Nerdly » ‘We Summon the Darkness’ Review

16th Apr2020

‘We Summon the Darkness’ Review

by Alain Elliott

Stars: Alexandra Daddario, Maddie Hasson, Johnny Knoxville, Keean Johnson, Logan Miller, Amy Forsyth, Allison McAtee, Austin Swift, Stephanie Moroz, Tanner Beard | Written by Alan Trezza | Directed by Marc Meyers

Heavy metal and horror seem to go hand in hand. Many people who like one, will like the other, so it’s maybe a bit of a surprise that there’s not actually that many movies that link the two. Most recently Deathgasm was ridiculous, loud and fun, the real-life horror story of Lords of Chaos was scarily violent and Devil’s Candy is perhaps the most metal of the three. So We Summon The Darkness has some entertaining company to live up to.

Set in the eighties, a group of three girls meet up with three like-minded guys to enjoy a night of metal, drinking and each others company. But one group have very different ideas to the others about way the night is heading.

The first thirty minutes introduces all of our main characters and surprisingly, as they are all heavy metal fans, they’re all pretty likeable. Both male and female characters are young, loud (for the most parts) and like to drink, giving me plenty of reasons to dislike them but maybe my personal love of metal gave me some sort of connection to them because I kind of like them all. They all seemed somewhat relatable and enjoyed this first third of the movie getting to know them even if the pace is a little slow.

The young cast put in some really entertaining performances but the star of the show is certainly Alexandra Daddario. She is obviously no stranger to good performances and has featured in some big and varied roles – from the likes of Baywatch and San Andreas to True Detective and where genre fans probably first saw her in the not-so-great Texas Chainsaw 3D. But this is no doubt from my viewings, her best work. There’s been a whole host of ‘crazy’ leading ladies recently with the popularity of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and it takes a good performer to not just copy that. Samara Weaving seems to have got it down almost perfectly recently but there’s room for plenty more and Daddario shows she can more than hold her own. She’s wildly entertaining and full of confidence in the role.

I can’t not mention a small role for Jackass veteran Johnny Knoxville too. He is obviously known for his comedy work but every now and then he does a great job in a more serious role and here is no different. Maybe he doesn’t have quite enough time to perfect the character but I still enjoyed his minor part.

You will probably think you know exactly where We Summon The Darkness is going and it kind of does head that way but not exactly. There is a bit of a twist. Not one that feels force and it’s fun to just go along for the ride. We get plenty of blood and violence and all with its tongue firmly in its cheek. There’s plenty of moments to give you laugh inbetween all the gore. There’s times when it gets pretty damn ridiculous and I kind of wish it kept going in that direction a little more – I would very much be up for an even sillier sequel with a certain character surviving this movie.

Fans of eighties music will not be disappointed because the score is heavily eighties and synth inspired without feeling like it’s jumping on too many bandwagons. It also has a great use of a very well known Belinda Carlisle song

A triple-bill of Ready or Not, Satanic Panic and this seems like a perfect nights viewing for me. Violent, gory and a whole lot of fun, We Summon The Darkness is one of the best heavy metal horror movies ever.