Cult Fantasy & Sci Fi Films of the 80s
They don't make em like they used to!! List of fantasy films from the 80s IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER of preference. Hope you enjoy and are reminded of some hitherto overlooked gems.
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- DirectorJames CameronStarsSigourney WeaverMichael BiehnCarrie HennDecades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJonathan PryceKim GreistRobert De NiroA bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.Strong stuff. One of the greatest films of the decade that sat on the distributors shelf because the studio had no idea how to market or promote it and found its powerful anti-establishment message dangerous and potentially explosive. Like 1984 on Mescaline.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsTom CruiseMia SaraTim CurryA young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves.Visually gorgeous to look at. The entire soundstage burned down half way through filming which could explain it's choppy narrative
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsDavid NaughtonJenny AgutterJoe BelcherAmerican college students David Kessler and Jack Goodman on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists. Jack dies. David recovers in a hospital, where he has nightmares.John Landis did a wicked job and the film thoroughly stands the test of time. The dream within a dream sequence is still a shocker. Comedy was never so finely paired with horror.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsMia FarrowJeff DanielsDanny AielloIn 1935 New Jersey, a movie character walks off the screen and into the real world.Well scripted romantic genre buster about the nature of escapism to the cinema
- DirectorGavin MillarStarsCoral BrowneIan HolmPeter GallagherIan Holm is children's author Lewis Carroll in this poignant fantasy-drama set in 1930s New York and populated by the fabulous special effects creatures of Muppet master Jim Henson.
- DirectorBrian YuznaStarsBilly WarlockConcetta D'AgneseBen SlackAn ordinary teenage boy discovers his family is part of a gruesome orgy cult for the social elite.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.So what's this about a unicorn?
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsLiam NeesonFrances McDormandColin FrielsA brilliant scientist left for dead returns to exact revenge on the people who burned him alive.Sam Raimi at his best, told in the style of a dark comic strip. You can see why the studios approached him for the Spiderman series years later.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsRoddy PiperKeith DavidMeg FosterThey influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.John Carpenter gets it right. Politically accurate paranoid B Movie with the longest fist fight caught on celluloid.
- DirectorJack SholderStarsKyle MacLachlanMichael NouriClaudia ChristianA cop and an FBI agent race for answers after law abiding people suddenly become violent criminals.Superb subversion on the whole parasitical alien host genre. Fast paced with a cracking good sense of humour
- DirectorDouglas TrumbullStarsChristopher WalkenNatalie WoodLouise FletcherResearchers develop a system where they can jump into people's minds. But when people involved bring their personal problems into the equation, it becomes dangerous - perhaps deadly.Natalie Wood, did she jump or was she pushed?
- DirectorsRichard LesterRichard DonnerStarsGene HackmanChristopher ReeveMargot KidderSuperman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.Most effective of the series but who really directed it?
- DirectorThom EberhardtStarsCatherine Mary StewartKelli MaroneyRobert BeltranA comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls fighting against cannibal zombies and a sinister group of scientists.Classic feminist protagonist saves the world after a freak comet has wiped out most of the population.
- DirectorsStanley DonenJohn BarryStarsFarrah FawcettKirk DouglasHarvey KeitelTwo lovers stationed at a remote base in the asteroid belt of Saturn are intruded upon by an anal-retentive technocrat from Earth and his charge: a malevolent eight foot tall robot.I don't know why but I'm always defending this film. Beautiful set designs & oppressive atmosphere. Would be interesting to see what could have been if Alpha-male Kirk Douglas hadn't thrown his weight around & had John Barry replaced from his writing & directing job by the aging Stanley Donen, not so used to the material or genre. There's a 107 minute version out there somewhere I'd love to see.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeff GoldblumGeena DavisJohn GetzA brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.David Cronenberg goes even further than the original. Was perceived as an allegory of Aids at the time of release by some critics.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsChristopher WalkenBrooke AdamsTom SkerrittA man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic ability to foresee future events.A Clairvoyant becomes aware that a politician will bring about a devastating nuclear war
- DirectorNicholas MeyerStarsMalcolm McDowellMary SteenburgenDavid WarnerH.G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper to the 20th Century when the serial murderer uses the future writer's time machine to escape his time period.An absolute classic. What if HG Wells had made a Time Machine and Jack the Ripper used it to escape arrest and travelled to the 20th Century?
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsIsabelle AdjaniSam NeillMargit CarstensenA woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.Over the top, Superb otherworldly pyscho-sexual horror about divorce. Isabelle Adjani gives a deserved award winning performance
- DirectorKen RussellStarsWilliam HurtBlair BrownBob BalabanA psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.Excellent film about hallucinogenic drug experimentation in a floatation tank. Things go awry when William Hurt travels back to the big bang and emerges as a primeval man
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsCristina MarsillachIan CharlesonUrbano BarberiniA young opera singer on the cusp of stardom is hounded by a psychopath with a connection to her past, who forces her to watch as he brutally murders her friends and colleagues.
- DirectorStewart RaffillStarsMichael ParéNancy AllenEric ChristmasA United States Navy destroyer escort participates in a Navy "invisibility" experiment that inadvertently sends two sailors forty years into the future.
- DirectorMichael LaughlinStarsPaul Le MatNancy AllenDiana ScarwidAlien beings, who settle in a small midwestern town, are disturbed by a young professor determined to rescue his daughter from their clutches.Subversive spin on the alien body snatcher conformity film with a sly knowing tongue in its cheek
- DirectorGary ShermanStarsJames FarentinoMelody AndersonJack AlbertsonSheriff Dan Gillis investigates eerie deaths in a sleepy coastal town.Dan O Bannon gets a crack at directing an identity theft bloodbath
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJennifer O'NeillStephen LackPatrick McGoohanA scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called "scanning" to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non scanners.
- StarsJane BadlerMichael DurrellFaye GrantA seemingly peaceful alien race, arrives at earth and asks for help to ensure their own planets survival. However, the visitors agenda turns out be much darker.David Icke would say it's the Freemasons official secrets act about the establishment exposed....Reptilian overlords using mind control to influence the humans to stay unconscious, but filmed in a schlock soap B movie corny style
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsCatriona MacCollPaolo MalcoAnia PieroniA New England home is terrorized by a series of murders, unbeknownst to the guests that a gruesome secret is hiding in the basement.All of Lucio Fulci's films are so heavily censored but this has a nerve wrecking tense ending to satisfy
- DirectorRon HowardStarsVal KilmerJoanne WhalleyWarwick DavisA young dwarf farmer is chosen to undertake a perilous journey in order to protect a special baby from an evil queen. Along the way, he teams up with a disgraced swordsman to defeat the evil sorceress.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsSean ConneryShelley DuvallJohn CleeseA young boy accidentally joins a band of time travelling dwarves, as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsKaren BlackHunter CarsonTimothy BottomsA boy tries to stop aliens who have taken over his town and are attempting to brainwash its inhabitants.Tobe Hooper remakes a classic. Oscar winners Karen Black and Louise Fletcher can't save it. Slow paced but an interesting curio nevertheless
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames WoodsDebbie HarrySonja SmitsA programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.
- StarsSimon JonesDavid DixonPeter JonesArthur Dent and his friend, Ford Prefect, escape the destruction of Earth, only to face incredible trials, tribulations and adventures in space and time.
- DirectorAaron LipstadtStarsKlaus KinskiDon Keith OpperBrie HowardA strange doctor secretly experiments with androids on his space station. His assistant is Max, a curious android who wants to see the world and meet a girl. Criminals hide on their station and soon violence erupts.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellLee Van CleefErnest BorgnineIn 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.Snake Plisskin played as Clint Eastwood's Western persona. Great concept idea done on a modest indie budget. Hasn't really aged that well but a genre favourite with some.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsLouise LasserBrion JamesPaul L. SmithA pair of whacked-out cartoon-like exterminator/hitmen kill the owner of a burglar-alarm company, and stalk the partner who hired them, his wife, and a nerd framed for the murder, who tells the story in flashback from the electric chair.Sam Raimi turns live action into a surreal comic. The well choreographed action pieces are technically breathtaking
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsCatriona MacCollDavid WarbeckCinzia MonrealeA young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.Lucio Fulci opens a portal to a hellish sphere of existence in the basement of a house
- DirectorJoseph RubenStarsDennis QuaidMax von SydowChristopher PlummerA man who can enter and manipulate people's dreams is recruited by a government agency to help cure the President of the United States of his nightmares about nuclear war but stumbles upon an assassination plot.Pyshics are able to penetrate troubled peoples dreamtimes to stop their disturbed nightmares. The president dreams of an apocolyptic nuclear war nightly. Feels more like a tv movie
- DirectorRichard StanleyStarsDylan McDermottStacey TravisJohn LynchThe head of a cyborg reactivates, rebuilds itself, and goes on a violent rampage in a space marine's girlfriend's apartment.Tense Indie flick that owes more than a passing nod to The Terminator
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJohn NevilleEric IdleSarah PolleyAn account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences across late 18th-century Europe with his band of misfits.Bit of an incoherent disaster, frenetic & explosively loud, with occasional painterly beautiful other worldly moments. The 'humour' just doesn't work except for an interesting uncredited cameo by Robin Williams as The Man in the moon.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonMichael BiehnA cyborg assassin from the future attempts to find and kill a young woman who is destined to give birth to a warrior that will lead a resistance to save humankind from extinction.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsGabriel ByrneJulian SandsNatasha RichardsonThe Shelleys visit Lord Byron and compete to write a horror story.
- DirectorsJim HensonFrank OzStarsJim HensonKathryn MullenFrank OzOn another planet in the distant past, a Gelfling embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of a magical crystal, and to restore order to his world.Works best when the film explores the beautiful imaginative world of nature that the Gelfins come from. The studio bound Skeksis stuff gets a bit samey
- DirectorKen RussellStarsAmanda DonohoeHugh GrantCatherine OxenbergWhen an archaeologist uncovers a strange skull in a foreign land, the residents of a nearby town begin to disappear, leading to further inexplicable occurrences.Wickedly camp and completely over the top Ken Russell.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsGlenda JacksonStratford JohnsNickolas GraceOn Guy Fawkes Day 1892 Oscar Wilde goes to a performance of his controversial, banned play 'Salome'. The 'theatre' is a brothel and the performers are prostitutes.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsGriffin DunneRosanna ArquetteVerna BloomOrdinary word processor Paul Hackett experiences the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit Marcy, a Soho resident that he met that evening at a coffee shop.
- DirectorRichard FranklinStarsStacy KeachJamie Lee CurtisMarion EdwardA laid-back American truck driver in south Australia begins to suspect that a man driving a green van is killing young women along his route, which evolves into a game of cat-and-mouse to catch him.Great suspense director that also did a sterling job of Psycho 2. One of Jamie's last as a reigning scream queen
- DirectorMike HodgesStarsSam J. JonesMelody AndersonMax von SydowA football player and his friends travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsAlec BaldwinGeena DavisMichael KeatonThe spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.Rob Bottin and Stan Winston broke the mould with how gore effects were to be perceived in horror films after this. I do wish John Carpenter had scored it.
- DirectorsJimmy T. MurakamiRoger CormanStarsGeorge PeppardRobert VaughnRichard ThomasA farm boy recruits a band of outlaws to save the planet Akir from dark forces that threaten to wipe them out from the face of the universe. A battle stretching beyond the stars begins here.The magnificant seven in outer space
- DirectorJim HensonStarsDavid BowieJennifer ConnellyToby FroudTeenage Sarah journeys through a maze to save her baby brother from the Goblin King.As a Bowie fan to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. King of the Goblins steals a baby and the babysitter goes on a quest to get the baby back. Ridley Scott's 'Legend' & 'The Dark Crystal' were both much better. Relegate it to the bog of eternal stench
- DirectorSiu-Tung ChingStarsLeslie CheungJoey WangWu MaAfter a string of bad luck, a debt collector has no other choice than to spend the night in a haunted temple, where he encounters a ravishing female ghost and later battles to save her soul from the control of a wicked tree demon.Extraordinary with more than a passing nod to the Evil dead. Spawned 2 sequels. First time I remember aerial wires being used.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEllen SandweissRichard DeManincorFive friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellSarah BerryDan HicksAsh Williams, the lone survivor of an earlier onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits, holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.
- DirectorLizzie BordenStarsHoneyAdele BerteiJean SatterfieldSet ten years after the most peaceful revolution in United States history, it presents a dystopia in which the issues of many groups - minorities, liberals, gay rights organizations, feminists - are dealt with by the government.Radical feminist sci fi movie. Yeah!
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsJoBeth WilliamsHeather O'RourkeCraig T. NelsonA family's home becomes the center of paranormal activity that opens a doorway to the "other side." With help, they must cross over to get their daughter back.Who really took control here Tobe Hooper or Spielberg? This feels far more like a Spielberg movie than anything Hooper's ever done before or since.
- DirectorDan O'BannonStarsClu GulagerJames KarenDon CalfaWhen two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.An hilarious, intelligent and excessively violent and worthy addition to the swelling genre of Zombie films. Dan O Bannon managed to ace even Romero's eagerly anticipated 'Day of the Dead' released the same year
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsDennis QuaidMartin ShortMeg RyanA test pilot is miniaturized in a secret experiment, and accidentally injected into a hapless store clerk.
- DirectorsJoe DanteJohn LandisGeorge MillerStarsDan AykroydAlbert BrooksVic MorrowFour horror and science fiction segments, directed by four famous directors, each of them being a new version of a classic story from Rod Serling's landmark television series.The Joe Dante segment is worth a watch
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsHal HolbrookLeslie NielsenAdrienne BarbeauFive grisly tales from a kid's comic book about a murdered father rising from his grave, a bizarre meteor, a vengeful husband, a mysterious crate's occupant, and a plague of cockroaches.Fun omnibus of four different horror tales with cult genre actors beefing it up for more credibility
- DirectorLewis TeagueStarsDee WallaceDaniel Hugh KellyDanny PintauroCujo, a friendly St. Bernard, contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.A slowburn but that last hour is a real tense nail biter.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsZach GalliganPhoebe CatesHoyt AxtonA young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.The sequel went beserk!!
- DirectorWilliam SachsStarsStephen MachtAvery SchreiberJ.D. HintonIn the 31st century, sexy blonde android Galaxina helms the crew of a space cruiser on a mission to find the Blue Star, a mystical gem that holds unlimited power.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonMarty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonAfter visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHenry ThomasDrew BarrymorePeter CoyoteA troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsDee WallacePatrick MacneeDennis DuganAfter a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.Joe Dante knows how to combine fantasy, horror, comedy and social commentary. Works well.
- DirectorMichael WadleighStarsAlbert FinneyDiane VenoraEdward James OlmosA New York cop investigates a series of brutal deaths that resemble animal attacks.Interesting Wolf-vision camera work saves it from being pedestrian
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsDennis QuaidLouis Gossett Jr.Brion JamesDuring a long space war, the lives of two wounded enemies become dependent on their ability to forgive and to trust.Robinson Crusoe in space exploring cultural racism. Involving and deep.
- DirectorTed NicolaouStarsDiane FranklinMary WoronovGerrit Graham"TerrorVision" is a 1986 horror / science fiction movie; telling the tale of when a family's new satellite television system starts receiving signals from another planet, and soon it becomes the passageway to an alien world.
- DirectorMichael LehmannStarsEd Begley Jr.Stockard ChanningDabney ColemanModelling themselves after an idyllic cookie-cutter suburban 1950s family, a colony of insects move from South America into the United States with the intent of getting access to the nation's nuclear resources.Kitschy 50s style aliens move into suburbia and try to blend in by being ultra strait and conformist. 3rd Rock from the sun came later
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsTerry PotterPete O'HerneCraig SmithThe population of a small town disappears and is replaced by aliens that chase human flesh for their intergalactic fast-food chain.Cool student film on shoe string budget. Peter Jackson later went on to create and direct some of the biggest blockbusters in the last 15 years
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsSarah PattersonAngela LansburyDavid WarnerA teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine, and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.Neil Jordans dreamlike fairytale retelling of Little red riding hood with obvious sexual symbolism like menstrual blood, uncontrollable base animal desires, the aristocracy being self devouring animal parasites.
- DirectorSteve MinerStarsWilliam KattKay LenzGeorge WendtA troubled writer moves into a haunted house after inheriting it from his aunt.
- DirectorsJohn HoughVincent McEveetyStarsBette DavisLynn-Holly JohnsonKyle RichardsWhen a family moves to a country home, the young girls experience strange happenings that have a link to an occult event years past.Bette Davis in her second Disney
