Summer of 84 (2018) Review

 

Summer of 84 (2018)

Summer of 84 follows 4 kids who suspect their neighbor is a serial killer, a suspicion that, of course, becomes a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Now I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this movie, considering it was a Shudder exclusive and the only reason I found it was because it was a suggested film on Amazon when I was looking to buy They Live. And for the most part, I was right. The movie felt like a nostalgia driven cash grab to capitalize on the success of Stranger Things. It felt like it’s relation to the 80s was its sole reason for making the movie, and to me, that was super cheap.

I will admit though, it was entertaining for the most part and kept me drawn in to what was happening on-screen, even with it being a slow burn that has way too many 'endings' (fade to black like it’s the end, only to come right back). The cast, honestly, wasn’t that entertaining and I felt no genuine connection to the characters throughout the film. Deaths or major shocking moments had no real impact, minus 2 big twists at the end. One I will keep hidden, but the second is crucial to the good points of this review. Mackey killing Woody, but sparing Davey, only to tell him he will kill him, but he wants him to think about him every day, looking over his shoulder in fear for day he will kill him was a fucking phenomenal twist and to leave the film open on that was jarring and such a great ending. It takes away that childhood innocence everyone in the film is telling Davey about and is such a stark contrast from the beginning to the end; fantastic story decision on the directors (there’s multiple) part.

The film is shot really well, looking like a high budget film, even though it had a very small budget. Another thing I really enjoyed was the score. Did it sound like a carbon copy of the music from Stranger Things? Of course, but I’m still a sucker for those 80s synth-keyboard tunes.

So, while I have dogged on it quite a bit, it wasn’t all that bad and it’s still worth the watch for the ending alone.

5/10