One of the summer’s most hotly anticipated horror releases isn’t coming from a major studio, nor is it being given a monumental marketing push. Still, genre fans who pay attention to festival buzz have been looking forward to Summer of ’84 for months. 1980’s nostalgia has been big business since The Duffer Brothers hit gold with Stranger Things on Netflix. This film, however, is no PG-13 affair.
A new clip from Summer of ‘84 was revealed during Comic-Con’s Bold Voice of Contemporary Horror panel last Saturday. Give it a spin, followed by the official trailer and synopsis after that.
About the Bold Voice of Contemporary Horror Panel:
Love Get Out? A Quiet Place? Hereditary? The Witch? The Invitation? The Babadook? It Follows? Some of the most knowledgeable and influential voices in horror today discuss the state of indie and studio horror film and give a sneak peek at the best to come this year, with exclusive footage from festival standouts and hotly anticipated fall releases. This is the place to come to find out which upcoming horror flicks should be on your must-see list and discuss current trends in the horror genre. Panelists include Ryan Turek (VP of feature film development, Blumhouse), Dave Kajganich (creator, AMC’s The Terror; writer, Suspiria), Mali Elfman (Before I wake, Fun Size Horror co-founder, Overlook Film Festival, co-creator, Fun Size Horror), Anouk Whissell (member of RKSS directing team, Summer of ’84, Turbo Kid), and Rusty Cundieff (Tales From The Hood) Moderated by Jen Yamato (The Los Angeles Times).
Synopsis:
Summer, 1984: The perfect time to be 15 years old and care 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.
SUMMER OF 84 stars Graham Verchere (“Psych,” “Once Upon a Time”), Judah Lewis (The Babysitter, Demolition), Caleb Emery (Goosebumps, “Dear White People”), Cory Grüter-Andrew (“Fargo,” “The 100″), Tiera Skovbye (“Riverdale,” “Once Upon a Time”), and Rich Sommer (“GLOW,” “Mad Men”). The film is directed by the Montreal filmmaking collective RKSS (Turbo Kid) which consists of François Simard and brother & sister Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell, from a script by Matt Leslie and Stephen J. Smith.
Summer of ’84 hits select theatres on August 10th in advance of a VOD release scheduled for August 24th.
Words: Josh Millican (@josh_millican)
