‘The ritual has begun’
The Summoning is a 2014 horror film about a group of college students on their way to “the party of the century” who get lost when their car breaks down, stranding them in the middle of nowhere. The group is chased through the forest, hunted for a satanic ritual…
The movie was written, directed and edited by Curtis Schultz (Happy Horror Days ‘New Year/Father Time segment).
The Let It Rain Productions-Make it Rain Productions movie stars Shanna Mclaughlin, Amy LoCicero (Cassadaga), Brian C. Chenworth (shorts: The Haunted House; ReRe-animated), Jordan Wall (Dead End), J. LaRose, John Kyle, Flavio Milicchio, Elaine Hoxie and Lainie Kates.
Our review:
You have to wonder what goes through the minds of people when making a film like The Summoning. Do they believe that they are creating some sort of edgy, powerful work of art that will have genre fans gasping in amazement and which will instantly propel them into the big time?
Or do they want to grind out something utterly generic, derivative and ploddingly slow, assuming that a title and video sleeve that makes it look like pretty much everything else will be enough to ensure a video deal and profitable sales to the sort of people who buy any old crap?
The Summoning is breathtakingly bad – an insult to everyone who watches it, as it piles on cliché after cliché, keeping costs down by having its cast of non-actors wander around in the dark woods, arguing with each other at length.
The film even goes out of its way to make these characters as unpleasant as possible – the two male leads are effectively set up as shallow, smug morons in the opening scenes, and yet we are expected to somehow sympathise with them instead of looking at our watches repeatedly and wondering why the damn thing has been on for almost an hour without anything really happening.
The ‘plot’ – if we can be indulgent enough to call it that – sees a bunch of college kids heading for a party, breaking down in the woods and then (after an eternity) coming across a murderous satanic cult who appear to be demonic beings. And that’s about it.
The exploitative promise of the cover and an opening scene involving a busty girl wearing nothing but underwear and blood proves to be little more than a tease, and the film can’t even deliver on the sex ‘n’ violence levels.
Written, directed and presumably enjoyed by Curtis Schultz, The Summoning is as bad as horror cinema gets – an insult to fans who have done nothing to deserve such a slap in the face.
David Flint, MOVIES & MANIA
Other reviews:
“There is no reason this film had to be as dull as it was. The people behind it clearly have some ability to shoot a decent-looking movie, and in the few instances where the script gives them the opportunity to do more than bicker about getting lost or Drew not getting a shot with one of the ladies, the cast shows glimpses of acting talent.” Horror Buzz
“The Summoning has the format you would recognise from countless movies and also tries to fit in as many horror cliches as possible, car broke down, no phone coverage etc. Thankfully comic relief is found in the character of Drew (played by Flavio Milicchio) who is definitely socially awkward but has the best lines in the whole film.” Horror Screams Video Vault
“The Summoning isn’t exactly treading new ground story-wise, and the characters are at times so obnoxious you wish them dead … but what the film’s perfect at is creating a maximum of tension out of rather sparing sets, it’s very well-paced with a focus on action, and it’s peppered with a few very nasty killings.” Search My Trash
Trailer:
Free to watch online on YouTube [1080p HD]:
Filming locations:
Orlando, Sanford and Winter Park, Florida
Notes:
Originally titled Into the Forest, this film should not be confused with the 2015 or 2017 films of the same name.
