The weather is starting to warm up, the sun is shining, and the birds are chirping but I’m still patiently waiting for Halloween to be among us.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the summer and all the fun it brings, but I can’t wait for crunchy leaves, a slight, sinister breeze, and all the horror movies on hand that I have time to watch. If you’re a horror lover, it’s Halloween all year and you’ll never stop yourself from watching your favorite slasher or splatter movie, but sometimes we just need a season-appropriate movie to watch. Here are 5 of my favorite Summerween horror movies for you to enjoy once you’ve decided to wind down for the day.
Stage 6 Films
The Final Girls is a love story to the traditional summer camp horror tropes. It’s a perfectly meta slasher film that plays all of the red herrings and obvious moves in your face, but you’re still entertained the whole time. Taissa Farmiga plays Max Cartwright, a girl who was recently orphaned. Her mother was a B-rated horror movie star, so to remember her and feel close to her again, Max goes to a screening of one of her most popular films. After, Max and her friends somehow find themselves in the world of that film she just watched. In order to escape, they must put together their knowledge of cheesy horror rules to end the glitch to return to the real world.
Columbia Pictures
I Know What You Did Last Summer is such a classic. The cast includes Freddie Prince Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Ryan Phillipe as a group of friends who accidentally run over a fisherman and dump his body off a cliff. The friends vow to never speak of what happened again, and they think they get away with it until the next summer they start receiving menacing notes. One by one, the friends become stalked and attacked by a man with a fish hook, and they must try and figure out who is behind it to stop him.
Gunpowder & Sky
Summer of 84 is definitely a tale of meddling kids trying to solve a murder in their hometown, and we love it for that. Davey Armstrong (Graham Verchere) is a bit of a conspiracy theorist and believes that his next door neighbor, a police officer, is actually a serial killer. Davey and a group of friends decide to take matters into their own hands and lead a full on investigation into the cop. Of course, it’s not as easy as it looks on true crime shows, and these friends start to run into trouble that could be dangerous and end in even more murder.
Paramount Pictures
The most classic summer horror movie of all time is easily Friday The 13th. The whole franchise focuses on Camp Crystal Lake, a summer camp where a tragedy struck and left a camper dead in the water. Years later, despite superstitions from locals, Camp Crystal Lake continues to operate and bring in swarms of campers and camp counselors alike. Unfortunately for the camp counselors, there’s a masked stalker out for revenge because they were too busy partying and hooking up to save the little boy years ago. Friday The 13th’s recognizable hockey mask and machete are known everywhere, even with those who don’t live and breathe horror.
Netflix
The Fear Street trilogy is a fantastic take on the traditional slasher trope and part two is especially perfect for the Summerween category. Set in 1978 at a summer camp, Camp Nightwing, kids are ready to enjoy their summer with friends and camp activities. However, the town of Shadyside has a notorious history of malevolence and one Shadysider has the urge to kill. This killer attacks the camp and all the campers must fight to survive and get out of there. Fear Street isn’t revolutionary and feels a lot like Friday The 13th, but with great casting and some modern touches that add to the nostalgia of the film.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the summer and all the fun it brings, but I can’t wait for crunchy leaves, a slight, sinister breeze, and all the horror movies on hand that I have time to watch. If you’re a horror lover, it’s Halloween all year and you’ll never stop yourself from watching your favorite slasher or splatter movie, but sometimes we just need a season-appropriate movie to watch. Here are 5 of my favorite Summerween horror movies for you to enjoy once you’ve decided to wind down for the day.
The Final Girls (2015)
Stage 6 Films
The Final Girls is a love story to the traditional summer camp horror tropes. It’s a perfectly meta slasher film that plays all of the red herrings and obvious moves in your face, but you’re still entertained the whole time. Taissa Farmiga plays Max Cartwright, a girl who was recently orphaned. Her mother was a B-rated horror movie star, so to remember her and feel close to her again, Max goes to a screening of one of her most popular films. After, Max and her friends somehow find themselves in the world of that film she just watched. In order to escape, they must put together their knowledge of cheesy horror rules to end the glitch to return to the real world.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Columbia Pictures
I Know What You Did Last Summer is such a classic. The cast includes Freddie Prince Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Ryan Phillipe as a group of friends who accidentally run over a fisherman and dump his body off a cliff. The friends vow to never speak of what happened again, and they think they get away with it until the next summer they start receiving menacing notes. One by one, the friends become stalked and attacked by a man with a fish hook, and they must try and figure out who is behind it to stop him.
Summer of 84 (2018)
Gunpowder & Sky
Summer of 84 is definitely a tale of meddling kids trying to solve a murder in their hometown, and we love it for that. Davey Armstrong (Graham Verchere) is a bit of a conspiracy theorist and believes that his next door neighbor, a police officer, is actually a serial killer. Davey and a group of friends decide to take matters into their own hands and lead a full on investigation into the cop. Of course, it’s not as easy as it looks on true crime shows, and these friends start to run into trouble that could be dangerous and end in even more murder.
Friday The 13th (1980)
Paramount Pictures
The most classic summer horror movie of all time is easily Friday The 13th. The whole franchise focuses on Camp Crystal Lake, a summer camp where a tragedy struck and left a camper dead in the water. Years later, despite superstitions from locals, Camp Crystal Lake continues to operate and bring in swarms of campers and camp counselors alike. Unfortunately for the camp counselors, there’s a masked stalker out for revenge because they were too busy partying and hooking up to save the little boy years ago. Friday The 13th’s recognizable hockey mask and machete are known everywhere, even with those who don’t live and breathe horror.
Fear Street: Part Two – 1978 (2021)
Netflix
The Fear Street trilogy is a fantastic take on the traditional slasher trope and part two is especially perfect for the Summerween category. Set in 1978 at a summer camp, Camp Nightwing, kids are ready to enjoy their summer with friends and camp activities. However, the town of Shadyside has a notorious history of malevolence and one Shadysider has the urge to kill. This killer attacks the camp and all the campers must fight to survive and get out of there. Fear Street isn’t revolutionary and feels a lot like Friday The 13th, but with great casting and some modern touches that add to the nostalgia of the film.