We Summon the Darkness (2020) Review

 "I'm the Wrath of God."
-Pastor John Henry Butler



After a rock concert, a group of heavy metal fans have a party.  However, there have been a string of murders committed by a Satanic cult and not everyone at the party is who they say they are.

Heads up, I can't really talk about this movie without spoilers.  Very quickly, this movie sucks and I can't recommend it in the slightest.  It's an awful film so don't waste your time.  Spoilers ahead!


What Works:

This section will be brief.  The first act of the movie makes you wonder which group of rockers is the satanic cult.  It's pretty obvious that it's either the guys or the girls, but when the twist is revealed, it actually works.  They aren't actually Satanists, they are Christians trying to scare people into joining their faith by making it look like Satanists are killing people everywhere.  I wasn't expecting it and I liked it.

The only other positive I have is Alexandria Daddario who plays a very unhinged character.  It's fun seeing her in a role where she can go nuts and she does a great job at being crazy.


What Sucks:

For a horror movie, the kills suck.  I wanted this to be a wild gore-fest, especially with the subject matter involved, but no.  It's mostly just stabbing and shooting.  One person gets lit on fire, but it's CGI and looks terrible.  Another person gets hit by a car, but they cut away before we see anything.  If you're not going to have gore in your bonkers horror film, why even make it?

The characters are awful across the board.  The male characters are either obnoxious or boring and the girls are obviously tough to root for because they're psychotic.  That leaves Beverly (Amy Forsythe), our main protagonist.  She's not likable or interesting and spends the majority of the movie being annoyingly wishy-washy about everything.  They're all pretty insufferable.

Johnny Knoxville only has a handful of scenes as a fire-and-brimstone preacher and it's a waste.  This could have been a great character if they had let Knoxville dial it up to 11, but they kept him on a leash.  He could have been so much fun, but this movie refuses to be fun.

That's the problem overall.  This movie has a fun concept that could have been a blast to watch, but instead they don't do anything creative with it.  It's generic.  A movie about heavy metal Satanist murders and it's generic.  That's just not acceptable.

Finally, the characters are so frustratingly stupid and slow.  Our heroes spend half the movie hiding in the pantry while one of them bleeds out.  Just go!  Make a move!  It was aggravating to watch and unbelievable.  No real person would act the way they did and that ruins a movie for me.


Verdict:

I hated this movie for wasting a cool premise and Johnny Knoxville, having dull, unlikable, and stupid characters, and lackluster kills.  Alexandra Daddario does a good job and the reveal at the beginning of the second act are solid, but that is all this turd has to offer.

 2/10: Awful   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Argylle (2024) Review

Image
 "The human skull is shockingly brittle." -Aidan Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a very successful spy novelist.  She draws attention from the espionage community when plot points in her books come true.  When Elly is attacked on a train by a group of spies, she is rescued by another spy, Aidan (Sam Rockwell), who needs her help with his mission and to do that, she needs to write another chapter of her latest book. Spoilers Below.  Go ahead and read on because I don't recommend this movie, but either way, you've been warned. What Works: Argylle has a really fun premise that really works in the first half of the movie.  It's a fish-out-of-water, buddy-cop, spy movie, and it's a blast.  Watching Ellie predict where to go based on what the characters in her books would do is a lot of fun.  It's what the whole movie should have been. The opening sequence follows Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) on another dangerous mission as he pursues the villainous LaGrang
Read more

Top 10 Movies of 2023

Image
2023 is finally over and it's time for me to put my Top 10 list together.  2023 was definitely a weaker year for movies.  There were definitely some great movies, but there were also plenty of disappointing and bad movies as well.  I still managed to put together a great Top 10 with a couple of worthy contenders that just missed the cut.  Let's take a look! #10. They Cloned Tyrone They Cloned Tyrone is a wild and fun sci-fi tale that takes place in the hood.  A drug dealer, a pimp, and a prostitute discover a cloning conspiracy and the results are intelligent and hilarious.  This is a really smart and funny movie with some amazing performances across the board.  This was a movie that kept me guessing the whole way through.  What an absolute blast. #9. Renfield I'm guessing Renfield will be the most controversial entry on my list as I feel like I'm the only person who liked this movie.  I love the old Universal monster movies and the fact that we get a direct sequel, whi
Read more

Madame Web (2024) Review

Image
 "When you take on the responsibility, great power will come." -Santiago Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson), a New York paramedic, hits her head in an accident, which unlocks the ability to see glimpses of the future.  When she sees Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) attempting to murder three teenage girls, Cassie intervenes to save them.  As Cassie learns to understand her power, she also discovers the connection between her, the girls, and Ezekiel. What Works: I think the core idea at the center of this movie is a good one and has the potential to be interesting.  Cassie's superpowers are kinda lame.  It's not like they're going to help in a combat situation.  Ezekiel is basically evil Spider-Man.  He has legitimate powers and is a massive threat.  That's an interesting conflict.  How does someone with lackluster superpowers take on a supervillain.  It's a fun idea that I would like to see tried again with greater success.  What Sucks: This movie was embarrassing to
Read more