Directed by Marc Meyers
Written by Alan Trezza
Starring Alexandra Daddario, Maddie Hasson, Amy Forsyth and Johnny Knoxville
MPAA rating: R for violence and language
Running time: 1 hour 23 minutes

by Audrey Callerstrom

Have you heard of the sandwich method of delivering criticism? It’s a way of providing feedback to someone in a way they will be more receptive to. Like a sandwich, there are (roughly) three parts. One piece of bread is saying a nice thing. The middle part, the fixings, is where you are frank about how someone needs to improve their performance. The final part, the last piece of bread, is saying another nice thing. People are generally more receptive to criticism this way.

So here is the first part, saying a nice thing. And the nice thing about We Summon the Darkness is that Johnny Knoxville is in it. Is he good in it? Not really, but after I saw Johnny Knoxville it reminded me that I could look up clips of Jackass! on YouTube, and so I did. Jackass! is so ridiculous and weird and funny. Watch this clip of a jet engine stunt, especially at 1:24. I laughed so hard. Those big guttural laughs that remind you that you are here in this moment and you are alive.

OK, now for the middle part. We Summon the Darkness is a poorly made film on many, many counts. It starts in Indiana in 1988 as three college-aged girls (Alexandra Daddario, Maddie Hasson and Amy Forsyth) are driving to a metal concert. Why is it the ‘80s? So the filmmakers can show Jolt! Cola and  Twinkies and talk about Jason Newsted joining Metallica. Har-har-har. By the way, in this version of the ‘80s, the women all wear low-rise jeans and wear present-day makeup and hair. The girls meet a group of guys (Keean Johnson, Austin Swift and Logan Miller) at said concert and take them to a house afterward to hang out. But the girls have sinister motivations. They stage ritualistic cult-like killings to draw the scared masses to the church of Pastor John Henry Butler (Knoxville). It’s such a lazy and stupid story. This film is so lazy that there is an early scene where the two groups flirt, and I imagine the filmmakers told the actors “OK, in this scene, you guys flirt with each other. Action.” And none of it was ever edited. Gross. If this film were free on streaming, and you thought “eh, why not,” this is the scene where you would turn it off and decide to re-watch an episode of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” instead.

The performances are a mess. Knoxville was featured prominently on an early poster, but he’s barely in it. That’s always a sign of a good film with no production issues- getting a big star to attach, putting them on the poster, and only having them in the film for one scene. The film also has a laundry list of production and distribution companies attached. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a list that long before a film begins. Hasson and Forsyth do well with their roles, such as they are (Hasson is campy, and Forsyth is likable, and that’s all they’re asked to do). Daddario is limited, dragging whatever momentum a movie like this can have. I’ve never seen her in a film and thought anything other than “oh, that’s Alexandra Daddario.” She never manages to be remotely threatening as the group’s ringleader, Alexis. Her performance is closer to that of a bitchy girl on a one-episode stint of “Gossip Girl,” cocking her head to the side and making snide remarks at Blair Waldorf. Remember Fairuza Balk in The Craft? Remember how she just went for it? Daddario could stand to learn from that performance. Sadly, she’s also the film’s second-biggest star.

And now, for the last slice of bread! The nice thing. Well, it’s not about this film, but it is about a film where girlfriends go to a rock concert and then things take a sinister turn. The film is funny with terrific performances, and although it was mismarketed as a horror film, ultimately it’s a dark comedy about the power dynamics in female friendships.  The film is Jennifer’s Body and it’s available for streaming across multiple platforms.

Available on demand Friday, April 10.