Soultaker

Soultaker (1990)

Trapped in the Twilight Between Life and Death

Four teenagers are killed in a car accident. Two of the teenagers refuse to go with "The Grim Reaper" and a race between life and death ensues!

Date of release
1990-10-26
TMDB
2.8 / 10 (48)
Runtime
1h 34m
Genres
Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction
Director
Michael Rissi

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Mobile

Soultaker is a 1990 American fantasy horror film written by Vivian Schilling and directed by Michael Rissi. It stars Joe Estevez in the title role, alongside Schilling, Gregg Thomsen, Chuck Williams, Robert Z'Dar, and David "Shark" Fralick. The film follows a group of young adults who try to flee from the titular "Soultaker" when their souls are ejected from their bodies after a car accident. Inspired by discussions with Action International Pictures producer Eric Parkinson, the script was based on a real-life car accident which Schilling was involved in.

Production

Soultaker was written by Vivian Schilling, who was inspired to write the film after discussions with Action International Pictures producer Eric Parkinson. Schilling based her script on a real-life car accident that happened to her and a friend. The script was written in the span of four months. Actor Joe Estevez was asked to play the mayor, Grant McMillan, before being cast as the titular "Soultaker".

When I was 18, just out of high school, I went to a party with a girlfriend. A guy offered us a ride home, someone we thought we knew pretty well. He didn't look wasted or anything, but when we got in the car he started driving really crazy. We were going very fast and hit a tree; I was in the front seat and was literally buried in the dashboard. It was bad. For a moment as I was sitting there. I thought I was going to die.

Soultaker was shot in Mobile, Alabama, in five weeks with a budget of $250,000. In early 1989, 26-year-old Michael Rissi was hired to direct the film after the previous director left the project. Soultaker was his first main feature; he had previously directed the 1987 short film Snake Eyes, part of the anthology movie Terror Eyes Eric Parkinson and Vivian Schilling were involved with.

Problems mounted during production. During the filming of the car-crash scene, the car could not be started, causing the loss of a half-day's production. In an interview with Femme Fatales, Vivian Schilling noted that almost a third of the script had to be re-written because of time and money constraints. Schilling later wrote an article for the magazine about a scene added by investors and the film crew, in which she was asked to appear naked.

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