Summer of 84 – Review

Even serial killers live next door to somebody, or so these boys think in small town Ipswich, Oregon during the summer of 1984. 15-year-old Davey Armstrong (Verchere) smashes on his paper route, cycling home in the suburbs after slanging out the news. If you are coming into this little 80s town for the fun vibes and good times, that is definitely not found in this movie however the setting is well represented.

“Freeport Boy Still Missing” states a paper headline as Davey hands over the daily to longtime police officer neighbor Wayne Mackey (Sommer), and collects his monthly payment. Getting a peek inside Mackey’s house while he helps him move a couch downstairs, Davey finds a dark room. Being an amateur videographer himself, he finds it interesting.

Davey meets his friends Tommy (Lewis), Dale (Emery) and Curtis (Gruter-Andrew) after dark for outside games of running around the neighborhood with all the kids around. They have a game called ‘Manhunt’ which is basically a flashlight infused version of tag and hide and seek. Ah, the days of having to hang out physically and no internet.

The boys tire of the game and head to their treehouse hideout to hangout and talk girls, life and conspiracy theories about the missing kids from surrounding towns. Davey dishes what he thinks is going on but is quickly shot down by his friends due to his outlandish past ideas and his active imagination.

Davey returns home, quick to reconnect with his friends over walkie talkies, again talking about his pretty and popular neighbor Nikki (Skovbye) and eventually falling asleep. A typical summer day.

After a touch of feel-good summer fun at the opening with a touch of nostalgia for those old enough, Summer of 84 shifts gears and gets going by introducing some super dark elements and a serial killer named the Cape May Slayer.

It is a serious movie, and played as such by the lesser known but capable cast. Despite a small budget, the film looks great and everyone does a good job. The kids all feel genuine and the script is pretty good. It is a nice mix of elements; however, I always wind up just slightly unsatisfied when I watch it. Overall, there is way more good than bad, and Rich Sommer’s performance especially helps drive the movie home.

Comparisons below are only somewhat relative