The Best 1980s Movies You've Never Seen
Overlooked jewels and Hidden gems from the 1980s
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- StarsJason RobardsJames Earl JonesRip TornThe city of Atlanta, Georgia, is terrorized by a rash of child murders occurring in its black community. When a black photographer is arrested for the crimes, controversy erupts over whether he is the actual killer or a scapegoat offered up by the city's mostly black leadership. Based on actual events.
- DirectorFrançois LeterrierStarsChristian ClavierNathalie BayeMaureen KerwinA dynamic young executive, married with two children, Jérôme Ozendron dreams of writing and escaping a life that he considers mediocre. One day he meets cover girl Natacha.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsJeff BridgesRosanna ArquetteAlexandra PaulFormer police detective Matthew Scudder, still recovering from his alcohol addiction, is seemingly drawn into the Los Angeles criminal underworld after stumbling upon a local drug ring.
- DirectorStuart MargolinStarsJames GarnerMargot KidderJohn LithgowIn this seedy neo-noire tale, two Hollywood homicide cops investigating a movie mogul's murder stumble upon a child-pornography ring.
- DirectorPhillip BorsosStarsKurt RussellMariel HemingwayRichard JordanWhen a teenager is shot at the beach, a journalist from The Miami Journal is sent to cover the story. He's called by the murderer and told there'll be four more.
- DirectorEmilio EstevezStarsEmilio EstevezDemi MooreTom SkerrittUnable to find work after a past felony, graduate John Wisdom and his girlfriend embark on a cross-country bank-robbing spree in order to aid American farmers.
- DirectorSteven Hilliard SternStarsTommy Lee JonesHelen ShaverYaphet KottoA Vietnam vet takes forceful control of Central Park to remember those who served and died in the Vietnam War.
- DirectorBill ForsythStarsBurt ReynoldsCasey SiemaszkoSheila KelleyProfessional thief Ernie takes Mike on as an apprentice, but while Mike clearly has "larceny in his heart", it will take him a long time to get as good as Ernie.
- DirectorBob BalabanStarsRandy QuaidMary Beth HurtSandy DennisA young boy living in 1950s suburbia suspects that his parents are cannibalistic murderers.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsJohn RitterVincent GardeniaAlyson ReedA womanizing alcoholic writer, whose life seems to be falling apart at the seams, repeatedly finds himself in trouble of one sort or another with the law, ex-girlfriends, and jealous boyfriends.
- DirectorJohn DahlStarsVal KilmerJoanne WhalleyPat MulliganA young detective becomes involved with a beautiful woman on the run from the mob and her psychopath boyfriend.
- DirectorAnnabel JankelRocky MortonStarsDennis QuaidMeg RyanCharlotte RamplingA college professor's day: his top student allegedly commits suicide, his wife presents him with divorce papers and he overnights in a freshman girl's dorm. The next day: more murders around him. Will he find the killer in time?
- DirectorMichael RadfordStarsSarah MilesJoss AcklandJohn HurtIn 1940s Kenya, a love affair between a British aristocrat and a married woman triggers a scandal that shakes the hedonistic Happy Valley society.
- DirectorDaniel AttiasStarsGary BuseyEverett McGillCorey HaimIn a small town, brutal killings start to plague the close knit community. Marty Coslaw, a paraplegic boy, is convinced the murders are the doings of a werewolf.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsCharles BronsonLisa EilbacherAndrew StevensAn LAPD detective and his rookie partner are on the trail of a psychopathic young man who is murdering young women.
- DirectorWoody AllenFrancis Ford CoppolaMartin ScorseseStarsWoody AllenNick NolteRosanna ArquetteA middle-aged artist obsessed with his pretty young assistant, a precocious 12-year-old living in a hotel, and a neurotic lawyer with a possessive mother make up three Gotham tales.
- DirectorSandor SternStarsDavid HewlettCynthia PrestonTerry O'QuinnIsolated by his strange parents, Leon finds solace in an imaginary friend, which happens to be an anatomy doll from his father's doctor office. Unfortunately, the doll begins to take over Leon's life, and his sister's life as well.
- DirectorAlain JessuaStarsPatrick DewaereJacques DutroncFanny CottençonDoctor Valois has invented the "flashage", a cure for depressed people. After having tested it on monkeys, he tries with a first human patient, Alain Durieux. This is a great success, everybody's happy except maybe Alain's wife, Jeanne, who worries about the changes in Alain's personality. Other patients use the treatment with similar success, and Valois's happy about it. But the monkeys are changing: non-cured ones are made mad by the overstability and stereotyped behaviour of the cured ones. So are the humans. When Valois realizes he can't stop the process, he decides to "flash" himself.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsMatthew BroderickChristopher WalkenMatt MulhernA group of young recruits go through boot camp during the Second World War in Biloxi, Mississippi. From the play by Neil Simon.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsSarah PattersonAngela LansburyDavid WarnerA teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine, and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.
- DirectorMike NewellStarsMiranda RichardsonRupert EverettIan HolmA stormy relationship, complicated by the strictures of 1950s social class and gender roles, ends in death. Based on the life of Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsMariel HemingwayEric RobertsCliff RobertsonA successful young model finds trouble when her obsessive manager-turned-husband becomes dangerously jealous.
- DirectorGlenn Gordon CaronStarsMichael KeatonKathy BakerMorgan FreemanA hustling drug addict checks himself into rehabilitation to escape trouble with the law and realizes that it's exactly what he needs.
- DirectorDanny DeVitoStarsMichael DouglasKathleen TurnerDanny DeVitoA married couple tries everything to drive each other out of the house in a vicious divorce battle.
- DirectorBertrand BlierStarsGérard DepardieuMichel BlancMiou-MiouA bisexual petty criminal named Bob encounters a married couple arguing in a bar. Bob breaks up the fight and proceeds to seduce first the wife and then the husband. Then Bob teaches the couple how to be burglars and they join him in his criminal exploits.