Over the Summer

As someone one who actually grew up in the 1980's. it occurs to me that some day no one will remember what the 80's were REALLY like, but instead will only remember the movies about it, which like all movies are very romanticized and not exactly accurate. Moreover, a whole lot of "80's movies" were actually set in the 1950's or early 1960's and were already coated by a heavy sheen of nostalgia that didn't necessarily even really represent that earlier era very accurately. And even the 80's movies actually set in the 1980's did not represent the experiences of EVERYONE back then. Not everyone grew up in the upper-middle class white suburbs of a John Hughes movie.

That is why this incredibly obscure independent film made in 1984 and written and directed by a woman is kind of interesting. It largely takes place in a small town in Appalachia where a somewhat jaded but still innocent city girl (Laura Hunt) is sent to live with her grandparents. The story is so incredibly random it almost has to be somewhat autobiographical. The protagonist discovers that her beloved grandfather is very troubled, after he tries to make out with her(!) and after she finds out he may be connected to a local murder and arson. She also reunites with a local friend (Catherine Williams), who is being sexually harassed/molested by her mother's new boyfriend. Through her friend she meets a local boy to whom she will eventually lose her virginity (not a spoiler since that is something that happens in pretty much ALL teen movies of this era). But it is interesting that the 80's movies like this about GIRLS losing their virginity always seem far more realistic than movies about boys losing their virginity (even if, like me, you happen to be male). The summer and movie eventually take a tragic turn.

This is not a GREAT movie. There are too many characters and loose narrative threads (kind of like an abridged Appalachian soap opera). The acting is uniformly bad with only the actor playing the grandfather displaying much glimmer of talent. The two lead actresses look to be at least 25 and are not very believable as teenage girls (on the plus side though, they both show their boobs, which would never happen in a teen movie today, and the Williams spends the entire movie wearing various pairs of 80's style butt-hugging short-shorts). The movie is often as serious as a heart attack though, and anybody expecting a typical "losing it" summer sex comedy is probably going to be bitterly disappointed. Still, it's always refreshing to see that someone once managed to make something so far out of the mainstream. I'm not going to tell you it's technically better than "Back to the Future" or "The Breakfast Club", and it does involve some pretty out-there plot twists, but it actually is more representative of the REAL 80's as I remember them than most of the Hollywood films of that time.

Here's an old 80's independent pic, I've viewed a few times, with actors who have mostly done one film. The acting here, ranges from average to quite good, but again, amateurism aspects seep through. A 16 year old girl Tina, visits her grandparents with her family in a small country town over one summer. It's one of those towns where boredom runs rapid. She fall in love with a bad boy stud, losing her, you know what, while her girlfriend Linda, has been going with her mate many years with her mate. Linda is run ragged looking after her little brothers and sisters, while repeatedly trying to fend off the piece of s..t stepfather, crazed with jealousy in a role of scummy effect. Him, the girlfriend, and Tina's grandfather, aka the fireman, you gotta love, are the best actors in it. He and the Tina are very close, and he pops up a lot without warning. There are the trials of tribulation of youth, and the authority figures are quite corrupt, where they really have it in for the young punks, and studs of this town. OTS, I found was enigmatically entertaining though, with some funny awkward silences from it's actors, one, of them tripping on a line or two, where in other cases, some lines are spoken with a kind of hesitance, prefore like as if they forgot. But this is a good film. You really can't say it isn't, with a great soundtrack, and the fireman, is legendary.

A young girl with a punk haircut who hangs out at arcades is taken to the country to stay with her grandparents. Her ugly old grandad, tries to seduce her, kissing her on the mouth when she tried to kiss him on the cheek. She doesn't seem too put off by this disgusting behaviour.

She goes to see a friend, who is engaged to a guy who seems to be MIA, and looks after her half-siblings. She also sees her grandfather hiding a gun in the barn.

In a shocking and unprecedented turn, two horrible yokels attempt to orally rape a young man in a bar, before he is saved by two other guys.

The movie provides some topless nudity from the two girls at the half hour mark, in a skinny dipping scene. The protagonist's friend has sex with her boyfriend, or fiance, if that's what he is, but the protagonist is a virgin.

The girl's grandad is nicknamed "the fireman" because the police station burnt down on his watch. A suspect was shot, and people think he set the station on fire to cover up the shooting.

The yokel from before who tried to rape the young man then tries it with the main character's friend, but fails again. Then her fiance and the other guy pay him a visit, inexplicably with stockings over their faces, pay him a visit and biff him.

In a surprisingly sensitive and erotic scene, the protagonist finally loses her virginity to the handsome young man she has hooked up with.

The yokel gets rapey again with the protagonist's friend.

The direction keeps you at a distance from a lot of the action in this movie. Shots are wide when they should be close. There are subplots and themes that don't really come out the way you feel they should - the mystery of who set the fire at the station, for example, is poorly explained. I still thought "Over the Summer" was a pretty good attempt at making a serious drama with no money, though it is pretty forgettable.