My Soul to Take

Director Wes Craven returns to his Nightmare on Elm Street roots (with a pinch of Scream) in this tale of seven Connecticut teenagers all born on the night a serial killer was fatally shot by local police. As the kids turn 16, the murders resume—with the teens as targets. Has the murderer returned—his body was never found after an accident involving the ambulance—or has one of the kids, perhaps the child of the criminal (his wife went into labor the night he died), inherited his soul and taken up the family business? The so-called “Riverton Ripper” doesn't have the star quality of Freddy Krueger, but he's obviously cut from the same cloth in My Soul to Take, which also includes lots of high school shenanigans, complete with dialogue that tries desperately to sound cool. Unfortunately, the whole shebang is pretty incoherent, and apart from Max Thieriot, who plays the most troubled of the birthday kids (he occasionally goes off on what seem to be schizophrenic rants), the acting is awful, the killings dully staged, and the ending preposterous. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (with director Wes Craven and costars Max Thieriot, John Magaro, and Emily Meade), deleted and extended scenes (22 min.), alternate endings (4 min.), an alternate opening (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a lame horror flick.] (F. Swietek)