A genial juvenile adventure that’s equal parts “The Hardy Boys” and “Goosebumps,” “Monster Summer” has Mason Thames (the principal child captive in “The Black Phone”) in considerably less-disturbing peril as a Martha’s Vineyard resident who comes to suspect witchery afoot. David Henrie’s slick exercise in lite supernatural suspense is aimed at younger viewers, though their parents may also be diverted by the cast’s elder members, including Mel Gibson, Lorraine Bracco and Kevin James. It’s a fun movie that lands on the right side of “innocuous,” being pleasantly formulaic rather than simply bland. Pasttime Pictures is releasing the feature (previously called “The Boys of Summer”) to U.S. theaters on Oct. 4.
Aspiring to become a journalist like his late, globe-trotting father, Noah (Thames) has no more pressing desire than to get an article published in the area newspaper. But its unamused editor (James, appearing in just three scenes) only wants material pleasing to tourists and advertisers, so he spurns Noah’s strictly-amateur attempt to break dubious lurid local stories. It looks like our hero will have to settle for a summer of bicycling around the island with his fellow Little League besties, star athlete Ben (Noah Cottrell), future politician Eugene (Julian Lerner) and tomboy Sammy (Abby James Witherspoon).
But a series of mysterious occurrences here and elsewhere in New England — the disappearances of children who later turn up, physically intact yet near-catatonic — grows more immediate once Ben gets pulled under during a night swim. He’s found, seemingly safe and sound, but likewise inert, almost as if someone had stolen his very soul.
That is exactly the conclusion Noah jumps to, his suspicions immediately falling on the conspicuously witchy Miss Halverson (Bracco). She is a newly arrived seasonal guest at his mother’s (Nora Zehetner) bed and breakfast who dresses in billowy black and has a secretive, imperious air. Of course no one else who hears his theory is much impressed. But Noah gains a surprise ally in “Old Man Carruthers” aka Gene (Gibson), a gossiped-about recluse who’s a former detective. While he doesn’t believe in an occult explanation either, he is highly invested in halting the current series of disappearances, as someone with a missing-child tragedy in his own past.
Set in 1997, “Monster Summer” has a pleasing throwback feel variably reminiscent of “The Goonies,” “Stand by Me” and so forth. Horror-ish content is only a teasing possibility until the last half hour or so, when climactic effects make it clear that Noah has been right all along — even if he has also been wrong about the evil deeds’ precise source. But the fantasy imagery that does arrive remains kid-friendly, in a Hansel and Gretel-ish rather than graphically terrifying mode.
Thames is an appealing lead, ably supported by his peer actors in more one-dimensional roles. Gibson has played variations on the eccentric crusty coot many times now, something he can probably do in his sleep — and he nearly does that here, star power on low wattage in an amiable-enough, walk-through performance. One can hardly blame him, given the lame quips he’s handed (“Piece of advice, kid: Don’t get old,” “I’ve got socks older than you,” etc.).
There’s a fair share of cornball dialogue in Cornelius Uliano and Bryan Schulz’s screenplay, as well as an excess of reassuring schmaltz at the fadeout. But Henrie, a former child actor who recently played Young Ron in “Reagan,” does a good job smoothing over the material’s weak spots with a combination of professional polish and a deft serious-though-not-too-serious tone.
North Carolina locations actually stand in for New England amid an accomplished overall tech and design package, one that’s topped by Larry Blanford’s handsome widescreen cinematography and Frederick Wiedmann’s big orchestral score.
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