This week, the horror film Soul Collector, starring Nicolas Cage, was released internationally.
The film’s marketing campaign has been one of the most successful of the year, and early critical reviews have been rave, keeping its Rotten Tomatoes rating above 90% after early screenings.
The film will be released in Russia only on July 25, but we have already managed to watch the new release. We are in a hurry to share our impressions, and we have something to tell about the film.
Briefly
A brilliant promotion strategy
What is the movie about: FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), with unique psychic abilities, investigates a series of brutal murders committed by a mysterious serial killer nicknamed the Soul Collector. The killer leaves encrypted messages at the crime scenes.
Unraveling riddles and mysterious symbols, the protagonist comes closer to unraveling the mysteries surrounding the Soul Collector and realizing the depth of the evil she must face.
The advertising campaign for Nicolas Cage’s Soul Collector, produced by his own company Saturn Films, is a masterpiece of creating intrigue and anticipation.
The campaign began with teaser releases, each carefully crafted to not reveal the plot but to create an atmosphere of mystery and horror. The first teaser, released more than six months ago, immediately attracted attention, leaving viewers with many questions and guesses.
A total of six teasers were released, each increasing the suspense but leaving little clarity on the film’s plot or the appearance of the film’s main villain. Director Osgood Perkins requested that Nicolas Cage’s image not be used on posters or trailers, despite his role as the titular character. This forced Neon to come up with a creative plan to market and sell the film without Cage’s involvement.
As a result, a whole sitededicated to the serial killer Longlegs, which describes in detail the victims of the serial killer Longlegs (Soul Collector) – a “psychopathic Satanist” who terrorizes families in the United States.
The advertising campaign achieved its goal of creating an aura of mystery and horror around the film, which significantly increased the expectations of viewers. Did the film live up to them? Yes and no.
There is a sticky atmosphere of anxiety here.
Director Osgood Perkins masterfully creates an atmosphere that envelops the viewer and makes them feel the inevitable heaviness of what is happening.
The slow pace of the story builds tension, and even in seemingly calm moments there is an elusive, unpleasant sense of danger.
According to the plot, the main character Lee Harker has psychic abilities that help her in her investigation, but make her vulnerable to the villain. Her visions and flashbacks intertwine with reality, blurring the boundaries between the present and the past, reality and imagination.
Perkins makes extensive use of visual metaphors and stylistic devices to heighten the sense of unease. Scenes shot in 8mm with a grainy texture and rounded corners transport the viewer back in time, creating a sense of otherworldly reality. The transitions from these retro scenes to the present are accompanied by widening the frame into a wide rectangle, creating an unusual and unsettling effect.
Cinematographer Andrés Arochi uses symmetrical compositions and figures throughout the film. Each shot is carefully constructed, which emphasizes the isolation and alienation of the characters, reinforcing the feeling of being trapped, from which there is no escape. Add to this the camera that follows the heroine. We see her emotions and fear, but we do not see what she sees. A frightening effect of the unknown, conveyed through the acting of actress Maika Monroe.
Soundtrack The mysterious composer ZILGI also plays an important role in creating an unsettling atmosphere. Background noise, sudden sharp sounds and strange melodies further immerse the viewer in a state of constant tension.
This film is not just a story about a serial killer, but an immersion into a world where evil penetrates every corner, leaving an indelible mark. And it seems that something is about to happen in the plot that will finally tear apart all the viewer’s nerve cells.
Nicolas Cage is as scary as Anthony Hopkins
Naturally, one of the key elements that creates the film’s unsettling atmosphere is the character played by Nicolas Cage. The actor, known for his eccentric and flamboyant roles, delivers one of his most memorable and disturbing performances in this film.
In recent years, Nicolas Cage has continued to prove himself a chameleon in film, from his quirky Dracula turn in Renfield to his oversized version of himself in the comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. But in The Soul Collectors, he shows that he has shades we’ve never seen before.
The appearance of Nicolas Cage’s character was one of the main mysteries and gimmicks of the film’s promotional campaign. In trailers and teasers, his face was not shown, which increased the intrigue and anticipation. Instead, viewers could only see fragments – hands, a silhouette or shadowed frames, which created an aura of mystery around his character.
When the Soultaker finally appears on screen, the effect is stunning. Nicolas Cage is sinister and unnatural in the role, creating an impression of death and detachment from the world of the living. If you want a little spoiler, imagine a grotesque image of a 70s glam rocker straight from the underworld.
It is interesting that many journalists compared the film “The Soul Collector” with “The Silence of the Lambs”, which allows us to draw parallels between the main villains of these films.
Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter was a refined horror and an intellectual menace. Buffalo Bill, who made a suit from the skin of his victims, was terrifying in his physical and psychological cruelty. Cage’s character in The Soul Collector is also a serial killer, but his approach has a mystical and supernatural edge.
This is one of those screen psychopaths who scare us not so much with his cruel actions, but with his very state.
While Lecter and Buffalo Bill are the embodiment of real horror, Cage’s Soultaker is something more sinister and otherworldly, which enhances the film’s atmosphere and makes it unique in its own right. But unfortunately, this is not enough, as the film’s main problem is its script.
The trailers promised something different.
Despite the powerful atmosphere and strong acting, we have serious complaints about the film. The expectations created by the marketing campaign were not met: we expected a more dynamic and eventful deep film.
The story is moving in a completely different direction and genre than the teasers and trailers promised. And that’s a problem.
The advertising campaign created too high expectations. Instead of multi-layered, many moments are presented superficially.
The film certainly offers a few unexpected twists, but they are not always strong enough to compensate for the slow pace of the narrative. The heroine, faced with riddles and visions, gradually uncovers the main secret, but the key plot points often turn out to be too predictable.
Overall, the film tries to play on the combination of 70s glam rock and the occult, with a particular fixation on the band T. Rex and their 1971 single “Bang a Gong (Get It On)”.
The song’s lyrics appear as a prologue and are referenced in marketing materials. The creators clearly explored rock’s long history of horror, from supposed Satanic messages on albums to the hellish art on record covers by bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Metallica.
It’s interesting to watch, but don’t expect a revolution.
“The Soul Collector” is an atmospheric and stylish thriller that is more focused on creating a sense of unease than on a fast-paced, scary detective story about a maniac. In terms of mysteries, the film is simply weak. It is indeed unpleasant in places, but does not reach the level of colossal horror found in more gritty and profound thrillers.
Visual metaphors and flashbacks of the main character add mystery to the story, making it more like a nightmare than a standard thriller. A kind of satanic power that simply drags the viewer through hell and back. Until the final credits.
Source: www.iphones.ru
