If you ask Billy Eichner, he’ll probably tell you that his 2022 movie “Bros” moved the needle forward regarding gay rom-coms.
If that is the case, then “Summoning Sylvia” (The Horror Collective) moves it back a few notches. Co-written and co-directed by Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse, “Summoning Sylvia” attempts to conjure and merge the spirits of the comedy/horror and queer genres with mixed results.
Set in a haunted house, “Summoning Sylvia” tells of a gay bachelor party gone wrong. Larry (Travis Coles), fiancée of Jamie (Michael Urie), is blindfolded by his friends Reggie (Travis Iwata), Kevin (Noah Ricketts), and Nico (Frankie Grande, who may or may not be intentionally channeling the late Alexis Arquette) and whisked off for a weekend getaway in advance of his gay nuptials.
Sylvia (Veanne Cox of “Big Eden” fame), the original owner of the house was supposedly driven mad and killed her only son Phillip (Camden Garcia) in cold blood. She was then murdered in her home by “unidentified culprits.” So, of course these silly queens feel the need to have a séance and summon her.
Further complicating things is the appearance of Jamie’s brother Harrison (Nicholas Logan). A super-straight soldier still coming to terms with his brother being gay and getting “gay married,” Harrison was invited by Larry who somehow forgot to tell his friends. Larry extended the invitation to appease Jamie, but we know that it was an insincere act and that it won’t go well.
Right from the start, the flamboyant Nico and macho Harrison don’t get along. This puts additional stress on Larry. Additionally, the very old house makes lots of banging noises, and the faulty wiring causes the lights to flicker and go dark, which just increases the anxiety level thereby convincing the friends that Sylvia has, in fact, returned.
As is often the case, nothing is as it seems. Nico mistakes the pizza delivery guy (Sean Grandillo) for the deceased Phillip and believes he is having sex with a ghost. The sexual tension between Reggie and Kevin reaches its peak and they secretly act on their mutual attraction. Larry and Harrison’s interactions are increasingly awkward leading to a series of miscommunications. More than anything, it’s the story behind what occurred between Sylvia and Phillip (heartwarming rather than horrifying) that is the movie’s best moment and its high point.
Unfortunately, you must slog through a lot of muck to get to the all-too-brief good part. Never quite scary or funny enough to fit into one or the other genre, “Summoning Sylvia,” complete with a drag finale sure to piss off Republicans everywhere, is most certainly gay, gay, gay.
Rating: C-
Gregg Shapiro is the author of eight books including the poetry chapbook Fear of Muses (Souvenir Spoon Books, 2022). An entertainment journalist, whose interviews and reviews run in a variety of regional LGBTQ+ and mainstream publications and websites, Shapiro lives in Fort Lauderdale with his husband Rick and their dog Coco.
