Soul to Keep

My wife, daughter and I watched it on Netflix tonight. It wasn't Oscar worthy or anything, but it wasn't that bad either. Kept us entertained and that is what movies are for. I thought the young cast did ok with the material.

Soul to keep is a fun, Friday night horror movie that doesn't overdo it on the gore or violence but is still able to create lasting scares that are just as terrifying as they are entertaining. After reuniting at their late grandfather's country home, intent on having a weekend full of drug-induced partying, a group of friends quickly find themselves delving into the world of the paranormal as their weekend getaway makes a decisive b-line to...hell. While, its premise may ring bells of Evil Dead, Soul To keep adds several interesting plot twists along the way that keep the viewer locked-in and help to separate the film from others in its genre. It also made the whole movie pretty unpredictable which is fun (also the I definitely didn't see the ending coming). Soul to Keep also adds another interesting element to its film with the inclusion of a deaf actress, Sandra Mae Frank (Tara). However, because the rest of the members of the group are able to sign flawlessly, this element of the film feels like something that happened naturally long ago in order to incorporate their female friend in on the fun; it feels far from gimmicky and very wholesome. All in all, an entertaining horror movie that's worth the watch!

The film looked promising in the first 30 minutes but quickly became just another teen horror. The acting is ok, nothing great but not horrible. The premise was decent but toward the end it fell apart. The ending is predictable. All in all its worth one watch and that's about it.

This is thoroughly revolting trash. Sick-making violence designed to outrage, only highlights the dependence on schoolboy gross-out tactics. Worst acting by humans that I've seen in ages. They need to get day jobs and keep them. The film is not for anyone with an IQ above 37.

This wasn't as horrible as some reviewers make it out to be - but it's a sign of the times (at least with some) that if you disagreee with them, you must be "fake." Well, I'm not "fake" and I disagree with those who thought this was horrible. Oh, don't get me wrong. It's no masterpiece - but I wasn't expecting it to be. It's about a group of young adults who've been friends since childhood who go off to an out of the way property for a weekend away. While there, they end up conjuring up a demon. So - really - set your expectations according to that plot.

I thought it was reasonably suspenseful and on a handful of occasions even rose to the level of frightening. The cast - similar to the movie as a whole - while not being great weren't as bad as some are making them out to be. Yes, there are several plot inconsistencies. Surely the presence of the triangle in the basement (with something apparently still fresh and rotting within it) should have raised questions in their minds about what was going on? That one really did stick with me and where it came from never was really explained. But again - set your expectations accordingly. Don't expect to be blown away by special effects or astonished by a spectacular and airtight story. Just look at it as a piece of low budget entertainment and you can appreciate this.

Now - confession time. I watched this basically because I became a fan of Sandra Mae Frank from watching her on "New Amsterdam" for the last couple of seasons of its run, and this was the only other piece of work of hers that I could find that was easily accessible. She didn't disappoint as Tara. I find her work as a deaf actress fascinating and quite convincing. That probably made me rate this a little higher than I otherwise would have. Still, I found it an enjoyable enough escape for 90 minutes. (6/10)