Summoning Sylvia

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.

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 perfectly fine campy film of a gay supernatural story. It has all the elements that are needed: haunted house, spooky backstory, believers, and enough confusion that no one really understands what is happening.

Then, the mistakes start. The shrill stereotypes that are indicative of "gay culture" dominate the film. And they are so strong that even the "straight" character has to become the epitome of a ignorant homophobe with all the inkling of being a violent repressed soul. Ho Hum.

I want representation and love the ideas of what this film is trying to do. I'm frustrated that representation of gay has to be a certain way: shrill, effeminate, queeny, and all leading to a drag performance.

Do they know that there is a full range of gay men out there? Is Adam Pauley on Happy Endings one of the few images of a gay man I can somewhat relate to because he's just a guy who likes men?

I had never heard about this 2023 horror comedy titled "Summoning Sylvia" prior to sitting down to watch it. So I didn't know what I was in for, aside from what I read in the synopsis, and for it being a horror comedy. But of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance.

And as it turned out, then writers and directors Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse put together a surprisingly enjoyable and entertaining script and storyline. The narrative in "Summoning Sylvia" was really well-written, and the two writers managed to juggle elements of traditional, classic horror with elements of good comedy. And the movie turned out to be quite a surprise. I have to admit that I was genuinely entertained throughout the 74 minutes that the movie ran for.

The laughs throughout the narrative are plenty and good. I was genuinely amused by the comedy in "Summoning Sylvia", so thumbs up to writers and directors Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse for that accomplishment.

And I really enjoyed the way that the narrative unfolds, keeping the audience in the dark and speculating as to what is really happening. The movie has some rather great and unforeseen twists to the storyline, which certainly helped to make it all the more enjoyable.

The character gallery in the movie was good as well, because the characters were nicely fleshed out, with different traits and personalities. And I have to say that the writers really aced it here, because the characters were very likable.

I was only familiar with actor Michael Urie on the cast list. But I will say that they had a great group of actors and actresses for the roles. The movie was really nicely carried by Travis Coles, Frankie Grande, Troy Iwata, Noah J. Ricketts and Nicholas Logan.

There was a good atmosphere throughout the course of the movie, which implemented both traditional horror and the comedy nicely into it. And the effects in the movie were fair enough, despite it not being a movie that was heavily dependent on special effects.

If you enjoy horror comedies, then "Summoning Sylvia" is certainly a movie that I warmly recommend. I was genuinely and wholeheartedly entertained throughout the entire movie.

My rating of "Summoning Sylvia" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

A gay bachelor party takes a turn for the awkward, when they accidentally summon the ghosts who reside in the haunted house they have rented for the night.

As it turns out the one ghost- Sylvia- killed her own son for being gay, before burying his body on the property.

And...to make matters worse...they have also invited the other groom's brother, who just so happens to be an ex-military, recovering alcoholic, that is rather homophobic...despite the fact that his brother is gay.

So, it doesn't help that someone forces alcohol on him, while the more antagonistic of the friend group trolls him about his homophobia.

Which, they believe, opens him up to be possessed by Sylvia- who they think still holds a grudge about her son's sexual persuasion.

Rendering her triggered, when the slutiest of the gay men has sex with his ghost.

Thus, they have no other choice than to restrain the brother, and undertake an exorcism.

So as to get Sylvia out of him.

Ultimately leading to a twist ending, and the feel good finale of the film.

On the whole, it is mainly a banter-based comedy.

So, if witty gay banter, between some super-flaming characters, isn't your thing...you are probably going to want to pass this one by.

But if you aren't so easily offended by the personal choices of other people.

Then you will almost certainly enjoy it.

Because it is chock full of humour.

Which I say as a CIS-hetero male that is definitely not the target market of the film.

Just realize that it is much more of a gay comedy, than it is a horror film.

So you don't leave with it failing to meet your expectations.

4 out of 10.