“Fuck the 4th of July.”

Story: Ava comes home to Southport, NC, to celebrate her high school BFF Danica’s engagement. But when Our Gang decides to drive out to a dark road to catch the firework or whatever? Their inability to stay off the road causes another driver to literally crash out. Let’s pretend t never happened, ‘kay? What’s the worst that can happen? One year later, the worst happens.

Scares: Suspense and jump scares.
Splat Factor: Mild considering the way characters get got.

Subgenre: 90s Horror Reboots
Year Released: 2025
Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Based on the movie of the same name. Fourth film in the of the Summer franchise.

Trick or Treat?: I was torn over this reboot. Seeing Jennifer Love Hewitt back in the game sounded good, and I wondered how they’d tie together old and new stories. Gotta say, it’s not bad.

It’s good to see Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. reprise their roles as Julie and Ray. The only problem is that their return shines a light on how little thought was put into the new blood. They’re little more than rich white/white passing twenty-somethings who drink too much, cementing that stereotype like their lives depend on it. Danica being a flaky rich girl is her whole personality. Pity, as Madelyn Cline pushes a whole lot of campy humor in her portrayal. Give Cline more to work with, people.

As Ava, Chase Sui Wonders is fine. But is also given little to work with, beyond yelling for various reasons. Ava is a character that left home, and whose mother died (maybe correlation, maybe causation, we’re never told) – yet these bits are never utilized in any meaningful way. Ava is just a boilerplate Final Girl type, with more interesting, humorous characters surrounding her.

This Summer does have some excellent moments, though. There’s a GREAT Sarah Michelle Gellar cameo, even though her fan favorite character Helen Rivers didn’t live through the first film. She’s so good in this scene, I don’t even mind the overly smooth de-aging VFX very much. (I get it, Helen is supposed to be a teen, not a forty-something.) Another cameo later on might also be a bit of fan service, but it’s still awesome, and I was happy to see it. And yeah, Julie says The Line. Because of course she does. Again, it works in context.

The kills are just as fun as the original film, with lots of suspense as we wonder how [character name] is gonna get it. And the bloody FX are good, but surprisingly tame for the story, and how the kills happen. This is an R rated movie y’all. Don’t skimp. You’re doing a disservice to the build-up. I’m not saying Summer needs to be a gore-fest, but dial it up to 7 outta 10, rather than a that’ll-do 5.

With most slasher films, the whodunnit climax is kinda meh at first, and this one’s no different. But things make sense once the exposition really starts flowing, and sure, I’ll allow it. However, the whole Final Girl figuring out what’s going on at the obligatory second climax, is confusing. What did she notice? Who knows. The lighting is so poorly set up, it’s tough to figure out. So trust them, bro.

I’m also not a fan of how blasé two of the survivors are in the denouement. They’re at the beach, joking around, like they haven’t been traumatized by seeing friends and lovers brutally murdered. A “two weeks later” or something would help, but instead? I was trying to figure out how they got over everything in what feels like a few hours after everything. The mid credits scene is awesome though, so stay tuned for that bit.

Summer is a surprisingly fun reboot of this franchise, even though the OG characters are more interesting than the newbies. Give it a try if you’re in the mood for a Summer marathon, or just want something fun.

Score: 3.5 out of 5 pumpkins. It’d be higher, but that secondary climax feels forced.