The Midnight Horror: 'Red Summer' (2017)

♰ Welcome to The Midnight Horror! ♰

Ah, the horror genre—where originality goes to die and rip-offs take center stage. I recently stumbled upon Red Summer, an audaciously blatant imitation of the iconic Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. This little gem, originally known as Verano Rojo, was unearthed during one of those nostalgic Dollar Tree hunts when movies were a mere dollar and the selection was a delightful grab bag of cinematic junk. Ah, those were the days before tariffs turned bargain bins into empty shells!

Written and directed by Carles Jofre, this Spanish slasher whisks you away to the sun-drenched shores of Mallorca, where a group of friends embark on what they believe will be the holiday of a lifetime. However, in a classic horror twist reminiscent of a bad travel blog, their quest for sun, beaches, and fun derails spectacularly. One wrong turn, and they find themselves in the most sinister corner of the island, where a cannibalistic family awaits, eager to turn their vacation into a nightmare feast. Sound familiar? If you’ve seen Texas Chainsaw, you might feel like you’re revisiting an old friend—albeit with a disheveled look and a penchant for pig masks.

Gone is Leatherface, but fear not: instead, we are treated to a rather rotund man sporting a pig mask, giving an entirely new meaning to the term “swine in the family.” Then there's the patriarch, a wheelchair-bound character ominously dubbed “papa,” who seems to relish in the torment of our unsuspecting protagonists.

Now, let’s talk about the production quality—if one can call it that. Red Summer is a kaleidoscope of lo-fi horror, complete with a generously low budget that gets stretched thinner than my patience through the gore scenes. The fake blood is about as convincing as a toddler’s finger painting, and the camera work, while not entirely despicable, seems to dance around the shortcomings rather than confronting them head-on. The acting? Well, that’s where the film truly shines… or stumbles. The poor dubbing left me pondering whether the voice actors were on a different script altogether. In a misguided attempt at creating suspense, the dialogue often skirts around coherence like a frightened rabbit.

And what’s a horror film without a soundtrack? The music here is as generic as they come, remnants from stock libraries that seem to have lost their way. It pops in and out, awkwardly hijacking moments like an uninvited guest at a party you didn't even want to throw.

All things considered, Red Summer isn’t the nadir of horror; it has moments that are sort of oddly entertaining, if you squint a bit and ignore the glaring flaws. I sat through the whole ordeal, which has to count for something, right? That said, once the credits rolled, I knew I wouldn’t be revisiting that particular nightmare anytime soon. It's a film that tiptoes around the notion of "cult classic," but in truth, it might just be left to rot at the bottom of a discount movie bin. ╌★½✰✰✰

〜B.J. Burgess