Summoning Sylvia (2023) by Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse

Director: Wesley Taylor, Alex Wyse

Year: 2023

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Horror/Comedy

Plot:

Getting together for a bachelor party weekend, a group of friends hopes to have a wild last weekend at a lavish remote mansion, but while the group partakes in their fun their absentminded decision to undertake a seance brings about a ghost that haunts the house and forces them to deal with it.

Review:

Overall, this was a rather fun and generally enjoyable effort. One of the finer points with this one is the rather fun setup that might not be all that original but manages to keep this one moving along quite nicely. The idea of the secret bachelor party weekend and getting everyone together for the trip is solid enough as this provides the opportunity to focus on the group and their relationships while still bringing about the weekend festivities, ranging from joking around to choreographed routines and clandestine hookups. Even though none of this is all that creative beyond the idea of it being gay guys enjoying their friends' weekend and going through the motions of everything, it's good enough to give a great idea of who each of them is which also allows for a nice bit of comedy based on their interactions together.

This carries over into the series of hauntings that emerge once they decide to conduct the seance and unleash the spirit. The atmosphere of the estate works quite nicely with the way it brings about the group's decision to summon the spirit and offers an enjoyable setup to the later antics when the hauntings start to occur. Keeping the kind of lighthearted tone that was established in the comedic build-up that sets everything going in the right direction toward the final half where the ghost’s purpose is exposed to them during the seance that starts to bring about the wild attempts at figuring out how to stop the hauntings from taking place as the idea of what takes place here is quite fun giving this enough to like here.

There are some issues here that hold this one back. The main issue with the film is the lack of genre thrills that take place in the first half of the film as it spends quite a lot of time on the interactions with the group of friends going through the business of the bachelor party with each other going around having fun, goofing around with their dress-ups, or having the secret hookups carry out behind everyone’s backs which all play out in a comedic vibe before the seance takes place. This is all happening in the first half when that seance occurs so it takes a while to get to the horror elements and could be a slough to get through, especially at such a short length that this one has. As well, there’s also the fact that the film’s reliance on discussion more than anything else with its lighthearted attitude and lack of true genre content here might be offputting which could all be enough to lower this one overall.

Overview: ***.5/5

A highly enjoyable genre comedy, there’s some really fun work on display here even if some of the flaws might be more detrimental and controversial for some out there. Those who are on board with the style and approach taken here will have a lot to like with this one while only those turned off by the flaws should heed caution.