Solstice

I'm very surprised that it's NOT mentioned that Solstice is a remake of "Midsommer"(a Norwegian/Swedish, horror/drama/thriller, from 2003) I've seen both movies and the plot is almost identical. Of course the details is somewhat different, but overall, it is most definitely the same story. The Norwegian/Swedish story (being the original), IS better (also it made the theaters). Solstice offered no surprises and parts of the story was really to convenient (thinking specially of one of the characters, if you see the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about). If you haven't seen "Midsommer", then I recommend you to see it first (if you can) before "Solstice".

After the death of her twin sister Sophie, Megan heads of for a few days with her friends. However, on arrival at the family cottage, Megan begins to experience visions and dreams. Is her sister trying to reach out to her from the dead, or is it something else....?

Directed by Daniel Myrick, who co-directed The Blair Witch Project, Solstice has many things going for it. The cast are pretty good, with special mention to Elisabeth Harnois, as Sophie/Megan. On screen pretty much the whole film, meaning the film stands or falls on her being convincing, and she is very good indeed.

The setting does give the film a nice atmosphere, and the story has enough of a mystery about it to keep you interested until the end.

But as a film that is supposed to be a horror film, Solstice fails. Yes the setting is atmospheric, but none of the so-called scare scenes work at all. Myrick, who has made scarier films, doesn't pull of the scares here at all. In fact, I think the film would have been better as a mystery-type film, dropping the horror elements completely.

Despite this though, I did enjoy it, and while it will never be remembered as a classic or highly regarded, I was never bored at any point and found it to be an enjoyable film.

Okay, so this movie went straight to DVD, which would have many people assuming that it can't be all that great, and while it wasn't the best horror movie I've ever seen it wasn't bad at all. Despite what I've read, it had really good pacing with a number of creepy scenes spread out in the movie enough to keep one interested and slightly creeped out. The acting really helps too and you can see all the inner conflicts of the two main characters as they struggle to come to terms with what they're dealing with. The only thing I didn't like was the way the climax of the movie ended. The rest of the climax is great, but the resolution...not what I would have done. All in all, this movie was worth watching and I'm glad I saw it.

After watching this, I kind of agonized whether to come here and write a review. I really had high hopes for this one, primarily because I usually really like Supernatural tales or Ghost Stories that are done well, but sadly this one left me a little bit flat (kind of like Chaz Bono)

The tricky thing about this movie is that technically it is rather good. The photography and look of the film lend well to the overall mood and atmosphere of the story. It's just that to me personally, in my lowly and wretched opinion, there was just something substantial missing that might have made this film better. Even the acting, which normally can be quite abysmal in these low-budget 'Teen' Horror films, was decent enough with what they had to work with. I don't know... I almost want to say that I got a slightly shallow 'MTV' type of vibe from it, especially with the sound design, but I'm not sure that was quite it...

I will say that there were 2 VERY brief moments that I really liked in the film. Without giving anything away, I liked the part where the dog was chasing her into the woods and what happened. Also, and this was like ONE minute only... I liked the old-fashioned / religious sounding choral voices in the soundtrack when they were sitting outside and the main girl got up and left the group and approached the barn-like structure (I also liked the lighting effect that went along with that)

I'm thinking that probably the reason they went back and released this older film is because now Amanda Seyfried has become much more famous. I was quite surprised that it was made in 2008! She, was not particularly outstanding in her role, but she was okay. Actually, I felt that the main girl did a much better job (granted, she had a LOT more to do) She kept reminding me of someone (I don't think I have seen her either before or since) It wasn't just her looks, but her expressions and manner. I THINK who she was reminding me of was a younger version of Lisa Kudrow, sort of... Heh, not really relevant I guess, but still it kind of nagged at me while I was watching the film...

Anyway, I usually really LOVE a good Cajun / Haitian Voodoo flavoured film. As a matter of fact I just saw the recent 'JESSEBELLE' and really liked it. I think, overall, that film was a better example of creating a more creepy and suspenseful mood and ultimately being more effective than this one. In reading some of the other reviews here, it appears that many people DID indeed find the movie satisfying enough. Most of the reviews and the current ratings seem to land between '5' and '6', which sounds about right to me (I gave it a '5' because it just seemed to fall a bit short in a few areas)

As far as whether to recommend this to others as a 'Good' film, that would have to be based I guess on how demanding you are with these types of movies. Definitely, if you don't really go for Supernatural or Ghost Stories that much, then for sure give this one a pass... But, if you do like those types of films and if you are not expecting TOO much, then you might enjoy this one somewhat. But honestly, I personally just found it a bit weak. And I really do think that there are similar but much better films than this out there...

Six months after the suicide of her twin sister Sofie (Elisabeth Harnois), Megan (Elisabeth Harnois) still grieves her death and misses her beloved sister. In the Saint John's Eve, Megan travels with her friends Christian (Shawn Ashmore), Zoe (Amanda Seyfried), Mark (Matt O'Leary) and Alicia (Hilarie Burton) to her family's house in Nowell Lake, Louisiana, to celebrate the summer solstice. While shopping supplies in a local store, Megan befriends the seller Nick (Tyler Hoechlin) and buys a magazine with an article about communication with the dead in the summer solstice, the time of year when there is the greatest length of daylight. While in her house, Megan is haunted by a spirit that she believes is Sofie trying to communicate with her. In her investigation, she suspects of the weird hick Leonard (R. Lee Ermey) and while snooping in his house, she finds the picture of the missing girl Malin (Jenna Hildebrand) and unravels a dark secret about the suicide of her sister.

The low-budget "Solstice" was a great surprise with a consistent story, solid screenplay and good acting. The original story startles in many moments without gore, and the young team of gorgeous actresses and handsome actors has great performances. I was expecting to see another slasher teen horror movie and found a pleasant surprise. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available