In 1979, a science nerd named Jessica (Mary Madaline Roe) stumbles upon a possessed tape player, which has kept a demon inside a reel to reel tape. After she lets that demon loose on her hometown of Clarkston, she must ask her friends Sam (Morgan Chandler) and Cheddar (Eden Campbell), who is always eating a corndog, to help save the day.

While They Reach aspires to be a kid-friendly comedy ala The Monster Squad — or more to the point Stranger Things — it has more scares and gore than the former and feels much more like the latter.

Written by Bry Troyer and Sylas Dall, who also directed, this definitely has a nostalgia feel for the 80’s. The idea of a haunted tape containing an attempt at an exorcism is pretty cool and if you have some room in your heart for another attempt to mine the past with precocious kids battling supernatural evil while riding their bikes around a small town, then this movie is ready to serve it up for you. Just be warned — again — if you bring the kids, this has some face peeling and blood spewing special effects in store.

It also has a pair of cops named Jay and Bob that seem like they belong to a decade ahead of this, but why quibble?

You can find this on demand and on DVD from Uncork’d Entertainment. You can also learn more at the official Facebook page.