The best actors in Hollywood need to get that big role before their career can take off. No matter how good they are, until they find that role, they won't be a household name and are forced to take whatever roles they can get. Even megastars, like Chris Pratt got his start on a low rated CW drama, and did B-movies for a decade before he was cast as Star Lord, this is the position Keir Gilchrist finds himself in now. Gilchrist is an exceptional young actor, who always gives his best, but without that big role on his resume, he's forced to take jobs like this one. Dark Summer follows Daniel, (Gilchrist) a 17 year old who has recently been sentenced to house arrest for stalking a girl from his school. To make matters worse, his parents are away for the summer and Daniel is all alone. As boredom ware away at him mind, Daniel starts to see things and wonders if he's being punished for his crimes by some supernatural entity, or if he's just going insane from boredom. For much of this movie, the actor is bored, and if the actor is bored, what do you think the audience is feeling? Daniel's days are filled with monotonous discussions with friends, who sneak over, and of course investigations that turn up nothing. As for his nights, they are filled with a lot of jump scares and loud noises that again ultimately turn up nothing, as Dark Summer is just one of those films where nothing happens until the last twenty minutes, and by then, who really cares anymore? The bottom line, even a great actor couldn't save this film, it's your typical supernatural horror film, filled with a lot of jump scares, good looking people, and a whole lot of nothing else until the very end.

This Independent, Low-Budget Paranormal Picture has enough Visual Flourishes and Mystical Appeal to Overcome the somewhat Sluggish Pacing. A few Dabs of Gore are Intercut with a lot of Dialog About Possession and maybe a bit too Much Emphasis on Seances and Fighting Off the Haunting with Tutoring from the Internet.It is the On-Line "Guide for the Haunting" and how to get rid Of it that comes off as Sophomoric and frankly Boring. This goes on for much of the Middle. The Acting is OK and the Plot, while Ambiguous at times, is Trying Hard to be a bit Different.A modicum of Success is Achieved in this intriguing Happening, but Modern Horror Fans seem to want more Chills and Blood than this one is willing to offer. Not an Awful Film but Never Rises to its Goal of Producing a Teen-Oriented Midnight Movie with a Twist.Worth a Watch for Horror and Paranormal Movie Completest. It is somewhat Off-Beat but at the Same Time shows many a Meandering Scenes (the exorcising of the haunting by corny incantations being the Film's most glaring failing).

Daniel is 17 years old and a self-recognised creep. After hacking into a girl's on-line accounts she commits suicide in front of his eyes. This would be enough to freak anybody out, but it also lands him under house arrest, alone while his parents are away. The conditions include no on-line activity, period. And of course this edict is immediately ignored. He has a couple of friends who hook up with him, but the dead girl, Mona Wilson, returns to haunt him big time. Any suggestion this haunting is all in his head is dispelled by the exorcism the three hold in which supernatural happenings are on the menu. Now what? The two others investigate the apartment where Mona committed suicide, while Daniel stays put and does some research. This film ends very badly, and very suddenly, which is a pity because it promised a lot more, even though it was made with a small cast and an even smaller budget.

Oh my god what an annoying movie.Close ups. Close ups. Close ups. Slow camera panning, close up camera panning. So much fudging close up camera panning. Jesus Christ almighty. This is one seriously annoyingly shot movie. Dear director, or whoever decided to have all shots, (except three, as I can remember) being zoomed in close up shots: Having close up shots of the actors, the 'action', the walking, the talking, the everything, does not make it good or interesting. For some shots, OK, but for every single god damn shot? I hope you never make a movie again. Seriously, someone should have punched him square in the mouth and said: You are not a good director, stop it with the close ups!!OK, on to the movie. There is a super skinny silent dude, a dopey eyed chick, and a.. black dude thats, well, he was alright. And there's Peter Stormare, he's kinda cool. There is some kind of plot, but damn it's slow. Slow and boring, and not interesting. There are some scenes that are supposed to be suspenseful and scary, but they are not. It is not scary at all. Not even slightly.And did I mention the close ups? And the camera panning the walls and the ceiling and the floor and the grass and the actors, and the everything ever? And the close ups? And the close ups? Close ups. Close. Ups.Movie is a waste of time. There is not fun here, at all.