Title: Summer of Blood
Dark Sky Films
Director: Onur Tukel
Writer: Onur Tukel
Cast: Onur Tukel, Anna Margaret Hollyman, Dakota Goldhor, Jason Selvig, Melodie Sisk, Juliette Fairley, Vanna Pilgrim, Keith Poulson, Jerry Raik, Dustin Guy Defa
Running time: 86 min, Not Rated (Language, Sexuality, Gore)
Special Features: Deleted/Extended Scenes, Commentary with Onur Tukel, Behind the Scenes, Trailer
Available November 11
Erik Sparrow’s (Onur Tukel) 3 year relationship just ended after he refused his girlfriend Jody’s (Anna Margaret Hollyman) proposal. How he landed a girl like that I can’t imagine. Does she have low self esteem? Erik supposedly has a micropenis and is terrible in bed; that should’ve been a deal breaker from day 1. She runs into an old beau named Jason (Jason Selvig) who’s way more successful, less hairy and in much better shape than Erik who looks like Jerry Garcia and Peter Jackson had a test tube baby, and the two walk off together, leaving Erik rambling. After a few unsuccessful internet dates, Erik runs into a mysterious dude named Gavin (Dustin Guy Defa) on the street who asks Erik repeatedly if he wants to die and eventually Erik says yes. He gets bitten and transforms himself into the vampire version of his repellant self. The only thing he has going for him now is his new found sexual stamina which is getting him laid more often and a stable of vampires. He still pines for Jody and eventually he convinces her to give him another chance. He is not willing to bite her, so he must continue his nightly trolling for blood, be it a cute dog or the secretary from his old job. How will Jody react when his last victim follows him home?
The Good: The dialogue is quite funny. The one liners like “Babies are worthless” and “You look like Godzilla used your shirt as a maxi-pad” had me laughing out loud. This is a low budget film, so you won’t be getting Vampire in Brooklyn type special make up effects, but it subtle is effective and it definitely has a better plot. The behind the scenes featurette shows how much work goes into the low budget blood effects which was informative. The two vampires praying was also a funny random bit.
The Bad: The score is nails on a chalkboard irksome. The soundtrack isn’t bad, but kill that casio player! There is no way this loser would be getting laid by so many strong women, especially since he was so terrible in bed. These women definitely wouldn’t be giving him a second chance to prove himself. There’s a scene where a girl is about to do the walk of shame and he screams at her to close the curtains because he’s burning. Who is this chick to just stand there and accept that kind of treatment? Leave the curtain open and tell him to get effed. Onur Tukel’s commentary is a little bit frustrating because he goes way off track and then talks bout how much he hates doing commentaries. Then don’t do one. Problem solved.
Summer of Blood is definitely a hipster horror film, even though Onur Tukel says he doesn’t understand the meaning of hipster. The dialogue is very random and full of pop-culture-y references and opinions. The story is a bit predictable and somewhat narcissistic. I did enjoy it and would definitely watch it again.
Acting: B
Story: B
Technical: B
Total Rating: B
Reviewed by: JM Willis
