Dead Souls (2012)

Johnny Petrie, a young man who's just turned 18, learns that he has inherited a farm house in a small rural town in Maine. Johnny travels to Maine (against his mother's wishes) to tie up a deal with a realtor that will allow the property to be sold off, but when he arrives, he decides to stay at the house and look into why he was left the property and why it's been deserted for so long. As the day turns into night, Johnny starts to witness strange happenings around the house, and before long, he learns of the horror that went on there 18 years prior.Dead Souls has got to be one of the most boring movies I've seen for a good while which is a pity because it comes across as being a really decent supernatural horror. Nothing could be further from the truth, however, as the film just ambles along without any real direction, going about as slow as a snail in treacle.The story itself isn't that bad, even if it is unoriginal, but it's the execution of it that makes it a lot less interesting that it could have been. The whole movie just lacked atmosphere, lacked any real tension, was not scary or creepy, and was pretty poorly acted in some scenes. If it had a better ending then it might have been saved, but even that ended up being a damp squib.As for the characters, well, they were pretty much your run-of-the-mill annoyances, especially Emma who went around acting like the whole world owed her a favour or three. Actually I don't know what was more annoying...Emma's attitude when she's caught in a house that's not even hers, or Johnny for just blindly accepting her attitude and acting like it's him that's in the wrong.The only real decent part of this movie were some of the special effects that were used, but that's obviously not enough to save this guff.I'd only suggest watching this film if you're suffering from bouts of insomnia, otherwise it's best left well alone.

I really did honestly try to like this film. I normally do like small little low budget Indie Horror films, I really do. And, I think the premise was just fine. But, sadly, the script just ultimately took it down, I'm afraid. I don't think that the idea was developed very well; and I didn't feel that the direction was all that hot. The movie wasn't HORRIBLE by any means; there was some good camera work and a few suspenseful scenes, but all in all in my lowly and wretched opinion, I just didn't feel that it came together very well.Now, if you handed a film like this to a director like Ti West, for example, I think someone with his talent could have shaped and improved it substantially. There is nothing specifically awful about the film; some of the performances aren't really that great, but I do think the key with this one would have been having at LEAST a far more talented director who would have seen the weaknesses in the script and corrected them in addition to directing it in a tighter, more effective way.Now, let's get to the GOOD part...EMMA!!! I know, I know, I'm just being a perv guy here, BUT something about her... I thought that she was quite lovely... (sigh) Anyway, sorry... it is not very often that one of the Hollywood ladies catches my attention to this extent, but THIS one sure did!Anyway, my humble apologies, back to the film...So, I can't in all honestly really recommend it; it's just not that great. I was truly hoping for a much better film...

Johnny Petrie (a solid and likable performance by Jesse James) learns on his 18th birthday that he was adopted after he inherits a rundown farm in Maine. Eager to start life afresh, Johnny leaves home to start over in this "new" dwelling. However, Johnny soon discovers that the house, which was been abandoned for 18 years, harbors a horrifying history about the deaths of his natural family. Director Colin Theys, working from a compact and compelling story by John Doolan, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, makes the most out of the decrepit farmhouse location, delivers a few cool bits of grisly gore, and maintains a pleasingly spooky atmosphere throughout. The sound acting by the able cast helps a lot: Magda Apanowicz as sassy, but enigmatic squatter Emma, Geraldine Hughes as Jesse's stern and overbearing mother Mary, Noah Fleiss as pesky local bully Mack, and Jaiden Kane as smooth real estate agent Andrew Judson. Moreover, it's nice to see Bill Moseley in a welcome and refreshing change of pace good guy role as the helpful Sheriff Depford. Adrian Correia's slick and dynamic cinematography gives the picture a pleasing polished look. The shivery score by Jonathan Bartz and Matthew Llewellynn hits the spine-tingling spot. A worthwhile fright feature.

Arriving at his old family farmhouse in the country after inheriting the property, a man learns of his hidden past as the only escapee of a blood sacrifice to a powerful demon and must try to get away before the lingering spirits finish the ritual.Overall this one was a disappointedly disjointed effort as this suffers from too many problems. Among the most notable of the films' glaring problems to be displayed here is the ever-irritating ploy of several characters here maintaining a secret that, once revealed, ends the nightmare early on before anything terrible can come to pass. As everyone in town that interacts with the couple seems to know the truth about the original incident except for the lead, the decision to beat around and hide it from him rather than revealing the truth and letting it play out naturally so all the stuff they feared came true since they never got warned. Instead of the film generating any kind of suspense over the budding imposition over what happened, it all comes undone by them hiding it and wondering why he never listened to them in the first place. As well, this toys with the pacing here as the extended amount of time this spends hiding away the truth causes the beginning of this to become extremely slow-going and rarely gets any kind of energy going along, consisting of his stumbling around the house and not doing anything to discover the curse so it takes a while to get going. These two issues here really slow the film down but there's a ton of potential to be had here to make this rather enjoyable. One thing it does get right is the appropriate air of menace present at the house, which is suitably in disuse and riddled with dirt, dust, cobwebs and an aura of creepiness that only comes about through the years of inactivity. It definitely creates an impression of unease and dread as it goes along unraveling the curse, especially when the creepily closing door, demonic whispering and shadows passing by on the walls into the story that it creates even more of a creepy feeling. The story here, involving a series of spells needed for resurrection and family curses is also rather enjoyable once it finally gets revealed as there's some pretty chilling supernatural work at play. Still, the fact that the barnyard finale with the reanimated bodies being possessed, chasing around the house and barn while focusing on finishing the resurrection ceremony is fun and gets some nice gore in here, but unfortunately can't overcome the damaging flaws.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.