Take note: Cabin in the Woods is probably the only horror movie - if this kind of thing is limited to just one genre - that can sit unreleased on a shelf for over a year and still have reached theaters with any amount of dignity and acclaim. But nearly every other time, rest assured the film will be of a quality barely higher than toilet scum. The latest example of the figurative cinematic red-headed stepchild is Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein’s 6 Souls, a film that, appropriately enough, stars the red-headed Julianne Moore and Jonathan Reys Meyers. It used to be called Shelter for some reason, perhaps after the place where it was sent instead of theaters.
If you don’t remember the movie at all, it’s because it was filmed all the way back in 2009, but is just getting its first trailer. Here’s something to gnaw on: Jeffrey DeMunn filmed this before he starred in two seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead. 6 Souls is set for a March 1 VOD release and an April 5 theatrical release here in the U.S., even though most of the rest of the world had already seen it and accepted it as a slightly above-average thriller since 2011. Since Cinema Blend does not serve pudding, the proof will have to be found in the trailer itself, which you can judge for yourself below.
Moore plays a psychologist whose patient (Meyers) suffers from schizophrenia of the dead. I guess they’re trying to capitalize on the incessant “possession” sub-genre of horror movies that have been pumped out over the last few years, given the way the trailer goes all Satan. Sadly, it reminds me of the disappointing star-heavy thrillers over the last few years, such as Hide and Seek, Case 39, and even Moore’s own The Forgotten.
If I can say anything wholeheartedly positive, it’s that this cornball plotline isn’t exactly overused, and would have worked wonderfully within the confines of a Twilight Zone episode where I couldn’t wait to find out the ending. But I’m at least three years deeper into adulthood now, so I’ll just let my spoiler-loving friend tell me all about it.
