Sole Survivor (1984)

SS is a daft semi-amateurish horror film from which the makers of the "Final Destination" serial might have "borrowed" the basic premise. Except that FD movies make sense, while this one does not. SS would make sense (at least its premise) if Denise were the only person to be targeted by the freshly undead. But she isn't. In fact, zombies don't even try to kill her during the first few days. Instead, they just stare at her from the distance like a bunch of retards, while cliché horror music "composed" by music amateurs doodles in the background. If only these scenes looked menacing; they don't. And when these pasty-faced zombies finally get down to the business of murder (as we knew they would) they kill Denise's pal Karla first. They got the wrong woman!Or did they? They then slay a taxi-driver and then Denise's new boyfriend as well. Denise snuffs it only a little later. Apparently, these zombies FORGOT whom they were sent out to hunt down, and end up attacking ANYBODY they can get their hands on, not just the "sole survivor" Denise – who is the only victim it would make sense that they pursue. Dumber yet, these zombies WAIT a few days before they start their killing spree. (The notion that zombies may have poor memory – perhaps even extremely advanced Alzheimer's – makes sense, in a way, considering their low IQs, so perhaps I'm being a little harsh.)Absolutely nothing makes sense in the 2nd half. Are we to deduce that the plane crash started off a zombie apocalypse? There was no mysterious gas involved, nor did the airplane crash into a nuclear reactor or anything like that; it was just a bloody plane crash, one of many. So what made THIS plane crash so special that it started off what seems like the early stages of a "Dawn of the Dead"-type scenario? How the hell does a movie with an obvious ghosts-gotta-collect-her-sole-coz-she-shouldn't-be-alive shtick become a random-killing zombie-dawn flick? (BTW, for all of you who think the premise was original, consider the fact that it is stolen from "The Twilight Zone" episode "The Hitchhiker" AND the movie "Carnival of Souls".) Whoever wrote this nonsense was just as confused as the guy who cast Anita Skinner to play the lead: no boobs, no womanly hips, and a fairly mediocre face. In fact, during the opening bus scene, from the distance I thought she was a man. No joke.Speaking of which, the opening scene serves as a SPOILER. I've never understood movies that start off with one of its last scenes. I'm against it because if I wanted to watch a trailer I would have done so before pressing "play" for this piece of crap. I don't want to know anything in advance. I mean, horror flicks of this kind are dull enough as it is, without having the handful of its flimsy plot-twists given away early on. Duh.There is a particularly baffling segment around the mid-section when Denise's neighbor is playing strip-poker: one dweeb and three women, to be exact. Is this even possible? How does a DWEEB convince three young women to play strip poker? I mean, what is in it for THEM? To see him naked? But wait; things get even dumber pretty soon. Her neighbor Karla gets drowned – for zero reason – by one of the zombies that have been stalking Survivor Girl Denise for days. So why would they kill her friend instead of her? But I repeat myself.Back to the strip-poker: the woman with the small boobs gets naked – instead of Karla who seems to be very well endowed. The director must be a boy-lover because all 4 boobs that he shows in SS are small.

Denise Watson (Anita Skinner) is a TV reporter who's the lone survivor of an airplane crash, thing is she wasn't supposed to. Now with dead people after her and cryptic warnings from her actress friend (whom happens to be a psychic), she's getting more and more unsettled. I enjoyed this little film, it's slow-moving and low key, but at the same time has an effectively unnerving atmosphere and pretty cool ending.Eye Candy: Scream queen Brinke Stevens gets topless and Anita Skinner shows her left boob briefly My Grade: B- Deep red DVD Extras: An intro by producer/actress Caren Larkey; Commentary with Larkey, executive producer Sal Romeo, film historian Jeff McKay, and director Jeff Burr; 8 & a half minute Interview with Larkey and Romeo; theatrical trailer; and trailers for "the Unseen", "the Farmer", "the Dead pit", "the Silent Scream", & "Human experiments"

I've been after Sole Survivor for a while now and thanks to ebay, finally own a copy. I was a little disappointed, but still found it very creepy despite the slow pace. The film does a great job of expressing the idea of death stopping at nothing to claim its intended victim. If you liked the plot behind Final Destination, but want to see a more subtle and well made film, Sole Survivor is for you. That's exactly what I wanted, and in a way that's what I got. It's just a shame that Sole Survivor is so slow moving in parts and doesn't pack as much of a punch as it could have. There are some genuinely creepy moments such as the clock with the moving eyes, but overall I think they could have been used more effectively. Some have praised the film for using little gore, however I think that if some of the deaths had been more brutal it would have injected some much needed energy into the film. The ending is excellent and it's at this point that Sole Survivor seems to redeem itself for the slow pace. Overall, this is a horror/thriller for those able to tolerate a slower pace and a little use of your brain. If you're after a mindless slasher or a gory bloodbath, this is not for you.

I haven't seen this movie in almost 20 years, but I remember being really freaked out by it. It was pretty creepy. I must see it again. I will find it and watch it!!If you like movies that deal with supernatural topics, this is a decent one to watch. If you fly a lot, this is a scary one to watch. Basically this one woman is the sole survivor of a plane crash and death and the dead (not the Grateful) are trying to let her know she should have died. It's amazing to everyone that hears about it or knows her that she lived, it's a big deal and how they portray the attempts to inform her of what should have been her death are pretty cool for a movie made pre computers and super duper special effects.