The makers of this film asked way too much of its two young leads, who aren't the most amazing actors and are required to carry nearly the entire movie with just them in an old house. Not only that but the dialogue just isn't there, so no matter what their level of talent they don't have much to work with either.Then there is the direction, there is something very messy about most of the shots, and this usually does not seem to add anything to the theme of the film and just makes things feel confused. Also if this all wasn't enough there are also clear budget restraints that would hurt the film even if it did have decent actors, pacing, writing or editing.There is some slivers of possibly good movie here, but it is hard to really piece them together and not really worth the effort.

An average, run-of-the-mill ghost story that neither succeeds or fails and only captures the imagination a few times. Director Colin Theys never really pulls the elements of the story together and fashions anything substantial from them. The cast is less than adequate for the most part with the stunning exception of the wonderful Geraldine Hughes. She gives a superb performance and gives the proceedings a touch of class. However, she isn't in enough scenes to rescue the movie from the oblivion to which it's destined to disappear. Due to the presence of Hughes, the film deserves 3 stars more than the 4 it would ordinarily receive on its own merits.

A few days after his 18th birthday, Johnny Petrie (James) finds out that he was adopted as an infant and has inherited the family farm in Maine. His Father had murdered the entire family in a religious sacrifice. Johnny was hidden by his brother and he survived to be adopted by his aunt (Geraldine Hughes) who raised him as her son. Once at the broken down country estate, Johnny finds Emma (Apanowicz) a stray staying in the house who agrees to help Johnny uncover his dark family history. This original production from the Chiller channel delivers a tense and gruesome opening showing the families' demise. Time is spent developing the characters even though the Emma character seems shoe horned in so Johnny has a love interest. The pace is slow but a few nice chills are sprinkled in to keep you watching. Johnny must repeat part of the ritual to release his dead families' souls and these scenes get quite tense. Certainly nothing special, this movie plays out better than it has a right to with a few scares for good measure.

Upon his 18th birthday, a young man receives a mysterious phone call telling him to come out to a property he just inherited. Now, he will learn about his true past and the dark secrets of his family.I would first like to point out that director Colin Theys is under 30, and has already accumulated a decent amount of credits. Now, they may not be big projects and he may not be the next big thing in horror. However, "Dead Souls" was better than average and I think we might be seeing Theys moving up in the world very soon.The film as a whole has a creepy atmosphere and preys on the connection between God, faith and how far we will go for what we believe in. Other stories have told this tale with varying degrees of success. Here, I think we have a new angle -- the protagonist, despite being born into such a home, is completely unaware of it and experiencing everything for the first time. He is an outsider as much as an insider.Not all of the acting is great, and some of the characters are a bit random and show up without reason. Even Emma seems to be thrown in there for nothing more than a romantic interest. I do have to single out Bill Moseley as doing an excellent job. He gets roles in many bad films and gives performances to match. Here, I think he gives it his all.