My Soul to Take and Missed Messages: A Movie Review

*This is a review from "Two Hungry Blokes" author and blogger Ed Sum.

Writer/director: Wes Craven.

Not many people have been kind to Wes Craven of late, and there are elements in My Soul to Take to make this film interesting to watch. He is a genre writer and director, but when the products he creates no longer scares, then he cannot make audiences scream for more. However, he is moving beyond the blood and guts in the projects he undertakes.

In Nightmare on Elm Street, the concept of being able to control your dreams is part of this franchise’s appeal. Craven wants audiences to know that they are capable of controlling their dreams, not some monster. He asks the question of what is reality, and Adam Savage from Discovery TV’s "Mythbusters" best sums it up—“I reject your reality and substitute my own.”

What Craven is doing in his latest is rooted in the classic rhyme, "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep." There are souls to take, and when there is Native American folklore alluded to in this film, just what is Craven exploring? Sadly, it’s lost in the contrived plot and what he provides here is hardly elementary. The explanation of what the California Condor and Crow means to American Indians is not enough to let audiences know what is going on. The plot is lost in all the mayhem.

But when one pays careful attention to him as a writer, his experience as an English teacher serves him well. Craven delivers Christian symbolism that not many audiences can appreciate. If only the weak acting and multi-plotted tale wasn’t a problem, My Soul to Take can actually be enjoyable. Simplicity is what audiences want these days.

The film is on Facebook:

My Soul to Take on FB

Have a visit of Ed Sum's food and review blog: "Two Hungry Blokes:"

Two Hungry Blokes

The film's soundtrack has been available since October 4th, with fourteen tracks included:



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