My Soul to Take (2010) Starring Max Thieriot, John Magaro, Denzel Whitaker, Zena Grey & Nick Lashaway Written & Directed by Wes Craven

However, it was a thrill ride with some disappointments.

The beginning started off with Craven intensity. The "Riverton Ripper" is all over the news in the small American town, whose exterior looked like it was in the Northeast. Anyway, Abel is putting together a rocking horse for his kids when suddenly his "multiple personalities" take over making him the Ripper and so naturally he begins killing his family, while talking to his psychiatrist. The psychiatrist catches on to what is happening and has the police called. The cops and EMTs arrive to Abel almost killing his daughter after all ready killing his pregnant wife. And this is where the beginning goes insane. Abel is shot dead by Detective Paterson, or was he? Paterson is then shot as well as an EMT stabbed in the neck to die, or did they?

At the same time this is happening, seven children are born at the hospital 2 months premature and the doctors and nurses can't figure out why. This is where the plot gets interesting, until it flashes "16 years later," on the screen.

The ambulance of where Abel crashed is now enshrined by the local teenagers and the Riverton seven, the kids that share their birthday along with "Ripper Day," a gruesome anniversary of what transpired for the serial killer known as the "Riverton Ripper."

The seven kids go through an annual ritual of pretending to call the Ripper from the river where he supposedly died, only to have one of the seven drive him back to where he came from in order for the rest of the towns folk to feel safe at night. Bug (Max Thieriot) is due for being the one who drives back to Ripper. The ritual gets under way and the known fake costume of the Ripper arrives only to have the whole thing interrupted by Detective Paterson, yes he survived the beginning.

With the fake ritual interrupted Bug as well as the fellow seven believe that the Ripper is now out of the bag and ready to wreak havoc. This is where the movie goes sadly.

The characters of the seven are the horror version of the "Breakfast Club." There is the jock Brandon (Nick Lashaway), the blonde bombshell Brittany (Paulina Olszynski), two nerds or outsider types (Bug is on them) the other is Alex played by John Magaro, the overly religious who believes she talks with God, Penelope (Zena Grey), a blind black kid Jerome, played by Denzel Whitaker, and the Asian genius who made the Ripper costume, Jay (Jeremy Chu).

These are some of the most underwritten characters one could expect from Wes Craven. None of them really have an in-depth back-story like say in "Nightmare in Elm St." with Tina right before she was skinned on the wall turning Nancy into the lead character, or Krug's psycho's in "Last House on the Left." Instead we get each actor playing their specific clique role to the brink of being boring and non-exciting while being led around on a leash by a girl not part of the seven known as Fang (Emily Meade). Fang has Brandon punch Alex and Bug, Alex getting an "8" while Bug a"3" (it is the number of how hard they are suppose to be punched).

Due to the ripper not being put back to the river the seven start dropping like flies, but there is no huge build up to their deaths, they just start getting slashed, brutally in some cases, others you hardly see.

As it gets down to the final few, plot twists and new revelations come to light, like the fact that Bug and Fang are actually brother and sister, but that is the only surprise I will tell of.

What makes this film amazing for the hardcore horror fan is picking up on the elements from Craven's previous films. The not-so-hardcore-fan may feel this film flopped miserably and want to walk out of the theater or throw the DVD against the wall.

You can't please everyone but then again, I don't think Wes Craven cares for the not-so-hardcore-horror-fan. And for that we that do, salute you.