Solstice

Introduction

One of the biggest films of the 90's was The Blair Witch Project, which sadly wasn't an exposé of the New Labour Project and Prince of Darkness Peter Mandelson, but rather a film shot in the first person perspective that was first hailed and then derided. After a couple of other mediocre films, Myrick is back with this direct to DVD offering.

Megan (Elisabeth Harnois) is still grieving over the unexplained suicide of her twin sister Sophie (also Elisabeth Harnois, oddly enough) but agrees to go into the backwoods of rural Lousiana with her school friends to celebrate the Solstice at her parents house in the country. On the way there, Megan is handed a copy of Fortean Times, always a bad sign, and reads an article on the Solstice and the dead speaking to the living. If only the cute boy behind the counter had been reading Bob The Builder or some other harmless kids comic, then all would be ok…



Whilst packing some of her dead sister's belongings, some odd things start happening - slamming doors, mud bursting from taps, etc. Megan believes that her sister Sophie may well be trying to communicate with her from beyond the rim. But why? Actually, that isn't a question asked in the film, but really needs to be.

Visual/Audio

As mentioned previously, this section is pretty much superfluous.

Overall

This is billed as a horror film, and not just any horror film; this is the horror thriller of the year according to the PR bumpf. Sadly any fans of horror (and I'm not one) are likely to be completely disappointed with this film based on the hype. In truth, not even I found this film that scary, despite the usual over-the-top shock shots combined with the jarring sound effects; bizarrely the music carries the film much more than the visuals, how else do you explain the shock/horror of car headlights coming on (twice) as a scare? Without the soundtrack, it would be extremely bland.

This all sounds really negative, but this isn't that bad a film. I really was expecting a quintet of teenagers go out into the woods and then start dying one by one; this is not one of those films, thank god. Instead it's almost What Lies Beneath with teenagers, not quite but almost. The cast is a bit bland, despite being the pretty young things required for the aimed at demographic; although R.Lee Ermey is in this film, his is a very minor part and he reminds me of the old rednecks that you see in Scooby Doo when the Gang and Scoobs are off to visit one of Velma's dotty uncles. He's wasted really.



And the Scooby Doo is also not too far off the mark as this is definitely a mystery movie rather than a thriller or horror. And the villain would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for the pesky heroine. Duh-duh…

It's a competent enough film; not original and not stunning, just competent.