SWEET TASTE OF SOULS (2020) Reviews and overview

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‘F*cking cherry pie!’

Sweet Taste of Souls is a 2020 American horror film about young people that find themselves imprisoned in the deranged cafe owner’s art collection.

Directed by Terry Ross from a screenplay written by Felicity Scott Mudgett, the Flying Dolphin Productions movie stars Honey Lauren (House of Darkness; Paranormal Adoption; Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Sarah J. Bartholomew (Beverly Hills Ghost; Alien Convergence), Amber Gaston (Hotel Dunsmuir; Alien: Night Shift short) and Mark Valeriano (Ted Bundy Had a Son; The 27 Club; The Dark Military). It was produced by Bee Pedersen.

Plot:

Nerves are frayed after an all-night drive when Nate, Kyle, Wendy, and Lily spot “Elle’s Kountry Kitchen” in the decaying rural town of Angel Falls and decide to make a stop for cherry pie.

The eerie café and Ellinore’s disturbing demeanour are unnerving enough, but the café also displays an unsettling photo gallery – of previous wayfarers all in odd, stiffly posed positions. In fact, the people in the photos are alive, trapped in their little photo prisons, free to move about except when customers are in the shop.

A sinister force also lurks in the cursed café. It directs Ellinore’s sad, broken mind and orchestrates her bizarre photography “collection.”

When a problem with one of the photographs causes Ellinore to drown its captives in a fit of rage, she composites a new photo with the images she secretly took of her last visitors. As the replacement shoots off the printer, Nate, Kyle, Wendy, and Lily suddenly get “disappeared” out of their van. They awake to find themselves in a stark photo prison. Through their one glass wall, they see the outside world – the empty café they just left. They are the new exhibits and must escape before Ellinore’s escalating temper causes her to replace them as well.

But some dangers are even more penetrating than death: Evil is always hungry for souls. It cultivates terror, manipulates fear, and seduces with revenge. Nate’s good heart understands and resists, but Lily’s heart is tender, traumatized, and vulnerable – an irresistible prize, like Ellinore’s, before Evil first seduced her.

Reviews:

“Some strong cinematography, good editing and pace along with minimal effects means budget. That ‘disappearing ‘of the people is handled in an elementary, silly almost ‘Ed Wood’ way.  It is an independent film that doesn’t suffer from poor acting only cliché scripting and occasionally, the look of a set.” Horror Screams Video Vault

“The film needed more tension, more surprise, and more cleverness. Or why not go for camp or slasher? Anything to stop the inconsistent oscillation. Sweet Taste of Souls, alas, is more bitter than sweet.” Movies in My DNA

Sweet Taste of Souls is unique for the most part, it sells a weird concept despite the very indie feel to this. It was a bit overlong for me, and I found my interest waning a bit towards the middle, but regardless this was certainly something different and as such I think it will stick around in the mind for a bit.” The Rotting Zombie

“Overall, Sweet Taste of Souls is a refreshing new idea. There aren’t any zombies or vampires and nary a single murderous clown. It’s not even a home invasion! It’s a fun — and often funny — demonically delicious slice of storytelling presented with captivating cinematography and great direction with a side of sweet, sweet cherry pie.” The Scariest Things

“Sure, by rational terms the premise of the film doesn’t make any sense, and it’s never really explained away, but somehow the film manages to create its own world with its own rules, and in today’s general, over rationalized and streamlined take on the genre, this approach is really a breath of fresh air, especially since the thing is directed very beautifully and has a very homogenous feel to it.” Search My Trash

“Surprisingly, considering the film is written and directed by women, Lily and Wendy have even less character development than the guys do. Some work on their characters would have helped the film considerably. Given the film’s budget, I suppose the CGI near the end was inevitable. And again, considering the budget, it isn’t bad […] But those are small complaints and overall Sweet Taste of Souls works quite well.” Voices from the Balcony

Release:

Sweet Taste of Souls will be released to VOD and streaming platforms on November 1st 2020 by DarkCoast.

Cast and characters:

Honey Lauren … Ellinore
Sarah J. Bartholomew … Lily
Amber Gaston … Wendy
Mark Valeriano … Kyle
John Salandria … Nate
Thom Michael Mulligan … Barney
Frank Papia … Sid
Jesse LeNoir … Tucker
Darn Oldham … Raymond
Scott Alin … Patrick
Lonny Curtis … Officer Philips
Samantha Larson … Chrissa
Mark Allyn … Sports Car Driver
Dawna Lee Heising … Self
Tyler Bruhn … Guy with wedding cake

Filming locations:

Julian, California

Technical details:

Aspect ratio: 2.35: 1

MOVIES and MANIA rating:

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