A ChucksConnection Film Review

 

Mason Thames wears black low top Converse “Chuck Taylor” All Stars in the film.

Monster Summer

 

by Hal Peterson

Aspiring writer Noah Reed bikes around town trying to discover who has been attacking local kids.

 

Monster Summer takes us back to summertime in the year 1997 and to the tony island of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts. There in the small town of Oar Bluffs we meet Noah Reed (Mason Thames) and his other best friends Eugene (Julian Lerner), Sammy (Abby James Witherspoon), and Ben (Noah Cottrell). Besides being friends they are all on the same Little League baseball team. They all seem to be normal middle class kids. Noah’s mom Abby (Nora Zehetner) runs a bed and breakfast and of course summertime is prime vacation time and filled with wealthy guests like Miss Halverson (Lorraine Bracco) who we find out later is an well-known author of children’s books. Noah and Abby are still dealing with the recent loss of their dad and husband, a journalist who worked for a Boston newspaper. Noah wants very much to follow in his father’s footsteps and when we first meet him he is typing away on his dad’s typewriter in his tree house getaway. Noah wants nothing more than to peddle his work to local newspaper editor Edgar Lampkey (Kevin James). However Noah is still developing as a writer and continues to present serious articles without backup research to Kevin instead of the more fluff pieces about local events that Kevin wants from him.

 

Noah and his friends Ben, Eugene, and Sammy spy on retired detective Gene Carruthers.

What Noah really wants to write about is a troubling series of incidents that have occurred on the island, where teens and tweens are attacked by a malevolent force shown as a bright light that encompasses each victim and takes a lot of their normal life force away, rendering them uncommunicative. (This is shown in the opening scene.) While the authorities are unable to come up with a reason or suspect for these incidents, Noah begins to believe that these events are the work of a supernatural or evil force, a witch or a wizard, because a couple of the kids have reported seeing a hooded figure dressed in black at the time of their attacks. Of course the authorities think that this idea is completely bogus, and refuse to consider it, especially since it would have an adverse effect on local tourism. The only person Noah discovers who is willing to consider his ideas is Gene Carruthers (Mel Gibson), a retired ex-cop who lost his five-year-old son and wife many years ago. Gene is also sure that things are not all right on the island, but it takes a lot of convincing by Noah for him to accept that there is some sort of living force present and preying on local kids. The incident that seals the deal for them is when Ben is attacked in the ocean during a late night swim with his girl friend. Afterwards Ben describes a flash of bright light in his face during the attack and exhibits the same zombie-like symptoms as previous victims.

 

After discovering a clue under the pier, Noah watches the police investigation.

 

Noah now is seriously looking for suspects and first on his list is the reclusive Miss Halverson. She does not want to socialize but is seen following kids around on the island. What seals the deal for Noah is when he goes to the pier where the attack on Ben occurred. He sees Miss Halverson there in the small crowd surrounding the police who are investigating. Under the pier he finds a torn piece of black veil that turns out to be hers. Then he sneaks into her room at the bed and breakfast and finds all kinds of detailed paperwork and drawings about kids. He convinces Eugene and Sammy to go with him to expose her to the public at a reception but are totally shamed when it is revealed that she is actually a famous children’s author and what he discovered was her research materials. The kids are grounded for the time being, and Noah is forced to apologize profusely to Miss Halverson, who understandably leaves in a huff. But Noah refuses to give up his search, and when a new set of clues comes into his possession, he convinces Gene and Sammy to go with him on one last search. Luckily, Gene also figures out the meaning of the new evidence and belatedly joins the search.

 

Gene and Noah come to talk to Ben to try and figure out what happened to him.

 

Monster Summer is the work of writers Cornelius Uliano and Bryan Schulz, the grandson of Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz. Although the film is billed as a horror film, the title is somewhat misleading, as it is more of a mystery than a graphic horror film. That is okay, because the film is much better this way, focusing on the characters and human interaction. Much of the violence is implied, shown by a large Ford Woodie station wagon driving around the island. The story line isn’t particularly original but does have an ending twist that is quite surprising and scary at the same time. It is deliberately set in 1997 so cell phones and technology are not involved in it. Instead we have kid detectives biking around town, and talking with each other to work things out. This is greatly enhanced by the superb acting of Mason Thames and the other kid actors, who are well cast. Thames is on his way to becoming a major star due to his compelling performances which are already getting him star billing, almost unheard of for a teen actor. The film is a redemption for Mel Gibson. He plays a role that he could do in his sleep, given his past credits, but his performance is convincing and he develops a nice on screen chemistry with Mason as the two become a detective team. The film is well directed by David Henrie and full of beautifully shot cinematography by Larry Blanford. This is a film the whole family could enjoy, although maybe too scary for very young kids.

Best Chucks Scene

 

Noah reaches down to retrieve his bike.

 

Mason Thames (Noah) wears black low top chucks in almost every scene in the film, except during his baseball games where he wears cleats and a couple of scenes in plain white sneakers. Chucks are a good fit for an independent thinking and determined teenager aspiring to be a reporter and wanting to investigate strange incidents in his home town. There are not a lot of closeup shots, but two of the best are when Noah leans down to grab his bike for a fast getaway after being chased out of Gene’s yard and at his mom's bed and breakfast when he delivers a meal in front of Miss Halverson’s door.

 

Noah lays down a dinner tray in front of Miss Halverson's door.

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