Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Spook Out! Day 27 ~ Summer of '84 (2018)

Shudder Says...
"It’s the summer of 1984, the perfect time to be 15 years old and free. But when neighborhood conspiracy theorist Davey Armstrong begins to suspect his police officer neighbor might be the serial killer all over the local news, he and his three best friends begin an investigation that soon turns dangerous."

I Say...
^I take issue with the word "soon."

Horror Type...
Serial Killer, Thriller

Main Players...
Graham Verchere as Davey Armstrong (Budding Filmmaker)
Tiera Skovbye as Nikki Kaszub (Hot Girl Next Door)
Rich Sommer as Wayne Mackey (Good AND Bad Cop?)

I liked...
  • Davey's determination, grit, bravery, and ingenuity
  • how wonderfully creepy a "good guy" Mackey was
  • the '80s setting, music, and parlance, which brought my Gen X heart much joy
  • that the ending takes a sobering turn which is distinctly unlike typical '80s flicks and I'm afraid I can say no more w/o getting all spoilery
  • the straightforward plot, which enjoyed some great moments of tension and suspense...

The Meh...
...and yet lost a lot of momentum by taking too freaking long to tell its story. It's an hour and 45 minutes, y'all--and it sure as heck didn't need to be.

Would I recommend it...?
Well, it's fun when it's moving, there are some good moments of humor, and the nostalgia factor will keep you into it if nothing else (assuming you're a person of A Certain Age). There's not a lot of gore, though in the last act as Things Are Revealed we do see some gruesome sights. It's an entertaining watch and I'm glad I took a chance on it...and actually, I would love to see a sequel wrap up the narrative's honking-huge cliffhanger.

Miscellany...
I super dig this Canadian indie's dark-synth movie score. (Eh?) (C'mon, you knew I had to do it.) 

Ratings...
My Grade: B+
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: Tomatometer=70%, Audience Score=65%

Details, Schmeetails...
I Watched Summer of '84 on Shudder (the Rotten Tomatoes page linked above provides links to other host sites)
Summer of '84's Wikipedia Page (Contains Spoilers)


This concludes day 27 of

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