User reviews

There were two reasons for why I sat down to watch "Dead Souls", the first and most obvious one was the fact that it is a horror movie, given my life-long romance with the horror genre. But the most important reason was because Bill Moseley was on the cast list.

Let's get on with it then, shall we?

While the storyline had potential, I was sitting with an overwhelming sense of 'was that really it?' once the movie ended. It felt like director Colin Theys hardly utilized all the potential that the storyline had. And that was a shame because it crippled the overall viewing experience of the movie.

There wasn't much of any noteworthy or worthwhile horror elements in "Dead Souls" that haven't already been seen countless times in other movies. So for a seasoned horror veteran as myself, this was hardly an illuminating horror experience.

The acting in the movie was adequate, just keep in mind that the cast ensemble is rather small and limited, so there is a lot riding on the shoulders of the performers. They fared adequately, I would say. Nothing memorable though. And Bill Moseley, while he was in the movie, he was a mere support cast in the movie. So they made the most famous person and a horror icon nonetheless into a mere support character in the movie. No, just no. That was a blow to the movie that dragged down the enjoyment, especially since he only had a limited screen time as well.

I managed to sit through the entire movie, waiting for something extraordinary to happen or for the movie to pick up its pacing and throw something unexpected my way... It just never happened, and as such then my rating of "Dead Souls" is a less than mediocre one; four out of ten stars.

This is hardly a movie that made an impression in the horror genre. I am sure come next week, then I will already have forgotten about it. Nor is it a movie that you will watch more than once.

Starts a decent haunted house film. About halfway through it starts becoming fairly silly. Definitely a movie for when you have absolutely nothing else to watch.

Beginning tepidly, and concluding with just about the most confusing, ridiculous climax I've seen like EVER, Dead Souls is another big FAIL of a horror film to add to my ever-growing list. It's also loaded with the cheapest scare tactics around, you know... the mysterious shadow in the corner, the girl on the swing... but when you turn round, nothing's there. Once or twice, this might be effective... but this constitutes 90% of the action, and quickly becomes an exercise in tedium.

I don't want to get into the dopey story, but I do want to highlight the last 15 minutes or so. Until then, I was ready to label it as a not very good, but relatively harmless piece. But then, the dead started coming back to life, with all other kinds of cockamamie going on... it wasn't big, it wasn't clever and didn't make one lick of sense. It could have worked I suppose if it had been well done, but this segment had more ham than a butchers. Yeesh.

Final Note: One thing I've noticed of late: The better illustrated the DVD box of a scary movie, the more rubbish it is. It's like they're saying: "Who cares if it's any good? All that matters is it looks nice on your shelf!!" 2/10

Like some other reviews here have said, MEH. That about sums this one up. It's not.....logical?? Can't think of the right word. Lot of cliché moments. And the end, was poor at best. Unsatisfying. 3/10

Johnny Petrie (Jesse James) inherits a farm from his estranged birth family. He intends to sell the place and finds a squatter named Emma (Magda Apanowicz). Mary Petrie (Geraldine Hughes) is a disturbed patient.

The filmmaking is somewhat clunky with a few interesting horror scenes. The story is a muddle when it should be a simple telling. The premise is messy. When it gets to the reveal, it suddenly adds a bunch of stuff coming out of left field. On the other hand, the actors are fine. I've always like Apanowicz. I like Moseley. Even the bad actors are not that bad. The failure is mostly in the filmmaking.

Upon his 18th birthday, a young man receives a mysterious phone call telling him to come out to a property he just inherited. Now, he will learn about his true past and the dark secrets of his family.

I would first like to point out that director Colin Theys is under 30, and has already accumulated a decent amount of credits. Now, they may not be big projects and he may not be the next big thing in horror. However, "Dead Souls" was better than average and I think we might be seeing Theys moving up in the world very soon.

The film as a whole has a creepy atmosphere and preys on the connection between God, faith and how far we will go for what we believe in. Other stories have told this tale with varying degrees of success. Here, I think we have a new angle -- the protagonist, despite being born into such a home, is completely unaware of it and experiencing everything for the first time. He is an outsider as much as an insider.

Not all of the acting is great, and some of the characters are a bit random and show up without reason. Even Emma seems to be thrown in there for nothing more than a romantic interest. I do have to single out Bill Moseley as doing an excellent job. He gets roles in many bad films and gives performances to match. Here, I think he gives it his all.

This movie would've been much better if the plot was more cohesive. Towards the end, I was really feeling like they lost it and was just hastily wrapping things up. The production quality was promising, so it was a bummer that it failed to keep the story tight.

So winters heading our way and what better way to spend those cold dark nights? How about wrapped up with your beloved with a nice drink by your side and a spooky film on the picture box?

Dead Souls is one of those types of films.

From the outset, the screenwriter, John Doolan, does a good job of creating mystery while giving you tension. Everything appears fine in the Conroy family. Fathers hard at work in the barn. Mother is singing to her newborn. The teen daughter is in her bedroom listening to music. The younger brother is to-and-froing on the swing in the garden. Life seems blissful if a little impoverished. But as the minutes' tick by you notice mother is sick and father's work is darker than you expected... something isn't right in this Conroy household.

But in this little opening section, you can see where the deteriorations in the strength of the movie will come. The Direction.

Colin Theys is good at the action sequences but the building of atmosphere is not one of his strong points. The tension comes from the story and the strange happenings rather than camera and audio techniques. Though the ritual towards the end of the story is effective. Theys utilises his action style to help ramp up the tension and create a sense of urgency as the stereo chimes out the clock gongs.

The principal aspect that strengthens this film the most is the story. Which I have to say, is based on a novel by Michael Laimo. A novel that's now on my wishlist. I find screenplays from novels tend to have more power and strength, especially in horror now it's become overfilled with, "Hey! I've had a good idea for a film," writers and directors. The trouble with writer-director's is they are usually good at only one of those jobs; very seldom are they good at both. I don't know how closely the film follows the book so I'll give credit to both Laimo and Doolan for the build-up to the film's crescendo ending. I loved the ending, though I did guess the outcome, it's still expertly handled by all.

Lastly to the acting. Mostly it's above average. However, there is one person who lets the team down a little. Noah Fleiss as Mack is about as wooden as an actor can get. I get the feeling, at times, that he'd rather not be there. It's when the possessions begin that he could have come into his own by taking the mannerisms of the person possessing him. However, he just comes across as awkward.

On the whole, this is an average little ghost story nicely told. There's nothing new or exciting about the film but it is enjoyable and a nice flick to cuddle up with. Worth one watch at least - If you've already watched it then check out my lists for new ideas for your viewing pleasure...

Great competition going on in this movie to see which was worse: the acting; the script; the storyline; the direction, or; the score. Hard to pick a 'winner' as they were all awful!

Life is definitely too short to waste any of it on this dross.... Recommendation- Watch something (anything!) else.

The makers of this film asked way too much of its two young leads, who aren't the most amazing actors and are required to carry nearly the entire movie with just them in an old house. Not only that but the dialogue just isn't there, so no matter what their level of talent they don't have much to work with either.

Then there is the direction, there is something very messy about most of the shots, and this usually does not seem to add anything to the theme of the film and just makes things feel confused. Also if this all wasn't enough there are also clear budget restraints that would hurt the film even if it did have decent actors, pacing, writing or editing.

There is some slivers of possibly good movie here, but it is hard to really piece them together and not really worth the effort.

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...

I can't blame this movie for much. It is a typical horror movie for this age, where the script is a random mix of other films of the genre, the horror is done via camera angle tricks, the bloody scenes or the nudity are removed and most of the movie is people not understanding what is going on or running around like headless chickens when they do. But I've seen so many films like this that it doesn't bother me anymore. It's not scary either, though.

I loved the Osiris and Jesus angle and, while the rest of the story made no sense, the idea that modern gods are just knockoffs of the old ones seemed really funny. They could have done something with this other than a bunch of homicidal hillbillies looking for eternal life. I am sure they didn't intend it to be funny, but it was for me.

Bottom line: This film is so incredibly average that it becomes mere background noise. There were a few ideas in it that could have made an impact, but I am sure none of the creators of the film actually cared. The highlight of the movie has to be Magda Apanowicz, who is cute as hell, even if her character is a complete mess.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and must admit I tend to be a bit jaded when it comes to some of the newer horror (esp. made for TV) movies. Dead Souls has a good, solid plot and it moved right along in the right direction.

The dialogue was well done, the acting great. The eerie atmosphere of the old farm was excellent. I loved this movie because I felt something for the main character, for what he was experiencing, which must have been terrifying. The connection to Osiris was well researched.

Michael Laimo, the author of the novel 'Dead Souls' upon which this movie is based, is one of my all-time favorite writers and I'm looking forward to his next book and, I hope, another movie adaption. Great job, Michael, the actors, actresses, director and film crew (make-up artists did an outstanding job as well).

Thank you all for helping make this Halloween extra scary.

An average, run-of-the-mill ghost story that neither succeeds or fails and only captures the imagination a few times. Director Colin Theys never really pulls the elements of the story together and fashions anything substantial from them. The cast is less than adequate for the most part with the stunning exception of the wonderful Geraldine Hughes. She gives a superb performance and gives the proceedings a touch of class. However, she isn't in enough scenes to rescue the movie from the oblivion to which it's destined to disappear. Due to the presence of Hughes, the film deserves 3 stars more than the 4 it would ordinarily receive on its own merits.