5 SUMMER Titled Movies from the 1980s

With Summer here once again, would you like to go on a vacation to an exotic location but are unable, or perhaps still unwilling, to travel? It’s all good because film can bring the vacation to you. So, head on inside, turn up the aircon, and let me be your guide through these five Summer titled movies from the 1980s.

Summer Lovers (1982)

Location: Santorini, Greece

Starring: Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah, Valerie Quennessen

Directed by: Randal Kleiser

Our first stop is a spicy rendezvous on the beautiful island of Santorini, Greece. If you’ve ever wanted a threesome affair with beautiful people, as well as plenty of nudity on gorgeous beaches along the Aegean Sea, then 1982’s “Summer Lovers” is the film for you.

Recent American college grads Michael (Gallagher) and Cathy (Hannah) head to Santorini for the summer. However, the island’s amorous energy gets to Michael who has an affair with archeologist Lina (Quennessen), assigned to a dig nearby. Distraught with guilt, Michael confesses to Cathy, who eventually confronts Lina. However, the two women become friends after admiring each other’s work. Things go from there, Lina moves in, and they live as a polyamorous threesome in Santorini.

Yeah, living in Santorini with Daryl Hannah and Valerie Quennessen for the summer would be alright with me.

Interestingly, some scenes were filmed at an actual archeological dig site at Akrotiri, an ancient Bronze Age settlement on the island, often thought of as the “Lost City of Atlantis”. Guided by real archeologists, French actress Valerie Quennessen began digging for the cameras. Not long after, she actually unearthed a sundry of ancient pottery fragments! The pieces were even added to the scientific collection.

So, Valerie Quennessen didn’t just play an archeologist in the movies. She has some real science creds to her name!

Valerie retired from acting following this film. Tragically, she died at the young age of 31 in a car accident.

Summer Rental (1985)

Location: “Citrus Cove”, Florida

Starring: John Candy, Richard Crenna, Karen Austin

Directed by: Carl Reiner

Our next destination is, what I believe to be a fictional resort town of Citrus Cove, Florida. I looked up Citrus Cove in Florida and just found suburban “neighborhoods” within existing cities: The kinds that have a plaque on a rock, the houses look the same, and there’s high HOA dues. The film itself was shot in St. Pete’s Beach near St. Petersburg. For the purposes of our mock movie vacation tour, we’ll head to somewhere in Citrus County, a real place along Florida’s central Gulf Coast.

In his very first lead role, John Candy plays Jack Chester, a burned-out air traffic controller ordered on vacation. Upon his and his family’s arrival to Citrus Cove, a comedy of errors ensues. Jack meets the film’s villain Al Pellet, a sailing champion, when Al bumps them out of their place in line at a luxurious seafood restaurant. The family then accidently ends up in a dilapidated shack on a public beach. Moreover, Jack is injured, limiting the time he can spend with his family.

As it turns out, Al Pellet owns the property the shack is on and demands the family leave within two weeks. Unwilling to accept a besting by his nemesis, Jack challenges Al to a race at an upcoming sailing event. If Jack wins, he and his family stay at the property rent-free for a month. If he loses, he must pay Al $1,000 and return home in shame. Who do you think will reign victorious at sea?

As mentioned before, this was John Candy’s first leading role in a film, but this fact is surprisingly a bit onerous to find. Perhaps this is because the film has pretty poor critical reception. However, as we all know, John Candy would subsequently go on to have many more leading comedic film roles until his death in 1994.

 

One Crazy Summer (1986)

Location: Nantucket, Massachusetts

Starring: John Cusack, Demi Moore, Joel Murray

Directed by: Savage Steve Holland

Now let’s head north to popular New England vacation spot, Nantucket, Massachusetts. We’ll meet Hoops McCann (Cusack) and his wacky friends there after Hoops is denied a basketball scholarship, to his parent’s disappointment. However, Hoops has hopes to be admitted to design school and must write and illustrate a love story as part of the admittance process. Along the way, they pick up rocker Cassandra (Moore) who is running from a motorcycle gang. After they arrive in Nantucket, the friends helps Cassandra save her grandfather's house from the avaricious Beckersteds. During the wacky escapades, Hoops not only composes a love story for his school admittance, but also one of his own.

This is a fun, zany romcom from director Savage Steve Holland. I always loved the 1980s movie trope that a group of attractive young misfits must go on adventures and endeavor to save a beloved dwelling from a greedy and powerful villain. It’s also endearing as the fictional pack often wins and saves their precious place, solidifying friendships along the way. In real life, The Man usually wins and just takes your shit while you learn that your friends are dissembling and adverse.

John Cusack and Savage Steve Holland had worked together before on the film, “Better Off Dead”. However, because of that film’s poor critical reviews, Cusack was unhappy with Holland and the two did not get along. John Cusack was only in this movie because of contractual obligations. Also crestfallen with critics, Holland blows up two cartoon rabbits during one of the film’s animated segments that bear a striking resemblance to Siskel and Ebert. A coincidence? I emphatically think not.

Incidentally, the top billed actors for this movie are still alive as of the writing of this article.

Check out our review of “Better Off Dead”.

Summer School (1987)

Location: Los Angeles County, California

Starring: Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, Robin Thomas

Directed by: Carl Reiner

With Mark Harmon and a dog in Hawaiian shirts on the film’s cover, one would think that this movie takes place in Hawaii. However, most of the action is set in west Los Angeles County. Carl Reiner is our guide once again with his second, consecutive film with “Summer” in the title.

Harmon plays a high school PE teacher, Freddy Shoop. His plans for a Hawaiian vacation are cut short by the school’s principal, who blackmails Freddy into teaching summer school English. His class is comprised of many cliche 1980s misfits including a ditz, goth, lady’s man, jock, nerd, pretty exchange student, and two horror mega fans named Dave and “Chainsaw”.

Freddy’s first day is full of 80s comedy shenanigans, but he is pleased to meet beautiful history teacher, Robin Bishop (Alley), and becomes enamored with her. She, of course, is dating the principal who threatens to fire Freddy unless the class passes the summer’s final. Freddy hatches fun and zany plans to get the kids learning. His unorthodox teaching style and amusing field trips not only inspire them, but also evoke feelings of adoration from a certain other teacher as well.

The movie’s school is called “Oceanfront High School”. Yet, the actual school it was filmed at is in Woodland Hills, about 13 miles from the beach, so it’s not actually very oceanfront. Interestingly, West Valley High from “The Karate Kid” and Springwood High from “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” were both filmed at this location. It used to be a real school called Charles Evans Junior High. Today, it is called Hughes Adult Learning Center, which helps adults with literacy, math, technology and citizenship.

 

Aloha Summer (1988)

Location: Oahu, Hawaii

Starring: Tia Carrere, Yuji Okumoto, Don Michael Paul, Shô Kosugi

Directed by: Tommy Lee Wallace

Now, we’ll end our summer movie virtual vacation in Hawaii. For a surprise twist, we’ll hop in either our DeLorean or futuristic phone booth and time travel back to the year Hawaii became a state: 1959. “Aloha Summer”, reminiscent of 1950s sand and surf films, follows six teen boys of various ethnicities and economic backgrounds through their adventures together on Ohau. In typical 80s coming-of-age fashion, the youths mature beyond their parents’ own bigotries, chase each other’s sisters, conduct underage drinking, dance, surf, and partake in an epic martial arts rumble ala Cobra Kai. There’s also car crashing, a hurricane… and unexpected death, all leading to inseparable, lifelong friendships. This is hammy teen, heartfelt, buddies-for-life fare at its best.

Not only is this film difficult to find nowadays, but information about it is quite sparse as well. “Aloha Summer” was directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, who is known for directing horror movies such as Halloween III and Fright Night Part 2. Incidentally, Tommy has another Summer titled movie called “The Comrades of Summer” from 1992. Shô Kosugi, who plays Yukinaga, might look recognizable to you if you are into 1980s ninja flicks. He starred in the likes of ‘Enter the Ninja’, ‘Revenge of the Ninja’, ‘Ninja III: The Domination’, and ‘Nine Deaths of the Ninja’, all before his role in this film.

As I watched through the film and researched it, something familiar was brewing that I couldn’t quite place. Then it hit me! Don Michael Paul and Yuji Okumoto, who play Chuck and Kenzo respectively, would meet once again and face off in the 1993 travesty, “Robot Wars”. This was the first film we reviewed in our Overlooked video series, and it was pure torture. We felt sorry for the actors because “Robot Wars” is utter refuse. Fortunately, Don Michael Paul made a good career as a director of some fair B-ish movies and sequels, and Okumoto is currently reprising his role as Chozen on the hit series Cobra Kai.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your journey through these five Summer titled movie destinations from the 1980s. If you’d like more Summer themed lists, check out these five songs about sunshine and these five 80s songs about heat. With that, I leave you with this quote:

“A man says a lot of things in summer he doesn’t mean in winter.”

— Patricia Briggs, Dragon Blood