20 Overlooked 80s Thrillers That Are Worth Your Time
TasteOfCinema
List activity
40K views
• 7 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
20 titles
- DirectorMichael MannStarsJames CaanTuesday WeldWillie NelsonAn ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.Plot: Frank (James Caan) is an ex-con and safe cracker who has used the proceeds from his jewelry heists to run several legitimate businesses. Frank is dating Jessie (Tuesday Weld), a cashier at one of his businesses, and he hopes to settle down with her. Frank comes into contact with Leo (Robert Prosky), a high level fence and member of the Chicago syndicate, and Frank eventually agrees to do a job for Leo that he hopes will set he and Jessie and their newly adopted baby son up for life.
The job goes well and makes a big score, but Leo denies Frank his full cut and kills his friend and associate Barry (Jim Belushi), telling Frank that he must continue to work for him for life or Leo will kill Jessie and his baby. Frank is outraged and he sends Jessie and the baby away before a final showdown with Leo and his henchmen.
Why it’s great: Although at the time it was barely noticed, Thief can now be viewed as having a unique style that influenced years of television and film throughout the 80’s and 90’s and into the new millennium. Directed by Michael Mann, who would go on to become the executive producer of the dominant police TV show of the 1980’s, Miami Vice, Thief featured a unique electronic music score by Tangerine Dream that established a moody musical style that was used extensively in years to come.
The visual style of Thief was also highly unique, featuring low lit nighttime scenes with a realistic cinema verite look. The film also introduced the world to a number of actors such as Dennis Farina, Robert Prosky, Jim Belushi and William Peterson who would become popular in the next few years on film and in television. In addition, Thief is a fine thriller and neo-noir film that is as entertaining as if was influential. - DirectorCurtis HansonStarsSteve GuttenbergElizabeth McGovernIsabelle HuppertA young executive starts an affair with his boss's wife which then escalates into a nightmare after he lies to the police in order to protect her.Plot: Terry Lambert (Steve Guttenberg) returns to his apartment from an office party with Sylvia (Isabelle Huppert) his boss’s wife. Later when Terry is in the bathroom, Sylvia witnesses a young woman being attacked by a red headed man outside of Terry’s bedroom window. Sylvia is unable to come forward as a witness since it will reveal she is having an affair with Terry, but after the news surfaces that another woman was killed nearby later that night, Terry contacts the police bravely and tells them he witnessed the incident.
Unable to pick the man out of a lineup, Terry follows the suspect and witnesses what he believes is another murder. In over his head now, Terry eventually becomes so deeply involved that he is suspected of the murders after Sylvia is killed, until Denise, the young woman (Elizabeth McGovern) originally attacked, agrees to help Terry clear himself by catching the real killer in the act.
Why it’s great: The Bedroom Window was a modest hit when it opened in 1987, but the film’s reputation has not grown much in the years since it was released and it seems unfairly neglected now. Owing much to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, as well as Antonioni’s Blow Out and Coppola’s The Conversation, The Bedroom Window was directed by Curtis Hanson, who would go on to direct L.A. Confidential in 1997.
The sequence in which Terry and Sylvia rendezvous to discuss the situation at the Baltimore Aquarium recalls not only Hitchcock’s Sabotage, but also Orson Welles’ classic The Lady from Shanghai, another film about marital infidelity and murder. The Bedroom Window is a great thriller that keeps the audience on the edge of its seat until about the last twenty minutes, when the film falls apart as Terry and Denise try to trap the killer in a ridiculous, elaborate plan. Still, it can’t ruin what has been up until then a truly top notch thriller. - DirectorRichard RushStarsPeter O'TooleSteve RailsbackBarbara HersheyA fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.Plot: Cameron (Steve Railsback), who is on the run from the police, stumbles onto a war movie set and appears to cause the death of one of the stunt men. The film’s autocratic director, Eli Cross (Peter O’Toole) agrees to hide Cameron from the police if he will take the stunt man’s place. Cameron falls in love with the film’s beautiful star, Nina Franklin (Barbara Hershey) who begins to return his affections.
Cameron believes that Eli is putting him in increasingly dangerous situations as the film shoot goes on, possibly in retaliation for his amorous overtures to Nina. He and Nina agree to run off together, but only after Cameron has performed one last dangerous stunt for Eli in the film’s climactic scene.
Why it’s great: The Stunt Man received only a limited release in the U.S. in 1980, grossing a modest 7 million dollars. Featuring great performances from Peter O’Toole as the lunatic director Eli (based by O’Toole’s own admission on his Lawrence of Arabia director, David Lean) and Steve Railsback as Cameron,
The Stunt Man is a roller coaster ride in which the audience is never sure what is real and what is part of the fictional ‘film’ that is being shot. O’Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor in the film, but critical reviews were mixed and The Stunt Man has been somewhat resigned to an unfair fate. The film is a fun and exciting adventure for audiences, well acted and directed and deserves to be seen if possible. - DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsGriffin DunneRosanna ArquetteVerna BloomAn ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho he met that evening at a coffee shop.Plot: Word processor Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) meets comely Marcy Franklin (Rosanna Arquette) and on an impulse goes to her Soho apartment, ostensibly to buy a sculpture from Marcy’s roommate, Kiki. On the way, Paul loses his only money, a $20 bill, out the window of a cab.
Paul’s attempts to begin a romance with Marcy misfire and he begins to try to make his way back home with no money, which results in a series of weird misadventures during the course of what turns out to be a nightmare evening. Paul eventually ends up deposited in the early morning hours at his place of business having survived, but just barely.
Why it’s great: After Hours was directed by Martin Scorsese, who was looking for a fallback project after the commercial failure of The King of Comedy and the initial scuttling of his Last Temptation of Christ project. Shot on a low budget, with many young, up and coming actors, After Hours ended up being a modest success at the box office and gaining a cult reputation.
Scorsese ended up righting his career and directed The Color of Money shortly thereafter. Paul Hackett’s troubles in After Hours have a nightmare quality to them that takes the film out of the realm of a comedy and makes it a black comic thriller, more in the tradition of Hitchcock than Sturges or Wilder. See After Hours if you haven’t, because it is an enjoyable and well made film. - DirectorRobert BentonStarsRoy ScheiderMeryl StreepJessica TandyA Manhattan psychiatrist probes a patient's murder and falls for the victim's mysterious mistress.Plot: A patient of psychiatrist Sam Rice (Roy Scheider) named George Bynum has been murdered, and Rice is visited by the enigmatic Brooke Reynolds (Meryl Streep) who was having an affair with Bynum. Both worked at Crispin’s auction house in New York, where Bynum had also had numerous affairs with other women.
Rice is questioned by the police but tells them nothing, but he is troubled by a dream that Bynum related to him and the sense that he is in danger. He consults with his mother (Jessica Tandy), a well known psychiatrist, and eventually comes to suspect Brooke Reynolds of the murder. After following Brooke to a family estate on Long Island, she tells Rice that she accidentally killed her father and that Bynum was using this information against her. A final showdown occurs, in which the true killer is revealed.
Why it’s great: Still of the Night seems to be a polarizing film, as many don’t like it (with Streep herself disowning it) while others appreciate the film for its moments of taut suspense and as an intelligent Hitchcock homage. Sadly, the film tanked at the box office on its release in 1982.
Still of the Night was directed by Robert Benton and the screenplay was based on a story by Benton and his writing partner David Newman, who had penned Bonny and Clyde. While the ’whodunnit’ reveal is something of a letdown, Still of the Night certainly has many good moments that make up for that, and the interplay between Scheider and Streep and Tandy is very good. The dream sequence, presented as a flashback, is also a tour de force. - DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJeff DanielsMelanie GriffithGeorge 'Red' SchwartzA free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-convict husband shows up.Plot: Yuppie banker Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels) has a chance encounter in a cafe with an attractive young woman named Lula (Melanie Griffith) and on an impulse they run off together. They go to Lulu’s home to see her mother and she reveals her true name is Audrey and she is a blonde.
At her high school reunion, Audrey’s ex-convict husband Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta) shows up and after he dumps his girlfriend the three of them go on a short lived crime spree. Audrey realizes she must stay with Ray after he warns Charlie to stay away, but Charlie follows them and convinces Audrey to come with him. Things really begin to go wrong for Charlie after Ray arrives at his house to claim his wife.
Why it’s great: Jonathan Demme was a promising young director who had yet to hit his stride, when his 1986 film Something Wild gave an indication of the degree of his talent. Lauded by critics, the film did only marginally well at the box office but nonetheless has remained a cult favorite and the launching pad for the careers of Daniels, Griffith and Liotta.
Demme handles the moments of suspense like a master as the audience wonders when Charlie and Ray will come into conflict over the beautiful but crazy Audrey. When the final explosive showdown happens, the tension has been ratcheted up to an extreme level. In 1991, Demme’s promise was fulfilled as he won the Academy Award for Silence of the Lambs. - DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsGeneviève BujoldHeidi von PalleskeTwin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.Plot: Elliot and Beverly Mantle (both played by Jeremy Irons) are twins living in Toronto, running a successful gynecology practice. The delicate balance between the twins is upset when they treat actress Clare Niveau (Genevieve Bujold) and Beverly becomes involved with her.
When Clare leaves to act in a movie, Beverly, now addicted to prescription drugs, becomes depressed. He commissions a set of bizarre gynecological instruments to be made and assaults a patient during surgery. Elliot locks Beverly in their clinic and tries to clean him up by synchronizing their bloodstreams; when Clare returns, Beverly seems to recover but now Elliot’s life is in a tailspin, with disastrous results for both twins.
Why it’s great: Loosely based on the life of real life twins Stewart and Cyril Marcus, Dead Ringers was directed by Canadien David Cronenberg, who often took odd subjects for his films. Dead Ringers was no exception, and the film was a bit too much for American audiences to take, grossing only 8 million dollars at the box office.
But Irons’ dual performance was acclaimed, as he won the New York Film Critics Award for best actor; three years later, he won the Academy Award for Reversal of Fortune and thanked director Cronenberg in his acceptance speech. The film’s offbeat subject matter, weird characters and violent moments make it more of a cult film than a mainstream movie, but there is much still of interest in Dead Ringers. - DirectorArthur PennStarsMary SteenburgenRoddy McDowallJan RubesA fledgling actress is lured to a remote mansion for a screen-test, soon discovering she is actually a prisoner in the middle of a blackmail plot.Plot: Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen) is an actress hired for a part by Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowell). They drive in a snow storm to the home of a psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Lewis, and Katie is told she is replacing an actress named Julie Rose – to whom she has a remarkable resemblance – who had a mental breakdown during a movie shoot.
Gradually, Katie begins to find evidence that leads her to believe that the situation is not as it seems and that her life is in danger. Katie is finally held captive and must confront Mr. Murray and the doctor before she learns the awful truth about Julie Rose and what happened to her.
Why it’s great: Dead of Winter was a remake of the 1945 film noir My Name is Julia Ross, which was directed by cult director Joseph H. Lewis (who is alluded to in the name of the film’s doctor). Arthur Penn took over direction of the film during production and completed a surprisingly entertaining and scary gothic horror film.
Veteran actor Roddy McDowell and Mary Steenburgen play their parts to the hilt, and the result is that the audience is taken on a ride filled with twists and turns until the surprise ending is revealed. Unfortunately, Dead of Winter failed rather inexplicably at the box office when it was released in 1987, but if you like intelligent and scary thrillers, it is worth a view. - DirectorHal AshbyStarsJeff BridgesRosanna ArquetteAlexandra PaulA former police detective, still recovering from his alcohol addiction, is seemingly drawn into L.A's criminal underworld after stumbling upon a local drug ring.Plot: Alcoholic L.A. cop Matt Scudder (Jeff Bridges), accidentally shoots a man in front of his family during a drug bust and goes off on a drinking binge that ends up getting him thrown off the force. Later Scudder goes to a gambling club run by Chance and meets Sunny, a prostitute who he is attracted to and who tells him that her life is in danger. His attempts to protect Sunny are futile, as she is kidnapped and killed.
Scudder suspects club regular Angel Maldonado, who is involved with Sarah (Rosanna Arquette). Realizing the Maldonado is using Chance’s club as a drug ring, he enlists Chance’s help to trap Maldonado. After finding his drug supply, the ex-cop will have a final showdown with Maldonado in hopes of saving Sarah and ending his reign of terror.
Why it’s great: Eight Million Ways to Die was the final feature directed by Hal Ashby, who had a string of hits in the 1970’s but whose career was on the downturn by the time he directed this film. Unfortunately, Ashby – an Academy Award winning editor in the 1960’s – was fired from Eight Million Ways to Die before he had a chance to finish a cut of the film, which may have made a difference in the poor box office results.
Still, Eight Million Ways to Die is an engaging and stylish thriller, a film with lots of potential that was not realized. The script was written by Oliver Stone just before he did Platoon, with uncredited help from frequent Ashby collaborator Robert Towne. - DirectorRichard MarquandStarsDonald SutherlandKate NelliganStephen MacKennaA ruthless German spy, trying to get out of Britain with vital information about D-Day, must spend time with a young woman and her crippled husband.Plot: Henry Faber (Donald Sutherland) is living in England at the start of World War II, and is revealed to be a ruthless German spy nicknamed “the Needle” because of his method of killing with a stiletto knife. Faber discovers that an allied airfield is a fake, leading him to realize that the point of the D-Day invasion will be at Normandy Beach. Attempting to return to Germany with this vital information, Faber is waylaid by a fierce storm to remote Storm Island, where he meets Lucy (Kate Nelligan), her bitter, crippled husband David, their son and Tom, a local shepherd with a two-way radio.
Needing the radio to reach his German contacts so he can give them the information, Faber ends up becoming lonely Lucy’s lover while killing Tom and, eventually, David. But Lucy ends up finally realizing that Faber is a spy and must face him in a final showdown that could change the course of the outcome of World War II.
Why it’s great: Based on a novel by esteemed writer Ken Follett, Eye of the Needle was released in the summer of Raiders of the Lost Ark (i.e. the summer of 1981) and while it was a modest box office success it has always been overshadowed by the more successful Indiana Jones film.
Eye of the Needle features a brilliant, suspenseful fictional story based on real events and outstanding performances from the lead actors, particularly Kate Nelligan as the heroic Lucy. Shot on location in England and on the Isle of Mull, Eye of the Needle was filmed by British director Richard Marquand, who would have a hit in 1985 with the Jeff Bridges – Glenn Close thriller The Jagged Edge. - DirectorSidney LumetStarsJane FondaJeff BridgesRaul JuliaA washed up, alcoholic actress who is prone to blackouts wakes up next to a murdered man. Did she kill him and, if not, is she in danger?Plot: Alex Sternbergen (Jane Fonda) is an alcoholic actress on the decline. When she wakes up in the morning with a hangover, she finds that the man next to her that she went to bed with last night has been gruesomely murdered. Unable to remember and fearing that she may have killed the man, Alex quickly cleans up the mess and flees, but at the airport she encounters alcoholic (sense a trend here?) ex-cop Turner Kendall (Jeff Bridges) who tries to help Alex figure out who and what put her in this situation.
Also around is Joaquin Manero (Raul Julia), Alex’s estranged husband. Alex and Turner become romantically involved before all the reasons for the murder become clear to the two lovers.
Why it’s great: The Morning After was a film made by extremely talented people, such as director Sidney Lumet and stars Fonda and Bridges, but when it opened on Christmas Day in 1986 the reviews were mixed and the box office disappointing. Most critics pointed to a weak plot and unsatisfactory climatic finale as the film’s shortcomings, but there are many upsides also.
Lumet does his usual superior job of direction, and Fonda gives a performance that many have likened to her Academy Award winning turn in Klute (1971). Indeed, she was nominated for an Oscar for this film, but did not win. Bridges and Fonda also have excellent chemistry, and Raul Julia is good in a supporting role. - DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsHarrison FordBetty BuckleyEmmanuelle SeignerIn a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder.Plot: Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) and his wife, Sondra (Betty Buckley) are attending a medical conference in Paris when they realize that Sondra has accidentally picked up the wrong suitcase at the airport. When Sondra mysteriously disappears, Richard begins a frantic search for her after he is told she was forced into a car in front of their hotel.
Walker eventually encounters Michelle, a smuggler who picked up Sondra’s bag at the airport, and she joins forces with him to help him figure out what the smuggling scheme was all about. The film ends with a climatic conclusion at the river Seine.
Why it’s great: When it was released, there were high hopes for Frantic, which was directed by Roman Polanski and starring Harrison Ford, who had scored box office gold in films such as Witness and the Indiana Jones films.
The film, however, received a disappointing reception from both critics and audiences, pulling in only 17 million dollars at the box office in the U.S. Ford does his usual great job in the film as Richard Walker, a mild mannered, middle age doctor gradually pulled into an underworld of drug smugglers in a desperate effort to find his wife.
Most of the film concerns the interaction between Walker and Michelle, and their interesting chemistry provides the film’s best moments. Polanski directed in his adopted home of France, where he had gone after the legal troubles he incurred in the U.S. about a decade earlier. - DirectorArthur PennStarsGene HackmanMatt DillonBrad WilliamsWhen American Donna Lloyd is kidnapped during a trip to Europe, her son Chris and her husband Walter start searching for her.Plot: Walter Lloyd (Gene Hackman) appears to be a successful Dallas businessman who owns a lumber mill. He has a strained relationship with his son, Chris (Matt Dillon). Walter’s wife leaves for a trip with a group to Paris but word comes back that she is missing, and Walter and Chris hurry to the airport to catch a plane to Paris.
In Europe, Walter must confront his past as a CIA operative while at the same time trying to solve the kidnapping of his wife. Chris realizes that his father is not the mild mannered businessman that he thought he was, and eventually he helps his father in his efforts to thwart the enemy agents that have tried to destroy the family.
Why it’s great: Directed by Arthur Penn, Target flopped at the box office when it was released in 1985. The film may have been a bit too much for audiences to follow, as it features a complex plot with many turns and surprises.
Still, Target is a well done spy thriller with an interesting theme of the effect of espionage work on the lives of a family, how it pulls them apart and, in the end, helps them join back together to be stronger than ever. While Target is not a major film in Penn’s canon, it is an intriguing work that should be seen. - DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsNicole KidmanSam NeillBilly ZaneAfter a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae are spending some time isolated at sea, when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.Plot: Rae and John Ingram (Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill) go to sea in a yacht to try to forget a traumatic car accident in which their son was killed. They come upon a wrecked boat with one passenger, Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane) still alive and the other passengers dead. John goes on the boat to investigate and gradually realizes Hughie has killed all the other passengers; meanwhile Hughie takes off in the yacht with Rae.
A battle of wills between the two ensues as John tries to repair the boat and catch up with them. Rae allows Hughie to make love to her in an attempt to trap him, and eventually is able to spike his drink, causing him to pass out. She goes back to rescue John just before the boat sinks, but Hughie is still not done with the couple.
Why it’s great: Dead Calm was an Australian film and the first major effort for Kidman and Zane, who along with Neill went on to bigger things in the 1990’s. The film began as an Orson Welles project called The Deep, but Welles never completed the film and the rights were eventually sold to the producers of Dead Calm.
The film did well in Australia, but the box office returns in America were poor. Dead Calm is incredibly suspenseful and Zane gives a great, manic performance as Hughie, while Kidman and Neill are superb as the average couple under stress and fighting for their lives. If your nerves can handle it, see Dead Calm. - DirectorIvan PasserStarsJeff BridgesJohn HeardLisa EichhornRichard spots a man dumping a body, and decides to expose the man he thinks is the culprit with his friend Alex Cutter.Plot: Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) sees a man dumping something in a garbage dumpster one night after his car stalls in a rainstorm. It turns out to be the dead body of a 17 year old girl. Bone’s friend, Alex Cutter (John Heard) is a disabled, bitter Vietnam vet and when Bone mentions to him that oil baron J.J. Cole resembles the man he saw, Cutter takes after Cole with a vengeance.
Joined by the victim’s sister, the pair attempt a blackmail scheme in order to bring Cole out, but the result is that Cutter’s home is burned to the ground and his wife, Mo, is killed. Stealing a friend’s invitation to a fancy party at Cole’s home, Cutter and Bone crash the event and eventually confront Cole with their suspicious before a dramatic finale.
Why it’s great: Part drama, part post-Vietnam War angst film and part thriller, Cutter’s Way was a little of everything and yet a lot of nothing to audiences when it was released in 1981. Still, the film features great performances by Jeff Bridges as Bone, Lisa Eichorn as Cutter’s depressed wife Mo and particularly John Heard in the title role.
Stephen Elliot’s menacing presence as Cole also helps the film sustain its moments of suspense as the audience tries to discern whether or not Cutter is on the right track in his vilification of the wealthy oil man. Cutter’s Way is worth seeing, not only as a thriller but also as an interesting time capsule of America recovering from the trauma of the Vietnam War. - DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsRoy ScheiderAnn-MargretVanityA secret fling between a man and his mistress leads to blackmail and murder.Plot: Harry Mitchell (Roy Scheider), is a wealthy businessman whose wife, Barbara (Ann-Margaret) is running for city council. Mitchell is having an affair with Cini (Kelly Preston) and he falls victim to a blackmail plot when a video of him with the young girl surfaces. Unable to go to the police, Harry at first refuses to pay the blackmail, which results in Cini being killed and Harry framed for the murder. With his back against the wall, Harry risks his wife’s life in order to pit the blackmailers against each other.
Why it’s great: Top Gun was the big action movie of 1986, starring hot young stars Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis and Meg Ryan. By comparison, the stars of 52 Pick-Up, released a few months later, were quite a bit older and seemed past their prime to audiences of the day. As a result, the film received mixed reviews and failed a the box office.
Directed by John Frankenheimer – one of the masters of the genre – from a novel written by Elmore Leonard, 52 Pick-Up is a suspenseful thriller that should have done better business than it did back in the mid 1980’s and so it is worth another view. - DirectorPeter HyamsStarsMichael DouglasHal HolbrookYaphet KottoFrustrated with a legal system gone haywire, a secret society of judges hires hitmen to snuff out criminals who escape courtroom justice - but one young judge questions the ethics of their vigilante system.Plot: Judge Steven Hardin (Michael Douglas) is frustrated that a technicality in the legal system has forced him to let two men go free who raped and killed a ten year old boy. His friend, Judge Caulfield (Hal Holbrook) tells Hardin about a group of judges called ‘the Star Chamber’ who pass vigilante judgement on criminals they cannot convict within the system.
After Hardin joins the Star Chamber and convinces them to have the two men killed, police detective Harry Lowes (Yaphet Kotto) presents him with definitive evidence that the men were innocent. Faced with exposing the Star Chamber or letting the men be killed, Hardin makes a difficult decision.
Why it’s great: The Star Chamber had a great cast, a good story and was directed by esteemed filmmaker Peter Hyams. So why did the film fail badly at the box office when it was released in the summer of 1983?
With its condemnation of vigilante justice, The Star Chamber was probably slightly out of step with the new conservatism of the 1980’s, and audiences instead turned to movies such as Clint Eastwood’s Sudden Impact to get their thrills. The Star Chamber is no masterpiece, but it is a suspenseful film that deserves a better reception than it got 31 years ago. - DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsWilliam PetersenWillem DafoeJane LeevesA fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.Plot: Richard Chance (William Peterson) and Jimmy Hart are cops assigned to the counterfeiting unit on the trail of Eric Masters (Willem Dafoe). When Hart is killed by Masters and his bodyguard, Jack, Chance vows revenge. Masters and his new partner, John Vukovich, go undercover posing as corrupt bankers seeking to hire Masters to print them some fake money.
Also involved is Bob Grimes (Dean Stockwell), Master’s attorney. Chance takes more and more risks in his quest to bring down Masters and Jack, until a final shootout occurs.
Why it’s great: To Live and Die in L.A. was directed by William Friedkin, based on an authentic novel by former Secret Service agent Gerald Petievich, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Friedkin shot the film on a relatively low budget, using location settings and allowing the actors considerable room to improvise.
Star William Peterson was a relative unknown at the time. As a result, the film has a gritty, realistic style that was unusual for the time and was more reminiscent of Friedkin’s The French Connection from over a decade earlier. Only a modest success on its original release, To Live and Die in L.A. has grown in its reputation as many of the film’s stars have gone on to successful careers. - DirectorMichael CiminoStarsMickey RourkeJohn LoneArianeA police detective cracks down on organized crime in Chinatown after the murders of Triad and Mafia leaders.Plot: New York police captain Stanley White (Mickey Rourke) is assigned to Chinatown, where he comes into conflict with Joey Tai, the head of the Chinese triad societies. White becomes romantically involved with TV reporter Tracy Tzu, who is brutally attacked in a reprisal. He sends a Chinese rookie cop undercover to work in Tai’s restaurant, but he is discovered and killed. Finally, White confronts Tai during a drug shipment and manages to get the upper hand.
Why it’s great: Year of the Dragon was protested by Chinese American groups on its release in 1985 due to complaints about racial stereotyping. The film was also directed by the infamous Michael Cimino, who’s 1980 film Heaven’s Gate became one of Hollywood’s most notorious flops. This double whammy undoubtedly caused what is otherwise a decent action thriller to tank at the box office but the film really deserved a better fate than it received and is worth another look. - DirectorJoseph RubenStarsTerry O'QuinnJill SchoelenShelley HackAfter murdering his entire family, a man marries a widow with a teenage daughter in another town and prepares to do it all over again.Plot: Real estate agent Jerry Blake (Terry O’Quinn) is actually Henry Morrison, who brutally butchered his family for no apparent reason and then took a new identity. A year later, Jerry marries widow Susan Maine (Shelley Hack), but has a troubled relationship with her daughter, Stephanie, who is suspicious of Jerry.
Meanwhile, Jim Ogilvie, Jerry’s former brother-in-law, goes looking for the man who murdered his sister and eventually pins down Jerry’s location. Finally, Jerry’s lies and deceit come unraveled and the truth is revealed but not before a murderous outcome.
Why it’s great: A low budget cult success on its release in 1987, The Stepfather cleverly combined elements of the psychological suspense drama with the slasher films that were popular at the time. Audiences responded and the film spawned two sequels and a remake in 2009 that was not favorably received. While the film is far from a masterpiece,
The Stepfather is suspenseful and keeps viewers on the edge of their seat rooting for Stephanie to unmask her evil stepfather. Many viewers praised O’Quinn for his creep performance as the stepfather.