Soul to Keep : Keeps You on the Edge of Your Seat
Demonic possession has been the go-to topic for the horror genre for many years. I dare say that it may be even more popular than zombies. So when I heard about Soul to Keep, I thought it was going to be just like the others. While the core story of a pair of siblings, Toby and Erin, and their life long friends being terrorized by old Beelzebub has been told before, it is how the story was written and execution that kept my interest.
In Soul to Keep, you have your basic cast of characters. From the loving couple to the annoying guy to the jock to the guy with the “party favors”, etc. All were realistically written and entertaining to watch but in the end nothing really new – except for Tara. Tara is the deaf girlfriend of Toby and is played by Sandra Mae Frank who is deaf in real life. Frank gives a strong performance and is one of the more badass characters. I love the fact the filmmakers did not make Tara’s deafness a “gimmick.” This is a straight up demon possession story with a group of friends where one of them just happens to be deaf. I have a lot of respect to the filmmakers for not exploiting it. Kate Rose Reynolds, playing Grace, also stood out to me. She was really into this character, and it was a lot of fun seeing her enjoy this role. She could be sultry one minute then hair-raisingly scary the next. The rest of the cast put in solid, entertaining performances.
There are plenty of scary moments in this film thanks to the direction by David Allensworth and Moniere. I love how the film continues to move while still maintaining a creepy atmosphere. I cannot think of any spot where it slows down, but it did not feel rushed. The editing by Ray Chung helped in keeping this energy. I particularly enjoyed the scene where the characters were first trying to summon a demon. Where they could have easily kept it on just one static shot with a lot of exposition, the scene is made up of many cuts to keep it visually entertaining. I also thought the score by Irv Johnson helped maintain the tension and complimented the cinematography of Eric Giovon. Add the fantastically wicked makeup effects along with the big-budget worthy special effects and what you have is one frighteningly entertaining horror film.
Soul to Keep takes an original approach to a standard horror trope. There a number of twists and turns with an ending that was very satisfying. I found myself on the edge of my seat and actually exclaimed “Yes!” at its dramatic conclusion. I want to thank to filmmakers for an ending that didn’t completely depress me. Going in directions that you do not expect makes Soul to Keep a stand out demonic possession film.
Look for Soul to Keep at a V.O.D. service near you April 2nd.
