A Feast of Souls (2004) User Reviews

Get me a fly swatter!

[Alan-42 · 8/10 · 26 September 2005]

I caught this indie gem at the NYC Horror Film Festival in 2004 and was completely enthralled. Feast of Souls tells the tale of three men who have known each other since childhood. They return to a special spot in the deep woods where they shared life, growing pains and many memories. But this particular visit down memory lane ends in the unfortunate murder of one trio member over a matter of stolen money. With two men remaining, a scuffle ensues and our main character (Josh Smith) is knocked unconscious. Upon awakening, he finds himself transported to a hallucinatory dimension guided by the ghost of an enigmatic slave girl (played beautifully by Ra Sylver). His surreal journey through these haunted southern woods relives the deaths which occurred in the forest since the Civil War. Is he only dreaming? Will he ever wake up? And what about all those flies? E. Lee's cinematography is lush and beautifully captures all the natural gradients of Virginia's forest greens. It dominates the screen and like all great locations, it becomes it's own character in the film. It also compliments and heightens the 'mortal' characters, which all appear in neutral earth tones. Andy Staley's authentic Bluegrass scoring and mix of eerie ambient effects stretches the hundred year gap between its main characters and fuses them. Director/actor Josh Smith makes a great debut in both titles. His direction is tight and his acting is natural and relaxed. This is only just the beginning for Josh Smith!

A Feast of Souls

[david-finkel · 8/10 · 8 March 2007]

I'd seen this film hyped on blogoshere, and when i finally saw it, i'd have to say, the praise is mostly well deserved. I was a little worried when it came in the mail. the packaging is almost non-existent. But the movie itself is pretty good. very unique, and with some historical references, and a little racial commentary thrown in, its kind of a refreshing kind of story telling. it is obviously a low budget film/video, but there's a lot creativity involved that helps offset what was reportedly a $6000 budget. that being said, there are pluses and minuses depending on your perspective. the minus is very little action. its a very slow paced affair that captures a great aura of gloom and doom, but not a lot of outright terror. the gore is effective and disturbing, but fairly sparse. the effects weren't a problem for me, there is a clever connection to a fly that comes together in the end, which made the jerky movements of the ghosts appropriate. the acting was top notch - very believable, the score and sound editing were great, and the locations were both beautiful and intimidating. the video quality was very good at times, but there are a few shots from what looks like a different camera or something that are somewhat jarring. what really stuck with me was the cleverness of the story. i was making connections between the events, and thinking about it after it had finished. always a good sign. fans of the twilight zone will probably like this film. there are several nods to 70's style filmaking which i liked too. with a bigger budget, it would probably get higher marks, but for a low-budget independent, it was a very interesting look at hell and southern history.

Hell is eternal revenge

[gfurman · 10/10 · 2 September 2005]

I caught the haunting appearance of A Feast of Souls at the Fearless Tales Film Festival in San Francisco CA. I write this review four months after seeing the film and I am still disturbed at what I have seen – as if I'd traveled into hell myself and returned with a bit of hit caught on my coat tail.

A Feast of Souls in a horror show with multiple levels, like hell itself. Once you pass through the tunnel, the rabbit hole of horror, the game of supernatural valence is afoot. Look for a powerful performance by Director/Performer Josh Smith who plays Kyle. Also prepare for a hypnotic performance from Ra Sylver the Slave Girl. Ra has the screen presence to give a grown man a High School crush – that's what movie stars do.

And oh, dear God, the sound of flies.

IMDb Life Lesson #1: Take everything with a grain of salt.

[hurtthehammer · 3/10 · 2 March 2007]

When I picked up on this movie from one of the many horror sites I frequently visit I was intrigued. An under-the-radar, indie flick with an interesting sounding premise. So, as usual, I hightailed it over here to IMDb to check it out. 7.8 out of 10. Wow, this really must be good. Right?

Wrong. So wrong. What I failed to realize was this rating was based on a total of 5 votes. 3 were 10's, (probably given by someone who worked on the film), 1 8 star, (probably a less-obvious looking plant who writes a stellar review of it), and a 1. The 1 was right and should have wrote a review telling people to stay the hell away. But he didn't, so I will.

To be honest the reason I'm a bit more bitter about this movie is that I bought it from the only outlet it was available from, IndieFlix.com, and paid $9.95 for it. I get it at home, pop open the cheap slim case and find a home-burned DVD. OK, indie flick, I'll let it slide, but it better be good.

It stinks. Shot on overly crisp digital stock in the middle of broad daylight, (and alternately rain for no reason), this movie is just too clean to build any sort of atmosphere and is punctuated constantly by chintzy looking visual effects that never scare but only serve to remind you your watching something done on the super cheap. Sorry, guys. Speeding up the tape does not make things scary looking, just silly. Like a spooky Benny Hill episode or the "It's a Fact!" skit from the Kids In The Hall.

The soundtrack is the only thing that manages to be remotely effective, if only briefly before a bad, 80's sounding synth beat kicks in that is completely out of place for the subject matter and is more reminiscent of a Cinemax slasher than anything.

The only reason I'm giving this movie 3 stars is because, I'll give it the benefit of being a lot less disappointing when $10 + S&H is not paid for it. Otherwise it's a terribly mediocre student film you should really strive to avoid, which shouldn't be too hard.