Review of My Soul to Take (2010) by Michael J — 20 Sep 2011

While watching "My Soul to Take," I could not help but think how much the film reminded me of a Wes Craven movie. Familiar touchstones of his films are evident: the resurrected boogeyman out to avenge his death by murdering a town's teenagers (A Nightmare on Elm Street), who, by force of habit, employs cell phones to toy with his victims just prior to slaying them (Scream).

So, I was not terribly startled upon seeing Craven credited as the director following the film's conclusion. Although, it's a stretch to imagine this being one of the movies he shall be remembered for.

Rather it seems to me like a project green-lighted only because of the writer-director's cachet. The story itself is a half-baked idea that movie studios, large and small, have churned out ad nauseam.

Really, seven kids born the same night in small-town USA? Oh, and lest I overlook Craven's "Mean Girls" homage, since one scene inside of the high school ladies' restroom felt like it had been lifted straight from that movie.

These characters are flimsily drawn. Case in point, the several cryptic references to the main character's damaged past, but little in the way of explanation for what he had been involved with that was so scarring.

Then, there is the high school jock / rapist-in-training - hard to elicit sympathy for that guy when he finds his life in peril. Other cliched characters litter the hallways of this high school as well - the rich blonde who every guy in school notices, the nerdy Asian kid not gifted with swift running ability, and the brooding girl who makes a fashion statement wearing only black, and can claim as her own, the none-too-subtle nickname, Fang.

Complete with an unbelievably lazy ending that left me asking, "What was that?," "My Soul to Take" is a colossal mess that all involved will likely wish to have stricken from their filmographies.