Final Summer review.
Final Summer takes us back to a simpler time in slasher movies. For better and for worse.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Final Summer
Directed by John Isberg
Written by John Isberg
Starring Thom Mathews, Carl Bailey, Bishop Stevens, Nora Yates, Jenna Kohn, Jace Jamison, Charlee Amacher and Charlie Bauer
Final Summer Review
Final Summer sets itself in 1991…a notably dire moment in slasher film history. The Paramount Pictures era of Friday the 13th had ended. A Nightmare on Elm Street was circling the drain with Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Chucky was off to boot camp in Child’s Play 3. Michael Myers brief resurgence had hit a wall. Scream was five years away from relighting the genre with its meta-slasher-whodunnit formula. It’s worth noting that Final Summer chooses this period. Like the slasher genre in 1991…it’s lacking originality, ideas, and excitement.
It should be an easy win. The concept of staging a throwback to the era of the pure slasher movie…the kind that doesn’t wink at you while it stabs someone in the throat…is a good one. Unfortunately, Final Summer is unable to deliver the tension or over-the-top kills necessary to make it a fun one. It also fails to create engaging characters to follow or to enjoy watching meet a sudden end. That is to say…while Final Summer doesn’t make for a good movie in 2023…it does make for a fitting one in 1991.
The story begins with a flashback to 1986. A campfire tale setting up the lore of Final Summer. The legend of a groundskeeper Warren Copper is laid out in a scene that feels like a classic slasher movie staple. We get our first kill, and the killer gets his mask. It’s all quite economical in its storytelling and setting the world of the piece.
Flash forward to 1991 and there has been another death at Camp Silverlake. A slow first act introduces us to a cast of mostly unmemorable characters. Lexi (Jenna Kohn) serves as our lead…introduced to us in a traumatic state following the death. Lexi is one of Final Summer’s biggest problems. Through no fault of Kohn…she is given a character that is impossible to connect with. She’s a basket case most of the time. As the group is whittled down and she becomes the central focus…we are left untethered to her character. Sat watching from the sidelines as events unfold.
When fellow counselor Mike (Charlie Bauer) goes missing in the woods…our group of camp counselors head out to find him. Outside of some Lexi backstory…this setup comprises the entire plot of Final Summer. A reason to send victims into the woods…a slew of kills unleashed by the man in the mask. The movie does make some moves in the third act…but this basic premise is really all there is.
Strangely…for a movie that firmly holds to a simple throwback style…Final Summer drops a lot of meta-humor early in the proceedings. Jason Voorhees and his exploits at a different summer camp are referenced regarding the group’s current situation. It’s an odd choice. It posits that these characters have seen slasher movies. Unlike the people in Scream…they haven’t learned anything from them. Throwaway comments meant to elicit a smile are fine…but they feel out of place in a story shooting for as stripped down as this one.
Eventually the masked killer shows up and starts doing what masked killers do. It’s all very basic. The movie struggles to sustain tension and delivers a string of unmemorable kills. The killer himself does cut an intimidating presence…you just don’t care much about the people he’s taking out. Again…fitting for the period the movie is set in…but not the one it is being watched in.
The good news is that Final Summer delivers a worthwhile climax. There are some decent twists if you can power through the first hour or so. The story follows a fairly clever reveal with an even better one. The movie becomes fun just in time for the credits to roll. Had this been a 1991 release…the climax would have allowed it to stand out from the pack a bit. In 2023…it’s just a relief that something notable happened in the movie.
Final Summer would have fit right into its 1991 setting. Given the landscape of 1991 slasher movies…you can take that for what it’s worth. The flaws here are what they are…but there is a kind of nostalgic fun in watching it. Nostalgia for a time that was much, much worse…but nostalgia, nonetheless.
Scare Value
Final Summer sells itself as a throwback slasher movie…but it tries to have it both ways. It winks at the genre with some light meta-jokes even though it takes few original swings of its own. With a lead character that is hard to connect with, basic kills, and a lack of tension…there’s not a lot to like about the total package. Sometimes, though, you want to just turn off your brain and watch a simple series of murders in the woods.
2/5
Final Summer Links
Rent/Buy on VOD from Vudu and Amazon
