We Summon the Darkness

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

Was all right, entertaining. Had a twist, Alexandra's acting was good, rest was ok. Johnny is Johnny, never disappoints. But Blondie's eyebrows were darker than the movie and they were thicker than the plot. Just saying.

Teen slasher with not enough slashing. Three teen girls meet three teen boys at a metal concert, and they take the party to a remote farm-house. Meanwhile, there are news stories about satanic murders being blamed on cults. Pretty straight forward plot. The twists that occur are very easy to see coming. Nothing was reinvented with this movie. Nothing clever occurs throughout, though there is some intermittent suspense. You know what is going to happen at every beat, but there are still one or two thrills as you get there. The production values are not bad, and at least it is shot well. But the dialogue is very poor, and much of the character interactions are not credible. The ending was also profoundly stupid. Overall, disappointing. I probably won't choose to see this again, but if it's on TV, I might not change the channel.

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.

Wow. I was genuinely surprised at how bad this movie was. I have seen other reviews crediting Alexandra Daddario's performance but I genuinely thought that was one of the worst parts. Without giving anything away, she over acts her heart out and made me cringe multiple times. This on top of a mediocre script, uninspiring plot, and uninteresting characters with no sort of backstory, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Stay away from this one unless you really have nothing better to do.