Director: David Henrie
Cast: Mason Thames, Lorraine Bracco, Mel Gibson, Julian Lerner, Abby James Witherspoon, Noah Cottrell, Nora Zehetner, Patrick Renna
Screenplay: Bryan Schulz, Cornelius Uliano
97 mins. Rated PG-13.

Welcome to the 31 Days of Horror, a yearly series of movie reviews and horror-related items to celebrate the best month for horror fans. Last year was a rough year for my personal life, and I had to make the decision to end the series earlier than expected, but we’re coming back in a big way this year with great new stuff, so stay with me and thanks for joining along for the ride. We begin this year’s 31 Days of Horror with a new release, set to open this Friday…

Over the last 11 years, I’ve lamented the seeming end of family horror. I want to see more movies like Hocus Pocus and Ernest Scared Stupid again, movies I can recommend to the little terrors in my life. We’ve had instances in the past few years with Goosebumps, The House with a Clock in its Walls, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, but no film has felt so much like 90s family horror until new release Monster Summer, and it utterly captivated me.

Noah Reed (Mason Thames, The Black Phone), a journalist-in-training, wants to cover more serious adult stories than he’s being asked to by the owner of the local paper, but when several young people he knows are suddenly having personality changes, becoming blank and expressionless and losing so much of who they are. It’s obvious that something evil has arrived in their little island community. Noah teams up with retired detective Gene (Mel Gibson, Signs) to uncover the source of the calamity.

Monster Summer is the closest film I’ve seen in years to that familiar kind of family horror I’ve been missing. I’ve found that there is a belief that young people can’t handle some of the scarier elements of society, and I’ve always believed that an introduction to horror at a young age can really cultivate the ability to entrance and teach children to overcome their fears. I know it worked for me, and yet, we seemingly want to avoid challenging young minds. While family horror is too much for some, I believe Monster Summer has the perfect tone for youngsters looking to flex their inner horror hound, the kind of adventurous film with likable lead kids, one that features younger people in danger, knowing well that everything will work out in the end. Young people are resilient and capable of dealing with scary elements, and Monster Summer provides the right amount and intensity of its scares, including a great jump moment that got our entire theater.

Mason Thames is excellent in the lead role, proving that The Black Phone was not an outlier. He’s excellent at the believability that comes with more wild material. Director David Henrie (This is the Year) is able to highlight just how awkward and hormonal young people are, and the realism of the time in everyone’s life when they just go a little crazy and commendable and grounded, even within the film’s less-grounded story. Thames continues to stand out in a sea of young talent and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

I was surprised to see that Mel Gibson and Lorraine Bracco (Goodfellas) were not just names with one scene each just to get them on the poster, and Gibson in particular shines in the role of a retired detective who teams with Noah to uncover the nefarious plot. He delivers some of the film’s best lines (“I got socks older than you, son”) and chemistry with Thames really drive home the heart of the film. Gibson has always been a terrific actor, but his performance here works so well because he treats Noah like an equal, something that should work well with the younger viewing audience.

Now, the writing is at times a little on-the-nose and uninspired, with the screenwriting team of Bryan Schulz and Cornelius Uliano electing to use some unnecessary and unbelievable dialogue occasionally. For example, there’s a scene where Noah investigates a friend’s home after he spots a police presence, and he hears the mother mention that she wished he hadn’t been alone the night before, wording her dialogue in a way that could’ve only been directed to punish Noah for canceling plans, and obviously unaware that he’s hiding behind the cop car. It’s an occasional problem in a screenplay that mostly works at conveying its ideas, but it did take me out of the film when it happened.

Monster Summer may not have the best title (a lack of monsters, though supernatural happenings are in full force), and the screenplay could’ve used some more polishing, but I had a blast with this one, which more than exceeded my expectations and brought me hope for the future of horror directed at the younger audience. The film treats its young viewers with respect and kept this adult’s attention all the way through as well. As you and your family scope out your first horror movie of the spooky season, I highly recommend searching out Monster Summer for your fall watchlist. Happy haunting.

3.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe