Monster Summer

A lightweight horror-fantasy aimed in theory at young teens, Monster Summer could be described as a cut-price Stranger Things -- and it certainly is strange in a number of ways.

There are some decent PG-rated thrills and scares for the preteen audience, but adults are unlikely to find it especially convincing, with clunky dialogue and a generic score letting down a solidly traditional spooky mystery.

"Monster Summer" captures a wholesome sense of wonder, and it depicts that time in life between childhood and adulthood when the world is both too big and too small at the same time.

It won’t exactly hold you under its spell, but it might charm just enough for the sparse 90 minutes of attention it requests.

It’s a fun movie that lands on the right side of “innocuous,” being pleasantly formulaic rather than simply bland.

A throw back to the teenage paranormal thrillers of the 1980s and 1990s. It works but is it what audiences of today want? The one thing that is clear though is that Mason Thames is going to be star.

There’s moments of promise here, but Monster Summer is more a story that tells you it’s bathing in the nostalgic rather than actually simmering in such.

The story itself has its twee moments, but the production values keep it on the right side of spoopy.

Safe, cosy, undemanding thrills for family friendly viewing.

A blockheaded kid-centered scary story, one where 12-year-olds race around on their bikes either toward or away from something menacing and creepy.