1980’s

[6] Michael Caine stars as a reporter who takes his young son (Jeffrey Frank) to the Bermuda Triangle to investigate the disappearance of many ships and travelers. After a plane crash strands them on an island, the father and son are kidnapped by a band of modern-day pirates who have eluded discovery and prey on passers-through. The pirates, led by actor David Warner (Time After …

[6] Steve Railsback and Peter Firth star in this film by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist) that revolves around an invasion of London by, well… space vampires. Railsback heads the space exploration team that finds the humanoid creatures on an alien ship, but once the creatures arrive on Earth they begin sucking the lifeforce out of everyone who crosses their path. Hooper said …

[8] The Earthling is an odd, disconcerting sort of film that nevertheless casts a spell and is a bit hard to shake when it’s over. It stars William Holden (Sunset Boulevard) in his penultimate film performance, playing a terminally ill man who returns home to his native Australia to die alone in the vast wilderness. Once there, he lives off the land, sleeping in makeshift …

[5] A young boy’s family is marked for death after the father is caught embezzling money from the mob. Before they are all killed, a tough-as-nails neighbor named Gloria, played by Gena Rowlands, reluctantly agrees to take custody of the boy. Gloria then becomes a cat and mouse chase movie throughout New York City as the mob attempts to find and kill both Gloria and …

[6] John Candy and Dan Aykroyd costar as prickly brothers-in-law who try their best to get along after Aykroyd unceremoniously crashes Candy’s planned family vacation. The Great Outdoors was spawned from the ever-prolific pen of John Hughes, coming off a string of hits that included Planes Trains and Automobiles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science, and The Breakfast Club. (The man was truly a force …

[7] Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani star in this disturbing horror film from writer/director Andrzej Zulawski. Adjani’s character asks Neill’s for a divorce, but when Neill refuses to let her go, both of them descend into madness. Possession is part psychological thriller, part dark fantasy, eventually introducing threatening doppelgangers and a weird octopus monster that scores with Adjani. If you ask me what Possession means, …

[6] There were a few dozen Godzilla movies released between the original in 1954 and this one, but The Return of Godzilla is a reboot of sorts. It takes a slightly more serious tone than its predecessors and acts as a direct sequel to the ’54 film. The lowdown: Japan doesn’t want to believe it, but Godzilla has been resurrected from the ocean depths and …

[7] Katsuhiro Ă”tomo directs this adaptation of his sprawling manga series about (okay, deep breath…) a futuristic biker who squares off against a former friend who has turned evil through scientific experimentation, transforming him into a dangerous super-being of both scientific and religious ramifications. As the friend is unable to control his lethal powers, the biker rallies his friends and a trio of other ‘experiments’ …

[5] Armand Assante plays the title character in this ‘cajun western’ about a medicine man who tries to hold his 1800s Louisiana bayou community together while one half tries to run the other out of town. I had a hard time following the story, especially since many of the characters speak in thick accents. But from what I gather, part of the town is relatively …

[7] Christopher Walken plays an alien abductee coming to grips with his experience in Communion. Walken’s character goes through denial, then embarrassment, then fear, and finally an odd sort of acceptance over the course of the film. The supernatural elements play out in bizarre, theatrical, but compelling ways — but most of the film centers on Walken’s emotional state and the conflict it causes with …

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