We Summon the Darkness

It's the late 80s. Three young, attractive girls head to a rock concert and meet a few seemingly harmless metalheads. After playing a drinking game of "never have I ever ...", the evening doesn't quite go to plan ...

It has elements of Red State and 68 Kill but probably not quite as good as either movie. It is, however, well written and acted and the characters are likeable and interesting, so I found myself enjoying it throughout. It doesn't get too dark; the mood remains tense but hardly nerve-shredding and the gory scenes are in-keeping with the general vibe, ie. it's not gross-out horror.

The ending is perhaps a bit less well-coordinated than the rest of the movie but reasonably decent all the same.

It's a good light-horror popcorn flick with tension and laughs in the right places and will probably prove popular.

Only thing 80's about this movie was Jolt soda and the old Twinkie boxes. That was literally it. The wardrobe was terrible. The cast looked like modern day posers. I liked some of the actors it's just too bad the story sucked. Especially the ending. The film had a lot of potential. Too bad it ended up the way it did. 5 stars

Definitely NOT set in 1988!! Which irritates the hell out of me...don't give a year if you can't get the costuming & props correct! Johnny Knoxville as a pastor?!! Ya, that's believable. Decent B-movie horror

We Summon the Darkness is a partially fun, nonsensical throwback to 80s slasher flicks, albeit with a mild satanic twist. There's really no depth in the writing (by Alan Trezza) here and it's almost like director Marc Meyers fully acknowledges this. They intentionally play to its B-movie strengths (a.k.a cheap thrills) - a death-metal concert backdrop, a bunch of boys and girls who are up for the textbook definition of a good time, and a little (but quite predictable) twist in the tale. However, the film doesn't fully embrace its Grindhouse potential.

The film gives more screen-time to Daddario, Hasson, and Forsyth. Daddario scores in the latter parts while Hasson keeps the sass levels unchecked. The dudes (Austin Swift, Logan Miller, and Keean Johnson) are serviceable at best, while Knoxville (as Pastor Butler) feels miscast. The gore isn't really off-putting; it just adds to the kills. The off-the-hook comedy barely works too; there's an overall feel of a dumbed-down Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The weapons (one of the most important elements in slashers), used to elevate the shock value, are surprisingly the least memorable.

Once again, a terrible plot, worse acting, and seriously bad, over-the-top, trying-too-hard '80s references. Scant, terrible soundtrack. Too much forced, obvious use of Hot Topic T-shirts...

This film was apparently made by people who didn't live in the 1980s, have bad memories of the '80s, or weren't in the "cool kid" club, then.

Dear Everyone trying to reproduce the 1980s:

Just stop it, already. You're ridiculous.