Memories of a Murder

There was a revealing moment early in "Memories of a Murder" (a.k.a., "Souvenirs") when a package that arrived at the Morbid Curiosities shop run by young Gail Niven included a copy of Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment." The film itself was about that topic, and it strove to emulate the exceedingly dark tone of Dostoevsky's psychological novel. Unfortunately, the mechanics of the film kept exposing themselves as contrived and artificial without any genuine probing of the themes of crime and punishment. The best scene in the film was the visit of Gail to a prison where she met Garret Wayne Stubbs, a serial killer, who turns out to be her father. There was excellent tension and an eerie credibility in that scene. But the rest of the film was muddled and unconvincing, especially in the portrayal of Gail's eccentric and deeply troubled grandmother, Margot, and the character of Janice Roseland, the alleged detective from Traverse City. Nothing seemed to add up to reveal the essence of those characters who became the bane of Gail's life. The film never achieved a uniform style other than a quirkiness and overall unpleasantness. The weak denouement never even resolved the situation of Gail's status at the university. She was admitted, but will she ever attend and finally shut down the Morbid Curiosities shop?

Souvenirs manages so well what other psychological thriller nowadays hardly achieve. Tell an original story, let it develop slowly and take advantage of all the suspiciousness, uncertainty and dark chapters which arise. A small gem without massive effects, overly graphical violence or A-lister.

The movie is just terribly boring. The actors are bad, as is the script. The constant crying of the leading actress was annoying. The plot made no sense. How anyone can give a movie like this 10 stars is beyond me! 2/10.

There was a revealing moment early in "Memories of a Murder" (a.k.a., "Souvenirs") when a package that arrived at the Morbid Curiosities shop run by young Gail Niven included a copy of Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment." The film itself was about that topic, and it strove to emulate the exceedingly dark tone of Dostoevsky's psychological novel. Unfortunately, the mechanics of the film kept exposing themselves as contrived and artificial without any genuine probing of the themes of crime and punishment. The best scene in the film was the visit of Gail to a prison where she met Garret Wayne Stubbs, a serial killer, who turns out to be her father. There was excellent tension and an eerie credibility in that scene. But the rest of the film was muddled and unconvincing, especially in the portrayal of Gail's eccentric and deeply troubled grandmother, Margot, and the character of Janice Roseland, the alleged detective from Traverse City. Nothing seemed to add up to reveal the essence of those characters who became the bane of Gail's life. The film never achieved a uniform style other than a quirkiness and overall unpleasantness. The weak denouement never even resolved the situation of Gail's status at the university. She was admitted, but will she ever attend and finally shut down the Morbid Curiosities shop?

Mot at all what I was expecting. Not a horror movie but an engrossing psychological thriller with a strong cast of unknowns working from a well developed script. This deserves to be seen. It isn't perfect but it is a close to perfect as a low budget indie thriller gets. Highly recommended.

Decent flick with a pretty predictable ending if you pay attention. Over-acting runs rampant throughout, but is better than your typical Lifetime movies.

The entire movie is really intriguing from start to finish. The ending was really good and you're not left with any questions. The leads were perfect for their parts and were really enjoyable to watch.