Review by Dayna Newman for Summer’s MoonRating:
Summers Moon previously titled Summer’s Blood..
The name was changed to cash in on the New Moon phenomenon seeing as Ashley Greene that played the Title character Summer also plays
Alice the psychic vampire in the Twilight Saga.
This movie was a total bore from start to finish..It kept leading you to believe that any minute something interesting was going to happen.
It never did.
The acting was sophomoric and the storyline was in an artistic coma~!
It was suppose to be a Horror/ Slasher film..The only thing that would make it into the category of that genre was They kept a couple of women locked in the basement and there was a scene where Summer was in a car and the person next to her got shot in the head and the make up people threw cranberries on her face “that was the big special effect”.The only thing positive I can say about it is that Stephen McHattie who starred as the killer in “:Death Valley” a 1982 slasher that has always been a favorite of mine was in the film as the twisted father.
Take this Slasher Diva’s advice and SKIP THIS MOVIE~! Avoid it at all costs “especially the cost of the DVD”..
TouchDown on 30 Jul 2010 at 3:58 pm #
Review by TouchDown for Summer’s MoonRating:
This movie could have been good, but the acting was SO bad I turned it off after 20 minutes (I can’t even believe I watched it that long) I was hoping something would change, the plot was a good, but COULD not even get into any of the characters. I don’t recommend this movie.
Kathy Reiss on 30 Jul 2010 at 4:02 pm #
Review by Kathy Reiss for Summer’s MoonRating:
summer’s moon is very refined, great plot and original. Moves at very good pace and ends with a flair. Not hard core blood bath type flick but has a plot or stoey line, can you inagine that in a horror film. very nicely done. We need more of these .
Sarah N. Dugger on 30 Jul 2010 at 4:03 pm #
Review by Sarah N. Dugger for Summer’s MoonRating:
I am a big fan of Ashley Greene, she is so beautiful. I didn’t expect much from this movie but was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the odd storyline, never done before to my knowledge. I was not a big fan of most of the dialogue, especially between “Summer” and “Tom” but overall it was an ok movie. I would recommend it to anyone who just likes to look at Ashley Greene or likes odd, low budget, B-rated scary movies. Just don’t expect too much and you will not be disappointed :}Summer’s Moon
Stephen B. O'Blenis on 30 Jul 2010 at 4:11 pm #
Review by Stephen B. O’Blenis for Summer’s MoonRating:
Summer’s Moon is a suspense horror movie that starts off with the hot-headed and rebellious young Summer (Ashley Greene, who plays Alice in the “Twilight” series) hitch-hiking to the small town of Massie to find the father she never knew. Well, she finds her blood relatives, but also finds a lot of trouble along the way, stumbling first upon a mentally unbalanced, twisted and incestuous family before later coming to meet her biological father.
The insane family isn’t in the vein of Leatherface and his clan in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, this is a perfectly normal-looking family at first glance, living in a clean, attractive home not far from town. It’s only when you discover the unsettling relationship between mother and son, and the human additions to the son’s ‘garden’ in the basement, that their true nature becomes apparant. And then things go from bad to worse when Daddy comes home.
Stephen McHattie plays the family patriarch, away from home for long periods of time on business and on other pursuits. McHattie, as Gant Hoxey, delivers one of the best and most subtly creepy performances as a psychopath that I’ve ever seen. As with Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, his effectiveness comes largely from the fact that much of the time there’s nothing in his demeanor to suggest the violence and horror we know that’s in there. There’s a scene of the character in a park, sitting on a bench and sipping a drink, looking perfectly friendly and non-threatening, looking around at the park, noticing the pretty girls around… But with what we’ve seen of the character previously, and knowing his less-than-friendly intentions, especially toward the pretty girls, the otherwise benign scene is incredibly intense and disturbing. The filmmakers take their time with this scene, as they do with a number of spots in the movie where the atmosphere is given time to grow and take on a really eerie feeling.
Ashley Greene also does a great job in this, and it’s great to see a bit more of her than inTwilight (Two-Disc Special Edition). The cast in general is good, and the production well-made. There are little nods to other movies the cast has made – Summer’s mother is named ‘Twila’ and in one part of the movie Summer’s even dressed very much like Bella from Twilight! In a bit more subtle homage, the small town is named Massie, the same as the surname of McHattie’s character Grant Massie in Pontypool (a criminally underseen gem, by the way).
There’s one angle in Summer’s Moon, very small and subtle, but it adds a whole new possible dimension to the movie. I’m hesitant on whether to mention it, and am going to put it after my usual spoiler warning.
****WARNING – POSSIBLE SEMI-SPOILERS AHEAD****
As I mentioned, the family house is very nice and clean. I don’t know exactly how to say this, because it’s probably better if noticed on one’s own (hence the spoiler warning) but it adds such a powerful question to the whole movie. Put bluntly, when Gant returns home, the number of flies in the house jumps way up. It’s nothing obvious, like in The Amityville Horror where you’d see a whole room swarming with them, but in various scenes in and out of the house, there’s discreetly a fly or two buzzing around in the background for a couple seconds when McHattie’s character is present or near. Nothing is commented on this within the movie, and it’s so subtle (not All his scenes have them, by any means) that in real life one may never notice it, but given the character and the un-nerving sense of creepiness coming off him (hidden under a very sociable, charismatic exterior), this whole angle has obvious and powerful implications.
****END SEMI-SPOILERS******
Summer’s Moon leaves you with an eerie feeling after the credits have finished rolling, and there are questions that are deliberately left unanswered. Sometimes it’s better not to go and spell everything out neatly in the last five minutes of the movie. This is one of those cases. Also known by the title “Summer’s Blood”, this is definately one to get.
Review by Dayna Newman for Summer’s Moon Rating:
Summers Moon previously titled Summer’s Blood..
The name was changed to cash in on the New Moon phenomenon seeing as Ashley Greene that played the Title character Summer also plays
Alice the psychic vampire in the Twilight Saga.
This movie was a total bore from start to finish..It kept leading you to believe that any minute something interesting was going to happen.
It never did.
The acting was sophomoric and the storyline was in an artistic coma~!
It was suppose to be a Horror/ Slasher film..The only thing that would make it into the category of that genre was They kept a couple of women locked in the basement and there was a scene where Summer was in a car and the person next to her got shot in the head and the make up people threw cranberries on her face “that was the big special effect”.The only thing positive I can say about it is that Stephen McHattie who starred as the killer in “:Death Valley” a 1982 slasher that has always been a favorite of mine was in the film as the twisted father.
Take this Slasher Diva’s advice and SKIP THIS MOVIE~! Avoid it at all costs “especially the cost of the DVD”..
Review by TouchDown for Summer’s Moon Rating:
This movie could have been good, but the acting was SO bad I turned it off after 20 minutes (I can’t even believe I watched it that long) I was hoping something would change, the plot was a good, but COULD not even get into any of the characters. I don’t recommend this movie.
Review by Kathy Reiss for Summer’s Moon Rating:
summer’s moon is very refined, great plot and original. Moves at very good pace and ends with a flair. Not hard core blood bath type flick but has a plot or stoey line, can you inagine that in a horror film. very nicely done. We need more of these .
Review by Sarah N. Dugger for Summer’s Moon Rating:
I am a big fan of Ashley Greene, she is so beautiful. I didn’t expect much from this movie but was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the odd storyline, never done before to my knowledge. I was not a big fan of most of the dialogue, especially between “Summer” and “Tom” but overall it was an ok movie. I would recommend it to anyone who just likes to look at Ashley Greene or likes odd, low budget, B-rated scary movies. Just don’t expect too much and you will not be disappointed :}Summer’s Moon
Review by Stephen B. O’Blenis for Summer’s Moon Rating:
Summer’s Moon is a suspense horror movie that starts off with the hot-headed and rebellious young Summer (Ashley Greene, who plays Alice in the “Twilight” series) hitch-hiking to the small town of Massie to find the father she never knew. Well, she finds her blood relatives, but also finds a lot of trouble along the way, stumbling first upon a mentally unbalanced, twisted and incestuous family before later coming to meet her biological father.
The insane family isn’t in the vein of Leatherface and his clan in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, this is a perfectly normal-looking family at first glance, living in a clean, attractive home not far from town. It’s only when you discover the unsettling relationship between mother and son, and the human additions to the son’s ‘garden’ in the basement, that their true nature becomes apparant. And then things go from bad to worse when Daddy comes home.
Stephen McHattie plays the family patriarch, away from home for long periods of time on business and on other pursuits. McHattie, as Gant Hoxey, delivers one of the best and most subtly creepy performances as a psychopath that I’ve ever seen. As with Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, his effectiveness comes largely from the fact that much of the time there’s nothing in his demeanor to suggest the violence and horror we know that’s in there. There’s a scene of the character in a park, sitting on a bench and sipping a drink, looking perfectly friendly and non-threatening, looking around at the park, noticing the pretty girls around… But with what we’ve seen of the character previously, and knowing his less-than-friendly intentions, especially toward the pretty girls, the otherwise benign scene is incredibly intense and disturbing. The filmmakers take their time with this scene, as they do with a number of spots in the movie where the atmosphere is given time to grow and take on a really eerie feeling.
Ashley Greene also does a great job in this, and it’s great to see a bit more of her than inTwilight (Two-Disc Special Edition). The cast in general is good, and the production well-made. There are little nods to other movies the cast has made – Summer’s mother is named ‘Twila’ and in one part of the movie Summer’s even dressed very much like Bella from Twilight! In a bit more subtle homage, the small town is named Massie, the same as the surname of McHattie’s character Grant Massie in Pontypool (a criminally underseen gem, by the way).
There’s one angle in Summer’s Moon, very small and subtle, but it adds a whole new possible dimension to the movie. I’m hesitant on whether to mention it, and am going to put it after my usual spoiler warning.
****WARNING – POSSIBLE SEMI-SPOILERS AHEAD****
As I mentioned, the family house is very nice and clean. I don’t know exactly how to say this, because it’s probably better if noticed on one’s own (hence the spoiler warning) but it adds such a powerful question to the whole movie. Put bluntly, when Gant returns home, the number of flies in the house jumps way up. It’s nothing obvious, like in The Amityville Horror where you’d see a whole room swarming with them, but in various scenes in and out of the house, there’s discreetly a fly or two buzzing around in the background for a couple seconds when McHattie’s character is present or near. Nothing is commented on this within the movie, and it’s so subtle (not All his scenes have them, by any means) that in real life one may never notice it, but given the character and the un-nerving sense of creepiness coming off him (hidden under a very sociable, charismatic exterior), this whole angle has obvious and powerful implications.
****END SEMI-SPOILERS******
Summer’s Moon leaves you with an eerie feeling after the credits have finished rolling, and there are questions that are deliberately left unanswered. Sometimes it’s better not to go and spell everything out neatly in the last five minutes of the movie. This is one of those cases. Also known by the title “Summer’s Blood”, this is definately one to get.