Solstice Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
A young girl uncovers a disturbing secret about her twin sister, who committed suicide just a few months before.
| Elisabeth Harnois | Megan/Sofie |
| Shawn Ashmore | Christian |
| Tyler Hoechlin | Nick |
| Amanda Seyfried | Zoe |
| Matt O'Leary | Mark |
| Hilarie Burton | Alicia |
| R. Lee Ermey | Leonard |
| Jenna Hildebrand | Malin |
| Lyle Brocato | Partier |
| David Dahlgren | Mr. Thomsen |
| Jacob Hamil | Party Host |
| Cliff Johnson | Cemetary Visitor |
| Mark Krasnoff | Cop |
| Gary Michael Smith | Sheriff |
| Lisa Arnold | Mrs. Thomsen |
| Daniel Myrick |
5.70 out of 10 (341 votes)
Visitor Reviews
One of the best B - movies I've ever seen!
posted on 09 Jul 2009I must say I really enjoyed this movie,I thought the acting was really good and the story was good. But I wouldn't say that its a Horror movie you may jump a couple of times because you weren't ready for something to happen but its nothing "scary" in the sense that its a lot of gore or things that are often in horror movies I'd say its the music and the sound affects that does most of the so called "scare" but I would say its a really good thriller! I also like it because the movie didn't die of in part of the movie like it does in many movies. its really consistent all through the movie, witch is important so you don't get bored or sit and wait for something to happen. An overall good thriller well worth watching! Its a 7/10 for me.
Solstice original or just another remake?
posted on 20 May 2009I'm very surprised that it's NOT mentioned that Solstice is a remake of "Midsommer"(a Norwegian/Swedish, horror/drama/thriller, from 2003) I've seen both movies and the plot is almost identical. Of course the details is somewhat different, but overall, it is most definitely the same story. The Norwegian/Swedish story (being the original), IS better (also it made the theaters). Solstice offered no surprises and parts of the story was really to convenient (thinking specially of one of the characters, if you see the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about). If you haven't seen "Midsommer", then I recommend you to see it first (if you can) before "Solstice".
Surprisingly Good
posted on 14 Apr 2009Six months after the suicide of her twin sister Sofie (Elisabeth Harnois), Megan (Elisabeth Harnois) still grieves her death and misses her beloved sister. In the Saint John's Eve, Megan travels with her friends Christian (Shawn Ashmore), Zoe (Amanda Seyfried), Mark (Matt O'Leary) and Alicia (Hilarie Burton) to her family's house in Nowell Lake, Louisiana, to celebrate the summer solstice. While shopping supplies in a local store, Megan befriends the seller Nick (Tyler Hoechlin) and buys a magazine with an article about communication with the dead in the summer solstice, the time of year when there is the greatest length of daylight. While in her house, Megan is haunted by a spirit that she believes is Sofie trying to communicate with her. In her investigation, she suspects of the weird hick Leonard (R. Lee Ermey) and while snooping in his house, she finds the picture of the missing girl Malin (Jenna Hildebrand) and unravels a dark secret about the suicide of her sister.The low-budget "Solstice" was a great surprise with a consistent story, solid screenplay and good acting. The original story startles in many moments without gore, and the young team of gorgeous actresses and handsome actors has great performances. I was expecting to see another slasher teen horror movie and found a pleasant surprise. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): Not Available
Solstice is Boring
posted on 31 Mar 2009An adult would find this extremely boring, predictable and immature.If you are 15-17, you would probably enjoy this movie.I would not let anyone under 14 see this movie, because of sexual themes and some shock-value spooks. There is basically no gore, just a bleeding finger.Revenge from the grave is trite and unrealistic and it was done very poorly in this movie. The shove-it-all-down-your-throat ending was expected and not appreciated.I can't say I cared if any of the characters lived or died, they were all irritating and unintelligent.A generous 4 stars is all I can muster.
Not a bad teen chiller
posted on 19 Feb 2009I don't really understand why this is a direct-to-video flick, as it had high production quality, familiar faces from TV, and a plot straight out of a Christopher Pike or R.L. Stein book. (Do those guys still put out books? I'm dating myself, but I used to read that junk 15 years ago.) Anyway, it was fairly predictable and certainly not very scary, but benefited from the always-fantastic atmosphere of back-woods Louisiana. Seriously, I think all horror movies should be set in the swamps of Louisiana. Much like Skeleton Key and Venom, Solstice probably gets a whole extra star for location alone.The "teens" were all easy on the eyes (most of the actors are in their late twenties, but whatever) and performances were adequate at worst.I'd give Solstice a 6 out of 10, considering it a teen chiller as opposed to a real horror movie.
A Pretty Average Thriller Of No Great Note
posted on 10 Jan 2009We have here another thriller in which a bunch of young people head out into the middle of nowhere and find themselves stuck in a "scary" situation. What I will say in favour of this movie is that at least it avoided the cliché of having some type of cannibalistic mass murderer out to get them (a cliché that was actually mentioned by one of the characters when they met up with the creepy old guy from the other side of the lake.) In this case, we have young Megan, still tormented by the suicide of her twin sister six months before, heading off with a bunch of her friends on their annual trip to celebrate the summer solstice in the Bayou of Louisiana. Why they do this wasn't entirely clear to me, except that Megan's mom is some sort of anthropologist or something who specializes in culture and so apparently they celebrate every holiday known to humanity (which is a pretty nice gig if you can get it!) Once they're in the Bayou, Megan starts to have visions which she thinks are of her sister, and she discovers in a magazine (quite conveniently) that the summer solstice is the perfect time to contact the dead. She also conveniently runs into a local hunk of a grocery store clerk who happens to know how to contact the dead because his grandmother was involved in voodoo. I'm not kidding.Now, as truly silly as that all seems, I have to say that, while it's full of mostly forgettable (although not bad) performances, this movie isn't terrible. There's a pretty decent buildup of the intrigue and suspense until the final secret which finally connects both Megan's visions and the creepy old guy is revealed, but you do have to get through a lot of pretty cliché type situations to get there. As a timewaster this isn't bad, but if you want a really good thriller, this is not going to satisfy at all. 5/10
For fans of the Half Blood Prince
posted on 13 Dec 2008All ye fans of the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, rejoice! They made another movie for you. Yay! You fans can add this to your quota of 8+ ratings. Solstice is pretty much passable fare, and no wonder it hit the video circuit directly. Has all the elements but the story line has been cracked open so many times that you wonder why they are repeating it again. Teens in the woods and all that yarn. But then teens can be guiled easily, right? But then I was tricked too...tricked into watching it that is. The title Solstice is sooooo misleading, it makes you want to pick up the video up..so kudos to the maketing team, my hat's off to you guys....unfortunately for you guys, it isn't a McGonagall hat. 5/10.
Effective little thriller
posted on 12 Oct 2008This is an effective little thriller in that you never truly know what has happened until the last 10 minutes of the movie.Megan, grieving over the death of her twin sister, visits the family summer home with a group of her friends, including her sister's ex-boyfriend. Haunted by the past, she has a series of visions. She is also creeped out by an old vagrant, played by R. Lee Ermy, who can't seem to get jobs playing psychotic Drill Sergeants anymore, so he's getting jobs as psychotic hillbillies.The movie drags in places, but it still very suspenseful, and the ending is pretty awesome.
I agree with the majority.
posted on 08 Oct 2008Watching Solstice is a bit like platting fog ! yes there is a storyline and maybe the writers are aiming at a student/ teen cult market, but I don't think this film quite hits it. It is like an old 70's / 80's movie. I don't think solstice will be cult or stand the test of time. I was not a big fan of Blair Witch but I could see the appeal and would give that a good rating. If they thought they would capture the same audience they may. Only once I think. Not being the first to slate this movie I feel confident that my opinion is valid. Solstice is weak. You really have to draw your imagination into wanting to be on the edge of your seat with this one. The actors are all good its just the poor movie.
Pretty entertaining
posted on 28 Sep 2008In 1999,The Blair Witch Project provoked a worldwide commotion because of its original (by that time) concept and for its minimalistic style.I liked that movie very much for being so innovative and for scaring me pretty much.After that,directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez seemed to have a brilliant future in the horror genre.But,it was not like that : they separated as a creative team and their following movies had a low-profile because they were made to the straight-to-DVD market and not many people know of their existence.By my point of view,their movies overcome the average of horror films made straight-to-DVD and,in spite of not being at the same level of The Blair Witch Project,I liked them pretty much.Now,we have Solstice,Myrick's most recent film and I also liked it pretty much.Solstice combines common clichés of different generations of ghosts movies pretty well,from the dark and Gothic atmosphere of Don't Look Now,to the ambiguous ghosts of the modern Asian horror cinema; fortunately,the movie uses that clichés with moderation and they are not used in an arbitrary way,but they are used as tools for telling an interesting and logic story,whose solid development and realistic characters lead to an unexpected ending which works very well.I also appreciated Myrick's restrained direction and the attractive cinematography.One of the few fails I found on this movie are the special effects because they do not produce too much impact.The cast is another good point from this movie,because everybody brings credible performances; I think the ones who mostly stand out are Elisabeth Harnois,Amanda Seyfried and the great R. Lee Ermey.Solstice is not a great movie and it's far away from it.But it brought me an interesting and very entertaining experience which concludes on a very satisfactory ending because it closes the story very well and it does not leave any plot holes or things without an explanation.In summary,Solstice is a very good horror film and I recommend it.
Solstice : A PG-13 Teenage Thriller
posted on 04 Sep 2008I first watched this movie when i bought it a couple of months back and i was excited to see that is rated PG-13, which told me that its not going to be a gore flick with a lot of horror violence, but a creepy teenage thriller. It is spooky and harrowing. Im a huge horror buff, but I occasionally like some non violent and supernatural flicks. Solstice featured a spooky story line and a great teenage cast, including Elisabeth Harnois(90210 and One Tree Hill), Shawn Ashmore(The Ruins), Hilarie Burton(One Tree Hill and The Secret Life of Bees), Amanda Seyfried(Alpha Dog, Mean Girls and the Upcoming 2009 Teenage Horror Flick Jennifer's Body), Matt O'Leary(Death Sentence and 2009's Sorority Row) and Tyler Hoechlin(Grizzly Rage and 7th Heaven). This flick has all of the horror elements, like a group of friends celebrating at a house in the wilderness and then being terrorized by a masked killer, only this one has a supernatural twist to it. A group of close friends decide to spend the weekend at a friends family's home deep in the wilderness to celebrate their graduation, only to be caught up in a series of supernatural occurrences and an ancient voodoo ceremony, that places the friends in mortal danger. They must discover the dark secret that binds them together and the recent death of their friend. This movie terrified me and I definitely recommend it!!
Whilst it's a good film, it's one of the tamest "horror" movies I have seen in a long, long time...
posted on 08 Jun 2008I've just finished watching an early release of Solstice, and I have mixed feelings towards the film overall. I have been awaiting the movie for a while, and whilst I am thankful the overall movie is actually good - I can't help but feel disappointed at the same time. Perhaps I went in expecting a horror film? Because that is not what I got while watching Solstice. Solstice is one of the tamest horror films I have seen in a long, long time as a huge horror fan, and even "The Messengers" has more violence than this. That's saying something.The movie tells the story about Megan (Elisabeth Harnois) who heads away with her friends for the weekend after the suicide of her twin sister. However, Megan begins to receive disturbances which she believes to be caused by her deceased twin and sets out to uncover the truth. I like the plot, it's interesting and one of the reasons I watched the film.I'll start with the positives here, as this is a good film. The movie has a great range of actors who all deliver great performances. I was particularly impressed with Hilarie Burton, as she had a great, bitchy character to work with. R. Lee Ermey also has a cameo role, and while it could have been expanded - he is good, as expected. The movie also starts off pretty strong and the characters are likable, and the plot is interesting to watch. The only other movie released recently about female twins was "I Know Who Killed Me", so I had to see what Solstice had to offer.However, Solstice advertises itself as a horror movie, but quite frankly - it really isn't. Just because it has a plot involving a ghost doesn't mean it is a horror film, as this movie does not feel like a horror film apart from very few drops of blood and a few shots of a ghost. There is minimal violence in the film and minimal blood and gore, but I expected this because of the films rating. If you thought The Messengers, The Fog remake and many others were tame...wait until you see this! I mean, there was hardly any suspense or tension either. I hardly call a cars headlights going on and off suspenseful, do you? Maybe once - yes, but when they use these kind of things dozens of times in a row in this movie...it's like a "wtf" moment. This is probably when you'll realize that this is the most "horror" this movie has to offer...yet again, headlights turning on and off isn't exactly scary is it?!I just think Solstice ultimately suffered in the horror department. This is still supposed to be a horror movie, and it still needed the suspense, violence and more. It had literally nothing apart from a few ghostly images and a bit of violence near the end...and thats what disappointed me the most. I wouldn't classify this as a horror movie because it just doesn't feel like one. Even when the supposed "horror" comes, it takes a while and it's just really the lead female character being creeped out over and over again by cars, cuddly toys and nightmares. It more-or-less feels like a teen drama like "The OC" with some kind of "Halloween Special", or maybe even a Goosebumps episode. It's a good movie, but it needed more horror! a lot more actually!6/10
Double trouble on the bayou.
posted on 29 May 2008From the writer/director of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT Daniel Myrick, who spins a tale influenced by a Scandinavian thriller MIDSUMMER. SOLSTICE is a haunting yarn about a group of high school friends getting together for one last blow out before heading to college. Less than a year after losing her twin sister to suicide, Megan(Elisabeth Harnois)joins her friends on a trip to the family summer home on the Louisiana bayou. Things get real bizarre when Megan thinks she is being contacted by her sister from beyond the grave. A local hunk(Tyler Hoechlin)comes to dinner and teaches the group a Creole spell of the summer solstice. They actually try and raise Megan's sister from the dead...not without casualties. Flashbacks tend to disjoint the whole story and gets tiresome quickly. Also in the cast: Shawn Ashmore, Hilarie Burton, R. Lee Ermey and Matt O'Leary.
Awesome!
posted on 15 May 2008This is a very underrated story.... probably because it doesn't tell it's story with over-the-top tactics. But it is well worth watching, and the end is just such a surprise you feel really good about taking the time to watch it. Suspense, not over the top.... but lots of hidden secrets not revealed till the right time. The story is told in real time and flashbacks that build too the revelation of so many unanswered questions. All the actors are young and too me unknowns, but all did a very good job at player their character. If you see the word horror in any descriptions, believe me, there is no horror in this movie. What you see is not gore but bizarre things that happen. Catch the beginning the scene so you catch on quickly to who this story is about and how it affects the main character.
Good, but Not Perfect
posted on 11 May 2008Okay, so this movie went straight to DVD, which would have many people assuming that it can't be all that great, and while it wasn't the best horror movie I've ever seen it wasn't bad at all. Despite what I've read, it had really good pacing with a number of creepy scenes spread out in the movie enough to keep one interested and slightly creeped out. The acting really helps too and you can see all the inner conflicts of the two main characters as they struggle to come to terms with what they're dealing with. The only thing I didn't like was the way the climax of the movie ended. The rest of the climax is great, but the resolution...not what I would have done. All in all, this movie was worth watching and I'm glad I saw it.
Insipid, tepid and anemic
posted on 27 Apr 2008Well, those are the words that come to my mind when I think of Solstice.How many times before a story following that same sort of plot has been told ? Zillions! Why ghost stories only know how to tell one type of story: Mysterious things happen. A particular person start to see and feel odd things. Is it a message from the "other side"? Nobody believes anything this particular person says. Then in the end of the movie the whole thing becomes clear after one or two plot twists. The body of the wandering ghost is found and then she/he can rest in peace, and justice is made finally. Solstice has a nice production, but that is it. The story sucks. It is weak, deja-vu all over again.
Just another boring ghost movie
posted on 28 Mar 2008Well, Solstice gets a high-five for good casting, visuals, sound and overall atmosphere.Only problem is the story. It's the same type of ghost story a proper horror fan has seen a gazillion times. And it's a remake! Why? Also, at 87 minutes, this felt like hours. Bo-ring. There are red herrings, scary shadows, MTV-style flashbacks from the dead, and while it's all well done, it's all been done before. Thank you, but no.Myrick had a mediocre movie (Believers, also (V)) and a good one ruined by a terribly miscast main actor and a "gotcha-sucker!" ending (The Objective). At least here, justice was served and this went straight to DVD where it belongs.Eduardo Sanchez' "Altered", although more of a sci-fi horror hybrid on a low budget, is superior to all of the above mentioned films in my opinion. Here's hoping that Myrick (who has loads of talent) will make a proper great movie in the future.5/10
Stinks
posted on 20 Mar 2008A shockingly boring product, 'Solstice' is perhaps one of the earliest 'by-products' of the Writer's Strike of 2007-2008.When you rent a movie, your basest hope is to derive SOME pleasure from your money spent. 15 minutes pass, you're annoyed and nodding off at the same time, and you wonder if you should hit Fast-Forward or Eject.In this film, the characters lack anything resembling human interest. Their dialog contains zero references to 2008 society or culture. This script could have been written in 1980, or 1970 for that matter! It's a by-the-numbers dull-fest!Want to save a buck on sleeping pills? Watch "Solstice"!
Out in the marshlands, where the ghosts are restless
posted on 18 Mar 2008In these recent years we've seen so many horror films with one crazy plot twist after another and presenting us convoluted story lines and deranged denouements. So how surprised I was to discover that SOLSTICE manages to tell a ghostly mystery plot that is so basic and simple, it actually turned into a solid and engaging film. The mystery develops slow but steady. There's practically no shocks or gore, but the film didn't need all that. And there's only one twist featured within the film, but it's a good one. The mood and atmosphere are tense. The cinematography looks great. The swamp and woods settings are wonderful and creepy at the same time. Veteran actor R. Lee Ermey has a small role, but his character actually has weight. Young actress Elisabeth Harnois plays a double role (Megan has a twin sister Sophie who's suicide becomes the core of the mystery) and I'd really love to see more of her. Aside from being beautiful, she's also perfectly capable of carrying this film with her lead performance. I thoroughly enjoyed SOLSTICE because it's very effective without over-doing things. I even liked the ending, which for once does not include the whole cast being slaughtered at the end of the film or a crazy twist still killing off the protagonist unexpectedly. That would have been too easy and predictable. The way things come to a conclusion now, makes it a better film, separating itself from the obvious ones. To give you an idea, I thought SOLSTICE was better than recent films like THE MARSH (2006) and BENEATH (2007).
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Solstice (2008) has that professional quality in a mid range budget movie. But, its rated PG.
posted on 08 Aug 2009The plot is almost like that of What Lies Beneath, but played amongst teenagers. Very well made, the acting is authentic, characters are diverse and the plot doesn't give in till the end. The camera work and editing is very smooth, and not overdone, the sound effects as well. All in all you would enjoy this movie and worth your money.The down side for those thrill seekers and horror fans, is there is zero suspense, and no jolts, not even with the sound effects. It's more on the drama side. The Sixth Sense is far more scarier than this. And for those who likes skins, well, although all of the actors and actress are very good looking there is no part in the movie that could turn you on, RATED PG!