Unfortunately, as I listened to the Audio Commentary, I was a bit shocked to hear that the original distributor of the film cut a lot of the humor out (and it’s still missing, BTW), so I can only imagine what the movie was initially like (the director, Thom Eberhardt, later directed the cult classic Night Of The Comet - which should give you an idea of what kind of humor we’re talking about here)!

Despite all that, though, the low-budget Sole Survivor (1983) is a captivating and well-made thriller.

Karla Davis (co-producer Caren L. Larkey), an aging, washed-up actress preparing to shoot a new coffee advertisement, violently wakes from a dream one night in which horrific plane crash leaves but one survivor: commercial producer Denise Watson.  Karla tries to get a call through to Denise to warn her not to fly, but the message doesn’t make its way to Denise since everyone thinks Karla’s loco and trying to kiss up to her new employer.

Alas, she flies.

Everyone else dies.

As Denise (Anita Skinner) copes with Survivor Syndrome, she finds herself watched by strange, lifeless-looking people and soon it becomes quite clear that Death doesn’t like to lose a game of chess.  Look, if you’ve seen Carnival Of Souls (the real Carnival Of Souls, not that “Wes Craven Presents” remake shit!), there’s a fifty-fifty chance you’re smart enough to figure out where this whole plot is going so why should I even bother explaining it to you?  I will add that this story is different from Souls and that it is definitely not a copycat film.

Now, if you want to talk about copycat, let’s talk about Final Destination (2000).  Some say “No… ”, others say “Oh, Hell, yes!”  Me?  I side with that latter group.  Granted, there are differences (much like there are when you compare Sole to Souls), but there are too many similarities for me to dismiss it as coincidence (that, and there’s that whole Hollywood has run out of ideas thing).  Code Red, the distributors of this movie on DVD, made damn sure to print “Before there was Final Destination, there was Sole Survivor” on the front and back of the cover (tacky, guys) in an obvious attempt to get the kids to buy it (and I wish you all the luck in the world trying to get kids to buy something that’s older than them).

That said, one of the many things I really have to give this movie credit for is it’s ingenious, low-budget way of depicting the accident (good thing there are air traffic controllers) - and is it just me, or does the crash site in Intacto remind anyone else of Karla’s flash-forward footage of the wreckage in this film?

Oh, BTW, Code Red: fire your prufe-reeder (I refer to your Ideas/Opinions Expressed in Interviews/Commentary disclaimer).

Presentation:
Well, it may have been nearly twenty years since I last saw the film, but I must say Code Red’s video presentation on Sole Survivor (1983) looks positively splendid!  The color levels look crisp and clear (the reds are red and the night footage is visible - always a step up from a Vestron Video print!) and the Mono Stereo sound comes through without a hitch.

No subs, sorry.

Extras:
Since Mr. Eberhardt and Ms. Skinner were both too busy (?) to come into the recording booth one day (or they weren’t offered enough money, one or the other), the Audio Commentary for Sole Survivor (1983) features co-star/co-producer Caren Larkey and co-producer Sal Romeo.  Moderated by film historian Jeff McKay and features guest director Jeff Burr (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III), this Commentary is a bit of a bore: most of it is Q&A from McKay and Burr with Larkey and Romeo usually responding with a long, drawn out “Ummm, I don’t know… ”.

Caren also provides an Introduction to the film and pairs up with Sal for an Interview (7:53).  Everything you see in the Interview can be heard in the Commentary.  Also included are a scratched-up, faded red band Trailer (1:50) complete with an extra added “creature” shot thrown in by the distributor, and five additional Trailers for upcoming Code Red releases: The Unseen, The Farmer, The Dead Pit, Silent Scream, and Human Experiments.  The reverse side of the DVD sleeve include some Liner Notes from author Stephen Thrower.

The Bottom Line:
Any movie featuring a coroner that is even more negative and pessimistic than I am is worth it.