Sole Survivor

As with other movies that deal with the blurry line between life and death, "Sole Survivor" often lacks cohesion in plot and logic. But the weight of its atmospheric shocks and well-paced suspense is effective–it's a movie that places its concentration on waking-nightmare horror rather than gore. A woman is the lone survivor of an airplane crash, predicted by a washed-up TV actress with psychic tendencies; complications arise when the recently-dead start popping up in the woman's everyday life. Eerie chiller with strong atmosphere and a moody pace draws favorable comparisons to "Carnival of Souls" and "Dead & Buried." Recommended for adventurous viewers with a taste for the offbeat.

"Sole Survivor" is a horror movie which opens with a palpable sense of dread and some effective moments but squanders them all in a final act which reveals it has no idea what to do with the points it's earnt.

The plot is about a plain looking woman who is the titular "sole survivor" of an airplane crash. She appears to suffer hallucinations of those who died in the crash following her around.

But are they hallucinations or are they... REAL?! You probably won't care. I know I didn't.

The spectres of the deceased, who look like extras wandered over from whatever zombie movie George Romero was shooting that year, are at first spooky but soon become boring since they mostly just stand there. The movie doesn't really develop the idea it starts with, until a rushed conclusion at the end which is entirely unsatisfying.

It was an independent endeavor lead by Don Barkemeyer, Caren L. Larkey among others producers that have a good reputation on rental VHS on domestic marketplace and overseas as well, sadly the newbies producers sold it almost by the real cost around 300 thousand dollars plus profits raised later, sad mistake such alleged profits were spent in a creative accountancy misleading the own filmmakers for good, on DVD's release they didn't win a dime for it, an absolute crying shame.

The story is rather compelling if the viewers be aware on low budge production and the unknown casting for instance, in other hand it has a kind of uniqueness on the narrative aside some usual and trivial mismatches over this thematic horror offering also many free-of-charge nude sequences as usually in this genre addressed for teenager audience, let it see easily!!

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First watch: 2025 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.5.

This film was very nicely done despite it's budget. The director thoroughly developed each scene so that you knew exactly what was going on.

I use to watch this film along side of the classic "Carnival Of Souls" with Candice Hillagoss. The difference between the two was that in carnival the lead character was half dead, but in this film the dead were hell bent making the lead character very dead.

Cudos to Leon in his prelude role to Madonna's "Like A Prayer" video. You really don't know who he is until he opens his mouth. This is where you hear him sounding like his "5 Heartbeats" character JT.

This is a must see for all true horror fans, and those who still enjoy the late Saturday night "fright night" features.

8 out of 10 hands down.

Writer / director / editor Thom Eberhardts' feature directing debut is a nicely realized, grim and spooky little shocker worth viewing for horror aficionados hoping to find good lesser known films from decades past. It's got plenty of atmosphere, a never ending feeling of uneasiness, a good spin on "living dead" cinema, and its themes and ideas are interesting. As genre junkies will realize, it's similar in some ways to the more famous "Final Destination", which came along 17 years *later*. Eberhardts' script is often witty and offers good roles to a capable cast.

Star Anita Skinner is impressive enough in the role of plane crash survivor Denise Watson that one may wish we'd seen more of her in films over the years. She displays just the right amount of vulnerability and confusion. Denise was the *only* survivor of this crash, and she tries to resume her normal life, but weird things begin happening. Unspeaking, creepy strangers start to appear to her and she wonders what it all could mean.

Also in the cast are handsome Kurt Johnson as a kindly doctor, Robin Davidson as Denise's spunky neighbour, Caren Larkey as a washed up actress with unwanted psychic abilities, and William Snare as a frustrated coroner. Be on the lookout for foxy B movie actress Brinke Stevens as a player in a strip poker game who takes off her top and Leon (Robinson) as a gang leader.

David F. Anthony composed the eerie music and cinematographer Russell Carpenter, who went on to really big things such as "True Lies" and "Titanic", does a really good job in helping to set the mood.

The movie also educates us some on the subject of "survivor syndrome", wherein people who live through catastrophic accidents expire themselves within 24 months, possibly through a sense of guilt and feeling of unworthiness.

All in all, "Sole Survivor" is one of those films that deserves a wider audience. It's too good to remain obscure.

Eight out of 10.