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Sole Survivor, 1984
Denise (Anita Skinner) is the sole survivor of a plane crash, an unexplained miracle. But her survival starts to seem less miraculous as she tries to get back to her normal life. While she strikes up a romance with one of the doctors who cared for her, Brian (Kurt Johnson), she is haunted by the seemingly possessed bodies of the recently dead. The only person who seems to understand her is Karla (Caren L. Larkey), an actress who foresaw the plane crash and knows that things are not right.
Sometimes I watch a horror movie and feel a bit shocked that it's title was not super familiar to me. Why, I wonder, is Sole Survivor not part of that second-tier of horror movies after the big names?
Obviously I really liked this film. I liked the feel of it a lot, and it makes a lot of sense that the director would later make Night of the Comet, another film that makes great use of ominous city streets and "world gone mad" paranoia. (I'll note that he also made Naked Fear, a movie whose premise sounds incredibly exploitative but somehow isn't terrible and actually has some compelling character stuff in the middle in the form of a group of campers the victim meets while running from her pursuer.)
I thought that Skinner was good in the lead role, bringing a low-key sense of unease to Denise's plight. Denise is warned early on by Brian that most sole survivors of disasters tend to die within two years of the event. As the world around Denise tilts sideways, Denise carries the knowledge that it's expected that she might go a little nuts. And, indeed, when she tries to explain about mysterious girls appearing in loading docks or describe the wrongness of a man who hunts her through a parking garage, she is treated in ways that imply she's either crazy or subconsciously putting herself in harm's way.
I wish that we'd gotten more of Larkey's Karla, a woman who is likewise haunted by knowledge that alienates others and also, you know, has a negative impact on her career. Johnson's Brian is fine. The character is kind of condescending--as are most of the authority figures in this world--but he does care for Denise and tries to get to the bottom of what's happening to her. Brian also gets the benefit of existing in a context where all the other men are pretty gross, from the patronizing police detective who responds to Denise's claims of a home invasion to the taxi driver who openly sexually harasses Denise.
The vibe of the entire film stays in a zone of unnerving. The dead appear and stare at Denise. And Denise, who is already haunted by the feeling that she owes a debt, doesn't know how to respond. I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but Denise's reaction to her final confrontation with one of the undead was super interesting to me.
Some of the best horror movies put you in a position of wondering what you'd do in the protagonist's position, and here I'm not sure there is any good answer. When she tells the truth about what she sees happening to her, she's treated as crazy or intoxicated. Yet increasingly these encounters cannot be ignored. She is slowly being driven to a point where she cannot function. I really loved a scene where a stressed out Denise sees one of the dead and emerges from her car having pulled a gun. One of the men (a very not-dead group of them) talks her down, but then also stops one of his friends from further provoking her. Denise, in her fear, is becoming dangerous in her own right.
This one also gets big points from me for really nailing the ending.
I would say that my one complaint is that the, for lack of a better word, conspiracy doesn't actually make that much sense when you think about it. It seems . . . inefficient, and also in some ways it seems to contradict its own premise.
But little nitpicks aside, this was a really enjoyable watch. Especially with not being at all familiar with it before watching.
Sole Survivor, 1984
Denise (Anita Skinner) is the sole survivor of a plane crash, an unexplained miracle. But her survival starts to seem less miraculous as she tries to get back to her normal life. While she strikes up a romance with one of the doctors who cared for her, Brian (Kurt Johnson), she is haunted by the seemingly possessed bodies of the recently dead. The only person who seems to understand her is Karla (Caren L. Larkey), an actress who foresaw the plane crash and knows that things are not right.
Sometimes I watch a horror movie and feel a bit shocked that it's title was not super familiar to me. Why, I wonder, is Sole Survivor not part of that second-tier of horror movies after the big names?
Obviously I really liked this film. I liked the feel of it a lot, and it makes a lot of sense that the director would later make Night of the Comet, another film that makes great use of ominous city streets and "world gone mad" paranoia. (I'll note that he also made Naked Fear, a movie whose premise sounds incredibly exploitative but somehow isn't terrible and actually has some compelling character stuff in the middle in the form of a group of campers the victim meets while running from her pursuer.)
I thought that Skinner was good in the lead role, bringing a low-key sense of unease to Denise's plight. Denise is warned early on by Brian that most sole survivors of disasters tend to die within two years of the event. As the world around Denise tilts sideways, Denise carries the knowledge that it's expected that she might go a little nuts. And, indeed, when she tries to explain about mysterious girls appearing in loading docks or describe the wrongness of a man who hunts her through a parking garage, she is treated in ways that imply she's either crazy or subconsciously putting herself in harm's way.
I wish that we'd gotten more of Larkey's Karla, a woman who is likewise haunted by knowledge that alienates others and also, you know, has a negative impact on her career. Johnson's Brian is fine. The character is kind of condescending--as are most of the authority figures in this world--but he does care for Denise and tries to get to the bottom of what's happening to her. Brian also gets the benefit of existing in a context where all the other men are pretty gross, from the patronizing police detective who responds to Denise's claims of a home invasion to the taxi driver who openly sexually harasses Denise.
The vibe of the entire film stays in a zone of unnerving. The dead appear and stare at Denise. And Denise, who is already haunted by the feeling that she owes a debt, doesn't know how to respond. I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but Denise's reaction to her final confrontation with one of the undead was super interesting to me.
Some of the best horror movies put you in a position of wondering what you'd do in the protagonist's position, and here I'm not sure there is any good answer. When she tells the truth about what she sees happening to her, she's treated as crazy or intoxicated. Yet increasingly these encounters cannot be ignored. She is slowly being driven to a point where she cannot function. I really loved a scene where a stressed out Denise sees one of the dead and emerges from her car having pulled a gun. One of the men (a very not-dead group of them) talks her down, but then also stops one of his friends from further provoking her. Denise, in her fear, is becoming dangerous in her own right.
This one also gets big points from me for really nailing the ending.
I would say that my one complaint is that the, for lack of a better word, conspiracy doesn't actually make that much sense when you think about it. It seems . . . inefficient, and also in some ways it seems to contradict its own premise.
But little nitpicks aside, this was a really enjoyable watch. Especially with not being at all familiar with it before watching.