Monster Summer Stars Mel Gibson and Mason Thames Talk Their Thrilling New Adventure

Monster Summer might sound like the kind of title you’d give a bleak drama with heavy themes, but the movie is in fact a high-energy horror movie with a decidedly ’80s-inspired look and feel. The movie, which was directed by Wizards of Waverly Place star David Henrie, stars Mason Thames (The Black Phone), Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos), and Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon), and both Thames and Gibson sat down with ComicBook recently to talk about the ways in which their previous roles helped them get in the zone for these performances.

In the film, Gibson plays a retired detective, who is called upon to explain the unexplainable. Thames, meanwhile, plays the young lead who has to carry a lot of the movie on his shoulders.

“It’s great, because I think what you’re dealing with is there’s an expectation set up which you can disappoint and play off, which is an opportunity for an actor in storytelling, I think,” Gibson explained. “So it’s, for me, it was great. And he’s, you know, he’s an old retired detective who’s withdrawn from life a little bit, and he meets a kid who wants to save the world. Together, they kind of learn something from each other, but they have this mystery that they have to solve together. And it’s kind of a buddy movie, you know?”

Thames, fresh off The Black Phone can’t help but draw comparisons to that movie — and he’s glad the two are nice companion pieces, even if he’s a little self-conscious about his “scared face” being on all the time.

“I feel like, being scared [is how The Black Phone prepared me],” Thames joked. “I have to do that face a lot. It’s not a flattering face, but sadly, I have to do it a lot. But what I love about Monster Summer, especially coming right off Black Phone, is that it was a nice change of pace. I was being scared and almost killed with an ax by Ethan Hawke, and now, getting to work with Mel was was a lot of fun.”

Here’s the (brief) official synopsis for Monster Summer, which hits theaters on October 4th:

“When a mysterious force begins to disrupt their big summer fun, Noah and his friends team up with a retired police detective to embark on a monstrous adventure to save their island.”