Soul Survivors

Starring: Melissa Sagemiller, Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley, Eliza Dushku, Luke Wilson
Directed by: Steve Carpenter
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
2001

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After an argument, a girl (Melissa Sagemiller) drives into a car that abruptly stopped on the highway. As a result, her boyfriend (Casey Affleck) is killed. Now, as she returns to school and tries to return to normalcy, she begins seeing her boyfriend again, and people start chasing her. She can't figure out if she is losing her mind or if her boyfriend is trying to speak to her from beyond the grave.

Review:

Tim: This is a bad film with a really amazing ending that actually makes the film not too horrible at all. While I didn't so much like the film, I do recommend you take a chance with this, because the ending makes it worth it.

That being said, Soul Survivorsused many of the tired, same-old plot details for the movie. You will witness the old, girl's-boyfriend-dies-and-haunts-her-so-she-can't-do-well-in-school routine; as well as the old hallucinations-are-they-real-or-is-she-crazy bit. I hate that. It is a cheap attempt at horror. The thinking is, "We can show anything, no matter how ridiculous or terrifying and it will all be okay because only she will see it." It's a cheap, lazy way to try to get people scared and it's too bad that this film went that road.

Perhaps the best part of the film is Luke Wilson as a priest. Throughout the whole movie, I kept saying, "Go see the priest!" just because the scenes with Wilson in it weren't as bad as the rest of the film. However, even the storyline with him eventually disappointed me.

The most interesting part of the film is just when you don't think the movie could get any worse, the curtain is pulled up and you understand. The ending is pretty intelligent and shocking. It all makes sense in the end and as much as I hate to admit it, the ending is actually really cool and partially redeems the film. However, I still don't like this movie, for making me sit through such crap just to get to the amazing end. It might be worth seeing once, however.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 4.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: 2001: Legally Blonde, The Four Feathers, Jeepers Creepers, A Nightmare on Elm Street, American Beauty, Bring it On