but will she be able to survive? "Twenty or more minutes of this movie could put you into coma." -- Dave White, IFILM
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