I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Does this deserve 10 stars? No. But a certain one star review admitted they did not even finish a single episode in full. That, in my opinion, does not give them the right to even review. I liked this show. It's not the best. But I am sick of these new "reviewers" who cannot sit through 45-ish minutes to review (while claiming to take reviewing seriously) yet can feel good saying this is worse than troll 2 or thankskilling or birdemic. Those are at least fun. If you review, stop being a stupid elaborator. Seriously? 1/10? One of the WORST shows you have seen? Make ratings MEAN something again. Stop your dumb feelings-only blogs exaggerating everything, and leave an honest review. It's not good. But it DEFINITELY isn't 1/10. Screw this new age of reviewers.

"Dead of Summer" is a supernatural horror show about a group of teens who are all counselors at a summer camp. My first impression of the show was that it was trying to feed off of the success of the recent MTV hit, "Scream". After actually watching the show, I wasn't quite sure what to think. I maintain the idea that the show-runners and writers wanted the same success as "Scream", but what I did not understand was how they could think that this show was a passable substitute. "Dead of Summer" may honestly be the worst show I have ever seen, due to the terrible writing, acting, pacing, and atmosphere. The actors all seemed bored and distant, which is very harmful to a horror show that is supposed to scare you and keep you intrigued. The writing was abysmal, it was as if this was the first script ever written by the writers, and it should be the last. For all I know, maybe this was the writers' first script, that would actually make a lot of sense. Other than the script, the pacing of the show was very weird and hard to keep up with. The show would jump from one scene to the next, with no explanation or time to develop a creepy atmosphere. It felt like the show was more concerned with just progressing to the next plot point then taking the time to actually be scary or entertaining. Not that it really could be though, with such a horrible and laughably bad story (which involved the stupidest death of a character that I have ever seen). This show really does not even deserve a chance. If you're in the mood to watch some teen horror-hijinks, than I heavily recommend Scream, which is a fantastic example of what a show like this should look like. Just please, don't waste your time with this garbage.

OK, so it's not Scream the original movie. It's not smart or sophisticated and it's not a fresh and exciting new take on an old genre. But if you let go of all your preconceptions and expectations, it CAN BE something else. It can be a summertime guilty pleasure; and that's not at bad thing at all. Because it's actually pretty easy to be entertained by something you don't expect much from… and if you do that with this show, you give it the potential to deliver.First, everybody has something to hide so by the end of episode 2 you know that much of what you've seen isn't what it appears to be. Sure, it's been done before but in some cases, and with these people, the humans are just as scary as the ghosts! If nothing else, trying to figure out who's going to mess with whom and why can actually end up fun. Or, put another way, let the backstabbing begin and just try to follow the knife!So what if the history of the camp has been seen and done before in any number of ways. We haven't seen it done with Tony Todd, who floats through the show like an avatar of death and destruction without giving the viewer enough knowledge yet to be certain of why he does it or what it actually means. So, bad guy? Yes. In this context? No way to know yet.And by the end of episode 2 it would also appear that filing this show away in a box marked "guilty pleasures 2016" might not be a half bad idea. So give it two episodes, get out your popcorn and surrender your disbelief, cynicism and critical analysis. Don't try to take it apart, take it for what it is and enjoy the ride. It's not brilliant, surreal or groundbreaking. But neither is a trip to the old state fair and we enjoy going to that every year in spite of it all!

Think back to every cliché you've ever seen in a horror movie set on a lake and they're all here. Young, pretty people, at summer camp, on a lake. Throw in a map shaped like the Devil, a creepy janitor, and spooky woods. Couple that with a super annoying lead female with zero gumption and even less likability and you've got the picture. First episode tries to leave the viewer with unanswered questions, but ends up asking 'Why did I even bother?'. The best thing about it is the soundtrack, and even that misses the mark. Don't care a fig about the characters and have no desire whatsoever to watch the next ep.