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Is this episode a trick? Or is it a treat? Listen and you decide. Happy Halloween from Horror Movie Weekly! In Episode 009, your late-night Horror hosts, Jay of the Dead, BillChete, and Lady Phantom, bring you another battle review of a UK Drama Crime Thriller Horror movie called Cruel Summer (2016). We also take a couple of minutes to talk about some of our favorite Halloween memories. Join us!
Note: This review contains mild spoilers for “Cruel Summer.”
On Horror Movie Weekly, your late-night Horror hosts Jay of the Dead, BillChete and Lady Phantom bring you one recent Horror movie review every Sunday. (We’re defining “recent” as any Horror movie released within the last five years.) And we always reveal next week’s pick at the end of every show, so you can watch along with us and be prepared for the following episode. Join us, and thanks for listening!
SHOW NOTES:
Introduction
— Jay: Sorry for slacking in the Comments
— Hosts’ favorite Halloween memories from yesteryear
– Jay of the Dead’s pick for this week: Cruel Summer (2016)
Cruel Summer (2016) — Genre Classification: Drama Crime Thriller Horror
Premise:
When a sociopathic high school bully is dumped by his girlfriend, he compels two of his ne’er-do-well, miscreant friends to hunt down and prey upon an autistic teen who is camping alone.
Written and directed by Phillip Escott and Craig Newman. Starring Richard Pawulski, Danny Miller, Natalie Martins and Reece Douglas. Not rated. Runtime: 1 hour, 20 min.
Ratings and Recommendations: Cruel Summer (2016)
Jay of the Dead = 8 ( Strong Rental )
BillChete = 1.5 ( Avoid )
Lady Phantom = 3.5 ( Avoid )
Next on Episode 010: Haunt (2019) — BillChete’s pick
Podcast artwork: Lady Phantom
Original podcast theme music: Jay of the Dead
Links for this episode:
Follow us on Twitter: @horror_weekly
Website: Horror Movie Weekly.com
Follow Lady Phantom on Twitter: @LadyPhantom74
Jay of the Dead’s film blog / solocast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
Jay’s HORROR-only content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
Pyles Digital Media Podcast Production Services: Email Natalie at HorrorMovieWeekly@gmail.com
First off this did happen guys!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1482027/Friends-murdered-boy-17-with-scythe.html
Its actually very accurate as far as the murder goes. The beginning 60 minutes is obviously made up.
Onto this review.
First off the acting isn’t awful. Specifically I volunteered with autistic children my whole life, and my cousin is high functioning autistic. While the actor seemed to be over doing it, the spectrum is wide for autism, and he did a decent rendition of a specific type. The girl was totally believable as a female with no self worth following a dirt bag trying to get him attention. I can TOTALLY see a girl with cheetah print leggings and big gold hoops doing this nonsense. The main villain is believable too. He sucks. The best acting was at the very end when the mom is in the car, and doesn’t say anything but you can see the worry in her face. However, its not FANTASTIC acting. The acting was as good as finding the best deal in a Wal-Mart.
The guy who didn’t want to commit the murder in the first place, I believe his name was Calvin, could have easily rocked the main villain in a fight, I mean come on he had 6 inches on the guy. The whole idea that these kids traveled all around the town just to randomly murder a defenseless person is just ridiculous as well.
The cinematography, score, and technical aspects of this film were horrendous. BillChete was totally right! The only part of this movie that was any type of emotion invoking was the very end with the parents, that just broke my heart. Other than that this movie did not need to be made, there plenty of mental health awareness, and bullying films that are bearable to watch and teach a good lesson.
This movie is barely a drama, and it is definitely not horror. I wasn’t surprised by the plot at all, however, I did read the real life event prior to the film so I guess it was spoiled. BUT we need to call this movie what it is, a poor rendition of a real life event that could be read in a newspaper article in two minutes rather than be drawn out for 80 on the tv.
2/10(Only because it was quick and I could sit through it) Watch it only if you are a big fan of a podcast and they are reviewing it that week.
PS. JAY HOW IS THIS MORE HORROR THAN THE KILLING OF THE SACRED DEER!? COME ON MAN lol!
Much love guys. Can’t wait for next week!
Per BillChete’s request acting scores:
Cheetah print hoop earrings girl- 6/10 (she just looks the part)
Nick – 8/10 (not his acting just his looks really fits the character)
Calvin – 5/10 (I did almost believe his acting. ALMOST)
Danny – (6/10 he did a good specific rendition)
Parents – (5/10 good facial expressions and subtle emotions horrible at speaking very monotone )
Thanks for the comments and the link, Dan! But if it did happen, I just don’t get the final “All characters are fictional blah blah” thing… very sloppy in my opinion. And thanks for letting us know about the acting of the autistic kid. As I mentioned on the podcast, I couldn’t tell if it was good or not, because I’m no authority on autism. The thing is that I just didn’t buy it. I pretty much agree with your thoughts in general.
Please keep listening and commenting!
Just read the article you linked. I wish they’d gone with the true story instead of making the changes they did. It might have been more entertaining. Lol!!
Exactly! I think they stated fictional characters because maybe they changed their names?
However, I think instead of a movie this should’ve been a 45 minute documentary, and called it a day. Because I mean. Sheesh. It was just not great.
Yeah… also, in that article it doesn’t sound like the kid attacked was autistic or anything. I really think that took from the picture. It was just a very sloppily made thing.
Good morning,
I went into this week’s movie with trepidation. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing this. Fortunately, I had such a good time watching The Lighthouse, that it made it tolerable. First off, Jay got it right on genre classification. It’s a drama/crime thriller/horror. It is based on specific events that took place in the UK as Dan as eluded to in his review above.
I was not put off by the performances in this film based on what they were doing and of course by the smallness of the film and budget. I did not see this as a bullying film. It is a film about three people who target and murder a mentally handicapped person. That is it. As far as the main antagonist bullying his friends, that’s just an excuse to me. They have their own agency and can make decisions for themselves, regardless if their “friend” is using his personality to “control” them. The characters were reprehensible. Things like this happen in our world because people are the scum of the earth. We do not need a film to depict this event. We know these things happen. I do not pay to see movies for this purpose. This movie has more value to criminal justice or law enforcement or even those in the mental healthcare industries, than it does for those who go to movies to be entertained. If these characters had been able to see a film like this, do you think it would have prevented their participation in their eventual crimes? Of course not. It’s a film without genuine purpose and isn’t effective even in it’s proposed purpose. It’s a 1/10 and an absolute avoid. Dr. Shock was 100% correct in his assessment. Jay, 8/10??? Sorry, it’s a terrible movie. People should not waste their time in seeing this.
I am excited for the next episode for Bill’s pick, Haunt. This movie debuted at this year’s Fright Fest, presented by Arrow Films. It has been on my 2019 horror list for a long time. Fortunately, I was able to see this movie a few weeks ago. It is highly entertaining. It successfully subverts haunted house tropes and gives you something you won’t be expecting. I gave it an 8/10 and a purchase recommendation. It still did not make my top 10 for this year. That is how deep of a field we are dealing with this year. which is a great problem to have.
This week we get Terminator Dark Fate, with Cameron producing. It looks like we get some stalk and slash sequences here, so that will be cool. Jay of the Dead once opined that The Terminator is a slasher film. That was awesome. I think about him targeting all the Sarah Conners and picking them off one-by-one. I think about Sarah’s roommate. He doesn’t kill her immediately. She is crawling towards the door and he waits for a few seconds before he kills her. That was sadistic. As a terminator, he should have shot her immediately. Yes, I think you can make a great argument that it is indeed a slasher. This new sequel should be a very fun watch.
Thanks everyone and have a great week!
Sean, as usual a pleasure to read your comments. I agree with you. Real life is way more grotesque than many movie plots.
I’m looking forward to the new Terminator movie. We’ll see how it turns out to be!
Great points Dan and Sean, Jay is definitely off his rocker on this movie I am still astounded by his rating and review, like I literally can’t believe his rating as I just re-listened to the episode.
This movie made for a great debate though glad you guys enjoyed it!
This episode proves that bill chete is my horror spirit animal. I’m sick of today’s drama films being titled horror movies. Today’s so called horror is mostly lame! Here’s a poem i wrote that explains how everything is & should be…Has crude language so be warned if you’re weak like today’s horror
Today’s horror isn’t really even horror at all. It’s all just some bullshit jump scares wrapped in some drama so you can save that baby stuff for your momma.
What happened to the serial killers. What happened to the gore and the chicks acting like whores when sex led to death until there was only one left. Where did the bad ass final girls go as the final ones today totally blow and yo shucks for your james wan spook show. Bring back the serial killers ya know the one’s chasing your sons and your daughter’s.
We need the horror world set on fire. Start showing the blood and the guts, the sex and the whores and the bad guys bursting through doors. Where the audience is left pissing on the floor.