Cassie (Melissa Sagemiller) is a college student plagued by the ghost of her dead boyfriend Sean (Casey Affleck), whom she accidentally killed in a car accident. She also continuously hallucinates two guys in masks who keep trying to kill her—and occasionally succeed. Her friends Matt (Wes Bentley) and Annie (Eliza Dushku) don’t believe her, but then again they may also be involved.
The film’s primary scare tactics revolve around the guys in the masks and Cassie’s hallucinations, which become repetitive very quickly. It feels like they’re always chasing her, and she’s constantly waking up from crazy dreams, leaving me not caring what’s actually happening.
The creepiest aspect of the movie for me is Matt, with his intense expression and his obsession with Cassie. They used to date, and he’s wont to say things like, “I just wanna see you in a bathing suit again.” None of the characters is extremely likable, so I spent much of the movie waiting for it to reach its predictable conclusion. Actually, I spent quite a while waiting for a scene I remembered from my first viewing, when Cassie and Annie cover each other with paint and make out in the shower, but I’m either delusional or I watched some kind of director’s cut, because that scene didn’t happen.
I normally enjoy Luke Wilson, but his stint here as a priest doesn’t work for me. Nor does Angela Featherstone as Raven, Annie’s sort-of girlfriend, who’s pretty much useless aside from being an excuse to show girl-girl snogging. Said snogging is the only bright point of the movie for me, as I want to squish everyone’s face.
Normally, a film has some redeeming factor for me, whether it’s an actor I like, a funny or scary moment, or a good quote. But with Soul Survivors, I got nothing. It’s not terribly original. The acting is unimpressive. I guess I can sum up by saying it’s not an utter pile of shit.
