It wasn't until I started compiling this list that I realised how many heavy hitters or cult films were out in 1983. Initially thought of it as a transitional period for films cementing their mark upon pop culture.
1983 was a great year for the vigilante film (10 to Midnight, Angel, Sudden Impact and Vigilante); the last hurrah for the golden age of the slasher sub-genre (before Wes Craven changed the game); two of the superior Stephen King adaptations via John Carpenter and David Cronenberg; and the time when Tom Cruise was tolerable.
10 to Midnight (J. Lee Thompson)
Angel (Robert Vince O'Neil)
Angst (Gerald Kargl)
Brainstorm (Douglas Trumball)
Breathless (Jim McBride)
Christine (John Carpenter)
Curtains (Richard Ciupka)
The Dead Zone (David Cronenberg)
The Deadly Spawn (Douglas McKeown)
Fire and Ice (Ralph Bakshi)
House of the Long Shadows (Pete Walker)
The Hunger (Tony Scott)
The Man With Two Brains (Carl Reiner)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (Terry Jones)
National Lampoon's Vacation (Harold Ramis)
One Deadly Summer (Jean Becker)
The Outsiders (Francis Ford Coppola)
Psycho II (Richard Franklin)
Risky Business (Paul Brickman)
Scarface (Brian De Palma)
Sleepaway Camp (Robert Hiltzik)
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand)
Sudden Impact (Clint Eastwood)
Trading Places (John Landis)
Twilight Zone: The Movie (John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante & George Miller)
Vigilante (William Lustig)
Videodrome (David Cronenberg)
Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (Tsui Hark)
Films I liked from 1983, but not revisited in ages:
Amityville 3D, A Blade in the Dark, BMX Bandits, The Final Terror, Julie Darling, Krull, Mountaintop Motel Massacre, One Dark Night, Revenge of the Ninja, Rumble Fish, Style Wars, Uncommon Valor, Wild Style and Zelig.
Films from 1983 I shamelessly haven't seen:
A Christmas Story, Bloodbath at the House of Death, Easy Money, Eyes of Fire, The Fourth Man, Liquid Sky, Olivia, Private School, The Right Stuff, Sledgehammer, Spasms, and Star 80.
Dada Debaser Bonus Feature:
Anyone including N.G. Mount's inept Gallic slasher Ogroff: The Mad Mutilator as one of their film picks from 1983 would probably be trolling, but its surreal entertainment value is undeniable:
Runble Fish FTW. This is definitely a vintage year for movies in my book even though I hate that first Nightmare Vacation flick. Gimme Stranger Than Paradise instead.
ReplyDelete3 1983 movies I've not seen in decades which I need to revisit some time are Suburbia, War Ganes and Yellowbeard. The latter was the first movie my folks bought on videotape.
I have Suburbia in my unwatched pile. Only discovered Spheeris's follow-up film The Boys Next Door last year, and I enjoyed that a lot.
ReplyDeleteI concur. Big fan of her first Decline Of The Western Civilization documentary too. Still need to see the third part.
ReplyDeleteMissed out on catching the first one when it was free to watch on Prime or Freevee a while back.
ReplyDeleteBeen a buncha 50th anniversary cinema re-releases for 1973 movies in recent movies, but the omly 1983 movie I've noticed get a cinema re-release this year is Return Of The Jedi.
ReplyDeleteWould be shocked if Scarface didn't get a re-release in cinemas this year.
ReplyDeleteAs for 1973 films, there seems to be a bunch getting the 50th anniversary treatment on home formats too. No pity for any mugs shelling out for that upcoming 4K of The Wicker Man, though.
😬 Do you get a Britt Ekland meet & greet with a goodie bag for that price?
ReplyDeleteThe way Britt Ekland looks now, she should be paying us for a meet & greet.
ReplyDelete