Summer of 84

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