As a film school project, Soft For Digging would probably merit an A-. As a work of professional cinema, it hovers somewhere between C- and D+, depending on how tough you are a grader. It's nowhere near as insultingly awful as other movies of dubious commercial origins, but there's still no reason it needed to be released for public consumption.Virgil Manoven (Edmond Mercier) is an old man who lives in a cabin in the woods. He looks like the love child of former New York City mayor Ed Koch and Col. Klink from Hogan's Heroes. His standard outfit is long johns and an uncinched bath robe. One day, Virgil's cat scampers off into the woods and he follows. He doesn't find the cat but does see a man kill a young girl. The authorities can find no trace of the girl or any murder, so Virgil mopes around his cabin, sucking on reindeer candy canes and having visions of the dead girl. Coincidence eventually leads Virgil to the truth behind the dead girl, leading to a scene of spectral revenge that dances on the line between laughable and unnerving. Virgil then returns home and finds his missing cat waiting for him.Evaluated as the work of a student filmmaker, there's a lot to admire about Soft For Digging. Yeah, it's a little rough when it comes to technique, slightly derivative when it comes to style and at least twice as long as it needs to be, but writer/director J.T. Petty shows a good eye for visuals and a firm hand at storytelling. There's barely more than 3 words of dialog in the film, until a handful of poorly lip synched sentences at the very end, yet Petty's direction never stumbles and he effectively conveys a number of different plot and emotional developments. Whether you like this movie or not, you can't watch it and deny that Petty knows what he's doing behind a camera.Unfortunately, knowing what you're doing doesn't always result in doing something good. As a 20 minute film festival entry, Soft For Digging might have been passable. Stretched out to over an hour, it becomes the sort of movie that people just can't sit through. I would bet $50 that the majority of folks who've tried to watch this, in a theater or at home, gave up on it well before it was halfway done. It's too rudimentary a tale to be extended like this. Since I'm reviewing it, I had to watch the whole thing and it was an unrewarding slog.If J.T. Petty goes on to greatness in the movie business, scenes out of Soft For Digging are what would be played during his interviews on late night talks shows so the host could make fun of his extremely humble beginnings. You're better off waiting to see this film in that format, rather than waste you time and money on the real thing.

Don't be swayed by the naysayers. This is a wonderfully spooky film. This was a thesis project for the writer/director , JT Petty. He did a great job of having me on the edge of my seat. I never really knew what to expect, and for a jaded horror-movie goer, this is Nirvana! The film concerns an elderly man who lives in a isolated log cabin in the woods. One day, while searching for his cat in the woods, he witnesses the murder of a child, or does he? He agonizes about this the rest of the film. What is most unusual about this film is that here is no dialogue until the last few scenes. I found this to be intriguing. The writer manages to get hold of your senses and gives them a relentless tug. Give this film a go, you won't be disappointed.

Virgil Manoven is an old man who lives alone in his remote rural farmhouse.Chasing his beloved cat one morning into the woods around his property,Manoven glimpses what looks like the murder of a young child in the middle of the woods.He reports the crime to the police but there's no body to be found.Troubled by disturbing visions,he investigates further and eventually is guided to a spooky orphanage where events take a supernatural turn…"Soft for Digging" is a fantastic experimental horror with lots of creepy atmosphere to spare.This minimalist film is almost completely devoid of dialogue.Some scenes are genuinely nightmarish and the acting is excellent.The location sets provide plenty of creepiness:the eerie Maryland woods rival those used in "The Blair Witch Projcect".Give this strange horror film a chance.9 out of 10.

This is an excellent film and one should not be put off by its strangeness. There is genuine skill in manufacture of this work. It manages to be intrigiung, funny and frightening at various times. Work with it for the first few minutes and you won't be disappointed