Summoning Sylvia

Summoning Sylvia is almost a really good movie... but it's just not quite enough comedy/horror to push it over the top.

There are some genuine laugh out loud moments throughout the film and overall, it certainly works well as a decent comedy. The "horror" aspects however are basically non-existant.

It really felt like the film would have been boosted even more if there was a little (or maybe even a lot) of extra emphasis on the supernatural threat. The characters never feel like they're in any jeopardy at all.

The cast was overall really great imo as well.

It's too bad, but it seems destined to become a film you'll see and forget about, instead of joining the list of great horror comedies.

Getting together for a bachelor party weekend, a group of friends hopes to have a wild last weekend at a lavish remote mansion, but while the group partakes in their fun their absentminded decision to undertake a seance brings about a ghost that haunts the house and forces them to deal with it.

Overall, this was a rather fun and generally enjoyable effort. One of the finer points with this one is the rather fun setup that might not be all that original but manages to keep this one moving along quite nicely. The idea of the secret bachelor party weekend and getting everyone together for the trip is solid enough as this provides the opportunity to focus on the group and their relationships while still bringing about the weekend festivities ranging from joking around to choreographed routines and clandestine hookups. Even though none of this is all that creative beyond the idea of it being gay guys enjoying their friends' weekend and going through the motions of everything, it's good enough to give a great idea of who each of them is which also allows for a nice bit of comedy based on their interactions together. This carries over into the series of hauntings that emerge once they decide to conduct the seance and unleash the spirit. The atmosphere of the estate works quite nicely with the way it brings about the group's decision to summon the spirit and offers an enjoyable setup to the later antics when the hauntings start to occur. Keeping the kind of lighthearted tone that was established in the comedic build-up that sets everything going in the right direction toward the final half where the ghost's purpose is exposed to them during the seance that starts to bring about the wild attempts at figuring out how to stop the hauntings from taking place as the idea of what takes place here is quite fun giving this enough to like here. There are some issues here that hold this one back. The main issue with the film is the lack of genre thrills that take place in the first half of the film as it spends quite a lot of time on the interactions with the group of friends going through the business of the bachelor party with each other going around having fun, goofing around with their dress-ups, or having the secret hookups carry out behind everyone's backs which all play out in a comedic vibe before the seance takes place. This is all happening in the first half when that seance occurs so it takes a while to get to the horror elements and could be a slough to get through, especially at such a short length that this one has. As well, there's also the fact that the film's reliance on discussion more than anything else with its lighthearted attitude and lack of true genre content here might be off-putting which could all be enough to lower this one overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Mild Violence.

'Summoning Sylvia' is a very short movie (74 minutes) with a simple premise, so this is going to be a short review.

What's the movie about? About summoning Sylvia, off course! Larry is about to get married to Jamie, so his friends Nico, Reggie and Kevin throw him a bachelor party for the weekend at a haunted house. Story goes, years ago Sylvia killed her son Phillip and buried him on the grounds. Philip now haunts the property.

Further to the story, it is believed Sylvia killed her son because he was gay. I'm not going to ruin anything for you, so let's just say the film dishes up a few twists towards the end.

But let's not jump to the end yet. Nico decides to do a séance, joking that he would like to ask Sylvia what really happened. It's all fun and games for the friends until Jamie's brother Harrison uninvitedly shows up. Well, not entirely uninvited since Larry told Philip in a moment of panic it was ok for Harrison to join them. Oh, did I mention all the guys except Harrison is gay? This puts the guys in a bit of an awkward situation, resulting in funny moments.

But when Sylvia shows up, it's a different ball game altogether... I don't think I've ever seen a gay movie about a haunting. Uhm, or should that be a film about a haunting with gay characters? Well, however you look at it, this turned out to be very entertaining. I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the setting in the haunted house, and I enjoyed the 'over the top' moments. This was a very different kind of gay movie and I liked it.

I had written a whole different review and had to delete it. I watched this movie and it was a tad slow at one part and I fast forward. Then I watched again. I had rented it and had two days so I gave it a second watch and I have to say this. Hysterical.

The sets, the acting, all better than I expected. I like that they brought the gay community mainstream, I like the commentary and its usage.

This is not a horror movie, unless your gay and then your just showing the truth of your existence and how scary it can be.

Obviously it does get a little slow at one point and seem kind of pointless but KEEP WATCHING! It does pick up! I just wish they would have been more clear that it was JUST comedy.

A silly little thing that all rightwing conservatives should view! Lol. I really thought this would be terrible, and it ain't art, but it was kind of fun in a nonsensical way with teachings about the rights and wrongs on how to deal with gay people, though in this case they are less gay and more like the queens of yesteryear. It is also, incredibly, eventually about acceptance all in 74 minutes! This is a film in which Michael Urie is ultimately the most masculine of the bunch and for those who know who he is, this will come as a surprise. Simple tale of four very gay guys renting a haunted cabin and having an unexpected straight man join the party. Some laughs, but mostly just silly.