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46 out of 56 people found the following review useful: Solstice (2008) has that professional quality in a mid range budget movie. But, its rated PG., 18 December 2007 Author: fogfrogblog from United States
The plot is almost like that of What Lies Beneath, but played amongst teenagers. Very well made, the acting is authentic, characters are diverse and the plot doesn't give in till the end. The camera work and editing is very smooth, and not overdone, the sound effects as well. All in all you would enjoy this movie and worth your money.The down side for those thrill seekers and horror fans, is there is zero suspense, and no jolts, not even with the sound effects. It's more on the drama side. The Sixth Sense is far more scarier than this. And for those who likes skins, well, although all of the actors and actress are very good looking there is no part in the movie that could turn you on, RATED PG!
28 out of 35 people found the following review useful: Not a bad teen chiller, 29 December 2007 Author: onosideboard from United States
I don't really understand why this is a direct-to-video flick, as it had high production quality, familiar faces from TV, and a plot straight out of a Christopher Pike or R.L. Stein book. (Do those guys still put out books? I'm dating myself, but I used to read that junk 15 years ago.) Anyway, it was fairly predictable and certainly not very scary, but benefited from the always-fantastic atmosphere of back-woods Louisiana. Seriously, I think all horror movies should be set in the swamps of Louisiana. Much like Skeleton Key and Venom, Solstice probably gets a whole extra star for location alone.The "teens" were all easy on the eyes (most of the actors are in their late twenties, but whatever) and performances were adequate at worst.I'd give Solstice a 6 out of 10, considering it a teen chiller as opposed to a real horror movie.
33 out of 49 people found the following review useful: Whilst it's a good film, it's one of the tamest "horror" movies I have seen in a long, long time..., 8 December 2007 Author: Slasher_Guy
I've just finished watching an early release of Solstice, and I have mixed feelings towards the film overall. I have been awaiting the movie for a while, and whilst I am thankful the overall movie is actually good - I can't help but feel disappointed at the same time. Perhaps I went in expecting a horror film? Because that is not what I got while watching Solstice. Solstice is one of the tamest horror films I have seen in a long, long time as a huge horror fan, and even "The Messengers" has more violence than this. That's saying something.The movie tells the story about Megan (Elisabeth Harnois) who heads away with her friends for the weekend after the suicide of her twin sister. However, Megan begins to receive disturbances which she believes to be caused by her deceased twin and sets out to uncover the truth. I like the plot, it's interesting and one of the reasons I watched the film.I'll start with the positives here, as this is a good film. The movie has a great range of actors who all deliver great performances. I was particularly impressed with Hilarie Burton, as she had a great, bitchy character to work with. R. Lee Ermey also has a cameo role, and while it could have been expanded - he is good, as expected. The movie also starts off pretty strong and the characters are likable, and the plot is interesting to watch. The only other movie released recently about female twins was "I Know Who Killed Me", so I had to see what Solstice had to offer.However, Solstice advertises itself as a horror movie, but quite frankly - it really isn't. Just because it has a plot involving a ghost doesn't mean it is a horror film, as this movie does not feel like a horror film apart from very few drops of blood and a few shots of a ghost. There is minimal violence in the film and minimal blood and gore, but I expected this because of the films rating. If you thought The Messengers, The Fog remake and many others were tame...wait until you see this! I mean, there was hardly any suspense or tension either. I hardly call a cars headlights going on and off suspenseful, do you? Maybe once - yes, but when they use these kind of things dozens of times in a row in this movie...it's like a "wtf" moment. This is probably when you'll realize that this is the most "horror" this movie has to offer...yet again, headlights turning on and off isn't exactly scary is it?!I just think Solstice ultimately suffered in the horror department. This is still supposed to be a horror movie, and it still needed the suspense, violence and more. It had literally nothing apart from a few ghostly images and a bit of violence near the end...and thats what disappointed me the most. I wouldn't classify this as a horror movie because it just doesn't feel like one. Even when the supposed "horror" comes, it takes a while and it's just really the lead female character being creeped out over and over again by cars, cuddly toys and nightmares. It more-or-less feels like a teen drama like "The OC" with some kind of "Halloween Special", or maybe even a Goosebumps episode. It's a good movie, but it needed more horror! a lot more actually!6/10
13 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Surprisingly Good, 30 September 2008 Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Six months after the suicide of her twin sister Sofie (Elisabeth Harnois), Megan (Elisabeth Harnois) still grieves her death and misses her beloved sister. In the Saint John's Eve, Megan travels with her friends Christian (Shawn Ashmore), Zoe (Amanda Seyfried), Mark (Matt O'Leary) and Alicia (Hilarie Burton) to her family's house in Nowell Lake, Louisiana, to celebrate the summer solstice. While shopping supplies in a local store, Megan befriends the seller Nick (Tyler Hoechlin) and buys a magazine with an article about communication with the dead in the summer solstice, the time of year when there is the greatest length of daylight. While in her house, Megan is haunted by a spirit that she believes is Sofie trying to communicate with her. In her investigation, she suspects of the weird hick Leonard (R. Lee Ermey) and while snooping in his house, she finds the picture of the missing girl Malin (Jenna Hildebrand) and unravels a dark secret about the suicide of her sister.The low-budget "Solstice" was a great surprise with a consistent story, solid screenplay and good acting. The original story startles in many moments without gore, and the young team of gorgeous actresses and handsome actors has great performances. I was expecting to see another slasher teen horror movie and found a pleasant surprise. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): Not Available
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Just another boring ghost movie, 28 August 2008 Author: pmdawn from Rio de Janeiro
Well, Solstice gets a high-five for good casting, visuals, sound and overall atmosphere.Only problem is the story. It's the same type of ghost story a proper horror fan has seen a gazillion times. And it's a remake! Why? Also, at 87 minutes, this felt like hours. Bo-ring. There are red herrings, scary shadows, MTV-style flashbacks from the dead, and while it's all well done, it's all been done before. Thank you, but no.Myrick had a mediocre movie (Believers, also (V)) and a good one ruined by a terribly miscast main actor and a "gotcha-sucker!" ending (The Objective). At least here, justice was served and this went straight to DVD where it belongs.Eduardo Sanchez' "Altered", although more of a sci-fi horror hybrid on a low budget, is superior to all of the above mentioned films in my opinion. Here's hoping that Myrick (who has loads of talent) will make a proper great movie in the future.5/10
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Out in the marshlands, where the ghosts are restless, 9 June 2009 Author: (Vomitron_G) from the Doomed Megalopolis of Blasphemous Technoids
In these recent years we've seen so many horror films with one crazy plot twist after another and presenting us convoluted story lines and deranged denouements. So how surprised I was to discover that SOLSTICE manages to tell a ghostly mystery plot that is so basic and simple, it actually turned into a solid and engaging film. The mystery develops slow but steady. There's practically no shocks or gore, but the film didn't need all that. And there's only one twist featured within the film, but it's a good one. The mood and atmosphere are tense. The cinematography looks great. The swamp and woods settings are wonderful and creepy at the same time. Veteran actor R. Lee Ermey has a small role, but his character actually has weight. Young actress Elisabeth Harnois plays a double role (Megan has a twin sister Sophie who's suicide becomes the core of the mystery) and I'd really love to see more of her. Aside from being beautiful, she's also perfectly capable of carrying this film with her lead performance. I thoroughly enjoyed SOLSTICE because it's very effective without over-doing things. I even liked the ending, which for once does not include the whole cast being slaughtered at the end of the film or a crazy twist still killing off the protagonist unexpectedly. That would have been too easy and predictable. The way things come to a conclusion now, makes it a better film, separating itself from the obvious ones. To give you an idea, I thought SOLSTICE was better than recent films like THE MARSH (2006) and BENEATH (2007).
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: I agree with the majority., 6 April 2009 Author: Andy Croft from Australia
Watching Solstice is a bit like platting fog ! yes there is a storyline and maybe the writers are aiming at a student/ teen cult market, but I don't think this film quite hits it. It is like an old 70's / 80's movie. I don't think solstice will be cult or stand the test of time. I was not a big fan of Blair Witch but I could see the appeal and would give that a good rating. If they thought they would capture the same audience they may. Only once I think. Not being the first to slate this movie I feel confident that my opinion is valid. Solstice is weak. You really have to draw your imagination into wanting to be on the edge of your seat with this one. The actors are all good its just the poor movie.
3 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Just another teen chiller, 9 December 2008 Author: Francisco Rotondi from Argentina
Before I start, I'd like to make it clear that I didn't hate this movie, but I hated the enormous amount of annoying clichés. To be fair, this is by some means understandable, considering that we're talking about the classic horror formula for the young audiences that involves a group of young friends taking a trip to the middle of nowhere. Personally, I have nothing against these types of films, but in this case, my problem is that even though I can tolerate typical clichés, a movie should always offer something particularly good to praise. Unfortunately, this is not the case. 'Solstice' is your average teenage flick, with nothing good enough to remain in our memory. It's a plain horror flick that I'm already forgetting, even though I saw it less than 24 hours ago.The story is about a troubled young girl named Megan, whose sister Sofie committed suicide for unknown reasons. Troubled and fragile as she is, Megan still thinks it would be a great idea to take a trip to her family house to celebrate the summer solstice. Her moronic friends are invited, of course, including her sister's ex boyfriend (who by the way, has a crush on her). As soon as they arrive, Megan begins to have some horrible visions and also sees a dark figure (a spirit) lurking around the house, which she believes is Sofie. In the meantime, her friends try to convince her that she's just having a hard time dealing with the situation, but the poor girl still goes out of her way to find out if her dead sister is actually trying to tell her something. Great news for Megan!: apparently, the summer solstice is supposed to be the most convenient time of year to communicate with the dead... so guess what? Exactly. All the stupid teenagers, reluctantly set up a circle to have a nice conversation with dead Sofie. Because you know what the say: it's not a kick-ass trip until you invoke a spirit from the beyond.Basically, the story has been done many times before, but there are some variations, of course. Personally, I don't mind that. I firmly believe that you can make a great horror movie with a worn out plot, if you create the right atmosphere, with the right characters and at least ONE memorable thing. Unfortunately, this is not the case and like I said before, the problem with this film, is the amount of repetitive situations that only produce a strong desire to fast forward. Example? all right: the typical situations of "Oh my god! I packed this a while ago!, how come it's here again! spirits from the beyond are messing with the things I packed!! (yawn) And you know what's the best part? all right, in many horror movies, the main character is haunted by a specific object that belonged to someone who died. Example: In 'The Changeling' George Scott always sees a small rubber ball that belonged to his late daughter. Well, in 'Solstice', Megan is haunted by... a bear keyring! yes, ladies and gentlemen, that's right, a bear keyring! I could never really get over the image of the ridiculous little bear in what was supposed to be freaky."Solstcide" offers a vast quantity of pointless scenes full of scares and ineffective chills that lead to nothing at all. Perhaps they wouldn't be completely pointless if they helped to build an atmosphere of fear and tension, but in this case, it's mostly tedious. The only interesting parts of the movie are the ones that involve the local creepy old man and his background story. As the movie goes, we see a few things about this character, that help to build some intrigue. Then, we have some flashback and premonitory visions that are incredibly artsy and dark, which I appreciated a lot. These morbid visions are a way to tell what happened in the past and unravel little by little the intriguing parts of the story. So basically, these flashbacks are not only nice to look at, but also, pretty much one of the main reasons why this movie got my attention in any way. The ending is somehow fulfilling and a bit surprising, although not quite enough to redeem the movie entirely. But if I have to be nice and focus on the good aspect of it: the final revelations and the minutes of the film in which the big mysteries are revealed and resolved, were pretty interesting, actually. It has a twist, but not an excessive and far-fetched twist. So my humble advice is: watch the movie if you're in the mood for a teen chiller, but don't expect anything grandiose, because you won't find it in this film. And just because it was directed by one of the guys who directed 'The Blair Witch Project', don't expect anything even remotely comparable, because that will be your worst disappointment.
9 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Good, but Not Perfect, 4 January 2008 Author: my_anywhere from United States
Okay, so this movie went straight to DVD, which would have many people assuming that it can't be all that great, and while it wasn't the best horror movie I've ever seen it wasn't bad at all. Despite what I've read, it had really good pacing with a number of creepy scenes spread out in the movie enough to keep one interested and slightly creeped out. The acting really helps too and you can see all the inner conflicts of the two main characters as they struggle to come to terms with what they're dealing with. The only thing I didn't like was the way the climax of the movie ended. The rest of the climax is great, but the resolution...not what I would have done. All in all, this movie was worth watching and I'm glad I saw it.
Slick Teen Horror, 11 September 2009 Author: jfgibson73 from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I don't know what the budget was for Solstice, but no one is complaining about it's technical merits. It looks and sounds as shiny as an MTV video of the year. The cast is young and attractive--I would say they looked like they were straight out of a Noxema commercial, but I don't think those are around anymore. The plot contains a secret at the end and not much leading up to it, but that won't bother the target audience. If only there was a memorable villain, like Chucky or Jason, so that the kindergärtners whose parents allow them to watch anything and everything, could remember something to talk about with their friends. At least Jeepers Creepers had that flying scarecrow. The kid who played Iceman in "X-men" and the dumb girl from "Mean Girls" take a vacation to the middle of nowhere with a group of friends. Central to this story is Megan, who needs some time away to deal with the recent death of her twin sister. Except that she is having visions and experiencing unexplained occurrences that seem to be some sort of communication from the undead. Is it her sister trying to tell her something? Or are the messages coming from the innocent girl that Iceman killed last summer and then buried without telling anyone?You will only think this movie is original, well-written, or well-acted if you haven't watched very many movies. In which case, you won't care--you and your friends will be more geeked about having scored that six-pack earlier in the evening than anything that happens in any video you might be renting tonight.
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