The '80s Project

<p>There was just something special about the '80s when you're talking about movies</p><p>and even more so when you're talking about genre pictures. It's arguably the most</p><p>important era for horror and sci-fi with a large chunk of the output of the decade helping to</p><p>define where their futures would lead.</p><p>Sure the '30s were essentially the birthplace of horror what with the Universal</p><p>monsters rearing their heads.</p><p>Sure the '50s would explode the sci-fi boom with the fear of technological advances</p><p>and growing interest in space exploration.</p><p>Sure the '70s would legitimize horror by allowing auteurs to dare to infuse a level of</p><p>high art into their narratives and explore deeper themes.</p><p>But none of those could touch the '80s. </p><p>The '80s Project is my effort to relive the experience of the timeframe in which the films that shaped my infatuation with horror and</p><p>sci-fi flourished. I decided to make an effort to watch all of the horror and sci-fi films</p><p>released in the decade in order of when they were released.</p><p>Now for the sake of brevity and let's face it my sanity i can't watch EVERYTHING. So</p><p>I had to create some ground rules for how this would all work. First off i eliminated short</p><p>films. To get on the Project it would have to be a feature length film. Secondly i cast aside</p><p>the vast majority of TV movies although I chose to include some. Third i had to get rid of</p><p>some of the international entries mainly due to just being irrelevant through an American</p><p>perspective but also due to availability. In order to watch them and include them here I had</p><p>to be able to find them and let's face it some of the more obscure Indonesian horror films</p><p>aren't exactly at our fingertips. That being said I didn't want to only stick to US theatrical</p><p>releases since that would eliminate a large number of important films. So I developed a fool</p><p>proof system. I included them if I felt like it. I mainly stuck to things that I felt were either</p><p>important to horror/sci-fi cinema in general or just to my own personal experiences of</p><p>nostalgia.</p><p>This volume encompasses the releases of 1980 that fall under the category of horror or</p><p>sci-fi which in my opinion includes superhero films. Each film entry will give you some</p><p>detailed information about the film itself and the basic plot setup although I've tried to keep</p><p>spoilers or major plot twists out of it in order to preserve some mystery should you choose</p><p>to seek these out for yourselves. I'll also give you my personal rating on each one based on</p><p>a five star system. I feel like I'm a bit stingy with my ratings and reserve 5 stars for films that</p><p>i consider the best of the best. They're pretty few and far between. I will also rate the film</p><p>based on a Cultural Significance which I realize is a bit of an arbitrary rating but I'll evaluate</p><p>each film on how much of an impact it had on its specific genre. The interesting thing about</p><p>that consideration is that it generally doesn't reflect my personal opinion on it. It may have</p><p>had a massive impact on the film world and yet not been a great film or vice versa. The</p><p>final rating each film will get is a simple recommendation. Sort of a too long didn't read</p><p>and will sum up each one with a suggestion to watch it don't watch it or maybe watch it.</p><p>There's definitely films out there that I believe SHOULD be watched even if they don't</p><p>sound exactly like something that would be up one's alley and also ones that I'm pretty</p><p>confident that most people will not enjoy whatsoever. But there's a certain contingency of</p><p>films that I know that some people will like and others will not so those will be the ones</p><p>given the maybes.</p><p><br></p>