Movie Review – ‘Monster Summer’ is the Spooky Season start for the less spooky-inclined

In 1997, Summer has come to the island of Martha’s Vineyard, bringing with it ferries full of tourists and lots of juicy children. Noah (Mason Thames) is a townie and his mother runs a bed and breakfast that thrives on summer people. He has aspirations to be a writer like his late father, and he’s desperate to break into the local paper with hard-hitting Island news. After an incident with his best friend Ben (Noah Cottrell), Noah begins to connect the dots and he believes there’s a witch sucking the lives out of kids. It’s up to Noah and creepy Mr. Carruthers (Mel Gibson) to connect the dots and save what’s left of the Summer.  On an island full of young healthy children, anyone can be next.

I’ve been comparing Monster Summer to a PG-13 The Black Phone (2021). It’s not a stretch since Mason Thames was in The Black Phone as Finney and will appear in the 2025 sequel. He’s got a great retro look, so it makes sense to see him in movies with a backdated look, like 1978 for The Black Phone and 1997 for Monster Summer. Thames is also very good at carrying a film when his fellow young actors are very wobbly.

Sandlot league baseball, cool evening dips in the Sound, and random trespassing. Movies like this work best because this is the era of no cell phones. There are also several clever twists and turns that keep the story moving. It’s a 97-minute movie, and even though it has Mel Gibson playing a crusty belligerent neighbor with a reputation on the island for maybe murder.

It’s Mel Gibson so it’s not a stretch.

Lorraine Bracco plays sketchy Miss Halverson whose movements draw unnecessary attention.  Kevin James is undercover as the editor of the Island Gazette, completely uninterested in any stories that might disturb the Summer People.

Monster Summer works very hard to give the audience the hazy, wistful nostalgic past that none of us really remember and it succeeds. It’s warm weather and long bike rides and ducking out before the chores are finished. It’s also strangers, getting underfoot, and potentially being eaten by witches and ghouls.

While rated PG-13, this isn’t a film I’d recommend to take the littles to for a Saturday matinee, even if you wanted to impart the hard lesson of stranger danger. The third act gets a little rough in terms of kids in peril with kidnapping, blood, and some gunplay, but feel free to take a date who isn’t squeamish.

Monster Summer is a solid mid-grade film that I enjoyed way more than I thought I would. It’s not overly twee despite its young cast and it manages to connect the dots without resorting to logic leaps. It’s not hardcore horror but it’s a good film for those who want solid but thrilling scares for Spooky Season.

Monster Summer (2024) is rated PG-13 for mild swears, tame teen nighttime dips, kids in peril, explosions, blood, and people getting shot.