Solstice (film)

Solstice is a 2008 American horror film directed by Daniel Myrick, written by Myrick, Martin Musatov, and Ethan Erwin, and starring Elisabeth Harnois, Shawn Ashmore, Hilarie Burton, Amanda Seyfried, Tyler Hoechlin, Matt O'Leary, and R. Lee Ermey.[1][2][3] It is a remake of the 2003 film Midsommer.[4]

Solstice
DVD cover
Directed byDaniel Myrick
Produced byAdam Del Deo
Mikkel Bondesen
Garrick Dion
David Grace
Jeffrey Graup
Douglas Hansen
Mason Novick
Eleanor Nett
James D. Stern
Screenplay byDaniel Myrick
Martin Musatov
Ethan Erwin
Based onMidsommer
by Carsten Myllerup
StarringElisabeth Harnois
Shawn Ashmore
Tyler Hoechlin
Amanda Seyfried
Matt O'Leary
Hilarie Burton
R. Lee Ermey
Music byJane Antonia Cornish
CinematographyM. David Mullen
Edited byMathilde Bonnefoy
Distributed byThe Weinstein Company
Release date
  • January 1, 2008 (2008-01-01)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Teenager Megan (Elisabeth Harnois), still distraught over her twin sister Sophie's suicide, reluctantly agrees to join her friends on a summer trip to a lake house in the bayous of Louisiana. On the way at a gas station, they meet Nick (Tyler Hoechlin), who provides the group with information on voodoo and other local superstitions.

As soon as they arrive at the house, Megan suspects Sophie is trying to communicate with her, as a solstice — the time when our world and the next are closest — approaches. Megan goes running and trips, splitting her nail (something she had foreseen in several nightmares). As she limps back to the house, she meets a suspicious local resident, Leonard (R. Lee Ermey); inside his pickup truck, she finds a hat identical to one Sophie had owned.

The night before the solstice, Nick joins the group at the house for dinner. Megan tells him about Sophie's key chain, something she is trying to get rid of but it keeps returning, and that she thinks she is being haunted by Sophie's lost ghost. The six of them later go swimming and Nick calls for any spirits with wine; Megan is dragged under the water. Megan then, advised by Nick, wraps the key chain in a white cloth and buries it outside, which he says should expel the spirit. She goes for a bath, finding mud running out of the taps, and then sees the key chain lying on the floor.

The following day, Megan goes to Leonard's house and, inside, finds a young girl's bedroom (presumably his daughter); newspaper cuttings explain a young girl called Malin disappeared from the town a year earlier. Megan realises she is being haunted by Malin, not Sophie. Megan takes Nick to where she tripped on her run, followed by the group of friends, including Christian (Shawn Ashmore) who brings a gun. Nick and Megan get split up, and Christian almost shoots Nick. Megan then digs up Malin's body and finds that the key on the key chain is for Malin's bicycle, which was buried with her. They call the local police.

Christian finally admits that the year before, when they all came to the lake house without Megan, he and Sophie were on a drive and accidentally hit Malin. In fear of being arrested, they buried her in the forest, and Sophie later committed suicide as she could not bear the guilt. Malin's ghost appears, and Christian runs away towards the road. Megan chases him through the forest but before she can reach him, he is hit by the police car that had been called out.

The ending shows Megan at Malin's grave. When Leonard arrives home, he finds Malin's key chain on the porch, put there by Megan. Megan and Nick decide to go to the city together to start a life together.

Cast
  • Megan (Elisabeth Harnois), who travels with her friends to a remote lake house during the summer solstice. Once there, she begins to feel a presence she believes to be that of her deceased twin sister Sophie, who has recently committed suicide.
  • Christian (Shawn Ashmore), Megan's love interest.
  • Nick (Tyler Hoechlin), a resident of the town who works at a nearby gas station.
  • Zoe (Amanda Seyfried), Megan's best friend.
  • Alicia (Hilarie Burton), Mark's girlfriend and a friend of Megan's.
  • Mark (Matt O'Leary), Alicia's boyfriend.
  • Leonard (R. Lee Ermey), a local resident whom the group finds suspicious.
  • Malin (Jenna Hildebrand), a local girl who inexplicably went missing around a year earlier.
  • Mrs. Thomas (Lisa Arnold)
  • Mr. Thomas (David Dahlgren)
  • Cop (Mark Krasnoff)

Production

Myrick announced the imminent shooting of Solstice while working on The Strand in 2005. He said he hoped that it would "hark back to elemental horror films like Rosemary's Baby and The Shining."[5] The film met with problems due to Hurricane Katrina and production was postponed.[6] Filming commenced in New Orleans in April, 2006,[7] shooting in the Garden District and in bayous around Louisiana.[8] Endgame Entertainment developed, produced, and fully financed the film.[9]

Release

Throughout 2008, the film had worldwide releases in Germany, Philippines and Greece. It had a theatrical release on June 19 in Russia,[10] and a US television debut on Lifetime Television on July 26, before release in South Korea, Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, Iceland and Mexico.

Critical response

Solstice has received mixed reviews from its continued worldwide release. Don Sumner of Best Horror Movies felt the production values were comparable with large-budget films and that both the story and performances were believable and genuine, making the film interesting enough to keep the viewer's attention. However, he also felt that the expected scares and suspense might make for an argument that the film was not a horror and was actually a ghostly drama/thriller.[11] Bloody Disgusting felt that the music score was the only highlight in an otherwise boring film, granting that as a remake of the Danish film Midsommer, where the story, overused locale, etc. could not be attributed to Myrick or the other new writers, it is wondered why the choice was made to not make it more interesting, as even the feeling of danger was not present.[12] Dread Central also found the pacing to be lagging when they wrote "The pacing of Solstice drags the viewer to the finish line nearly half asleep". And in referring to director Daniel Myrick, "Coming from a guy whose body of work has been anything but cookie-cutter, Solstice disappoints with its surprising blandness and heavy-handed mediocrity."[13] E-Splatter was also disappointed in Myrick's work, comparing it negatively to The Blair Witch Project and writing that it was "a bit of a bummer to see the filmmaker behind such a kick-ass movie helming a direct-to-video horror film that's as tame as this. As reviled as it was by some horror fans, 'The Blair Witch Project' definitely had an edge. This film absolutely, positively has none."[14]

Home media

The film was first released to DVD on January 1, 2008 in the US with a commentary track by the director.[15]

References
  1. Dedeke, John. "Review of Solstice". shocktillyoudrop.com. Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  2. "Critique de film: Solstice". cinemafantastique.net (in French). Cinema Fantastique. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  3. "Review: Solstice". slasherp.nexcess.net. Slasher Pool. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  4. Buchanan, Jason. "New York Times (All Movie Guide)".
  5. Zak, Dan (August 14, 2005). "A Potent Spell's Slow-Acting Aftereffect". washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  6. Fischer, Martha (March 27, 2006). "Blair Witch Dude is Back". cinematical.com. Cinematical. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  7. "Solstice news". upcominghorrormovies.com. Upcoming Horror Movies. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  8. Wloszczyna, Susan (April 25, 2006). "'Blair Witch' director goes South". USAToday. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  9. Mohr, Ian (May 18, 2006). "Darclight nabs Myrick pic". variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
  10. "DVD Review: Solstice". mnweekly.ru/. Moscow News. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  11. Sumner, Don. "Solstice is Horror Without the Gore, or Scares for That Matter". best-horror-movies.com. Best Horror Movies. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  12. "Review: Solstice (V)". bloody-disgusting.com. Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  13. "Review: Solstice". dreadcentral.com. Dread Central. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  14. "Review: Solstice". esplatter.com. ESplatter. Archived from the original on 2013-07-23. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  15. "Coming Attractions - Notable DVDs being released Tuesday include". washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. December 28, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
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