1980s - Thanks For The Teen Flicks And Phobias

What do you do when you are afraid the world is about to be shut down by a nuclear explosion, go to the movies and watch what happens when we finally push the button, or watch some movies about a bunch of witches, or goonies, or ghostbusters...

The 1980s was a funny decade for me and movies as I was a teenager and free to ponder the depths of what was available with a disposable income.

Thanks to people like John Hughes who helped turn teen movies into something more than syrupy 60s stereotyped kids and Wes Craven who could scare you and make you laugh at the same time, I had a ball watching 80s movies - no matter how dated they look today.

The series of Indian Jones movies had me on the edge of my seat. The first one where the special effects made the archeologists and the Nazi army melt told me this was a MUST SEE movie!

Of course we were still in the Cold War era, even though around the corner there was an end in sight. War Games, The Day After, Special Bulletin all spoke to the fears we had about some insane person going crazy with the nukes.

Long time straight actors have been permanently casted into comedy. Leslie Nelson, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves and others have debut with Airplane! only to move on to other spoof movies.

The 80s introduced the comic serial killing monster - Freddy Krueger. Unlike pure evil, scary ones like Jason of the Halloween series, or driven to evil characters from Prom Night, Freddy would try to make the victims laugh with a corny quip before slicing and dicing - "Welcome to prime time b---ch!" to the character obsessed with television.

Here is a list of movies you may have seen during the 1980s:

• Absence of Malice (1981)
• Against All Odds (1984)
• Airplane! (1980)
• Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
• Aliens (1986)
• All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989)
• An American Tail (1986)
• Annie (1982)
• Armed and Dangerous (1986)
• Arthur (1981)
• Back To the Future (1985)
• Back To the Future, Part II (1989)
• Backfire (1987)
• Batman (1989)
• The Beastmaster (1982)
• Better Off Dead (1985)
• Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
• Big (1988)
• Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
• The Black Cauldron (1985)
• The Blade Master (1984)
• Blade Runner (1982)
• The Breakfast Club (1985)
• Broadcast News (1987)
• Bull Durham (1988)
• Caddyshack (1980)
• Children of a Lesser God (1986)
• A Chorus Line (1985)
• A Christmas Story (1983)
• Clash of the Titans (1981)
• Club Paradise (1986)
• Clue (1985)
• Cocoon (1985)
• The Color Purple (1985)
• Coming To America (1988)
• Conan the Barbarian (1981)
• Conan the Destroyer (1984)
• Crocodile Dundee (1986)
• Crocodile Dundee II (1988)
• Dead Poets Society (1989)
• The Delta Force (1986)
• Die Hard (1988)
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
• Do the Right Thing (1989)
• Doing Life (1986)
• Down and Out In Beverly Hills (1986)
• The Dream Team (1989)
• Educating Rita (1983)
• The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
• Excalibur (1981)
• Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
• Fletch (1985)
• Fletch Lives (1989)
• The Fly (1986)
• The Fox and the Hound (1981)
• Friday the 13th (1980)
• Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
• Friday the 13th Part 3: 3D (1982)
• Friday the 13th Part 4 (1984) (aka: "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter")
• Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
• Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
• Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
• Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
• Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
• Gandhi (1982)
• Ghostbusters (1984)
• Glory (1989)
• The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
• The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989)
• Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
• The Goonies (1985)
• Gremlins (1984)
• Halloween II (1981)
• Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
• Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
• Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
• Highlander (1986)
• History of the World: Part I (1981)
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
• The House On Carroll Street (1988)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
• Izzy and Moe (1985)
• The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1988)
• The Jewel of the Nile (1985)
• The Jigsaw Man (1983)
• Johnny Dangerously (1984)
• The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
• King Solomon's Mines (1985)
• Krull (1983)
• Labyrinth (1986)
• Ladyhawke (1985)
• The Land Before Time (1988)
• Lean On Me (1989)
• Lethal Weapon (1987)
• Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
• Licence To Kill (1989)
• Lionheart (1987)
• The Little Mermaid (1989)
• Look Who's Talking (1989)
• Major League (1989)
• The Man From Snowy River (1982)
• The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)
• Monkey Shines: An Experiment In Fear (1988)
• Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
• Moonstruck (1987)
• Mr. Mom (1983)
• My Bodyguard (1980)
• The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
• National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
• The Natural (1984)
• Never Say Never Again (1983)
• The Never Ending Story (1984)
• A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
• A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
• A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
• A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
• A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
• Nine To Five (1980)
• North and South (1985)
• North and South, Book II (1986)
• Nothing In Common (1986)
• Octopussy (1983)
• On Golden Pond (1981)
• Parenthood (1989)
• Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
• Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
• Poltergeist (1982)
• Predator (1987)
• Pretty In Pink (1986)
• The Princess Bride (1987)
• Private Benjamin (1980)
• Prizzi's Honor (1985)
• Protocol (1984)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Raising Arizona (1987)
• Rambo: First Blood (1982)
• Return of the Jedi (1983)
• Return To Snowy River (1988)
• Rocky III (1982)
• Romancing the Stone (1984)
• Ruthless People (1986)
• The Secret of My Success (1987)
• The Secret of NIMH (1982)
• Seems Like Old Times (1980)
• Short Circuit (1986)
• Short Circuit 2 (1988)
• Sixteen Candles (1984)
• Sophie's Choice (1982)
• Space Camp (1986)
• Spaceballs (1987)
• Stand By Me (1986)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
• Steel Magnolias (1989)
• The Sting II (1983)
• Stir Crazy (1980)
• Stripes (1981)
• Supergirl (1984)
• Superman II (1980)
• Superman III (1983)
• Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)
• The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)
• Tap (1989)
• The Terminator (1984)
• That's Life! (1986)
• Top Gun (1986)
• Trading Places (1983)
• Twins (1988)
• Uncle Buck (1989)
• Unfaithfully Yours (1984)
• Used Cars (1980)
• Vice Versa (1988)
• A View To a Kill (1985)
• War Games (1983)
• Weird Science (1985)
• When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
• Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)
• Willow (1988)
• Witness (1985)
• The Woman In Red (1984)
• Working Girl (1988)
• The World According To Garp (1982)
• Young Guns (1988)
• Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981)

Books

• Pop Dreams: Music, Movies and the Media in the 1960s - by Archie K Loss
• Screen Sirens Scream! : Interviews with 20 Actresses from Science Fiction, Horror, Film Noir and Mystery Movies, 1930s to 1960s - by Paul Parla
• Cinematherapy: The Girl's Guide to Movies for Every Mood - by Nancy Peske
• History Goes To The Movies - by Joseph H Roquemore

Web Sites

• Nostalgia Central
• A Guide To American Film History
• The Bond Index

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