Producers: Mark Fasano, James Henrie, John Blanford and Dan McDonough   Director: David Henrie   Screenplay: Cornelius Uliano and Bryan Schulz   Cast: Mason Thames, Julian Lerner, Abby James Witherspoon, Noah Cottrell, Nora Zehetner, Patrick Renna, Emma Fasano, Ashley Trisler, Gary Weeks, Bobbi Baker, Lilah Pate, Nico Tirozzi, Kelly Collins Lintz, Kevin James, Lorraine Bracco and Mel Gibson   Distributor: Pastime Pictures  

Grade: C

There’s a throwback quality to this pedestrian youth-oriented lite-horror flick directed by actor David Henrie, best known for his role as Selena Gomez’s brother in the long-running Disney sitcom “Wizards of Waverly Place.”  Set in 1997, it aims for the nostalgic vibe reminiscent of a movie like J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8,” but it winds up feeling more like something Mick Garris might have made in the 1990s—“Hocus Pocus,” for example.  (That’s not intended as a compliment.)

The main kid character is Noah Reed (Mason Thames, of “The Black Phone”), who’s grieving the absence of his journalist father after several years have passed; his mother Abby (Nora Zehetner) runs a guest house catering to summer visitors at Martha’s Vineyard (though the shoot actually occurred in North Carolina).  Noah has a trio of close friends: Ben Driskel (Noah Cottrell), the star hitter on their Little League team, Eugene Wexler (Julian Lerner), smaller and more nervous; and saucy Sammy Devers (Abby James Witherspoon). 

Noah wants to follow in his father’s footsteps, and has gotten Edgar Palmer (Kevin James), the editor of the local paper, to consider publishing an article he’ll write.  But Palmer’s interested in some puff piece to cater to his readers, not the juicy stuff—like a piece about a possible peeping Tom—that budding investigative reporter Noah writes up. 

But Noah soon has a problem bigger than a rejection of his article.  Ben winds up in a near catatonic state after nearly being drowned by a weird hooded figure during a nighttime swim with cute Ellie Evans (Lilah Pate), and Noah is convinced that his condition was caused by some evil force, likely a crone Ellie saw that was probably a witch. Noah figures it might have been Miss Halverson (Lorraine Bracco), a strange woman who’s just moved into the Reed hostelry.  His pursuit of proof against her proves a disaster, however. 

Meanwhile Noah has made the acquaintance of Gene Carruthers (Mel Gibson), a crusty, reclusive fellow he’d considered writing about because he and his friends have heard rumors about the guy’s involvement in the disappearance of his wife and young son years before.  It turns out that Gene is a retired cop who has a special interest in villains who prey on children, since his own boy (Nico Tirozzi) was actually kidnapped and never found.  Though he dismisses Noah’s suggestions of witchcraft out of hand, Gene suspects that the attack on Ben might be connected with the child abductions he’s recorded over the years, and particularly with the recent case of Ronnie Harlow (Spencer Fitzgerald) in New Hampshire, who was left in a much-changed state similar to Ben’s.  And when another local kid, Kevin (Gavin Bedell) winds up missing, Carruthers becomes determined to investigate, and Noah refuses to give up on his theories either. 

Eventually everything winds up at a house where Noah, Eugene and Sammy have tracked the person Noah has identified as the prime suspect.  Fortunately, Gene has come to the same conclusion via a different route.

“Monster Summer” isn’t an awful Halloween-related flick for kids, though it would likely be too scary for very young ones and too tame for more jaded teens and adolescents, who are accustomed to things more viscerally exciting nowadays.  Though the other youngsters are rather bland, Thames, as in “Phone,” makes a fine young protagonist, and Gibson seems to be having a good time playing a grouchy but committed old guy who learns some important lessons from his new friend in the end.  Bracco is pretty much wasted, and James must have accepted his tiny part as a favor, but Patrick Renna and Ashley Trisler get a chance to chew the scenery down the home stretch.  Technically the movie is okay—Elliott Glick’s production design is decent despite a few clunkers (what’s the local theatre doing showing “Casper” and “Hook” in 1997?), as is Larry Blanford’s cinematography and Robb Sullivan’s editing, though Frederik Wiedmann’s score is bombastic.  Henrie’s direction suggests that he learned the craft from his cable TV sitcom work in his younger days.

Indeed, a kid-oriented cable station would be the more appropriate venue for this mildly spooky, determinedly old-fashioned boys’ adventure story, but perhaps Saturday afternoon theatrical screenings will attract some desperate family audiences. But a “Goonies”-level classic it is not.