Don't Believe the Hype

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Wes Craven seemed to have a decent story on his hands but didn't execute and I say this as a fan of his. This is by far in the bottom tier of his films because many of his others are just so legendary. This on the other hand was predictable, dull with terrible execution. If I ever seen this film again on television, I would change the channel without a second thought. This film needs a visit from the Ripper.

When Universal sold off their genre branch Rogue, what was then titled 25/8 sat collecting some dust until reshoots were ordered and a 3D post conversion added. The hostile reception and unpopularity of this film will probably never produce a director's cut, so I doubt we'll ever know if the original version is as messy as the released product, but boy is My Soul to Take a mess. The tone is all over the place and it barely makes a lick of sense, but as misguided as the film is, it's actually entertaining. The premise is complete nonsense about a killer with seven different personalities, who dies and somehow the personalities transfer to the wombs of seven unborn children. At their 16th birthdays they begin to get killed in typical slasher movie style and one of these kids is absorbing their souls - or something like that. Every teen character is an archetype and the end twist is as illogical as it is unsatisfactory. Bug's sister runs the school from the bathroom? Bug runs around his classroom dressed as a giant condor? Make no mistake, this is a ridiculous film that doesn't ever work and tries to create an aire of mystery with some half baked mythology, but its clumsiness has some charm. It's not nearly as toxic as its reputation and it's never boring.

It was a pretty interesting idea, but some core aspects about a horror film were done very poorly in this one, particularly pacing. it felt too fast and when you watch the film you'll see what I mean. There is minimal exposition (which is key to building character development and the characters are 1 dimensional. It was sufficiently gory and had a freaky villain but the twist at the end didn't really match the person of the killer. The film has some great atmosphere too used jumpscares quite a bit.It could have been so much more but it would have had to fix all these issues, particularly pacing and characters

Whew.....everyone's a critic. If you like scary movies....strange, scary movies.....strange, scary movies with a plot.....strange, scary movies with a plot and fairly good ending.....then get the popcorn and have a good time with this one.Look.....if I took every movie I have ever seen so seriously I had to dump on it more than enjoy it. Well.....there would be a lot of movies I would never watch. My Soul To Take is a good movie. It keeps you wondering, guessing and a little annoyed you didn't see it coming.Admittedly, I do scroll through the reviews to get an idea of how people viewed the movie and how they rated it.I have my own 5 Star system which got this film a 4.5.If you are new to IMDb.....never, ever take the scoring system to heart. Even a really BAD film based on reviews will perk my interest to watch it and see for myself. For those of you who use IMDb regularly.....this movie didn't earn the 4.7 it got. I would have said 8 out of 10 personally......but then that is me.Please don't throw this one away based on critics who "know the price of everything and the value of nothing"....Zonker from his guru days.......enjoy......Cookie Q(:-}