My Soul to Take
by Gary Barnidge on October 8th, 2010
If you go into this movie expecting another Wes Craven scare-a-thon then you may feel cheated or a little disappointed but fear not this movie still has its bright spots. It delivers a different kind of horror movie that most wouldn’t expect from Craven. People may say he lost his edge to horror movies but I feel he has just added another aspect to the types of horror films he can make.
My Soul to Take is about the town of Riverton who had a serial killer named the Ripper who, 16 years ago killed his wife and was supposedly killed on the same night that 7 children were born and when the killings start up again they ask themselves is the Ripper back or has his soul passed into one of the 7 kids the night he supposedly died.
Max Thieriot plays Bug who is one of the 7 kids that was born the night of the supposed death of the Ripper. He is one of the few actors that deliver a good performance. He plays a timid and innocent 16 year old that suffers from schizophrenia which he makes into a very believable character with his mannerism as well as the way he changes his movements to the voices he is talking in. Emily Meade plays Fang who truly does the best job of acting in the whole film. She plays a tough girl, and she truly embraces the role and shows true emotion in her scenes whether she is expressing toughness or anger and even caring at one point in the film.
This movie is pointless to see in 3D there is no reason for you to pay the extra money because there is nothing in the film that stands out in 3D or that you really notice throughout the movie. The movie uses a simple template to deliver scares throughout the movie. They use simple mirror tricks and pop ups to deliver a scare, but it also uses the psychological aspect of the multiple personalities to help build fear which is different from most Craven films.
The film does have a lot of typical aspects known in most horro movies such as the type-cast characters from the jock to the pretty girl, the outcast, and the innocent scared kid. One thing the film does which is similar to another Craven movie, (Scream) it makes you think by keeping you guessing on who is doing what and why things are happening, but if your not paying attention then you may get a little lost because it does jump around quite a bit and doesn’t take a lot of time to explain things. The main thing I had a problem with in the movie is the way they portrayed the blind kid named Jerome. They write it as if he isn’t blind for example they are in the woods and all go their own way and no one leaves with Jerome who is BLIND to get home through the woods. Also they have him climb through a window and do some other things that I don’t want to ruin but you will see what I mean.
Wes Craven has done quite a few different types of movies in the recent past such as Red Eye and Cursed which are a lot different from the movies he is known for (Scream, and Nightmare on Elm Street) and this film falls in that category as well. It is a better movie then those past two but it shows the different type of horror that Craven is trying to dig into.
All in all I feel the movie will make you think and keep you guessing but a lot of the acting in the movie doesn’t fare very well with only a few good performances. The film does have a little bit of humor with a pretty funny scene involving a California Condor presentation.
7 out of 10
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