Dead of Summer is een Amerikaanse horrorserie van de zender Freeform. De serie ging in première op 28 juni 2016.
Dead of Summer speelt zich af eind jaren ’80 als de scholen dicht zijn voor de zomervakantie. Het zomerkamp Camp Clearwater en de medewerkers zijn klaar voor een zonovergoten seizoen vol jongeren, waar eerste liefdes ontstaan, gezoend wordt – en voor het eerst gemoord. De duistere mythologie van Clearwater komt tot leven en de zomer vol plezier veranderd al snel in een onvergetelijke terreur. Gedeeltelijk wordt het een coming-of-age verhaal, gedeeltelijk een bovennatuurlijke horror. ‘Dead of Summer’ wordt een gedurfde serie die het mooie en duistere kant van de zomer onderzoekt.
Besides the fact that just about every cliché in the genre is covered and the characters are so uninteresting that you don't give a damn who gets killed first as long as it happens quickly and the "actors" and "actresses" go, as far as they are worthy of this name, they irritate very quickly. This has everything from a bad '70s B-movie with the difference that the props back then were of a better quality.
Oh boy, this is really bad. The story is cliché and the acting ... well. On the positive side, the clothing fits the time in which it is played (including LaCoste collars) and that there was a budget for original music from that time; and the latter is sometimes filled in with cheap keyboard rattles in other series.
I suspect there was more than enough budget, they only spent it on the wrong things. Some of that didn't even exist in the 80s, such as the type of camera that one guy is continuously filming with. By the way, that continuous operation is also very clever unless you had a few suitcases with batteries with you at the time, but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. To demonstrate that they worked in an animal-friendly way, they even used plastic carcasses of which you just don't get to see the "made in China" label, because the quality is rather questionable. What also struck me was that one boy who openly admits that he is gay, which was just not received with cheers and applause by the whole group, although it was close. Although I think such an attitude is fine, in the Puritan America of the 1980s things went slightly differently, let alone that he would have been showing off. No, I don't like it, although opinions may differ because I saw that this shit was worth a 10 to one person anyway. I don't think people would have flaunted that in the 80s ;-)
I think by that time there were already cameras that were smaller than those VHS things (video8 or something) but I agree with you about those batteries .. You are absolutely right about homosexuality, that was also here in NL not really easy in the '80s. Incidentally, I saw the episode more as a comedy because I had to laugh very hard about it. Don't know if that was the intention :-)
You will be quite right about the size of that camera, I saw the first handy cams on the market in 1985. But with a screen instead of a viewfinder? I never believe that since those things were still completely analog. Digital devices only came onto the market in the mid-1990s, if I'm not mistaken.
Usually I only draw a conclusion after an episode or 3, I keep following or I stop, but with this series I already stopped halfway through the first episode. The story behind this series really appealed to me, you can do a lot with the information and I was looking forward to a little 80's atmosphere. Unfortunately, the bad acting, the lack of tension, and the terrible special effects threw a spanner in the works. Definitely not recommended!
Although the rhythm of the series will be "slow" for some, I find it refreshing. The first episode asked for more, so I decided to wait for episode 2, which was certainly not disappointing. I have to admit that I'm a fan of the supernatural, especially in some kind of horror setting, so I'm really curious if they can scare me in future episodes. In any case, I will keep looking.
I had to get used to it, but the writers managed to hold on to me. Unexpected twists and turns and interesting events keep me looking forward to the series every time. The final next week, exciting!
Think it is an exciting series, good story and good twist ???? also very nice because it takes place in the 80s, the well-known songs that make you think ojaa. Recommended!