Conan the Destroyer (1984)
May 31, 2001Sword and Sorcery
This sequel to Conan the Barbarian makes the mistake of watering the primal brutalism down to a PG rating and what results ends up being a pedestrian comic-book adventure
Dino De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Cat’s Eye (1985)
Jan 4, 2000Stephen King Anthology
An anthology of three Stephen King stories, this comes out with extremely variable results where what were originally a series of tight and mordant tales end up strangely overblown
Silver Bullet (1985)
Jun 10, 2002Werewolf/Stephen King Adaptation
Overlooked but not entirely unworthwhile Stephen King adaptation about the hunt for a werewolf preying on a small town
King Kong Lives (1986)
Jun 9, 2002Giant Ape
Everybody hated the 1976 remake of King Kong but Dino de Laurentiis has the chutzpah to produce a sequel and the results are absolutely awful, full of scenes guaranteed to have an audience rolling in the aisle
Manhunter (1986)
Apr 3, 2000Hannibal Lecter Film
The very first Hannibal Lecter film. Under Michael Mann, this comes with a stylistic flourish very different to what the films became when Anthony Hopkins took the role
Trick or Treat (1986)
May 28, 2003Undead Heavy Metaller
Film about a heavy metal star resurrected from the dead. This sets out spoofing fundamentalist paranoias about backwards masking but soon ends up all over the place and fails to take itself serously
The Evil Dead II (1987)
Dec 1, 2001Backwoods Possession/Comedy
Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell return in a sequel to their earlier low-budget cult hit. With a far better budget this time, Raimi goes completely over-the-top with a delirious silliness that will bring tears to the eyes
Rampage (1987)
Aug 14, 1999Serial Killer Courtroom Thriller
Overlooked film from William Friedkin in which Michael Biehn as a lawyer prosecuting a serial killer. Not without some effective horror moments but Friedkin is more interested in examining the legal justification for the death penalty
Date with an Angel (1987)
May 9, 2006Angel Romantic Comedy
A rather charming comedy in which two nerds find an angel fallen knocked down by an orbiting satellite. Much silliness but Emmenualle Beart has an otherworldly loveliness as the angel
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
Sep 6, 1999Time-Travelling Slackers
A quirky hit that jumped aboard the 1980s popularity of time travel themes and laid into them with an appealingly offbeat eccentricity. The film that propelled Keanu Reeves onto become a star
Hannibal Rising (2007)
Feb 26, 2007Hannibal Lecter Origin Story
Building on the successes of the Hannibal Lecter films, this is a prequel that goes back sets out to tell an origin story of how the young teenage Hannibal came to be who he was during World War II