Read our editors' picks for the movies and shows we're watching in March, including "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," Boss Level, and Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Check out our gallery of the 2021 Golden Globe nominees in the leading and supporting acting categories, as the characters they so brilliantly played and in real life
Related lists from IMDb editors
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: We Summon the Darkness (2019)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Alexandra Daddario | ... | Alexis | |
| Keean Johnson | ... | Mark | |
| Maddie Hasson | ... | Val | |
| Amy Forsyth | ... | Beverly | |
| Logan Miller | ... | Kovacs | |
| Austin Swift | ... | Ivan | |
| Johnny Knoxville | ... | John Henry Butler | |
| Allison McAtee | ... | Susan | |
| Tanner Beard | ... | Sheriff Dembrowski | |
| Erik Athavale | ... | Religious Freak | |
| Stephanie Moroz | ... | Female Reporter | |
 |
Harry Nelken | ... | Crusty Cashier |
| Dennis Scullard | ... | Desperate Concert Goer | |
In the hot summer of 1988, against the backdrop of mass hysteria over satanic ritualistic homicides, the leather-clad metalhead, Alexis, and her best friends, Val and Beverly, embark on a road trip to a heavy-metal concert. But, there, a chance encounter with a trio of young hard rockers will pave the way for seduction, deceit, and murder, as nothing is what it appears to be. Now, blood stains the walls of Alexis' secluded mansion in the woods. Who shall live, and who shall die after summoning the darkness? Written by Nick Riganas
We Summon the Darkness is a partially fun, nonsensical throwback to 80s slasher flicks, albeit with a mild satanic twist. There's really no depth in the writing (by Alan Trezza) here and it's almost like director Marc Meyers fully acknowledges this. They intentionally play to its B-movie strengths (a.k.a cheap thrills) - a death-metal concert backdrop, a bunch of boys and girls who are up for the textbook definition of a good time, and a little (but quite predictable) twist in the tale. However, the film doesn't fully embrace its Grindhouse potential.
The film gives more screen-time to Daddario, Hasson, and Forsyth. Daddario scores in the latter parts while Hasson keeps the sass levels unchecked. The dudes (Austin Swift, Logan Miller, and Keean Johnson) are serviceable at best, while Knoxville (as Pastor Butler) feels miscast. The gore isn't really off-putting; it just adds to the kills. The off-the-hook comedy barely works too; there's an overall feel of a dumbed-down Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The weapons (one of the most important elements in slashers), used to elevate the shock value, are surprisingly the least memorable.