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SUMMER'S END: THE LEGEND OF SAMHAIN
Produced by Michael DeFrancesco and Timothy Whitfield
Written, Edited, and Directed by Timohty WhitfieldSue - Sandra Goff
Jill - Spring Hill
Heather - Milissa LongIf director Timothy Whitfield is given professional-level assets, I'm sure he'll turn out some marketable horror product that many companies showcasing micro-budget entertainment would love to offer. The man wastes no time in getting down to basics, he starts right out delivering the boobs and bodies in SUMMER'S END: THE LEGEND OF SAMHAIN. I'm not sure if that type of attitude will allow a filmmaker to progress forward and climb the ladder to bigger productions. Outside of the 1980's approach to horror, SUMMER'S END offers little in the way of intellectual stimulation.
It's after the longer-than-necessary opening sequence that things really start to fall apart in SUMMER'S END. Thinly veiled backstory substitutes for true character development, and time-worn cliches stand in for plot. Viewers who can disassociate themselves from the need for such filmmaking basics will probably enjoy this one. After all, SUMMER'S END is a throwback to the days when horror didn't have to be anything more than a man in a mask.
That's not to say they isn't a great deal of promise with SUMMER'S END. Whitfield makes a strong effort to give his characters a sense of personality, the problem is he gives them all movie character personalities - you know, two-dimensional and fake. Actions are emotions are dictated for by the formula and not logic. I knock the formula all the time, but in truth I'm not opposed to it. By-the-numbers moviemaking can be good as long as a fresh spin is provided and the characters are interesting.
To Whitfield's credit he has one of the two. The concept for the slasher is an interesting one, he's a demon brought back from the dead whose controlled by one of the many students studying Halloween folklore that comprise the cast. The creature looks like a cross between a jack-o-lantern and Alice Cooper. I'm not sure if the mask he was wearing was supposed to be recognized as such, but it proves menacing enough.
The character controlling the demon is revealed just past the mid-point missing out on any suspense or intrigue that this mystery element might have provided. The set up and motivation is weak especially considering that this twist comes out of nowhere without a single clue and is revealed through exposition-laden dialogue.
About the same time as the true killer is discovered all the action converges at Sue's annual Halloween party. Through some dialogue early on we know that Sue holds this event rain or shine, and also that she hasn't gotten any sex since her boyfriend cheated on her with one of the returning partygoers. Whitfield never plays up the claustrophobic confines that the small house can provide or the tension of the two cat-girls in question. Making up for this, he provides some long-winded chat with the women sharing their emotions, and the bleach bottle, in the kitchen while the men speak their mind on a more herbal plain of consciousness. There could have been some humor in these scenes but that too is missed.
The movie ends like it starts off - boobs and blood, and it's those seedier elements that will sell copies. People have made careers off delivering exploitation, and as soon as Whitfield can delivery better exploitation he just might have a career. He shows promise with his first film, he just needs to learn to follow-up on things.