Cruel Summer

Normally, I don't believe it when others claim that the positive reviews for a movie were written by people involved with the movie. For this movie, however, it is blatantly obvious. Seriously, one of the actors from the film, Will Horton, even admits on his page that he is in the movie and claims his performance is a breakout "performance."

This movie plays like something you would expect to be put together by someone with a camcorder and his friends from high school. The production value is low but sometimes that could be overcome with a good script and good actors. Unfortunately, this movie has none of those things.

Avoid this really bad film.

One of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. The deaths were so over the top and ridiculous I couldn't stop laughing! The scene where the camera holds on the drunk guy in the car for several minutes was a perfect example of comedic timing. It was funny, then not funny, then hysterical! Also the plot was so absurd it was a perfect farce of old horror movies. It took every single horror trope and crammed it into the short runtime. The unnecessary nudity also commented on the absurd lengths directors will go to to sell tickets. It doesn't need to be in the movie and is way too long, but you can tell it was intentionally done. It's a perfect commentary on the pitfalls of budget filmmaking in the modern, exploitative world of cinema. Outside of all these intentional absurdities, the cast was legitimately good, and the practical effects were done really well. Those involved in these areas will certainly go on to do better things.

You know a film is horrible when the actors in it rate it a 10 and write a stellar review, comparing it to Devil's Rejects. How pathetic. So embarrassing, actually. Do not trust these 10 star reviews. Look at the history of the people reviewing it. That says a lot when this is the only thing they've ever reviewed. This thing stinks and you will do well to stay clear of it.

I grew up in the 80s and I love the slasher films from that decade.

This movie didn't disappoint. Great quality kills, cool story and back story, and great plot twist. No spoilers I promise.

I look forward to Cruel Summer 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on.

Trying to host a special party, a teen and her friends decide to hold a special 80s-themed party to help themselves prepare for their final year in school together, but when they try to carry out the party they find that a savage serial killer has crashed the party and must stop his rampage.

Overall, this was a rather enjoyable slasher throwback. One of the better elements here is the solid setup that puts this one completely in that realm of a genre throwback while still being a fun feature on its own. The wholly generic and familiar setup of the girl trying to throw a special party to celebrate their times together before school ends and getting caught up in the crosshairs of a vicious killer is a wholly worthwhile type of throwback feature in this scenario. The whole idea of the party taking place as a throwback 80s-style party with everyone dressing up, wearing clothing, and overall honoring the decade is a fantastic means of continuing that set up, and with everything furthered by the supposed prank and the naming of everyone involved it makes his work quite nicely. This works rather nicely with the strong series of stalking scenes here that come off rather nicely. Running the gamut from the familiar indie-style setups involving the killer taking out random strangers who are there solely for the body count such as the student on the road by his car, the stranded couple hitchhiking through the woods, or the nosey next-door neighbor that are based on the straightforward shock ambush feature that is countered nicely by the more impressive action scenes that occur once they start the game. This leads into the big finale where the truth about the killer is revealed and brings about some rather fun sequences where the chasing around the house leads into some fine brawls involving the threatening figures and remaining victims that have some great gore involved to have some positive points. There are some issues here that bring this one down overall. The main issue here is that this one spends so much time on the girls and their exploits at the house setting up for the party that it's hard to keep track of the rest of the cast at times. There's a real chance that the guys along with them are so interchangeable that they don't even register their names at points as you forget they're on the trip with everyone, making their panic at the disappearing bodies come off awkwardly with little context for why they would care. The other factor with this one is the inherently stupid final resolution of the killers which contradicts itself on several occasions, has way too many twists to keep track of in a short period, and rushes through everything so it just comes off as comical with how everything plays out, ending this on a sour note at the wrong moment to bring this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, and Brief Nudity.