by A.J.
Night 3: Suburban Horror Night I
The teenagers are all well played though some get more backstory than others. They are recognizable in the way they talk and in their behavior, likeable or not. They let each other spend the night to avoid troubled home lives. They insult each other affectionately. Like all teenage boys they are sex obsessed and routinely try to spy on Davey’s former babysitter and neighbor, Nikki (Tiera Skovbye). She gets enough of a backstory and is played well enough by Skovbye to be more than eye candy or a potential trophy. Davey’s conversations with her reveal that she is bound for Stanford and dealing with her parents’ divorce. Woody (Caleb Emery) is dealing with his overworked, alcoholic mother. “Eats” (Judah Lewis) is dealing with his possibly abusive father and quarrelling parents. 
“Even serial killers live next door to somebody.”
The poster for Summer of ‘84 makes it seem like a hokey 80’s throwback or something intentionally campy. I admit I was skeptical of this random find–an independent Canadian production that received a marginal theatrical release and was essentially a direct to streaming movie–especially when I saw that there were 3 credited directors, but this is actually a solid suspense picture and coming of age story that draws on Hitchcock as much as it does any of the 1980s movies it references. The screenplay, production design, and costumes are steeped in the specific kind of 80’s nostalgia ushered in by Stranger Things. The basic premise shares similarities with Stranger Things, among many other movies and television series: 4 teenage boys investigate something mysterious and have an adventure of sorts. They even ride bikes, but the similarities end there. More than Stranger Things or even Rear Window, Summer of ‘84 is on the same wavelength as David Lynch’s Blue Velvet and Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt; these are films young people who discover the dark and shocking secrets of their seemingly perfect small towns.
The idea is simple enough: even serial killers live next door to somebody. 15 year old Davey (Graham Verchere) becomes concerned that his neighbor, amiable local police officer Mackey (Rich Sommer), is secretly the Cape May Killer, responsible for a series of disappearances of young teen boys. Davey recruits his friends Woody, “Eats”, and Curtis to help investigate. At first it is nothing more than another game to them but then evidence begins to accumulate. The plot more or less unfolds how you expect but it is well done regardless and there are some truly tense scenes. The eerie synth score is highly effective in creating an unsettling and mysterious mood.
What really makes Summer of 84 something special is its final act and resolution. Up to this point things unfold as you might expect but then the story takes a decidedly dark turn. The final confrontation between Davey and Mackey is all the more terrifying for how unconventional it is. Davey’s final scenes fit the harsh reality that was the 1980’s, with the dim outlook that many had about their present and potential future. This tone will probably resonate with people watching in 2025. Still this movie is not mean; it is not grim for the sake of being grim or shocking for the sake of being different. Teenage anxiety and the fear of things yet to come that is dismissed by adults never really goes away or becomes less felt (it just becomes general anxiety). In the season one finale of Mad Men, Don Draper tells Kodak executives that nostalgia is Greek for the “pain from an old wound.” I think Davey would agree. That is the kind of nostalgia on display here.
Summer of 84 is available to stream for free on Kanopy and Hoopla (Kanopy has the better quality transfer).
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