Summer of 84 (2018)
Directed by Anouk Whissell
After suspecting that their police officer neighbor is a serial killer, a group of teenage friends spend their summer spying on him and gathering evidence, but as they get closer to discovering the truth, things get dangerous.
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11 films that influenced Summer of 84
What critics say influenced Summer of 84
Imagine Blue Velvet meets Disturbia (itself an homage to Rear Window ) meets Netflix’s Stranger Things .
And that is the problem with “Summer of 84,” a modest little suspense puzzle that simulates rather than builds on vastly better “my neighbor may be a murderer” stories from “ Rear Window ” to “Stranger Things.”
Miming James Stewart in Rear Window, gawky Davey (Graham Berchere) begins to suspect that his policeman neighbor Mr. Mackey (Rich Sommer) is a child-murderer, largely based on circumstantial evidence.
"Summer of '84" feels familiar as it mixes elements of "Rear Window," "Stand By Me," "Disturbia" and a tip of the hat to 1980s teen horror films such as "Fright Night."
The only female character (besides a couple suburban mothers) is Nikki, and although taking a backseat for much of the time, is a dynamic character and courageous, vulnerable and sexual confident in her response to Davey’s “Rear Window”-style voyeurism.
The movie plays as an excellent mashup of “Rear Window,” “Monster Squad,” and “Stand By Me.” Director trio RKSS lean into the aesthetic of the ’80’s and walk the line between homage and pastiche throughout.
"Summer of '84" feels familiar as it mixes elements of "Rear Window," "Stand By Me," "Disturbia" and a tip of the hat to 1980s teen horror films such as "Fright Night."
Review: 'Summer of 84' Is The Love Child Of 'Stand By Me' And 'The Burbs'…
The movie plays as an excellent mashup of “Rear Window,” “Monster Squad,” and “Stand By Me.” Director trio RKSS lean into the aesthetic of the ’80’s and walk the line between homage and pastiche throughout.
Davey convinces his friends to help him spy on their friendly neighbourhood cop – an activity which they all undertake as an adventurous rite of passage, as if they were the kids from ET – The Extra-Terrestrial or the later The Goonies or Stand By Me .
Helmed by the directing trio known as RKSS (François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell), this horror-thriller plays like the love child of The ‘Burbs and Stand By Me.
Evidentemente otra influencia para RKSS fue The ‘Burbs, de Joe Dante, en la que los nuevos vecinos extranjeros rompen con la normalidad de una cuadra suburbana debido a su excéntrico comportamiento, eventualmente provocando que los protagonistas (Tom Hanks, Rick Docummun y Bruce Dern) sospechen que han cometido un asesinato y enterrado el cadáver en algún lugar de su jardín o dentro de su tenebrosa casa.
Summer of 84 takes its inspiration from horror films of the 1980s, similarly to Stranger Things and the recent version of Stephen King’s IT , without spending as much time setting its characters apart from each other and from the stereotypes from the genre.
People are undoubtedly going to compare it to Stranger Things and probably to a lesser extent 2017’s IT , but that’s just due to the 1980’s setting, the John Carpenter-esque synthtrack, and the main characters being tweens.
A joint directorial effort between François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell, Summer of 84 is a somewhat disappointing entry into the hallowed halls of nostalgia, following in the footsteps of Andy Muschietti’s IT update and Netflix’s Stranger Things .
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I have to confess to a soft spot for Berg because he directed "Very Bad Things," a pitch-black nasty comedy that is one of my favorite films.
Davey, who openly aspires to becoming “the next Spielberg,” is mocked by Eats for once trying to claim “there was a demonic presence in his room because our houses were built on Indian burial grounds” – a scenario instantly recognisable as the plot of Poltergeist, co-written and produced by Spielberg.
Imagine Blue Velvet meets Disturbia (itself an homage to Rear Window ) meets Netflix’s Stranger Things .
The key themes for the film could have been ripped straight out of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet – Davey’s opening voiceover talks about the dark heart of suburbia, the fact that everyone has secrets and you never really know your neighbours.
RKSS wears their influences proudly on their sleeves here, with Summer of ’84 evoking the spirit of movies like Stand by Me, The ’Burbs, Silver Bullet (minus the werewolves), and The Goonies , and there are even a few hat tips to the likes of John Carpenter and Kurt Russell thrown in to boot.
Yet it rejects the offbeat whimsy of The Goonies or E.T., favoring the more somber tone of Stand By Me.
Davey convinces his friends to help him spy on their friendly neighbourhood cop – an activity which they all undertake as an adventurous rite of passage, as if they were the kids from ET – The Extra-Terrestrial or the later The Goonies or Stand By Me .
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Yet it rejects the offbeat whimsy of The Goonies or E.T., favoring the more somber tone of Stand By Me.
Davey convinces his friends to help him spy on their friendly neighbourhood cop – an activity which they all undertake as an adventurous rite of passage, as if they were the kids from ET – The Extra-Terrestrial or the later The Goonies or Stand By Me .
No, not the Duffers, but rather Tom Holland, whose seminal '80s horror riff Fright Night owns a premise rather similar to this story of death in the most idyllic places (and was released at the tail end of summer a year after this tale takes place).