Movie Review: Dead Souls (2012)
Synopsis: Benjamin Conroy, believing there is a connection between Christ’s death and the Egyptian god Osiris, murders his family and crucifies them, and himself, in the barn. Seventeen years later, the only survivor of the massacre, Benjamin’s youngest son, turns 18 and learns he has inherited the farm. Eager to learn more about a past he didn’t know about, Johnny decides to investigate his family’s property and inadvertently releases their restless spirits.
Who's in it? The movie stars Jesse James, Elizabeth Irene, Magda Apanowicz, Bill Moseley, Jaiden Kaine, Noah Fleiss, Geraldine Hughes and J. H. Torrance Downes.
Review: I picked this movie almost at random yesterday afternoon after going through some other options and not being able to make up my mind. I had seen this movie before but couldn't remember much about it. As it turns out, it was because the film wasn't very memorable.
There were some parts of the movie I did find I liked. For one, at least for the majority of the movie, even though we knew Johnny’s (James) father (Downes) murdered and crucified his family, we didn’t know exactly why. And, that mystery did add a little bit of suspense at times.
Also, I was very impressed with Hughes’ performance as Johnny’s mentally disturbed mother, Mary. While her desire to over protect him was understandable, especially given his family’s history, she also kept him under her thumb to the point it was easy to see why he would want to get as far away from her as possible and even want to live on his family’s farm despite knowing the tragic history.
The problem I had with this movie was the execution just wasn’t that good. The early scenes, with Benjamin murdering his family, are intense and interesting to watch. However, the rest of the film just seems to drag on, even after things finally start to get rolling and his life is in danger.
The introduction of Emma (Apanowicz) didn’t help matters. Her role in this movie was just awkward. One moment, she’s defensive and flighty. The next, she’s taking her clothes off and seducing Johnny because, at least in the writers’ logic, being in an obviously haunted house and having your lives in danger is a great excuse to have sex with someone you just met.
To be fair, the end of the film did, at times, create some suspense. However, even that ended up being dragged out a bit and, after the first few minutes, got to be somewhat predictable. As a result, it never reached the level of intensity that would have made it memorable.
Final Opinion: The movie, at times, does show some potential. However, it never fully achieves that potential and, overall, is somewhat forgettable as a film. It’s an average at best and not one I would recommend watching unless you have nothing else to watch.
My Grade: C-
________________________________________________________________
Here are some reviews of other movies from 2012:
Movie Review: The Watch (2012)
Comments
Post a Comment