Cruel Summer (2016)

Load of rubbish!!

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Beautiful, moving film.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Based on a true story we pretty much know the ending from the opening plot spoiler teaser. Danny Evans (Richard Pawulski) is a likable autistic man who is going camping on his own. Meanwhile Nicholas (Danny Miller) a high testosterone individual, has been booted out by his girlfriend Lisa. He visits Julia (Natalie Martins) a hot looking friend who wants Nicholas, who doesn't want her. Julia informs Nicholas his virgin Lisa was no angel and had sex with Danny before him. Nicholas goes into a rage and wants to meet Danny, Julia succumbs. Danny enlists the help of Calvin (Reece Douglas) informing him that Danny is a "peed-o-phile" and needs to be punished vigilante style.From the opening spoiler clip, we know where this leads.This is your basic blood and torture film done slowly and only one guy and no women get their tops ripped off. Odd how real life is that way. Difficult to watch at times with some cringe worthy scenes, even though it doesn't actually show the penetration, just the swinging and results.Guide: F-word. No sex. Near male nudity.

I never write reviews but this film was so upsetting I had to. It is about three people who are all involved in killing an autistic boy. They are cruel to him and kill him. And that is it. No revenge, nothing. You are told what their sentences are but there is no court case, investigation, nothing. A complete waste of my time. I love horror films and have watched thousands but I literally felt sickened. Even if you have a strong stomach and don't mind torture films, don't bother with this. It is just sad and pointless.

Like another reviewer said, I suspect the producer's intention was a cash in on gratuitous violence, rather than exploring the story and making a commentary. I do not mind tragic movies, but this was not done right in my opinion. Inasmuch as it's based on a true story, this movie must be very hurtful for the relatives of the protagonist.Distasteful cinema and a missed opportunity. It just left me angered at the filmmakers as much as the evil characters depicted. The latter were too simplistically portrayed. None of the actors were actually bad though.

Although not really a Horror film exactly, the movie we a presented with is tragically horrific and harrowing, it is almost a horror movie. A film very similar in plot to the movie Eden Lake. It's essentially, a feature movie of one of those bullying videos that you've seen online, just taken to the extreme. Some minor spoilers a head The Bad - Some small logic issues. It felt like Julia just pulled Danny's name out of thin air. With no real reason why she decided to choose him, it was somewhat jarring. Secondly , we are told that Calvin has just moved to the area and we see him unpacking. So how exactly does he know Nick & Julia? - It has that annoying trope, where it plays a scene from towards the end of the movie at the beginning, then kinda goes back in time and shows you the events leading up. That type of thing is done in too many movies and TV nowadays and undercuts the story as you are waiting for events to lead to this - The acting by the guy who plays Danny's father is not as good as anyone else in the movie.The Good - Amazing acting, The guy who played Danny was great particularly in his line delivery. But the stand out actors for me were the 3 chav characters. Nicholas, a truly despicable human who you really do hate and portrayed realistically too. Credit it to the actor. Julia, a realistic portrayal of a girl who let her self get talked into things but also manipulates others too. Scenes where she has a painted smile to Danny's parents were very chilling. Calvin , the most layered character who you feel with the right push could get out of the mire and have a better life. - Directing, masterful. Ramping up the tension,making the escalating violence seem hard and real .Great camera work and great pacing. - Considering there isn't a lot of plot in this story you feel utterly engaged 8.5/10 We will have a video review on our Youtube channel ' GEEK LEGION OF DOOM ' if you care to watch it