Summer of 84 (2018)
Summer of 84 is the collective directorial team known as RKSS’s follow-up to another cult film tapping into the vibe of the 1980s, the zany post-apocalyptic comedy called Turbo Kid. This time out, it’s more of a straight-faced effort, setting the film in the titular year without going full bore into the 80s nostalgia that drenches so many other properties that take place in the popular era, especially, Super 8, “Stranger Things”, and It.
Set in the fictional suburbs known as Ipswich, Oregon, during, of course, summertime in 1984, we follow the exploits of a group of four teenage friends, including our main protagonist, Davey (Verchere, “The Good Doctor”), who spends his time with his paper route, and in watching his neighbor and former babysitter Nikki (Skovbye, “Riverdale”) through his bedroom window. The boys spend a good deal of time together riding bikes and exploring, horsing around with adult items like booze and nudie mags they’ve managed to pilfer, and patrolling the neighborhood in a game they call, “Manhunt” (which is some sort of variation that combines tag with hide and seek). At large, though, and for a number of years, is a serial killer known as the Cape May Slayer, who preys upon teenagers just like them. When Davey sees some suspicious activity within the home of the nice cop in the neighborhood, Wayne Mackey (Hello My Name is Doris), he begins to convince himself that the law enforcement office is indeed the Slayer, and hasn’t been caught all of these years because of his convenient occupation. With the help of his best buds, Davey begins to search for the clues to pin Mackey as the culprit.
Building on Hitchcockian plotting that will remind some of the Master’s Rear Window and movies influenced by it, such as 1989’s The ‘burbs and 2007’s Disturbia. These films begin and end with the premise that murderers live next door to someone, and could very well be living next to you or me. We only really know those sides of our neighbors that they choose to let us see; if we could examine their activities and environs more closely, we’d be shocked at what we might find. Nostalgia-bait properties like “Stranger Things” and It notwithstanding, the films that I found it most reminiscent of would be the 1985’s vampire-next-door horror-light flick, Fright Night, if it were combined with the ’90s-set teen flick from 2017, Super Dark Times. RKSS takes time out to appreciate each of their characters and their home lives more than most that have tread this path, making them feel believable and far less precocious than even films that are contemporary of its era tended to be.
Themes abound that, while they’ve been done before, still manage to work well for the film. One is, of course, that there aren’t monsters as we’ve all imagined growing up, but there are monsters within people, who commit horrific acts that we would attribute to those creatures of fantasy (the conversation about whether Ewoks could defeat Gremlins is an indicator of whether the forces of good could defeat those seemingly innocent creatures like the Mogwai who have the capacity for evil and mayhem under the right circumstances). Fright Night turned those killers into actual vampires, but Summer of 84 keeps it on a grounded level throughout, playing more like a Hardy Boys mystery (the book series gets a nod) with more R-rated dialogue and developments.
Another theme is of the realization as we all grow up out of our sheltered existence that the world is a very dangerous place, and no one should ever consider themselves as completely safe, as we don’t know what dangers lurk within the homes next door. People you’ve been told to trust, from parents to those who are entrusted with our protection, are all fallible to their own weaknesses and vices. Indeed, as we come to learn throughout the film, even the boys themselves have things going on in their homes that they don’t share with each other, including parental bouts of alcoholism and abuse. And yet, the teens don’t feel like they can turn to anyone but each other, because of that trust that comes with their shared outlook on these things, though those feelings further increases their feelings of isolation and despair when they encounter danger.
Summer of 84 has some nice performances from a mostly younger cast, with Graham Verchere especially sympathetic and relateable in his literal boy-next-door role, and Rich Sommer very good in creating a presence that is physically imposing and creepy in their earnesteness he is but characteristically kind and assuring, such that we’re not 100% sure that the film will either end with the boys learning that they’re just crying wolf, or if, indeed, Mackey will remove the sheep’s clothing for all to see.
As fun and suspenseful as the film is throughout, as with many vehicle built on suspense and mystery, things take a bit of a dip during the climax after all the cards are laid out on the table for us to see. It is then that the mystery is revealed as to just what’s going on within the world of the teens, and deadly consequences result, some of which didn’t quite sit well with me from a tonal standpoint. Nevertheless, the film’s epilogue does shape it back into form through its circular premise laid out by the beginning of the story.
Those who enjoy the films of the 1980s, which are filled with those Spielbergian tales of kids in the suburbs finding adventures that await just outside their doors, will enjoy Summer of 84 the most, as it is both an authentic reflection of the prevailing attitudes of youth of the times, but also one of the films from which it is so clearly inspired, including the prevalent early 80s film tropes of teenage boys doing everything they can to get a glimpse of naked women. With its synth soundtrack and emphasis on old school tracking shots, it’s a throwback to a simpler, but still effective form of suspenseful storytelling.
Trivia: in the arcade the boys go to, there is a fictional video game entitled “Polybius” with an out-of-order sign on it. Urban legend is that there was such an arcade game in the 1980s meant to disorient and brainwash its players as an experiment done by an organization based in Oregon. The name comes from the thematically relevant historian of Ancient Greece, who believed one should not sensationalize events, but simply record them as they happen without personal conjecture.
Qwipster’s rating: B+
MPAA Rated: Not rated, but would be R for strong violence, scary images, some nudity, and language
Running Time: 105 min.
Cast: Graham Verchere, Caleb Emery, Judah Lewis, Cory Gruter-Andrew, Tiera Skovbye, Rich Sommer, Jason Gray-Stanford, Shauna Johanneson
Director: RKSS (Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell)
Screenplay: Matt Leslie, Stephen J. Smith