My Soul to Take (2010)

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My Soul to Take (2010)

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In the sleepy town of Riverton, legend tells of a serial killer who swore he would return to murder the seven children born the night he died. Now, 16 years later, people are disappearing again. Has the psychopath been reincarnated as one of the seven teens, or did he survive the night he was left for dead? Only one of the kids knows the answer. Adam "Bug" Heller (Max Thieriot) was supposed to die on the last night the Riverton Ripper wrecked havoc on that terrifying night. Unaware of terrifying crimes being committed to the seven children, he has been plagued by nightmares of their murders while not aware if they hold true or if he is simply imagining the images that haunt him. But if Bug hopes to save his friends from the monster that's returned, he must face an evil that won't rest…until it finishes the job it began the day he was born.

Die Legende besagt, dass ein Serienmörder in dem Städtchen Riverton geschworen hat, eines Tages von den Toten aufzuerstehen, um die sieben Kinder zu ermorden, die am Tag seines Todes geboren wurden. 16 Jahre später scheint er seine grausige Prophezeiung wahrzumachen. Nur eines der Kinder kann der Wahrheit auf die Spur kommen: Adam ist der Sohn des Mörders, der am Tag von Adams Geburt verrückt wurde. Schnell wird dem Jungen klar, dass sich sein Vater in einem der sieben Kinder eingenistet hat, womöglich sogar in ihm selbst.

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My Soul to Take (2010)

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When a serial killer dubbed the Riverton Ripper (Raul Esparza, Company: A Musical Comedy) is caught and nearly killed before mysteriously disappearing into the Riverton River, of course seven babies are prematurely and simultaneously born at a nearby hospital. Sixteen years later, the Ripper's body has yet to be recovered and the creepy miracle-baby teens (conveniently referred to as the "Riverton Seven") are well aware of the bizarre events surrounding their births. Apparently their parents weren't as skilled at keeping a dark secret as the folks on Elm Street. To celebrate their birthdays, the teens gather near the site where the Ripper vanished, con one of their friends into dressing up as the maniac and ceremoniously banish the home-brewed specter back into the river for another year. But when their fun is interrupted by the police and their ritual left unfinished, the Ripper returns with a vengeance. (Or so we're assured.)

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My Soul to Take (2010)

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But is the killer the Ripper, rising from his watery grave after sixteen years? Or one of the Riverton Seven, slowly but surely going insane? Suspect number one: Adam "Bug" Hellerman (Max Thieriot, Jumper), an introverted loner who shows all the clear signs of madness at a young age. Vaulting from one personality to the next, he mutters to himself, sees dead friends in mirrors and stands as the most obvious choice and most likely red herring. Suspect two: Jerome King (Denzel Whitaker, The Great Debaters), a hulking blind teen who never seems to be around when one of his pals are being gutted. Suspect three: Jay Chan (Jeremy Chu), an early victim who just so happens to disappear into the Riverton River after being attacked. Suspect four: Penelope Bryte (Zena Grey, The Shaggy Dog), an ultra-devout Christian good-girl who begins having ghastly premonitions. Suspect five: Alex Dunkelman (John Magaro, The Box), Bug's best friend and passive-aggressive confidant. Suspect six: Brittany Cunningham (Paulina Olszynski), the two-faced blonde who earns Bug's affection. And suspect seven: Brandon O'Neil (Nick Lashaway, The Last Song), resident bully, jock and grating antagonist.

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My Soul to Take (2010)

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Other suspects enter the fray as well Bug's angsty adopted sister Fang (Emily Meade, Twelve), his mother May (Jessica Hecht, Whatever Works) and local officer of the law, Detective Patterson (Frank Grillo, Prison Break), among many, many others but in a film this dreadfully penned, this hideously convoluted, this intolerably incoherent, who cares? Craven's finger-painted screenplay explains too much too often, reveals too much too soon, offers too little too late, collapses if subjected to the slightest scrutiny, unravels from the get-go and vomits up some of the most unnatural, ungainly, unengaging dialogue to grace a horror flick since House of the Dead 2. Thieriot and Magaro give it their all, they do. God help 'em they try. In fact, of everyone on screen and behind the camera, they come the closest to making My Soul to Take somewhat watchable. But there's only so much the two young actors can do to survive the multiple-career homicide Craven is hellbent on committing.

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My Soul to Take (2010)

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The biggest shock is that Craven, the same man who gave audiences chilling classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street and serrated satires like Scream, returns from his five-year hiatus (of sorts) with such an excruciating addition to the genre he helped build. My Soul to Take isn't scary, unnerving, clever, unsettling, compelling, devilishly constructed or disturbing in any way. Craven spells out everything, from the nature of his Big Bad to every last mystery that surrounds the Riverton Seven to the connections they share. And just to make sure everyone's on the same page, he repeats himself and reiterates plot points ad nauseum, pounding away at the story until his narrative and mythos have been beaten beyond recognition. When he runs out of ideas and steam, he even lifts from his own canon, ripping entire pages out of far better films in his repertoire. As it stands, My Soul to Take has just one saving grace: its first five minutes. Raw and riveting, if only for a short time, our introduction to the Riverton Ripper is tenacious and intense. Unfortunately the moment Officer Patterson arrives, Craven's dialogue and subsequent storytelling drags the film into the river along with the Ripper, never to be seen again. My advice? Leave this one in the depths of the bargain bin.

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown (blu-ray.com)