Movies that helped mold me
by hmservant | created - 06 Jan 2022 | updated - 14 Jan 2022 | PublicThese movies had an enormous influence on me during my formative years, from the time I began watching movies in the 1970s until I turned eighteen in 1988.
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1. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi
In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke
Votes: 881,857 | Gross: $6.21M
This has been my favorite movie since I first saw it in 1987.
2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,450,926 | Gross: $322.74M
I am old enough and fortunate enough to have seen this in a drive-in theater when it first came out.
3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
PG | 115 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 69,928 | Gross: $24.95M
The idea behind this genuinely creeps under my skin and the execution is flawless.
4. Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When eccentric man-child Pee-wee Herman gets his beloved bike stolen in broad daylight, he sets out across the U.S. on the adventure of his life.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger
Votes: 59,133 | Gross: $40.90M
Goofy and loveable...
5. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Horror
"Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" is a 1988 comedy, horror movie - upon arriving in a small town where Elvira has inherited a rundown mansion, the famous horror host must battle an evil uncle, and townspeople who want her burned at the stake.
Director: James Signorelli | Stars: Cassandra Peterson, Phil Rubenstein, Larry Flash Jenkins, Damita Jo Freeman
Votes: 20,876 | Gross: $5.60M
Still love Cassandra Peterson as I type this in 2022. Her new memoir I highly recommend!
6. Airplane! (1980)
PG | 88 min | Comedy
After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Votes: 261,394 | Gross: $83.40M
Fact: The funniest movie ever made.
7. My Life as a Dog (1985)
Unrated | 101 min | Drama, Comedy
In the late '50s, young Ingemar learns a lot about life and himself when he is sent away from his sick mother to live with his aunt and uncle in a town full of eccentrics.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Anton Glanzelius, Tomas von Brömssen, Anki Lidén, Melinda Kinnaman
Votes: 22,545 | Gross: $8.35M
Heartwrenching. Worth revisiting multiple times.
8. Taxi Driver (1976)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 921,620 | Gross: $28.26M
Speaks to the lonely man in all of us, god or no.
9. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,381,069 | Gross: $290.48M
The coolest in 1980... still the coolest
10. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
PG | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.
Director: Richard Marquand | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,122,406 | Gross: $309.13M
Not nearly as great as IV or V, but Leia worked her magic on my 12-year old self.
11. The Exorcist (1973)
R | 122 min | Horror
When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 455,361 | Gross: $232.91M
Saw it on TV in the 70s and it scared me silly. Granted, I was about six years old. Still great, though.
12. The Jerk (1979)
R | 94 min | Comedy
A simpleminded, sheltered country boy suddenly decides to leave his family home to experience life in the big city, where his naivete is both his best friend and his worst enemy.
Director: Carl Reiner | Stars: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King
Votes: 64,255 | Gross: $73.69M
Not really a jerk - more like a buffoon. Would not work with a talent lesser than Steve Martin's. Hysterically funny.
13. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 570,617 | Gross: $1.23M
I feel sorry for the people who have never seen this. Oft-quoted for a reason.
14. Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
PG | 99 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
To prove that he still is strong and powerful, Philippe Douvier decides to kill Clouseau. Once news of his "death" has been announced, Clouseau tries to take advantage of it and goes undercover with Cato to find out who tried to kill him.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk, Dyan Cannon
Votes: 23,267
I'm not certain which of the Pink Panther movies is my favorite, probably because they can be seen as one large, work. There was only one Peter Sellers...
15. Weird Science (1985)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Two high-school nerds use a computer program to literally create the perfect woman, who promptly turns their lives upside-down.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock, Bill Paxton
Votes: 97,499 | Gross: $23.83M
Really spoke to me when I was fourteen. Immature, sophomoric and very funny.
16. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,848 | Gross: $30.86M
Warped my fragile little mind when I was fourteen. Tobe Hooper spent more than a year in post-production and it shows; the score and sound effects are outstanding and the cinemaphotography transcends the budget and genre.
17. Halloween (1978)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes
Votes: 307,005 | Gross: $47.00M
I don't recall when I first saw this, though I was most certainly too young. I've enjoyed repeated viewings for more than forty years.
18. The Toxic Avenger (1984)
R | 82 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.
Directors: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman | Stars: Andree Maranda, Mitch Cohen, Jennifer Babtist, Cindy Manion
Votes: 32,203
Another juvenile lark. The type of movie that I would not enjoy as much if I had first seen it as an adult. Still one of Troma's more tolerable offerings.
19. City Lights (1931)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers
Votes: 196,189 | Gross: $0.02M
Gave me a real appreciation for silent films and especially Charlie Chaplin. This one especially is filled with pathos and is more satisfying than his one reelers, though The Gold Rush and Modern Times are also films I have enjoyed several times.
20. Way Out West (1937)
Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Family, Western
Stanley and Ollie are enlisted to deliver the deed to a goldmine in a small village, only for it to be stolen.
Director: James W. Horne | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Sharon Lynn, James Finlayson
Votes: 8,998
Laurel and Hardy make me laugh harder than any other comic artists. I like most of their work, especially their shorts, but chose this as being emblematic of the duo.
21. Take the Money and Run (1969)
PG | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
The life and times of Virgil Starkwell, inept bank robber.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire, Jacquelyn Hyde
Votes: 31,476 | Gross: $0.72M
Woody Allen still cranks out films as I write this in 2022, though to me his early work was his best work. This one was very funny, though probably not as good as "Annie Hall" or "Sleeper."
22. Re-Animator (1985)
Unrated | 84 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.
Director: Stuart Gordon | Stars: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale
Votes: 71,545 | Gross: $2.02M
I first saw this when I was fifteen or sixteen, long before I read any Lovecraft stories. Still fun!
23. Notorious (1946)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Romance
The daughter of a convicted German spy is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern
Votes: 107,337 | Gross: $10.46M
Cary Grant was always the coolest. What guy didn't want to be him, especially when he starred opposite Ingrid Bergman?! Directed by Hitchcock, who also directed "To Catch a Thief," in which Grant's co-star was the impossibly beautiful Grace Kelly.
24. Animal Crackers (1930)
G | 97 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
Mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.
Director: Victor Heerman | Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, The Marx Brothers
Votes: 15,276 | Gross: $0.91M
The Marx Brothers were broad enough and their humor juvenile enough to appeal to teenage boys. I still enjoy their movies as a chronological adult.
25. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
R | 91 min | Horror
Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, John Saxon
Votes: 262,745 | Gross: $25.50M
VHS tapes* from video stores+ were the way we thirteen-year-olds got our R-rated horror fixes, and this was a prime example.
* VHS was a home video format before DVD, which was a precursor to Blu-Ray, whch was the way we old-timers viewed movies on-demand prior to streaming.
+ Video stores were actual brick-and-mortar edifices wherein one could rent a home video for viewing at home. These were rendered obsolete by the advent of streaming services.
26. Purple Rain (1984)
R | 111 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A young musician, tormented by an abusive situation at home, must contend with a rival singer, a burgeoning romance, and his own dissatisfied band, as his star begins to rise.
Director: Albert Magnoli | Stars: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Olga Karlatos
Votes: 23,833 | Gross: $68.39M
Prince was the biggest star when I was in junior high and this soundtrack was the reason.
27. The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Not Rated | 105 min | Comedy, Romance
When his family goes away for the summer, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a beautiful neighbor.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes, Sonny Tufts
Votes: 42,506 | Gross: $12.00M
Made me a huge Marilyn fan when I was a teen. I read biographies of her and cried at how tragic her story was. This film is genuinely funny, though, and holds up well today.
28. The Terminator (1984)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield
Votes: 924,963 | Gross: $38.40M
The first R-rated movie I saw in the theater. Worth taking the risk at thirteen.
29. Frankenstein (1931)
Passed | 70 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, John Boles
Votes: 79,774
I used to stay up late on Friday nights to watch the Shroud host classic horror films on WFFT from Ft. Wayne, Indiana. I am forever grateful to the Shroud for introducing me to all the great Universal horrors, such as this one.
30. Dracula (1931)
Passed | 75 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.
Directors: Tod Browning, Karl Freund | Stars: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye
Votes: 58,678
Another Shroud offering
31. The Wolf Man (1941)
Passed | 70 min | Horror, Mystery, Romance
Larry Talbot returns to his father's castle in Wales and meets a beautiful woman. One fateful night, Talbot escorts her to a local carnival where they meet a mysterious gypsy fortune teller.
Director: George Waggner | Stars: Claude Rains, Warren William, Lon Chaney Jr., Ralph Bellamy
Votes: 30,742
Lon Chaney, Jr. really sold this one.
32. The Invisible Man (1933)
TV-PG | 71 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan, Henry Travers
Votes: 39,988
Another Universal classic that fueled my youthful imagination.
33. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
G | 79 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno
Votes: 34,470 | Gross: $1.30M
I am still amazed this was filmed on the backlots of Universal studios.
34. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,491 | Gross: $248.16M
My best friend, Geoff, saw this before I did and helpfully re-enacted some of the highlights for me, thereby increasing my desire to go see it. A magnificent adventure!
35. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure
In 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri
Votes: 535,623 | Gross: $179.87M
To my undiscerning thirteen-year-old mind, this was as good as the first one. It really isn't, but it still occupies a place of fondness for me. Besides... monkey brains! A guy has his heart ripped out and IT'S STILL BEATING! 'Nuff said.
36. Superman (1978)
PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando
Votes: 187,635 | Gross: $134.22M
Saw this in theaters when I was seven and I really did believe a man could fly. The effects don't hold up (like, at all) today, but Christopher Reeve will always be the one, true Superman to me.
37. Grease (1978)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Good girl Sandy Olsson and greaser Danny Zuko fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway
Votes: 300,840 | Gross: $188.76M
Saw this in a theater when I was seven. My parents bought the soundtrack on vinyl and I sang and danced to "Greased Lightnin'" in the living room until I collapsed.
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