Movie Review - 'My Soul to Take'

My Soul to Take Starring Max Thieriot and John Magaro Directed by Wes Craven Rated R

In the beginning of My Soul to Take, the Riverton Seven - the seven 16-year-olds who were born in town the same day a serial killer was shot by police and presumed dead - perform their annual ritual at the site where the "Riverton Ripper" was gunned down. The ritual is a symbolic one that involves one of the seven protecting the others by shoving down someone dressed as the Ripper, which according to local legend keeps the serial killer from coming out of the river and murdering them all one by one. Most of the seven don't actually put much stock in this legend, but it's something they've always done, so they go through the motions anyway because it's what's expected of them.

It seems like writer/director Wes Craven actually had a similar disposition when making My Soul to Take. In the month of October, people look for scary movies to take dates to as they gear up for Halloween. We expect Wes Craven to come through for us with a scary movie - it's what he's made a career doing - but this time around, it seems like Craven is simply going through the motions.

The plot is convoluted, but essentially the Riverton Ripper was actually a man named Abel, a schizophrenic with multiple personality disorder (yes, he is both schizophrenic and suffering from dissociative identity disorder - it's a horror movie, let it go). Abel had a wife, a daughter and another baby on the way and, due to his condition, he was completely unaware that he was the Ripper. He actually attempts to turn himself in when he discovers the truth, but the Ripper personality takes over.

A Haitian police officer explains that in her culture, those with multiple personality disorder are actually believed to have multiple souls trapped inside them. The theory goes that the seven children born on the day the Ripper was killed are actually the seven souls/personalities trapped inside of Abel, who all got free when he was killed.

On the Riverton Seven's sixteenth birthday, they are down at the river performing their annual ritual when the cops show up to break things up. The seven must disperse before their ritual is complete, so the Ripper is now free to exact his revenge. He wastes no time, killing one of them on the bridge that very night.

As the story progresses, the characters decide that only one of two explanations is possible for the reemergence of the Riverton Ripper. Either the Ripper really did survive somehow and is now on a second killing spree or his soul, like the others trapped inside of Abel, actually traveled inside one of the seven teenagers at birth and that teen is the one responsible for the killings.

Unfortunately, the payoff to this mystery isn't terribly exciting. Neither are any of the actual attacks by the Ripper. You expect Wes Craven to at least have the horror scenes down, but watching the Ripper on the attack was actually incredibly boring. He kills his victims by simply stabbing them, which is mundane by horror standards and isn't terribly exciting to watch. Making matter worse, Craven in no way takes advantage of the 3D format, so paying the extra money and watching the whole film with special glasses on seems pointless. He does at least light the film well enough that you can still see what's going on most of the time, which can be a concern with horror films, since they tend to be shot in low light to being with and the 3D conversion process significantly darkens a film.

The movie's best moments actually have very little to do with the Ripper and his quest for revenge. The best scene in the film is actually a presentation that two of the seven - Bug (Max Thieriot) and Alex (John Magaro) give to their classmates about the California Condor. Bug passionately talks about the Condor, which lives on carrion and has a unique way of fending off predators, while Alex dons a full Condor costume and maneuvers around the room acting out Bug's descriptions. It's a highly enjoyable scene to watch unfold.

The other enjoyable moments are the ones spent exploring the school's unique hierarchy. The entire student body lives in fear of Fang (Emily Meade), a 19-year-old student who runs the school like it's the mafia. She has a loyal group of underlings who follow her around and do her bidding, which includes things like selling test answers for cash. If anyone crosses her, Fang sends her enforcer out to give them a beat down. (Amusingly, she uses a scale from one to 20 to tell her enforcer how much pain to inflict - saying things like, "Give him an eight.") I actually found myself wishing the film had devoted more time to Fang and her high school mob - I would have preferred watching that story than the one we ended up with.

If you are looking for a horror film to take a date to as you gear up for Halloween, there are probably worse choices you could make than My Soul to Take. But go in with low expectations and expect to forget most of the film by the time you reach the parking lot. Honestly though, you'd be better off avoiding the ridiculous 3D ticket prices and simply renting a few of Craven's older horror films on Netflix or Red Box.

Comments

[The R]

What High School in Connecticut was used in this film, was it Westhill High School in Stamford Connecticut?