Is it really that time? Yes indeed, next weekend is the start of another edition of Summer of Blood – the eighth year that Antagony & Ecstasy has played host to a celebration of the low artistry and dubious morality of cheap horror cinema. And if there’s one thing that we’ve learned in all that time, it’s that when you get to the eighth entry of a series, the creativity and inspiration that may have been there to begin with is starting to shrivel up altogether. It’s at this point that only the most desperate, gullible die-hards still pay out their time and money to the craven producers looking to put the smallest possible effort into giving those die-hards what they’ll accept.
Ignoring the part where I’m craven and you’re all gullible, I like the idea of making this year’s iteration live up to that spirit of giving the viewer what they want, kind of. And so, this year’s Summer of Blood is built around theme of Reader’s Choice, Kind Of. Every Sunday from now the end of August, I’m going to announce a theme for the following weekend, plus three titles that exemplify that theme; and then we’ll hold a vote between those titles (and write-ins, because why not), to see what I’ll be reviewing the following Saturday. It is a weird and possibly dumb way to do this; but after seven years, I need to so something to keep it interesting for myself, on top of everything else.
And if you have a horror film in mind that you’ve always desperately wanted to know my thoughts about, keep it in mind; we’ll talk more about that when the time comes.
The first week’s poll will be going up later today, but I’ll give you a sneak peak on the topic: we’re starting with the most basic and essential slasher film trope of them, all, with a week centered on Campground Killers.