My Soul to Take

Like most people last year, Wes Craven’s “My Soul to Take” was one Halloween feature I ignored. A chance viewing several months ago on TV (Cinemax, I believe) got my interest aroused. Then two days ago I bought “My Soul to Take” on DVD and having watched the film in its entirety finally, this is actually not a bad film.

In fact, while it’s not a great film, it is at least interesting, entertaining, and does have a few good scares and a nice story. It could be argued that Craven is one of the few major horror directors of the 1970s and 1980s who is still actively involved in the filmmaking business and seeing his films get mainstream theatrical releases (just take a look at his work on the “Scream” movies). He’s spent the last decade-and-a-half on “Scream” (1996) and its sequels, but “My Soul to Take” is the first film of his in which he’s been both writer and director since 1994’s “New Nightmare.”

It’s also worth noting that this is one horror film that is completely original, and not a remake, reboot, or an adaptation of a previous work. The story even seems to rehash a bit of Craven’s earlier “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984), “Shocker” (1989), and maybe a dash or two of “Scream”: In the quaint little town of Riverton, a serial killer called the Riverton Ripper is on the loose.

One faithful night, he’s finally cornered and (presumably) killed by the police, but not before swearing vengeance upon the town. 16 years later, Riverton is celebrating not only the 16th anniversary of the Riverton Ripper’s death, but also the births of seven youths who were born the same night that the Ripper was killed – the shy and insecure Bug (Max Thieriot), his best friend Alex (John Magaro), Jerome (Denzel Whitaker), Bible-thumping Penelope (Zena Grey), jock Brandon (Nick Lashaway), Brittany (Paulina Olszynski), and Jay (Jeremy Chu).

As can probably be predicted, the teens start getting offed in some particularly gruesome and brutal ways. And it does seem eerily possible that the Riverton Ripper has returned from the grave to claim his vengeance upon the small quiet town of Riverton. “My Soul to Take,” the film’s name coming from the timeless children’s prayer, is not a bad film. Is it flawed? Yes? But is it competently acted by the cast and directed by Craven? Absolutely.

Craven has always had a way of giving depth to the characters in his movies that are usually lacking in other horror films, where characters are just lambs lined up for the slaughter. For example, Bug is not some stalwart slasher-movie archetype; he’s ignored by the girls in his school (namely his main crush Brittany), he and Alex are both the victims of torment not just from fellow Riverton Seven member Brandon but also his sadistic older sister Fang (Emily Meade, who early on savors her queen bee status at their school), is possibly psychotic, and yet is a bit of a wimp.

The fact that the characters in his films even have depth, raises his bar just a little bit higher than the others (hence, this is the reason why I consider his “A Nightmare on Elm Street” to be my personal favorite slasher movie ever.) A lot of horror movies these days really only seem to concern themselves with savage gore and special effects and seeing how horribly people can be eviscerated on the screen.

While Craven does employ some particularly gruesome and bloody deaths here, he is more concerned with his story and atmosphere. The movie is effectively creepy from the get-go and true to his style in most of his films, “My Soul to Take” also has an air of mystery surrounding it concerning the boundaries between the real and the imaginary. Is it possible that Bug is the reincarnation of the Riverton Ripper?

Does he suffer from multiple personality disorder and is just imagining the horrible things going on around him? Or is something far more sinister at work here? Whatever the answers to these questions are, “My Soul to Take” is a welcome change from most typical horror movie fanfare these days, where everything is a remake, reboot, a savage gore-fest, or is just plain bad filmmaking. “My Soul to Take” is another daring entry from horror master Wes Craven.