My Life In Film: Part 2: The 80's

And the lists just keep on coming.  In part two of the list of movies that shaped my life, we enter the fan-favorite 80's.  Once again, the idea for this series of posts came from a list meme compiled by my good friend The Mike, over at the too-good-to-be-true blog, From Midnight, With Love. 

The 80's were my hey-day.  I grew up, quite literally, in that decade.  So many people who love horror claim that the 80's are the best, that all their favorite films come from that time period.  Slasher films really came into their own at that time, and many of the big films started their sequel frenzies (the Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street sequels ALL began in the eighties!)

There are an unbelievable amount of movies that shaped my entire existence that were made between 1980-1989, which made it quite difficult to pick just one movie.  Even though I'm using the same format as before (one horror movie, one non-horror honorable mention), I about killed myself choosing from the plethora of good films from this era.

Take 1981 for instance. The Mike started his list with this year (he's a babe in the woods, I was already in the 7th grade back then!) and it just happens to be the most difficult of all the years to choose films from.
Oh hell.  Damn if it isn't seriously one of the best years in film - any genre! Though I did finally pick one, I left behind such classics as My Bloody Valentine, Hell Night, The Funhouse, Escape From NY, The Howling, Happy Birthday To Me, Scanners, Halloween II, Friday the 13th Part 2, The Evil Dead, The Burning...well, you get the picture. 
For many years I almost had to toss a coin or two just to be able to decide between some of my own favorites.  But I made it through, and I give you - The 80's:

 

1980:  The Shining
(I will admit to hardly being able to
separate this, Friday the 13th, and The Fog.
Rough decision.)

Honorable Mention:  Airplane
(Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop watching silly comedies...)

1981:  An American Werewolf in London
(Here's my final {perfect} choice out of like, fourteen films from '81)

Honorable Mention:  Stripes
(That's a fact, Jack!)

1982:  Creepshow
(I remember how cool I thought it was that Stephen King acted in it!
But my favorite segment is The Crate)

Honorable Mention:  Fast Times at Ridgemont High
("Learning about Cuba, and having some food!")

1983:  Psycho II
(Saw this at the drive in.  No lie. One of my absolute favorites.)

Honorable Mention:  Mr. Mom
(Michael Keaton at his comedic best. Hilarious.)

1984:  Children of the Corn
(Same year NOES came out - but I was never a Freddy girl, sorry.)

Honorable Mention:  Footloose
(Have seen this cheese-fest more times than I can say)

1985:  Phenomena
(First saw as the highly edited Creepers. So glad I saw the light eventually.)

Honorable Mention:  The Breakfast Club
(I don't know anyone my age that doesn't have this movie memorized.)

1986:  The Fly
(...and I was afraid.  Very afraid.)

Honorable Mention:   9 1/2 Weeks
(I was seventeen and extremely impressionable...)

1987:  Angel Heart
(Evil Dead II close second. But that voodoo that you do...)

Honorable Mention:  Fatal Attraction
(Quite possibly more frightening than any movie on this list.)

 

1988:  Pumpkinhead
(I hate everyone that hates this film.  Lance rules.)

Honorable Mention:  Rain Man
(The underwear scene is priceless.)

1989:  Pet Sematary
(One of my favorite King books became one of my favorite adaptations.)

Honorable Mention:  When Harry Met Sally
(On my top ten list of all time favorites, any genre. A classic.)


Next up is the forlorn and somewhat dreadful decade of the 90's.  It was a whole lot easier choosing films from the nineties since to me, the movies from this decade leave much to be desired.  I was able to quickly pick the films that starred in my life at that time. 
Coming soon...