The Summoned

Rating Breakdown: Story - 0.75 :: Direction - 1.00 :: Pacing - 0.50 :: Performances - 1.00 :: Entertainment - 1.00 TOTAL - 4.25/10

The good news and the bad news are the same: the story. Yuri Baranovsky weaves a mystery that intrigues and unsettles, but as the plot thickens, so does the film's self-importance. The deeper it goes, the more it revels in its own cleverness, and that smugness distances the audience from the suspense rather than drawing them in. Director Mark Meir clearly favours slow-burning tension, but this one burns so slowly it almost goes out. The pace drags when it should pulse, leaving the audience more likely to check the time than grip their seats.

The final act is where things pick up, finally injecting energy and clarity into the story. But by then, the sluggish pacing has already done its damage. The performances are a mixed bag-Frederick Stuart and J. Quinton Johnson bring a sense of authority, but the rest of the cast struggles to make the character-driven storytelling as engaging as it needs to be.

Is it worth watching? Perhaps, but only as a one-time curiosity rather than a film to recommend. You will need patience and possibly caffeine to get through the slower sections, but if you stick with it, there are moments of intrigue buried within the plodding pace.

The film starts off as a slow burn mystery. Or it tries to. Clues to what is actually going on are handed out way to frequently.

When the big reveal hits, it feels a bit rushed and heavy-handed.

All that being said though, there is a solid, enjoyable film here.

My biggest gripe was the music. Don't get me wrong, it's well written, well orchestrated and well produced, but the way it is used just seems dated. It seems to try too hard, to the point that many scenes seem to have too much music. It made me think of soundtracks to late 90s and early 2000s straight-to-video movies. The music was by no means bad, but just overplayed. It's like the film-makers had no faith in the shots to create the desired atmosphere and fell back on the music to do the job. It should be a shared responsibility.

I like horror movies and didn't really expect much, but was really happy with the story line. I was happy that it wasn't a rehash of a story I've already seen and the acting / directing was good despite my never having heard of any of them.

I think with a little effort it could have been much scarier though. It made me daydream of a Korean or Japanese version that could scare the pants off of people.

It would have been a lot scarier if they did a "Ghost Ship" ending where when you thought it was all over, you learn that it's just restarting fresh.

"The Summoned" promised a suspenseful horror, but the finale product is deeply disapointing. I feel like in some ways it tried to mimic "Get Out" and definitely didin't succeed. The story itself is quite messy because the main plot is basically only told (by the characters) and not shown. Because of that the story doesn't really come through and in the end you are left with asking yourself "what was this film actually about?". Most of the scenes are horror cliches and in my opinion some were too cheesy and even laughable. Overall I am sure I felt extremely bored watching it and I am going to forget this film very soon.

Saw this at Overlook and really wish I didn't. Terrible acting and a predictable story that's been told seven million times. Just an all-around cringe fest. Don't waste your time.