Rambo III (1988)

Rambo III (1988)

[4] The muscles and the explosions are bigger than ever, but the story and characters are running on fumes in Rambo III. 1982's First Blood, or 'Rambo 1' for the uninitiated, is a genuinely terrific action-drama with a flawed, tragic hero at…
Fright Night (1985)

Fright Night (1985)

[9] As the horror genre shifted full-bore into gore and kill counts in the '80s, Tom Holland (Child's Play) wrote and directed this Valentine to a simpler, more classic way of spooky storytelling. Fright Night is about a high school boy (William…
The Monster Squad (1987)

The Monster Squad (1987)

[4] A group of young kids who love classic Universal monster movies turn out to be the experts their town needs when Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon enter the real world. Dracula (Duncan Regehr)…
Cobra (1986)

Cobra (1986)

[4] Cobra is one of those movies that's so bad, it's almost kinda good. Sylvester Stallone stars as a Dirty Harry-like cop who colors outside the lines. His superior officers hate having to rely on him, but he somehow always manages to…
Night of the Juggler (1980)

Night of the Juggler (1980)

[6] James Brolin (The Amityville Horror) stars as a divorced dad and ex-cop whose daughter is kidnapped and held for ransom in this rough-and-tumble thriller. Night of the Juggler hits the ground running, with an elaborate opening in which we watch the…
Day of the Dead (1985)

Day of the Dead (1985)

[5] George Romero concludes his famous 'Dead' trilogy with 1985's relatively underwhelming Day of the Dead. The film centers around a group of scientists and military personnel who take shelter in a sprawling underground bunker in Florida while the dead walk the…
Masters of the Universe (1987)

Masters of the Universe (1987)

[7] If you had to make a movie based on the ham-fisted He-Man toy line and you had no choice but to cast Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV) in the lead, you could do far worse than first-time director Gary Goddard did with…
Return of the Jedi (1983)

Return of the Jedi (1983)

[9] George Lucas wraps up his historic, original Star Wars trilogy with an entry that's widely considered inferior to the first two films -- but that's more a testimony to the unparalleled excellence of those prior films than a knock against it's…
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)

[6] Freddy's franchise continues with a fifth worthwhile installment directed by Stephen Hopkins (The Ghost and the Darkness, Predator 2). Freddy (Robert Englund) continues his killing spree by haunting the dreams of an unborn child. The child in question belongs to Alice…
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

[10] After deciding directing wasn't his favorite thing to do, George Lucas enticed his former film school teacher Irvin Kershner (Eyes of Laura Mars, Return of a Man Called Horse) to helm the dark second act of his historic Star Wars trilogy.…