PopHorror Let's Get Scared
What would you do if you were young, it was your summer break, and there was a killer on the loose and a curfew in effect? Would you let it ruin your summer? Or would you hang out with your friends and party anyway? This is the reality the protagonists of The Summer We Died find themselves living.
Synopsis
In the heat of the Nevada Summer, a group of twenty-somethings, caught between adolescence and adulthood, document their time together as they rebel against a mandated curfew to stay inside at night, a result of a serial killer taking victims in their town.
The Summer We Died was written and directed by Dillon Brown (The Flock). The film stars Amanda Morgan (Ghost), Grace Winters (Final Girl: Halloween), Hannah Welty, Megan Norton (If Tomorrow Never Comes), Zoogie Austin (The Ruck March), Michael Rock (Graveyard Shark), John Potash (Ghost), and Annie Lain (The Murder of the Monster).
The Summer We Died is the first film I’ve checked out from Writer/Director Dillon Brown and I was pretty impressed with it. The film makes the most of a very limited budget and gives us characters to sympathize with, we spend a good deal of time getting to know the characters, their struggles and their fears. Sometimes narration can getting annoying in films but it’s used well here, letting us know how characters are feeling at any given time, while also addressing the audience directly.
Amanda Morgan, Grace Winters and Hannah Welty do wonderful jobs as M, Darlin’ and Baby Girl, the film’s core trio. The script gives us enough material to make them likable and the actresses play their parts well and allow us to root for them, even if the characters tend to be reckless and irresponsible. The film is mostly portrayed from a feminine perspective, showing us the fears that women have to deal with on a daily basis. I really like the way the story played out and we basically stick with the core trio for the duration of the film. The film’s kill scenes were well executed and stylish and we got a couple of pretty brutal moments. There is a pretty brilliantly executed twist that changes the audience’s perspective of everything that came before.
Final Thoughts
The Summer We Died is a solid indie horror film with an excellent twist that makes the most of its limited budget. Highly recommended.
