Such a frustrating disappointment

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The cinematography is artistic, with seascapes and vistas of the beach at Fire Island that are relaxing to the eye -- a pleasure to watch. Some of the acting is passable, overcoming the cliché-ridden, preachily didactic script.The three protagonists are young and attractive, rich and privileged. They also are homophobic, racist, classist and "lookist", even the female member of the trio, played in space cadet style by Barbara Hershey. Their victims, a not-so-pretty teenager and a Hispanic man, are wholly innocent and impliedly entitled to special protections. The homophobic aspect is quite bizarre in that there is a definite homosexual undertone to a relationship of two young men latching on to one girl.As the politically committed sixties gave way to the seventies "Me" generation it was inevitable that Frank and Eleanor Perry's left-wing films would go quickly and permanently out of fashion. Eleanor Perry, a former campus bolshevik some fifteen years older than her husband, later penned a bitter account of their partnership and breakup, which no one by then cared to read.If you like propaganda, laid on with a trowel, this picture is for you.

What I noticed about this movie was there was a scene where someone turns the radio on and WABC 770AM during its Heyday as the no. 1 Top 40 station of its time was on. This brought back so many memories. Any Baby Boomer would recognize this. If only I had known about Fire Island back then. The movie doesn't mention Where on Fire Island this movie was shot. Any one know? I ran this movie on Starz Movie Channel when I was living out in Colorado, and when that WABC radio scene came on I went to Blockbuster to rent the movie myself, since I could not watch it while at work, because I was busy loading tapes of other movies. I have not seen this movie since I ran it on STARZ. I wonder if this movie is in the Vaults never to be shown again. It's hard to believe this movie was rated X at first. Hopefully this movie will be shown at film festivals or other Movie Channels - even PBS.

"Last Summer" actually has a lot in common with such films as "The Lord of the Flies" or "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea" in which a young boy ends up murdering and dissecting his mother's lover.It also reminds me a little bit Mendal W.Johnson shocking novel "Let's Go Play at the Adams".These are stories about children untamed.The film is unsettling not because of what these three teenagers do to their friend,but because of how little it bothers them and how easily they begin to see her as outside of humanity."Last Summer" follows the random activities of four teens during a summer on Fire Island.Rhoda is shy and overweight and targeted for teasing by the others.As sexual tensions increase,the more experienced and dominant Sandy encourages Dan and Peter to rape Rhoda.The climax of "Last Summer" is truly powerful and disturbing as it clearly shows the banality of evil.9 out of 10.

I hadn't seen this film in years. I did rent the VHS version. I thought it was really good. And wonder why they don't make films like this anymore. Most films today about teens are very silly or horror films. I don't even remember a recent serious drama about teenagers. The point of the ending (the rape scene)is very simple. All the sexual tension that Dan and Peter have towards Sandy is redirected by Sandy towards Rhoda. Sandy is extremely manipulative throughout the film. When the three kids leave, Peter stands on the dune and waits. Obviously he has second thought and wonders-What did I do! One of the best teen films ever made!! I did see the unedited version of this film, although obviously it was panned and scanned as a TV print.