I found myself amazed at what Neil Oseman managed to squeeze from his tiny budget with Soul Searcher. It's a shame that critics and the industry in this country didn't leap on it with enthusiasm in the same way that the American's did with El Mariachi because it's just as big an achievement.As for entertainment value, I was expecting something incredibly badly acted from what I've read. This just isn't the case, the acting is competent, the cgi effects are of the lower end but for me this did not remove me from the experience. In fact on many occasions I thought. "Wow, how the hell did they do that and how ambitious where they for even trying it in the first place!" And the work with miniature's is amazing. The train sequence is simply brilliant.I think for any film students, filmmakers, or anyone getting into film-making this is an absolute must. However for the casual viewer this also comes recommended. It's a fun, effects laden low budget adventure with a lot of charm.

I only recently saw this film and was moved, as a film-maker myself to post a comment here on its' merits. Apparently made over three years on a budget of £26,000 the result is an outstanding example of sheer effort against all the odds. The technical results need no apology from anyone. The sheer guts and bravado of its' makers, all of them, most of all the Director Neil Oseman, (watch "The Making Of" on the DVD), deserve all the kudos they have coming to them. Notable also is score composer Scott Benzie's wonderfully realised, talented, and integrated orchestral music. You'll learn also that Mr Benzie conducted the 56 piece orchestra and recorded all the music cues in one day. I wonder also if Ray Harryhausen has seen this film. Impressed he would be of the efforts here. Ray him self was no stranger to "hand-made" film-making at the outset of his career and for his first two or three features certainly. This team deserve as real crack with a realistic budget, but, once they have recovered from the sheer bloody hard work of making this, I have no doubt Mr Oseman will do another movie. Finally, with all this "qualification", does it work as a movie. Yes, it does. Hats off, guys. Well done from me. Anyone out there who thinks they can make a better movie, in the round, than this, on the same budget and resources...have a go. You're in for a shock that will change your life. I remember reading the comment of another film-maker who had made a much less ambitious movie than this on roughly the same resources. He said, "I got it finished, but I have'nt been the same person since".

Just rented this, another low budget British action martial arts… yawn. There are so many of these out there now that to be honest I'm starting to get bored. In the past two years a rash of badly acted and poorly shot British and even US low budget actioners have been released.Working as I do for a cross Atlantic review site I get screeners of these and being that my speciality is action (and that I'm British) I get the dubious pleasure of reviewing an ever growing stack of DV features.Soul Searcher is okay, a solid 2 ½ star movie. It's not badly acted, or badly directed, or badly shot but at the same time there was little to stand out. The central lead was dull and lacked life, and the film just felt like it needed something more to make it stand out.As for the extras, it's an impressive pack to be sure but for my money the director should have been stopped from making his rather self involved behind the scenes documentary. If I hear how hard is was once more I will scream.

Soul Searcher tells an interesting story - what if a shy guy is offered the chance to become the Grim Reaper? The movie shows brief flashes of brilliance, especially the wonderfully detailed story about how the tradition of the Grim Reaper began. Unfortunately, that is the only interesting story that is fully told in this rocky turn at comicbook-becomes-reality.The film's quality is low-budget (especially the banshee!), filmed at night and many of the scenes feel rushed. The acting is disjointed, with some actors being much better than others. Special effects suffer to the point that they can be laughable.Yet somehow you care enough to root for the hero, who you know will vanquish the evil Dante....who might just be the man who wrote about hell centuries ago. To be honest, I'd love to see this story as an animated series. I want to know more about each character's story, and that just doesn't happen in this choppy movie. I'll keep my eyes out for more from director/producer/co-writer Neil Oseman.