We take a look at ten great forgotten gems from the 1980s… How many have you seen?
The 1980s was an eclectic melting pot of cinema. Blockbusters and franchises were becoming a big thing. The success of home video also gave films a place to succeed beyond the cinema screens. Cinema fandom has always clustered in select cults, but the notion of cult cinema really took off in the 80s – in no small part thanks to the aforementioned first or second life on VHS – and hasn’t looked back since.
There were so many intriguing successes, bloated misfires and oddities throughout the decade that gained some level of interest but also a huge number of films which have been a little unfairly overlooked in time. Here are ten forgotten gems of the 80s…
Body Double
It wasn’t Carrie, or Blow Out. It was trashed by critics compared to the more favourably received Dressed to Kill and certainly didn’t appeal as broadly as The Untouchables or Scarface.
Brian De Palma has made plenty of great films and has been no stranger to dipping his toes into Hitchcockian-styled potboilers in years gone by. Body Double feels like a divisive, love/hate and somewhat forgotten De Palma flick which came during a run of some of his best works. Effectively, BDP dialled up his already cranked-up style and gleeful lack of restraint, and made a De Palma Thriller on Crack, in the twisting, turning, trashy but (if you really go with it) brilliant, Body Double. There is an undercurrent close to spoof for a Hitchcockian sub-genre that was popular Hollywood fodder of the time. Craig Wasson is an effectively awkward, occasionally icky protagonist caught up in a murder plot, whilst Melanie Griffith is in great form too. It looks stunning, it’s a technical masterclass as most prime De Palma films were and I feel like it’s underrated in his canon.
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The Wraith
Do you like The Crow, High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider, The Stranger and Dolph Lundgren’s Missionary Man? A stranger comes to town to take down a ruthless gang or murdering troublemakers and as it transpires was a previous victim, back from the dead. Well…if that’s your bag, then you definitely need to check out The Wraith because that’s the plot right there and it throws in a classic staple of 80s movies and TV shows, namely the Sci-fi super vehicle, as the hero (played by Charlie Sheen no-less) guns about in a souped-up black dodge charger. Sheen goes toe to toe with a gang of punks led by Nick Cassavetes. It’s a ludicrous film but it’s a hell of a lot of fun too.
Given our vengeful spirit comes with his own sleek, futuristically designed sports car, it’s inevitable that a big bulk of the action here is made up of car chases. There are some really good set pieces to enjoy, all gloriously practical and loaded with great stunt work. Ah, the good old days of in-camera action. Sheen is weirdly bland, even considering his enigmatic and mysterious character, but Cassavetes and Randy Quaid have fun and it’s all such a goofy delight.
The Man With Two Brains
Despite a dream team of Carl Reiner (director, writer), Steve Martin (star, writer) and Kathleen Turner, this screwball and delightfully macabre comedy, never seems to get the love it deserves. Martin plays a brilliant brain surgeon who marries a gold-digger (Turner) and then falls in love with a brain in a jar that can telepathically connect with him.
A jovial homage to silly (and terrible) B pictures, as well as the comedy of guys like Jerry Lewis, this one allows Martin a great platform to play to his strengths. The Man With Two Brains is very entertaining, consistently funny and often endearing.
Nighthawks
A couple of undercover cops in New York, renowned for overstepping the line and questioning authority, get hired to join a task force looking to prevent an international terrorist from causing chaos in the City. Sly Stallone and Billy Dee Williams are the long-time partners faced with the challenge of stopping Rutger Hauer. As characters, they inevitably manage it of course. As actors, however, neither Williams nor Stallone can hold a candle here to the magnetic, almost effortless brilliance of Hauer.
Nighthawks, coming after Rocky, but before First Blood, is a largely forgotten but sorely underrated thriller in Stallone’s CV. After all, whilst it may not be as iconic as Rocky or Rambo, as good as those, as iconically terrible as Rhinestone, or culty as Demolition Man, it’s a really solid action thriller. The film feels stylistically odd on all fronts, more suited to the previous decade than the one to come. It still manages to effectively build tension in the high-stakes cat-and-mouse pursuit of Wolfgang (Hauer).
Roadgames
This excellent Australian thriller stars Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis and is a slice of Oz gold sure to please fans of films like The Hitcher, Breakdown, Joy Ride and Duel. Keach is a truck driver who suspects a green car he has seen is being driven by a serial killer targeting lone women. He sets about trying to find the killer, but in the process becomes a suspect.
Like Duel or The Hitcher, we’re treated to long barren vistas and plenty of tension and action. Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis are typically excellent too, and yet Roadgames doesn’t have the same level of cult fandom that it probably deserves. Though it still had enough to receive a nice Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
Running Scared
A well-used title and a well-worn action sub-genre has meant Running Scared of 1986 has become a foggy memory for those who have seen it. This might not be Lethal Weapon or 48 Hours level, but in an era jam-packed with some really enjoyable buddy cop films, Running Scared more than holds its own.
Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines don’t immediately scream action-hero material but they do pull it off here as the wise-cracking partners. They’re both likeable and have chemistry to burn.
One Deadly Summer
With shades of Hitchcock (again) and Clouzet, One Deadly Summer teeters into Tinto Brass too. A beautiful young woman arrives in a small French village seeking work as a teacher and gains the attention of all the men (including a firefighter named Ping-Pong). She has a magnetic lure over most of the men and plenty of admirers, using her sexuality to get what she wants.
It soon becomes apparent she has secrets and ulterior motives though and she sees Ping-Pong as a malleable conduit for dishing out revenge. The middle section may teeter too close to lethargy but is usually sparked into life by Adjani’s frequent nudity (and frequently compelling performance). However, when this starts to take a darker turn after its occasionally quirky and jovial beginnings, it becomes gripping. Adjani, as ever, (as one of the finest actresses to ever grace the screen), is unsurprisingly incredible.
One From The Heart
Francis Ford Coppola made a colourful, indulgent passion project that was savaged by critics and bombed at the box office. We’re not talking Megalopolis, we’re talking One From The Heart. Long before the highly divisive Emilia Perez did a musical with quirky numbers routine, Coppola was mastering the art with this film.
Coppola’s intriguingly eclectic 80s output counts the cult cinema of Rumble Fish and The Outsiders within it and One From The Heart for a long, long time was forgotten, passed off as ‘that bomb.’ In time the appreciation has grown, perhaps solidified by the recent Reprise version. Whichever way you view it, however, what can’t be denied is the exceptional cinematic craft. It looks absolutely stunning. Meanwhile, the performances from Teri Garr and Frederic Forrest are great. If you loved La La Land, you’ll really find a lot to enjoy about a film that the aforementioned definitely harvested from.
Avenging Force
The Most Dangerous Game subgenre has certainly been well stocked over the years and remains an evergreen go-to that attracts audiences. In the 80s, Cannon Films decided to try and make Michael Dudikoff a poster boy for their low-budget action films like American Ninja.
Dudikoff was seen as a potential heir apparent to Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson. Ironically, Avenging Force which probably ranks as the Dudes finest hour, was originally intended as an Invasion U.S.A. sequel for Chuck. In any case, Dudikoff took on the role of Matt Hunter, coming up against a group of aristocratic (and white supremacist) human hunting enthusiasts. Some nice set pieces and a likeable hero make this one a real kick.
Opera
The Phantom of the Opera has been adapted rigidly or loosely innumerable times over the years. It’s thus, easy to forget one that goes with the somewhat vague single-word title, ‘Opera.’ Dario Argento has actually adapted the source material twice (the second time far less effectively). Opera was a lot more loosely inspired by the original Gaston Leroux novel than Argento’s second stab (that used the full title) in 1998 (but omitted the disfigurement).
It’s fair to say that Opera capped off a good decade for Argento that may not have been as trailblazing as his 70s oeuvre but had him at a stylistic peak. Filled with great set pieces and grotesqueries, Opera is a top-tier Italian horror. It has moments that are iconic among horror fans and even those who haven’t seen the full film. It’s probably Argento’s last great film.
What is your favourite forgotten film from the 80s? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
