Runtime: 85 minutes
Directed by: Thom Eberhardt
Starring: Anita Skinner, Caren L. Larkey, Kurt Johnson, Robin Davidson, Andrew Boyer
From: International Film Marketing
We have GOT to talk about the décor in Denise Watson’s home… for years I’ve known of this time and it has even been in constant rotation currently on the Shudder streaming channels. Finally it just so happened that last night I was looking to see what was next on one of those channels, and it happened to be Sole Survivor.
Denise Watson is a young lady who was the sole survivor (points at the screen like I’m the recently-deceased Rick Dalton) of a plane crash; subsequently, Death seems to be coming her way to fix that mistake. Added to the mix are both her doctor turned love interest, a washed-up alcoholic actress who also possesses psychic ability and her next-door neighbor.
The movie is methodically paced; storytelling so measured will never be for all tastes. Personally, I was enthralled as I was interested in Watson, Karla Davis the actor and the other main players. Thus, as the story unfurled I let the great mood & atmosphere wash over me. The cinematography, So Cal setting and electronic score help set the style. Remember how I said that Death was after Watson? Why does that sound familiar… besides Final Destination, several other movies came to mind: Carnival of Souls, Messiah of Evil, and It Follows; that is appropriate as lead actress Anita Skinner can be described as “the 80’s version of Maika Monroe.”
Sole Survivor is a grim movie-don’t be fooled by the Christmas season setting-where the nightmare for the lead only escalates as Death literally becomes more and more omnipresent. A moment of Fulci-level gore in the opening does not represent the rest of the visceral moments but that’s not what the film’s about anyhow. Not a surprise that even with some nudity, this did not as well at the time as a slasher despite being more intelligent than most of them.
At least there’s the Code Red Blu but I do wish it was on more streaming sites than Shudder for the benefits of both nerds like us on Letterboxd and those not on the site who still might be interested in this jam. One last thing: what a house Watson lives in. Most of it has walls a shade of red and thus the overall design was understated. In contrast was the mint green bathroom she has AND a lime green kitchen. “1970’s” was at least when that interior was created—an interior I love, BTW.
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