Fresh and Exciting

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

At first this movie looks to be one of those now-unwatchable "youth culture" films of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the pop music, mop haircuts on the boys, and other fads. The early scenes with the seagull appear to be symptomatic of such movies. The bird supposedly symbolizes innocence and freedom, and the three youths share in these qualities by rescuing it. Then comes the disillusionment. It turns out that the seagull is not a symbol, just a bird, a wild creature. After it bites Sandy (Barbara Hershey), she secretly crushes it to death with a rock. Goodbye innocence, hello cruelty.There is another, more profound death mentioned, though not shown,in the film, that of the mother of the girl Rhoda (Catherine Burns), as recounted by her daughter. An expert swimmer, she was drunk when she undertook a challenging night-time swim on a dare. She was killed, and Rhoda spit on her grave because of her anger at being left alone. If the death of the seagull is the result of cruelty, the death of Rhoda's mother is the result of her selfish, reckless pursuit of fun, without regard for its effect on others.Reckless pleasure-seeking is in fact the order of the day for the parents of all four young people in the film. Eventually we see plenty of the same behavior on the part of Sandy, Peter, and Dan; often it is combined with cruelty. The three kids tease and taunt Rhoda, they show contempt for her "date" Anibal and abandon him to be beaten by thugs, and ultimately they force Rhoda to submit to gang rape.Even Peter (Richard Thomas), who is an imaginative, seemingly sensitive boy who has become fond of Rhoda and treats her kindly, joins in violating her. As Rhoda previously pointed out, around Sandy and Dan he becomes a different person.The movie is an indictment of a society obsessed with pleasure, fun, and entertainment, with little sense of responsibility. It's a powerful, disturbing movie.

WARNING: Before you watch "Last Summer", you really need to be warned that the movie is quite adult and has a very traumatic rape scene. Many will find this too troubling--and perhaps it could bring back your own traumatic past experiences as you watch. I am not saying not to watch it--just be aware.As far as the movie goes, it's well made but quite difficult to watch--not just because of the rape but because the characters are quite often jerks--very unlikable jerks. It is set at a beach community on Long Island. Three young people (Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas and Bruce Davison) meet and soon become friends. However, it soon becomes apparent that there is a lot of sexual tension in these new friendships and a ménage à trois of sorts is in the making. From a voyeuristic point of view, the film is rather stimulating....but any sexual excitement on the part of the viewer may quickly disappear as you begin to see that these people (when together) become jerks. It's as if alone they are normal but together their inhibitions and sense of morality diminishes. Later, when they meet a nerdy and less attractive fourth member of their little group (Catherine Burns), this becomes all the more apparent and the three original members exploit this very vulnerable new member.The acting is competent and the story is decent because it is unique and explores very dark aspects of supposedly 'typical' teens. And, fortunately, while the film has very explicit content, the director manages to hide most of what occurs through creative filming and it is not necessarily exploitational--just very, very dark. Frankly, I did not particularly enjoy the movie--it was a very tough viewing. But, it was well made and hence my overall score of 5.

"Last Summer" actually has a lot in common with such films as "The Lord of the Flies" or "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea" in which a young boy ends up murdering and dissecting his mother's lover.It also reminds me a little bit Mendal W.Johnson shocking novel "Let's Go Play at the Adams".These are stories about children untamed.The film is unsettling not because of what these three teenagers do to their friend,but because of how little it bothers them and how easily they begin to see her as outside of humanity."Last Summer" follows the random activities of four teens during a summer on Fire Island.Rhoda is shy and overweight and targeted for teasing by the others.As sexual tensions increase,the more experienced and dominant Sandy encourages Dan and Peter to rape Rhoda.The climax of "Last Summer" is truly powerful and disturbing as it clearly shows the banality of evil.9 out of 10.

I hadn't seen this film in years. I did rent the VHS version. I thought it was really good. And wonder why they don't make films like this anymore. Most films today about teens are very silly or horror films. I don't even remember a recent serious drama about teenagers. The point of the ending (the rape scene)is very simple. All the sexual tension that Dan and Peter have towards Sandy is redirected by Sandy towards Rhoda. Sandy is extremely manipulative throughout the film. When the three kids leave, Peter stands on the dune and waits. Obviously he has second thought and wonders-What did I do! One of the best teen films ever made!! I did see the unedited version of this film, although obviously it was panned and scanned as a TV print.