User reviews

I would be interested to see what they could have pulled off with a bigger budget and a more seasoned director and cast. Not a terrible movie by any means, but as I said before, it just falls a little flat. The kills aren't particularly good, nor was there anything original. The story was very straight forward and basic until towards the end when there was a predictable "twist." Acting was not very good (not that I'm looking for Oscar caliber performances) I feel they could have done better. A movie like this could have been fine without much originality, but for me it failed to capture the atmosphere of an 80's or early 90's slasher.

I would have give a better review if the movie was so out of focus. I'm guessing the people who made this movie must have bought their camera from a yard sale that wasn't in a good condition. Or either the director has bad eye sights and doesn't realized the film is out of focus? Either way, they should have done better than that. However the movie itself was okay, some cheesy kills that isn't possible was there, lol! But overall it was okay and the camera view was bad out of focus so that's really will hit the ratings for sure as I only give 4 stars for it. I don't like to watch a movie that isn't very clear. They need to improve and learn from their mistakes not to use cheap cameras.

Taking place at Silverlake camp, it is about to close and be sold for development. The owner says she has had it in the family, and the first year there were a couple of deaths, and each year after there were 'accidents'. So she is selling as the camp isn't viable anymore. One of the camp counselors makes a Jason joke, so is this a homage or a parody movie? Regardless, it would have been greatly improved if all killings took place in the first 10 minutes of the film. The actors seem earnest in their roles, although most seem amateurs, and when face to face with the killer, they immediately decide to make the worst possible decision. Dumb and inept seems an appropriate description. Difficult to care who get killed. The most adult of the group is among the first killed. Very predictable and a waste of time.

Final Summer has been ridiculously praised as a tribute to Friday the 13th. This horrendous movie is merely a flat-out rip-off from that highly successful film franchise.

With its' simplistic dialogue and atrocious acting while witnessing buffoons as they wander aimlessly through the woods, Final Summer also compares to the cemetery scenes of Plan Nine from Outer Space.

Ed Wood at the least created an unintentionally hilarious good-bad movie. Far more than John Isberg had accomplished with Final Summer.

Of course, no lame slasher flick would be complete without the obligatory scenes of a masked maniac seemingly incapacitated and the intended victims running off instead of killing him. No surprise whatsoever when the maniac then arises, takes hold of his weapon which was conveniently lying next to him and easily continues his killing spree.

Call it a tribute if you wish, but Final Summer then manages an obvious variation to a storyline copied directly from the conclusion from Friday the 13th.

A quote from Oscar Wilde states, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" Final Summer however is a completely pointless and absurd fiasco.

This first film by John Isberg, is a good start but had conflictions in providing innovation or something fresh with 80s college teen slasher movies.

Considering its limitations of the story, it offers good night scenes, that are watchable which can be technically difficult to film. The actors deliver evotive reactions to the terror uleashed to them.

PTSD is a theme carried throughout the film, providing and giving some good dialogue. Its "final girl" trope is not strong, but her acting is good. Its chase scenes has suspense, but it lacks the tension provided with 80s slasher.

One interesting aspect that it was shot in rural Illinois's woods, has strong natural landscape locations. It one makes for a good start for Isberg, there is an interesting closing credits, hopefully to make more horror genre paths for this first directorial debut!

Final Summer looks and acts like an homage, this is clearly from the poster, plot, cast and soundtrack. If specifically to Friday, I couldn't really say, because one of the cheapest horror genre is campers the woods type.

So we have Friday, but also The Burning, Sleepaway Camp, Final Girls and so on, movies that act in a specific way, one that isn't replicated here. You see, nothing worked for Final Summer and you really can't blame it on the budget.

After movies like Blairwitch or Evil Dead, this kind of horror doesn't require a big budget, but inspiration and dedication.

The dialogue here is bad, the characters stereotypical and annoying, acting is quite sub par, killshots barely visible, no gore, no nudity, one very sad excuse for a twist and the absolute worst killer I've seen, being taken down many times by the others. Just, never finished. There is some sort of fighting choreography that looks silly and fake at the same type.

So yes, you can indeed notice the fact that the people involved in Final Summer really did their best, they had their heart in the right place, but even for a starter project, this fell flat. No impact.

Thus not recommandable, do skip it and try something else. Plenty of fish out there, leave this one be.

Cheers!

I know this was not easy to film so I will give it some credit...but it is definitely in my least favorite horror movies.

The Kills were horrible, barely showed them. Almost all of them were off screen.

I don't understand the random tree shots, they were there for no reason.

The acting... dont even get me started... There was barely any character development, and the acting was horrible.. def trying a little too hard.

And now the killer... He was literally Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees inbred little cousin...

My opinion doesnt run the world so yall do ya thing but...idk this is just my opinion.

I know camp counselors in horror movies are supposed to be down right stupid, but this one goes to extremes. I would give a zero in intelligence to these characters and the person who wrote the story. Let me add, most are such cowards that pity for the next victim. Plenty of chances to help each other, heck, but why bother, it doesn't occur to any there is strengh in numbers. Then there is a thing called closing doors, a concept too advanced for these brainless people. You would think that some would have at some time in the past watched a summer camp horror movie. Super predictable ending. What a waste of time.

After a devastating tragedy, the counselors at a summer camp in the woods try to put the accident behind them and get the campsite ready for a prospective new buyer, but when they realize that the camp legend of a masked killer stalking the area is try must try to stop him before they're all killed.

Overall, there's quite a lot to like here. One of the finer aspects with this one is the throwback attitude present with the old-school slasher films it's trying to emulate. The opening setup of the incidents at the camp that trace its legacy, starting with the campfire story to try to scare the new counselors while finding themselves under attack, the series of deaths that have to be revealed to parents, and the tragedy that the counselors have to get through for their own mental sanity, is a fantastic series of old-school starting points. It all provides the kind of backstory necessary to understand the motivations of everyone, the history of the location and the small bits involving the killer's presence that gives the film a great old-school feeling. As well, there's also quite a lot to like with the atmosphere generated with the whole setup. The backstory about the killer is a fine start and is used quite effectively to help inspire some cheesy startles with the group out in the woods searching for the missing kid during the woods at night that brings about the recurrence of previous traumas in their life preventing them from carrying on or the incidents around the woods making them think they're being watched using the suddenness of his appearances at night which bring about the gleaming mask and hulking axe. With the majority of the scenes taking place at a steady, measured tempo sneaking around quietly trying to make sure they don't alert him but still drawing attention to them anyway, there's a lot more suspense than expected here. This leads into the film's enjoyable stalking and slashing that employs some fine elements. Starting with the opening flashback that shows him taking out the camper trying to tell the campfire legend, this manages to provide some solid attack scenes with the striking look of the killer and their athleticism getting some fun moments. The appearance in front of the camp and attacking the counselors in front of everyone is a standout sequence, much like the ambush in the cabins or the various attacks around the camp as they try to get help that make it seem like there's more than one. As this twist gets explored rather nicely in the finale providing some fun chases and encounters around camp, they come together to give this a lot to like. There are some problems with this one that do slightly hold it down. The main issue here is the lack of interest this one manages to drive by providing the final girl with the trauma-based background it does. This whole setup is fine in theory with giving her something to overcome in addition to having to fight off the killer, but it really makes her bland and uninteresting for the most part and doesn't make her that endearing so the stakes for the finale aren't there as much as it should. With the convoluted backstory making it somewhat scattershot what's going on at times, this can also have that same kind of effect on things, which also ends up occurring with the overly familiar setup that's used here. These aren't bad and don't lower it much but do stand out here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Really don't understand all the really low ratings, but this movie isn't THAT bad! It's familiar feeling sure, classic summer camp killer movie, but it's still entertaining! Lower budget as it may be, everyone still did a great job with what they had. I've seen much, much, MUCH worse movies than this that were rated higher, so idk if people just be hating or what but come on lol. If you're like me and feel like you've seen just about every horror movie you could get your hands on, and haven't found anything else to watch, just check it out. It's predictable sure... the acting isn't all grade A or whatever.. and it's been done before. But if you let it, it'll entertain you enough. I'd say give it a go! I actually really enjoyed it. And I think there's some talent hidden in the cast.

If I had to guess what the budget for this movie is I think I would guess fifty cents. A swarm of "actors" who have no skills and a TERRIBLE script and no direction. One take per scene, and the script was probably written by a class of pre schoolers who have never seen a film. Given the average rating is 3/10, a whopping 30%.... Which would be a low F- if this were a school grade, I don't know what I was expecting but this isn't "so bad its good", its so bad that someone should be fined 500 million dollars, and possibly jailed too- for a minimum of fifty years. Maybe even the entire cast. I rarely want my time back from watching ANYTHING, but thats where we are.

On the final night of their employment in the sticks of Illinois, several camp counselors are assaulted by a masked man with an axe.

"Final Summer" (2023) is a proficiently-made Indie slasher in the tradition of the first two "Friday the 13th" flicks from over four decades earlier. The sylvan cinematography is great, there's an effective air of creepiness with a full moon and fog, plus the diverse actors are convincing. Unfortunately, the director/writer failed in one of the most important areas -- an interesting or, at least, entertaining script. It doesn't help that the females are subpar (and I'm not talkin' 'bout nudity or sleaze).

It's like he said, "Beautiful women? We don't need no stinkin' beautiful women." I can accept that, but at least make the story compelling with fleshed-out characters. The contemporaneous "Totally Killer" is a fine example of a modern slasher that's entertaining. "Silent Retreat" (2016) is a good sample of a no-budget production that's a watchable slasher with the requisite staples. "Crazy Lake" and "The Lake on Clinton Road" are two other relatively recent examples.

So "Final Summer" is an interesting study: It's got practically everything for an effective traditional slasher, but drops the ball with boring storytelling, uninteresting characters and subpar females.

The film runs 1 hours, 22 minutes, and was shot at Camp Robert Drake, which is just southeast of Oakwood in east-central Illinois, a dozen miles from the border of Indiana. The flashback scenes were done in Champaign, which is 25 miles west of there.

GRADE: D+

I'm no film historian, but I can roughly chart the style of the horror (slasher) movie genre throughout the last fifty years. In the seventies they were gritty and dark, being labelled 'video nasties.' Then the eighties made them mainstream and each one tried to 'one up' its competition. In some ways, the nineties were the final incarnation of the genre where films like 'Scream' parodied the original cliches associated with the genre. Now, some twenty years later, with everything being already done, what's left to do?

In 'Final Summer's' case, the answer is: go back to the beginning.

I'm not sure whether I like the fact that, despite being made in modern day, it tries it's best to emulate the slasher movies of the eighties (even though it's set, for the most part, in 1991). Doing this seems to have its pros and cons. For a start, the film-makers have managed to make an entry into the genre which if you shot it through a wormhole back to the eighties then they'd probably think it was made then. However, despite having over thirty years advantage on the genre, it would still be forgotten with all the others that tried to emulate the success of the 'greats' such as 'Friday 13th' and ultimately failed.

Yes, it's a slasher film. Yes, it's stripped down to the bare bones of what the genre was like back in the eighties. And, yes - sadly - it could get lost among the masses of similar movies made any time from the seventies to last week. It's about kids at a summer camp being stalked by a masked killer in the woods. All the cliches are there such as the overs3xed teens, incompetent police officers and stumbling through the woods when you could just run away.

Despite the film-makers intention being to try and make something that fitted more in back then than now, I think they've succeeded a little too well. Back in the eighties films like this didn't have much of a budget. And neither does this one. This means that it doesn't have the money for anything from an original mask for the killer (looked more like one of the ones from 'Halloween III: Season of the Witch' - and we all know how highly regarded that one is thought of!). But, more disappointingly, there's not much in the way of inventive kills or gore, let alone any characters you'll root for, let alone remember.

If this was the first of its kind ever made it would probably be remembered in the same league as 'Texas Chainsaw' and so on, but it's not. It's a love letter to a time where movies didn't have the money to do much other than run through dark woods. If you want to see that, it's not a terrible entry - it's just nothing we haven't already seen in the genre for the last fifty years.

I agree with everything previous critiques said. The plot is the biggest failure here, running neck and neck with the visual quality of the film.

I did not understand how "everyone knew who was responsible" when there wasn't any real backstory on the camp yet, other than "accidents" that plagued the camp for years. Which makes no sense, because even in the 70s & 80s, a camp THAT notorious would've been closed down easily.

Add to that the visual quality I mentioned, I don't know what that was about. Is he trying to make the actors look younger with a failed soft focus technique? Is he trying to make it look like a movie from the early 90s (which would've been shot on film and not on video)? If so, color correcting it to look like an older movie and adding noise and a film effect overlay might've gone a lot further and wouldn't have been super expensive.

Instead, we have a movie that looks like the director just discovered this thing called depth of field, and manhandled the technique throughout the feature. Instead of being interesting or helping the movie look old, it only serves to distract.

It's too bad, too, because low budget doesn't guarantee a bad movie. Lack of imagination and poor filming choices sure will, though.