Susie Q

this was a really beautiful film about grief and what you go through while processing death but all i can think about is how i want to wear that gorg baby pink dress even though it is not my color

this was a really beautiful film about grief and what you go through while processing death but all i can think about is how i want to wear that gorg baby pink dress even though it is not my color

2024 Movie Gauntlet - 76: Rewatch a movie 

Yet another forgotten 90s gem that is still widely believed to have been a Disney Channel Original Movie, but was actually produced by a German channel called Super RTL, and briefly shown on Disney Channel throughout 1996. I first watched Susie Q at a very young age, and its unique mixture of doomed romance, ghostly hijinks, 50s doowop music in the soundtrack, and a lead actor who looked like and played basketball just like my favorite cousin, led to the movie deeply embedding itself in my psyche ever since. 

You might think that a movie that made such a strong impression on me as a little girl would have been one I constantly rewatched over the years, but unfortunately Susie Q joined a small handful of not-quite-official DCOMs in entering near-lost media status during the past couple of decades. But thanks to the kindness of some random internet stranger, tonight was the first time I’ve been able to rewatch this movie in 27 years! 

I was pleased and a little shocked to find that I had somehow retained nearly every detail from the tragic bridge sequences that bookend the movie. Not sure what it was about that classic car/pink dress/teen death combo, but they’ve stayed with me all these years! The rest felt a bit like I was seeing it for the first time, though. I had completely forgotten about Zach’s hobbies, problems, and life, and the reasons his family moved into Susie’s old neighborhood. It was really fun to just sit back and enjoy this funny little mid-90s time capsule. 

I especially loved the inclusion of tropes that were so common back then but would never translate well now — stuff like the nerdy kid sister armed with stacks of floppy disks and obsessed with hacking the internet, and the ability to rely on an entire town to consistently tune into the evening news every night. Still can’t decide which movie moment is more hilariously epochal, though — when Susie pulls a rifle on a police officer in an ACAB move for the history books, or the fact that this girl single-handedly invented the Converse with your prom dress look all the way back in 1955! 

Overall, I found Susie’s premature death and lingering ghost story to feel less dark to watch as an adult this time, and instead was more alarmed by the darkness of the crooked cops and corruption that plagued the town in the 40 years since her demise. 

I’m really glad I found this one again; it’s been such a long time and it really is such a cute, quick little nostalgic gem. I’ll have “Play a Love Song” by the Jaguars on repeat for the next few days for sure.

2024 Movie Gauntlet - 76: Rewatch a movie 

Yet another forgotten 90s gem that is still widely believed to have been a Disney Channel Original Movie, but was actually produced by a German channel called Super RTL, and briefly shown on Disney Channel throughout 1996. I first watched Susie Q at a very young age, and its unique mixture of doomed romance, ghostly hijinks, 50s doowop music in the soundtrack, and a lead actor who looked like and played basketball just like my favorite cousin, led to the movie deeply embedding itself in my psyche ever since. 

You might think that a movie that made such a strong impression on me as a little girl would have been one I constantly rewatched over the years, but unfortunately Susie Q joined a small handful of not-quite-official DCOMs in entering near-lost media status during the past couple of decades. But thanks to the kindness of some random internet stranger, tonight was the first time I’ve been able to rewatch this movie in 27 years! 

I was pleased and a little shocked to find that I had somehow retained nearly every detail from the tragic bridge sequences that bookend the movie. Not sure what it was about that classic car/pink dress/teen death combo, but they’ve stayed with me all these years! The rest felt a bit like I was seeing it for the first time, though. I had completely forgotten about Zach’s hobbies, problems, and life, and the reasons his family moved into Susie’s old neighborhood. It was really fun to just sit back and enjoy this funny little mid-90s time capsule. 

I especially loved the inclusion of tropes that were so common back then but would never translate well now — stuff like the nerdy kid sister armed with stacks of floppy disks and obsessed with hacking the internet, and the ability to rely on an entire town to consistently tune into the evening news every night. Still can’t decide which movie moment is more hilariously epochal, though — when Susie pulls a rifle on a police officer in an ACAB move for the history books, or the fact that this girl single-handedly invented the Converse with your prom dress look all the way back in 1955! 

Overall, I found Susie’s premature death and lingering ghost story to feel less dark to watch as an adult this time, and instead was more alarmed by the darkness of the crooked cops and corruption that plagued the town in the 40 years since her demise. 

I’m really glad I found this one again; it’s been such a long time and it really is such a cute, quick little nostalgic gem. I’ll have “Play a Love Song” by the Jaguars on repeat for the next few days for sure.