PLOT: Four friends discover an ancient spirit board and conduct a séance, inadvertently summoning something sinister that seeks its own vengeance.
Behind The Story
The Summoning was conceived as a short skit for Halloween 2017 but the idea snowballed into something much larger by the time we got down to shooting. We had always wanted to try horror for a while and decided to make it our next project following EIDETIC for two reasons: we wanted a switch in genre and secondly, we wanted to challenge ourselves to see how well we perfect the technical aspects of filmmaking, especially sound, which is very important in horror.
The shoot lasted four sleepless nights and post-production another four months before we premiered the film on the 26th of October 2018 and consecutively released it on Halloween night, a year after what was originally planned - worth it!
This film took a lot of effort from the crew and collaborators from outside the country. It has already received the following nominations at festivals around the world. It also became one of the only two Sri Lankan films to be screened at San Diego Comic-Con's Film Festival, the other being our own short film EIDETIC.
Industry Praise for The Summoning
"Akash Sunethkumara is a genuine multi-hyphenate with talent and vision to burn. 'The Summoning' is creepy fun and I look forward to seeing more of this story."
Richard Schenkman - Director The Man From Earth (2007)
"Creepy!"
Oren Peli - Director Paranormal Activity (2007)
"An all-out shocker!"
David Worth - Cinematographer Bronco Billy (1980)
