Summer's Moon

source: Summer's Moon

Moviecut—Summer's Moon

Obnoxious, foul-mouthed teen Summer (Ashley Greene) has a falling out with her drunken mother, runs away from home and hitches her way to a small town looking for the birth father she's never met. After getting caught shoplifting at a gas station, Summer escapes the police with help from a handsome young guy named Tom Hoxey (Peter Mooney). The two go to a bar and then hook up back at his place. The next morning when Summer attempts to leave, she's knocked out and wakes up chained in the basement. Turns out that Tom is a bit on the unhinged side and his favorite pastime is keeping unwilling girls prisoner in his downstairs "garden." Tom is aided by his lonely, miserable mama Gaia (Barbara Niven), who knows all about her son's little hobby but does nothing to help the victims. A little insane herself, Gaia is still a loving mother. Well actually, she's a little too loving if you catch my drift. Meanwhile, Darwin (Peter Michael Dillon) is snooping around town looking for his missing daughter Amber (Danielle Kind), who is also being held prisoner in the Hoxey home. Things take an even stranger turn when Tom's father and Gaia's husband Gant (Stephen McHattie) - a serial killer himself! - returns home for a visit. Though the premise is pretty ridiculous, it gets off to a rocky start and the whole thing comes off like an R-rated made-for-TV movie, it's fairly entertaining and has some pretty sick content. Most (not all) of the actors do a serviceable job. I was not very familiar with lead actress Greene, since you couldn't force me at gunpoint to sit through a TWILIGHT movie. She was highly abrasive (and thoroughly unlikable) the first half but seemed to do better as her character became more desperate. Mooney did a nice job as the unstable son and Niven and McHattie were both good as the psycho parents. The film is relatively low on gore, though there's some nudity provided by Cinthia Burke, playing a tough biker babe/garage mechanic here. The Canadian-born director also made three (very clever) HARRY KNUCKLES shorts and several other genre pictures I've yet to see: the memorably titled Troma release Jesus Christ VAMPIRE HUNTER (2001) and the H.G. Lewis-inspired horror-comedy SMASH CUT (2008).

Moderately disturbing thriller about a young hitchhiker(Ashley Green) seeking to find the father she has never known, running into mother and son psychos, who keep her chained in their basement. Anyone in the TWILIGHT series starring in a horror flick will be exploited by low budget filmmakers and distributors. This time around it's Ashley Green, in a more adult role, as a troubled girl who wishes to find her father, not knowing he's a serial killer named Gant(Stephen McHattie). Summer(Greene),while in the act of shoplifting food from a convenient store, is lent a ride by handsome Tom Hoxey(Peter Mooney). Tom sent the policeman, who caught Summer, in the opposite direction. Tom takes Summer to his home and the two have sex with mama Gaia(Barbara Niven)listening intently on the outside of his door. Tom decides Summer should "hang out" in his basement garden where he keeps other girls he kidnaps with Gaia unwilling to interfere in freeing those captured. Better still is the fact that Gant is Tom's father..yep, Tom and Summer are step brother and sister. So the family awaits Gant's return, as the dread builds. While McHattie is not in the film very long, his menacing presence when he does appear is quite palpable. You can just sense how Tom fears his daddy's arrival, growing fond of Summer, worried that she will be in danger(letting her go, though, is out of the question)when he comes home. Mooney and Niven are appropriately warped as the twisted mother and son who appear to the locals in their community as normal when they're anything but. Greene is pretty and vacuous as the tortured Summer, who, I believe, develops Stockholmes while kept prisoner in the Hoxeys' home, forced to do manual chores if granted freedom from her bonds..it does seem that, after a couple attempts to flee when loosened from her chains are disrupted, Summer becomes attached to Tom.

What a strange movie this is! Is it supposed to be some macabre humor? It seemed to take itself much too serious for that. As a thriller it didn't have enough suspense and the storyline just was too thin. And as a downright horror flick it didn't have enough scares or gore. So the net result was a non-distinct mix of everything and nothing. On the positive side I have to say that the acting was over-all fine. Maybe Ashley Greene didn't have to stretch her abilities, since she most of the time walks around as a traumatized zombie. But the parents were great, especially Stephen McHattie as the father is very convincing as an intimidating, self-assured but always good-humored psychopath. And Peter Mooney as the deranged son did a terrific job, his acting is a perfect mixture of boyish charm, innocence and hair-raising bursts of sudden violence and unpredictable behaviour. But then there were all these illogical things that kept amazing me. We're made to believe that the son habitually abducted girls to lock up and torture in the family basement. Why does he do this? And why does mother condone this rather quaint behaviour? It never gets explained. He does this for years and years? Didn't the police or anyone come and search for missing persons? Where did they ditch the bodies? What was the purpose of the "garden"? Did I miss some metaphor here? Or are the (numerous?) bodies buried there? The script never gives any clue. Suddenly the evil father shows up, he out of the blue relentlessly and without a single hesitation kills mother and son on the spot to claim the girl for himself. So what kept him from doing the same thing much earlier, I mean, he apparently made these visits frequently, and he must often have found a locked-up girl there that he fancied for himself. The ending was an anti-climax, to say the least. When evil daddy leaves the car to chat with an innocent by-standing woman (presumably to inflict some terrible harm on her), our heroine also leaves the car, stabs him in the back and he's dead. That's it, the end. Come-on now, couldn't they have done a little bit better than that!?! I know that many horror movies make the death of the villain/monster etc. a bit too elaborate, with countless miraculous resurrections before the final and most spectacular blow is given. But here everything ends with a dreadful puff. I want my money back!!

Some unadapted teen girl travels to some small town in search for her dad after she fought with her mom who told him that she had aborted the girl. Soon she meets what seems to be a normal young man. But the morning after she finds herself chained in the basement on a bed of dirt. Another half dead girl is sitting nearby and a bunch of skulls. He talks to her kindly, explaining that she's key to his garden and that loves his garden. Meanwhile the father of the other girl is just out of jail and looking for his daughter. As more people disappear things get complicated. But the highlight of the movie purports to be the return of the father of the young man, who isn't a whole lot better than his son. Note that this is not a horror movie really. It's all about the psychological torture of the girls. The guy spends what seems like hours chatting with the girl trying to make her feel at home. Yet, it's never horrific let alone entertaining to watch a villain talk non-stop with his victims. There is a bit of violence, a tiny bit of blood. What's mostly of a more out-there nature is the theme of this movie, the family relationships, it's all very adult stuff. The language is very filthy throughout the movie. But there's little violence, no gore, no nudity, nothing. It's all very dull.

After discovering that his mother had hidden her birth to her unknown father, Summer tempered teenager (Ashley Greene, Twilight) goes off to meet the mysterious man. His only clue is a letter battered containing the postmark of a little town called Massey. Once arrived in the rural community Summer meets a charming local handyman Hoxey named Tom (Peter Mooney Falcon Beach TV's). Then she goes to Tom's house, where he lives with his mother Gaia (Barbara Niven), for a night of casual sex. Here the film is supposed to start... What can I say? Absurd, no rhythm, situations that can not even be ridiculous, certainly not scary. Actors unable to be credible, but certainly not their fault, given the inconsistency of the script. But perhaps a bit 'more expressive would help... Dubbing in Italian, if possible, makes things even worse. An hour and a half of boredom and yawning. No suspense, no thrill. We already know who is who and what will happen. The first part is slow, then the second is slower. I wonder who found it interesting just how they did it. Maybe they felt asleep and dreamed another film.

How weird it can go, I had never heard of Stephen McHattie before. But a few weeks ago I popped into "pontypool" and now I see him playing again in this flick, and he did well and believable again. But I must say that Ashley Greene best known for the Twilight saga did well too. And by hereby the best is said of this flick. The acting is well but it's all so low on gore or the red stuff. I guess that Lee Demarbre (the director) did better with the black comedy "smash cut" then with this here. It could have been so much messier but sadly, most of the killings are off-screen. I even saw the steady-cam reflecting in a car. Just a flick to watch and unfortunately to forget.

The rebellious teenager Summer Matthews (Ashley Greene) finds that her mother has hidden that her unknown father is alive and she decides to seek him out. She hitchhikes to the small village called Massey with an old picture of her daddy expecting that someone might identify him. When she arrives in the community, she shoplifts a store but the local sheriff sees and chases her. However the handsome Tom Hoxey (Peter Mooney) helps her to flee and they date during the night. Then Tom brings her home, where he lives with his mother Gaia (Barbara Niven), and they have one night stand. On the next morning, when Summer is ready to go, she is abducted by Tom that discloses that he is not Mr. Nice Guy but the deranged son of a dysfunctional family. Summer is chained in Tom's garden with another "angel", Amber (Dani Kind), whose father Darwin (Peter Michael Dillon) has just left prison and believes that his daughter is missing. When Tom's father Gant (Stephen McNatty) learns about Summer, he heads back home. "Summer's Blood" is an underrated low-budget slash-movie with a predictable story that has some bold scenes of incest and an unexpected conclusion. I liked the story of a girl that decides to look for her missing father and finds a dysfunctional family of serial-killer. I am impressed how Ms. Barbara Niven is still a very beautiful and charming woman. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Maníacos" ("Maniacs")

Girl gets picked up by a nice young man. Ends up abducted and chained in his basement where she is given to join him and his killer family or well...you know the drill. Good cast and crew make something out of a well worn plot line. You've been here before, the question is do you want to go here again since the material isn't anything special, even if the performances are very good. This is one of the increasing number of movies that are taking well worn ideas, spicing them up with a great cast and then getting a weak script. It ends up wasting everyones time. I vote take a pass.