Soul Survivors (2001)

Load of rubbish!!

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

***SPOILERS*** Much like the 1962 horror classic "Carnival of Souls" the film "Soul Survivor" has to do with young Cassie, Melissa Sagemiller, who survived a car accident where her boyfriend Sean, Casey Affleck, died from severe brain trauma. It's later that Sean pops up alive and well at the gazebo that the two lover used to hang out in telling the shocked Cassie that he's quite all right, in the world beyond, and for her to go on with her life. What makes things difficult for Cassie is that these two weirdos who she met at a Halloween party before the accident show up as well making her life, or what's left of it, a living hell.Looking for help Cassie gets in touch with Father Jude played by Luke Wilson, The lovable Golden Gate Bridge toll collector in "You Kill Me", who tries to set her straight by telling her to just roll with the punches and let nature take its course or else she'll end up in a loony bin. What Father Jude keeps from Cassie***MAJOR SPOILER*** is that he's in the same place that she mow finds herself in. Cassie goes in and out of reality throughout the entire movie until the final few minutes where she finally finds out the truth about what she's been going through and in that finally finds peace for both her body & mind.What's considered by its star Casey Afflect the worst movie he ever was in "Soul Survivor" never quite makes any sense in its confusing story line as well as it having absolutely no shocks or trills at all in it. The film even falls flat in its T&A department with what was to be the big sex scene in it with Cassie and her girlfriend Annabel, Eliza Dushku, taking a shower together but not in the nude but fully clothed in their skimpy like bathing suites! We also get to see that man hungry Annabel leave her cheating boyfriend Matt, Wes Bently, who's having it on with what looks like a comatose Cassie and become a switch hitter-From both sides of the bed- and take a swing or roll in the hey with her lesbian lover Raven, Angela Featherstone, who's one of the survivors of the car accident she was in.

I had never heard of this movie. Just happened upon it and decided to take a chance and buy it. i was very surprised how good this movie was. the rating on here are very poor but you really have to follow this movie and you have to think about it. it is not a stupid teenage movie with blood and guts - so maybe that is why most people here did not like it. it is a very deep movie, you have to stay with it but as the story goes on, you start to realize there is allot more to it. i was very moved by the acting, i thought the acting was very good, the special effects were pretty good - they could have been better but overall the movies was great. i loved it. i love movies that make you think and this was one of them. i also thought that Melissa Sagemiller was beautiful, her character was sweet and innocent but at the same time, she portrays an inner strength. i loved the ending - i won't tell you in the review, you will have to see it yourself. Overall - it is well worth your time if you love movies that make you think and love the supernatural. I gave it an 8.0 overall.

I only put a spoiler rating on this review because I will compare it to a movie that may give away the ending for you. I'm not going to tell you what happens. I had heard that this movie was awful. Then I saw the poor rating from IMDb. We were at the store and found this movie in a multi-pack with Frailty (awesome horror movie) and Saw. We decided to watch it and this is what we felt about the movie.Pros: 1. The movie, unlike most teen horror movies, actually required attention and thinking. It had a deep plot. 2. It's one of those movies that draws you in as you try to figure out what is going on. 3. It's not the same old slasher movie of that era. It didn't copy Scream or Urban Legend. Cons: 1. It's practically a rip-off of the classic horror flick "Jacob's Ladder". It basically takes the same plot, waters it down, and then adds college students to it. 2. With the exception of the heroin of the story, most of the characters are very poorly written. I love Eliza Dushku, but her character was insanely far from reality and very poorly written. She did what she could do with the script. 3. The setting was so off. The main character comes from a middle class home yet has an absolutely awesome apartment at a large university that never seems to have more than ten students walking around at a time. The club they went to was so far over the top that I thought this was seriously going to be a vampire movie. 4. After about half an hour, you already know what's happening. It's just trying to figure out who's good and who isn't, that's somewhat difficult. But you figure it out quickly, unless you're brain dead.In conclusion, don't watch this movie unless you're very bored. It may not have been awful, but there are plenty of other good movies out there to watch instead.

Starring in some of the earliest roles, Eliza Dushku, Wes Bentley, Luke Wilson, and Casey Affleck appear in this 'Carnival of Souls'-wannabe, 'Soul Survivors'. . .The story focuses on four friends on a road trip to their individual colleges. Along the way, they stop off at a wild rave that is obviously (well, obvious to everyone but our four stars) of some pagan variety (though no one had a problem getting a pagan symbol seared into their hand to enter). After leaving the rave, main girl Cassie (Melissa Sagemiller) decides the best move is to make out with her ex-boyfriend Matt (Bentley) right in front of her current boyfriend Sean (Affleck) five minutes after Sean confessed his love for her. On the road in the pouring rain, Sean and Cassie argue (as expected) about what just went down. This distracts Cassie from the road and causes a serious car wreck which plummets them over a cliff, killing Sean. After that, Cassie returns to school and sees a lot of random weird stuff that is supposed to be scary or confusing, but isn't. As the mysteries (that no one really cares about) unfold, Cassie begins to learn the answers to what happened that fateful night weeks prior.There are some great films that have used the concept of "Everyone's dead and no one knows it." From 'Carnival of Souls' to 'The Sixth Sense,' it has been done well. 'Soul Survivors' cannot be included in that list. There's very little good about this film. Not everything is bad, but there are sometimes (especially in the horror genre) when outright bad can be more entertaining than just plain mediocre. Sadly, 'Soul Survivors' falls to the fate of simply subpar, below average, mundane, etc. The acting, while not awful, contains some of the worst performances of their careers from the otherwise talented cast. The story isn't awful and has worked before, but it failed to really do much here. The direction is average and takes very little risks. One element that DOES outright suck is the editing. Perhaps they were going for a choppy, muddled, and moronic telling of the story in order to make the film seem more dreamlike/nightmarish. . . but it was more annoying and awkward than dreamlike or nightmarish.Overall, if you're looking for a lame ripoff of 'Carnival of Souls' that fails in almost every way, check out this flick. If you want a quality film, just look at the several this one tries to be.Final Verdict: A generous 4/10.-AP3-