Horror

Final Summer

Swede Films

United States of America

English

Thom Mathews

Bishop Stevens

Carl Bailey

Jenna Kohn

Nora Yates

Charlie Bauer

Jace Jamison

Charlee Amacher

Kimmy Schofield

Myles Valentine

Farbota Lynn

Rico Whitehead

Fabian Guerrero

John Isberg

Garenne Bigby

Al Fleener

Thomas Garza

Adam Moyer

Robert Patrick Stern

Jeff Schroeder

Charlie Kessler

Rostislav Vaynshtok

Kevin Lau

Gareth 'Slasher Trash' Morgan

Heather Harlow

**_Good production values; dreadfully dull storytelling_**

On the final night of their employment in the sticks of Illinois, several camp counselors are assaulted by a masked man with an axe.  

"Final Summer" (2023) is a proficiently-made Indie slasher in the tradition of the first two “Friday the 13th” flicks from over four decades earlier. The sylvan cinematography is great, there’s an effective air of creepiness with a full moon and fog, plus the diverse actors are convincing. Unfortunately, the director/writer failed in one of the most important areas—an interesting or, at least, entertaining script. It doesn’t help that the females are subpar (and I’m not talkin’ ’bout nudity or sleaze).

It’s like he said, “Beautiful women? We don’t need no stinkin’ beautiful women.” I can accept that, but at least make the story compelling with fleshed-out characters. The contemporaneous "Totally Killer" is a fine example of a modern slasher that’s entertaining. "Silent Retreat" (2016) is a good sample of a no-budget production that’s a watchable slasher with the requisite staples. “Crazy Lake” and “The Lake on Clinton Road” are two other relatively recent examples.

So “Final Summer” is an interesting study: It’s got practically everything for an effective traditional slasher, but drops the ball with boring storytelling, uninteresting characters and subpar females.

The film runs 1 hours, 22 minutes, and was shot at Camp Robert Drake, which is just southeast of Oakwood in east-central Illinois, a dozen miles from the border of Indiana. The flashback scenes were done in Champaign, which is 25 miles west of there.

GRADE: D+

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Final Summer

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Cast

Thom Mathews

Bishop Stevens

Carl Bailey

Jenna Kohn

Nora Yates

Charlie Bauer

Jace Jamison

Charlee Amacher

Kimmy Schofield

Myles Valentine

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