LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 24: Actor Mel Gibson attends the Los Angeles Special Preview … More
Monster Summer, a Mel Gibson horror adventure movie that had a limited run in theaters last year, is making its streaming video on demand debut this week.
Directed by David Henrie (Wizards of Waverly Place), Monster Summer opened in a limited run in theaters on Oct. 24, 2024, according to The Numbers, but no domestic box office earnings are available. The film also played in a limited release internationally but only made $102,508.
The official logline for Monster Summer reads, “When a mysterious force begins to disrupt their big summer fun, a group of friends team up with a retired police detective (Gibson) to embark on an adventure to save their island.”
Mason Thames (The Black Phone, Hiccup in the new How to Train Your Dragon) also stars in Monster Summer, as well as Lorraine Bracco (Goodfellas and The Sopranos), Nora Zehetner (The Right Stuff), Noah Cottrell (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Abby James Witherspoon (Secret Headquarters), Lilah Pate (Outer Banks), Julian Lerner (The Wonder Years) and Patrick Renna (The Sandlot).
Paramount+ recently announced that Monster Summer will make its streaming video on demand debut on Paramount+ Premium on Tuesday, July 1.
Formerly Paramount+ with Showtime, Paramount+ Premium is the ad-free tier of Paramount+ that includes Showtime programming. Paramount+ Premium is $12.99 per month or $119.99 per year.
For viewers who don’t have Paramount+ Premium, Monster Summer is also available to purchase or rent on digital streaming via video on demand on such platforms as Apple TV, Fandango at Home and Prime Video.
What Did Critics Have To Say About Mel Gibson’s ‘Monster Summer’?
Monster Summer earned a 57% “rotten” rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 28 reviews. Audiences, however, gave Monster Summer an 84% “fresh” rating on RT’s Popcornmeter based on 100-plus verified user ratings.
Dennis Harvey of Variety is among the top critics on RT who gives Monster Summer a “fresh” review, writing, “It’s a fun movie that lands on the right side of ‘innocuous,’ being pleasantly formulaic rather than simply bland.”
Monster Summer also earned a “fresh” rating from Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com, who writes, “It won’t exactly hold you under its spell, but it might charm just enough for the sparse 90 minutes of attention it requests.”
Like Harvey and Worthington, Catherine Bray of the Guardian gives Monster Summer a “fresh” rating, but with some reservations. Bray writes in her review summary on RT, “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.”
Jake Wilson of The Age (Australia) is the only top critic on RT who gives the film a “rotten” rating, writing, “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.”
Rated PG-13, Monster Summer, starring Mel Gibson and Mason Thames, arrives on Paramount+ Premium on Tuesday.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2025/06/30/obscure-mel-gibson-horror-movie-new-on-streaming-this-week/