Summer
Of 84 (6/10)
Full
of spoilers! A few days ago I watched this movie with B&H called
Summer of 84. In it these four friends investigate a series of
kidnappings nearby and one of them, Davey, begins to think that a
policeman neighbor named Wayne Mackey is the guy doing it. Davey's
dad is a photojournalist and one of the most aggravating parts of
this movie. Him and flashlights. I have no idea how many times I said
Turn off your day flashlights!” Obviously, this takes place in 1984
so there are going to be comparisons to Stranger Things and have
references to shit that was going on during that time. Davey is all
about conspiracy theories and is rather plain. His character is just
a kid who is only as interesting as who he is around. Woody is the
big kid that has a mother that is working herself to death. Tommy is
the punk kid whose parents aren't worth shit. And finally there is
Curtis who wears glasses. There wasn't too much different really
about any o these kids other than how they were dressed. As someone
who grew up in the 80's I never in my life met kids like these. They
have no real chemistry because they don't seem like they would really
hang out with each other. When you are with your friends you are not
always talking shit about each other and your mothers. I was also not
as horned up as these guys.
One
day Davey sees this kid that turns up missing in the cops house and
gets all kinds of suspicious. His friends, who along with a bunch of
other kids play this hunting one another game, decide to help him
investigate. Davey watches how every single thing that this cop does
is sketchy. Like...everything! Even when he takes the trash out he
peeps over his shoulder to make sure he is not being watched. He is
the sloppiest kidnapper/killer too because he is always buying
gardening shit and dirt. Davey and his friends put a walkie-talkie on
the cops window to listen to him. Davey finds a bloody shirt in the
cops house and they show it to his father who immediately becomes Mr
Punk Bitch and makes the boys apologize to the neighbor and grounds
him. The cop says the boy was his nephew and is like “Oh, no harm
no foul.” By the way, I tried to think that someone else could be
the killer like the boys dad or even this girl that shows up and will
be leaving town soon. It would have been cool to have other suspects
but all signs pointed to the cop.
The
girl that I speak of is Nikki. She is very much 80's hot even down to
looking too old for her age. It is nuts, but people in their teens in
the 80's looked 30 years old. Davey has a crush on her and when they
talk they act like they are the best of friends even though she lives
across the street from him (because he looks in her window nightly)
and she has not been over in years. Sure. Gonna miss you (your bawdy)
so much! Davey sneaks back into the cops house with Nikki and the fat
kid and they film it using Davey's dads camera. They find every
manner of evidence including a corpse in a tub and one kid that is
still alive. The other boys think the cop is innocent because he
opened a nice little garden thing nearby and everyone thinks he is
awesome because he catches another guy saying he is the real killer.
The kids show the video to the police who begin to search for the cop
Mackey.
Now...knowing
that a crazed killer is on the loose and lives next to the kids who
discovered his nefarious ways, you would think that this entire
street would be on lockdown and the kids would be under some form of
police protection. Or maybe stay at someone else's house. Or at the
very least station a cop car outside. Nah! Davey and the fat kid get
kidnapped by the cop who was hiding in the goddamn attic! He takes
them IN A COP CAR to this wooded area to hunt them down. I guess?
Davey leaves the big kid alone and the cop finds him and slits his
throat. Murder! Murder most foul! He finds Davey and slices his foot
but lets him know he ruined everything and is not going to kill him
now but wants him looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life
wondering if this will be the day he comes back. Pffft. Bring it,
bitch!
It
seems like everything goes back to normal. One kid is dead, the punk
kid is still home, the one with glasses...still has glasses, and
Nikki moves away. The cops house is put up for sale but fuck even
stepping foot into it. “Over here we have the secret basement room
with a bathtub! Why is there a secret basement room with a bathtub
next to the creepy dark room? Never mind that. Look at these drapes!”
This could have been cooler if it was shorter, more realistic
dialogue, and some more suspects. You can't have the killer being so
damned spooky all the time and have me pretend to be surprised when
he is discovered. Hell, at least they could have had this drag out
longer and there been multiple times when he was confronted with
evidence showing he is the killer and having it shot down. Oh, and I
gotta point out that Davey's mom was corpsing the entire movie. She
was the blankest of slates. H. called her a Stepford Wife. She was
really weird in her non reaction to everything. She did smile when
she was going to that parade though!
Graham
Verchere as Davey Armstrong
Judah
Lewis as Tommy “Eats” Eaton
Caleb
Emery as Dale “Woody” Woodworth
Cory
Gruter-Andrew as Curtis Farraday
Tiera
Skovbye as Nikki Kaszuba
Rich
Sommer as Wayne Mackey
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