Popular reviews

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  Review by Sean Baker 14

  Perhaps I was procrastinating on this one because it seems we've been inundated with 80's Spielberg/Carpenter/Zemeckis love letters as of late.
  This was another random watch on Shudder and I had a blast. Really appreciate the dedication to the era, the roller coaster plot and how dark it gets. Great casting and retro, fun soundtrack by Le Matos.

  I grew up in this era and I was just a bit younger (in 1984) than the characters and I am so impressed with the accuracy of the boy's dialogue and behavior. I was LOL during some of their banter because this is exactly how my friends and I acted... we even used the word "schizoid" to insult one another.

  I've been meaning to watch Turbo Kid for 5 years now. Well, after Summer of 84, I'm going to push up the queue.

  Watched on Shudder

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  Review by Trudes ★½ 14

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  I lose followers every time I make these types of complaints but I don't need fragility in my life so here we go: I'm tired of the same 'group of teenage boys solve a mystery' story. Almost every review of Summer of 84 comments on how it rides the nostalgia-porn wave that the likes of Stranger Things brought on and that's correct. Every archetype, trope etc. is there.

  But this weirded me out more than usual with multiple conversations about jacking off, boners and then the dead in the water trope of the main kid in the group having a crush on the pretty popular girl who is all mysterious and naked in her bedroom as he stares through binoculars.…

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  Review by Paul Anthony Cassidy ★★★★ 8

  Directed by a trio of newcomers (François Simard, Anouk Whissell & Yoann-Karl Whissell) and starring a host of unknowns I must admit the only real thing that attracted me to 'Summer of 84' was the cover art which in my experience is usually pretty misleading.

  Let's be honest both the film and TV market has for some time now been awash to the point of saturation with '80s set or inspired horrors, comedies, dramas etc to such an extent that nostalgic nods to that decade have become a genre in itself. But that being said I've really enjoyed quite a lot of them with shows such as Stranger Things and Red Oaks as well as movie efforts including 'The Final Girls'…

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  Review by Todd Gaines ★★★½ 13

  It’s a cruel, cruel, cruel summer 
  

  Kids on bikes. Synth pop score. ‘80s retro vibe. Rear Window meets Distrubia meets your favorite ‘80s coming of age flick. Summer of 84 is the follow up from the peeps who brought us the highly entertaining, Turbo Kid. It has a lot I like in films, but the budget holds this one back, a lot. Especially, with the adult actors. It is like they hired them from the Canadian Actor Unemployment Line. Perhaps, the filmmakers spent all their money on acquiring the song rights for Cruel Summer? Bravo, with the Karate Kid homage using Cruel Summer. You can tell they love the ‘80s like I love lap dances.

  The kids are cool. One…

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  Review by haley ★½ 7

  decided to rewatch this since it seemed like i was the only one who didn't like it back when it came out, so i thought i'd like it more if i gave it another chance. i was wrong. i didn't think it was possible, but i hate it even more now. i just don't get what you guys are seeing. is it because of the synth score?? it couldn't possibly be the story or the cast. disturbia did it much better, and that came out a whole decade before this. so what is it that i'm missing? i want to understand.

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  Review by Mondo Cinema ★★½ 2

  Summer if 84 is a late to the party 80s nostalgia flick that is entertaining in the last 15 minuets.
  Sorry guys 80s films were far more than kids riding bikes to synth scores......that's why they are so beloved to this day.

  Mondo Cinema out.....

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  Review by Tony the Terror 🎃 ★★★ 4

  Yeah I mean you know...this was alright. It’s pretty predictable especially if you’ve seen Disturbia and it’s honestly waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too late to the table with the whole 80’s nostalgia thing and W/H/Y did it need three people directing it??

  But here’s the thing, the performances are legit awesome and I was entertained in spite of that predictability and the last 15 minutes or so goes in a very unexpected direction and that’s what makes it a solid 3 stars even if it’s nit something I think I’d watch again.

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  Review by ty ★★★

  Me for the first two acts: How is this labeled as a horror? 
  Me when the third act kicks in: ohhhhhhhhhh I get it

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  Review by lucia🎞 ★★★½ 2

  the first step to succesfully catching a serial killer is to put a group of sassy preteens in charge of a clandestine investigation

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  Review by coles84 ★★★★ 4

  SUMMER OF 84 is the film the 2017 version of IT should have been between the Pennywise sections. The kids are brilliant in this, not over the top or over-dramatized, they feel entirely real and mischievous. They get comedy gold lines and enough solid interactions to make you feel fully invested in their journeys.

  The film itself feels like the STRANGER THINGS have moved into THE ‘BURBS with wonderful characters that haven’t felt so likeable since TURBO KID. It is certainly in a ‘BURBS for the modern-day mold and for the most part, is as light as its apparent influence. I say most part…..the film has a dark agenda that whispers its way throughout, it threatens, it teases and when…

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  Review by Slig001 ★★

  Summer of 84.....basically diet Disturbia meets Stand by Me with a synth score and some Regan-Bush signs to remind you that it's supposed to be set in the eighties. The plot is the same as Disturbia and focuses on a group of kids that come to believe that their neighbour might be a serial killer. I found this to be really quite boring. It puts a lot of the focus on the eighties setting and the relationship between the kids, neither of which really adds any real weight to the proceedings. There's a real lack of any excitement from the actual plot itself. Things don't really pick up until the final fifteen minutes and by then it is too late.…

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  Review by Mario 🎄❄️ ★★★★ 6

  Just here for the Stranger Things vibes.