If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Don't Believe the Hype

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This one's good to watch on a dark afternoon, with the phone turned off and no place to go for hours. In the same way you'd mentally prepare to see a matinée double-feature of THE DEER HUNTER with APOCALYPSE NOW, prepare to be disturbed at what you may see and feel. Bizarre mostly applies here, with Fear and Loathing. If you don't know, bi-zarre adj. Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd. Frank Langella and Robert Culp (like you've NEVER seen him, but suspected all along that he had it in him) share screen time with Jean-Hughes Anglade, Keith David, Anne Archer, Mia Kirshner, and Connie Nielsen on a dark summer day fraught with bizarro turns and nauseating undercurrents (out of 10, it gets an 11). Watch this film with a strong stomach. (Interested in plot summary? Please read the other reviews.)

Since my first kid I am the video store junkie from hell and I look for films I have never seen all the time. The film I found called "Dark Summer" I have no idea why this movie was not in the theaters. (Hollywood BS I'll bet, good films never get seen-GO INDIES!!!!) I saw from the cover Connie Nielsen and Mia Kirschner (Exotica-another great film) so I took a chance. The lead character played by this Jean Hughes Anglade was absolutely yummy for a French guy and the film was filled with all these cool actors like Keith David, Frank Langella and Anne Archer playing the most amazing character i have ever seen and probably the best of career. I won't give away any of the plot but this film has it all, great acting, gorgeous photography, murder, mayhem, perverts, drug addicts/alcoholics and a really kick ass cast. Support independent films and if you want to see a great movie, "Dark Summer" is one of the great ones that no one knows about out there!

I just returned from a trip with my wife to Paris. Our friends there were raving about a movie called "Dark Summer". So much so that my wife insisted (She's a huge Connie Nielsen fan). I have to be honest my wife and I don't usually agree on our tastes in movies but the second this film started I was on the edge of my seat. The main star (Jean Hughes Anglade) was a French superstar from what i was told, but his portrayal of the cellist Huxley was sublime. The film opens up with him being interrogated by a detective portrayed by Keith David. (From Platoon, and Something About Mary, the guy is always great) After getting in a car accident he meets Connie Nielsen's character, a nurse named Megan who nurses him back to health. In appreciation, and of course a mutual attraction, he takes her up on dinner and to meet the family. Mia Kirschner played her crazy sister with frightening aplomb. At first the meal and their good times seems a given until he meets the father. (Played by the always- amazing Frank Langella!!) The father is sick and dyeing yet the power he still commanded over his daughters and the shocked Huxley was unmistakable. The father dies and in an incredibly erotic interlude, Huxley makes love to Megan the whole while the sister watches!!! I don't want to give away anymore but the cameos keep poring on and the twists and turns never stop. There are serial killers, country music and beautiful landscapes. The main reason I am writing this review was that after I saw this film I couldn't stop thinking about it. The whole time i was on the plane i kept talking about it and my wife told me about this website and I had to tell the world. I don't know where it is playing or if you can rent it but see this movie!!!

"Dark Summer" or "Innocents" as it was entitled on Showtime, is a journeyman B-movie about a French cellist (Anglade) driving across country who finds himself with a couple of beautiful traveling companions (Nielsen & Kirshner) who may be a lethal liability. Among the many flaws are a musical score which is as lacking in continuity as the screenplay; too many contrived situations which seems no more than weirdness for weirdnesses sake or shock value; a noticeable absence of a story arc or an emotional anchor for the audience; and a generally concocted presentation. Nonetheless, the film has some entertainment potential for the couch potato or fans of the players. (C)