Well Kiddies, I know that I keep saying that I will make it
to Sundance eventually but that day has yet to come, and …well I have to be
honest with you I am for more interested in the flicks than the events. There
are some amazing flicks despite the fact that festivals are notoriously biased
against genre films.
That being said there are often some genre flicks and
usually I hear of them. The Alamo Drafthouse is great at arranging limited
screenings and often times will even arrange their programming around a
particular film. As was the case this summer with the Sundance hit “Summer of
84”.
After seeing the movies that the Alamo was showing to aid us
in remembering the Summer of Return of the Jedi…No they could not show that
flick, The films included naturals like Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Footloose and
to more obscure titles like BMX Bandits for last months AGFA.
Summer of 84 came to The Alamo for a limited release at the
Irving location, so off I went to check it out.
Basically in the darker tradition of The Goonies, and The Monster Squad premise this flick is the basic plot line of “The Monster Next Door” our main character
begins through a series of coincidences to suspect that his police officer
neighbor is the serial killer that is stalking the children in the local area,
Assembling his quartet of friends and beginning their own investigation into
these crimes.
Taking place in the titular summer of 1984 the film manages
to create the nostalgic feel while not going the cheesy route that other 80s period films entail, while also creating a Bradbury like community and
science of isolation the film at many times feels predictable but leads to a
direction that many will not see coming, as well as a darker tone.
With a Carpenter like synthesized score the flick adds
suspense and Drama where it needs them to be and Jump scares in all the right
places.
I can see why this would have simply a limited release but
will soon be found on the streaming services and will find it’s audience
there.
2 Dead Bodies
1 Breast
1 Beast
2 Gallons of Blood
1 Broken leg
Gratuitous girl watching
Gratuitous 6th Grade Humor
Gratuitous family fighting
3 ½ Stars
Check it out
