Kategoria: 1988

#839 Moon Over Parador (1988)

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Moon Over Parador feels like it was written with Richard Dreyfuss specifically in mind, and after seeing the movie it’s hard to fathom anyone else playing the part. Accompanying him can be seen Raúl Juliá who also performs tremendously well as the menacing head of the police masterminding the whole ordeal.

The movie skillfully builds up a mouth watering situation that would’ve lended itself to a great variety of humor, but never quite explores it deeply enough. The end result is entertaining, but never quite side splittingly funny. Whatever humor there is, it’s because of the snappy delivery of the lines by the talented actors involved, not necessarily because of the lines itself. There are also scenes that don’t really contribute to anything, like the homecoming of the dictator’s mother.

Still, there’s something heartwarming about the whole movie that makes me want to be generous with the scoring. A credit for that has go to Dreyfuss who plunges into the role with a great energy, making Moon Over Parador his second best 80s comedy after Stakeout.

80s-o-meter: 87%

Total: 80%

#835 Colors (1988)

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Possibly the first ever gang movie of the new wave that came begun in the late 80s and continued throughout the 90s, Colors may be outshadowed by the later milestone titles of the genre, but still hold up fairly well in comparison.

Sean Penn and Robert Duvall are one of the finest actors around and both embrace their roles as the cops trying to be the good guys, often in their humane, flawed way. This is true especially with Duvall who guides the rookie cop through the hoods, but realises his own shortcomings and never comes across as an tiring, omnipotent master. The movie isn’t graphic, but the few scenes of violence there are, are skillfully coordinated and often extremely impactful.

There are a few things in the movie I did find distracting. Some of the side plot lines along with the scenes that make some sort of comedic effort should’ve really ended up on the cutting room floor. The depiction of the gangs and the hood is noticeably cinematic making many of the characters and the settings feel needlessly artificial and plasticky.

80s-o-meter: 86%

Total: 84%

#823 Frantic (1988)

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Part of the inexplicable 80s trend of travelling over to Paris to shoot a movie, Frantic at least makes an effort to masquerade it all as a necessary plot point. It does make sense in a way as it makes the sudden disappearance of a surgeon’s wife and the resulting helplessness more relatable.

The movie starts off strong with a certain Hitchcockian touch to it, but that initial energy gradually dissipates, and when the second half of the movie starts it’s very difficult to care much about what happens in the end.

Although I realise that the desired effect has been the opposite, the decision to shoot in Paris makes the movie feel mundane and dull. Harrison Ford does a decent job here, but it’s still a far cry from his numerous memorable performances of the 80s.

80s-o-meter: 58%

Total: 59%

#816 Salsa (1988)

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Well, this was a painful experience.

I had to check back to internet every fifteen minutes to check if Salsa’s origin of country would’ve magically changed to something else than USA, giving me an excuse to skip sitting through this atrocity. Alas, no. The director Boaz Davidson remained Israelian and the lead Robby Rosa and his sweat oozing curls remained firmly Puerto Rican.

The movie – the term has to be used very loosely here – is a collection of salsa music numbers and a thin plot that’s not able to tie them together to a comprehensible entity. Rico is an obnoxious character, often seen trying to run his baby sister’s life or twitching around in a theatrical manner filled with pain that is his life. The subplot of forbidden love between his best friend and his sister is a much more interesting story line, even if I’ve seen music videos with a stronger plot.

Salsa is without point, pretentious, melodramatic and seemingly clueless of all this – once again reminding me of everything I loathe about musicals.

80s-o-meter: 71%

Total: 1%

#814 Defense Play (1988)

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Defense Play is a low budget, low weight action thriller that never made it to a DVD release. The movie follows a teen – obviously much too old for the role – witnessing a prototype military miniature helicopter crash and ending up in hacking computers and the helicopter in a race against russian spies who try to get a hold of the technology.

This synopsis also introduces the biggest problems with the movie: We’re forced to watch recurring scenes that tend to drag on for much too long. The programming and hacking attempts on a computer are mildly entertaining in a campy way, but it’s the endless amount of footage of the miniature helicopters that got the best of me in the end. In the age of quadcopters and top notch CGI there’s really not much entertainment to be had in watching RC helicopters duelling in the sky, with some kind of a weak laser gun effect superimposed to them.

It’s is a passable film, but composed of elements that never gave it a chance for greatness, and the overall pacing should’ve been a lot tighter to make Defense Play a real winner.

80s-o-meter: 80%

Total: 58%

#811 Running on Empty (1988)

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There are two aspects that make Running on Empty stand out. Its synopsis is pretty unique; a family of four running away from the law while trying to provide as normal life as possible for their two sons, which does end up as contradictory as it sound. Secondly, the movie features River Phoenix in one of his last major roles before his untimely death. This no doubt contributed to the movie’s cult status.

The status is not completely unfound; Phoenix does a pretty solid work here as the young, highly wired kid on the brink of adulthood, torn between the loyalty to his family and his willingness to finally gain his independence. The routine of having to drop everything at a moment’s notice, including house, friends, clothes – even pet dogs – and move on once again to the unknown has become the second nature to him as it’s the only kind of life he’s even known.

Running on Empty makes the viewer go through emotions ranging from compassion to the anger against the parents for putting their kids through all this. This is when the movie surprises the viewer and shows how their unique situation has made them a tight-knit unit, and the moments of happiness they share are genuinely heart warming.

I wasn’t completely sold on the movie and to me the pacing always felt a little off throughout the movie. But it does great work in establishing the emotional tie to the characters well and will give you some food for a thought even after the end credits have rolled.

In this sense Running on Empty can be considered a success.

80s-o-meter: 80%

Total: 81%

#805 Eight Men Out (1988)

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Eight Men Out retells the story of 1919 baseball scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox made a pact with gamblers to intentionally lose the 1919 World Series. Knowing how it all turns out in the end the movie’s angle is to go through the events in the chronological order as they unfolded, with the focus slightly tilted towards outfielder Buck Weaver who would go on trying to prove his innocence for rest of his natural life.

As we go on from a match to another, I can’t help but to think some smarter editing could’ve been used here, snipping off the time from the games and focusing for example on the final trial instead. Still, it was a positive surprise how well the movie was put together and how well it conveys the time period without ever making a big fuss about it, or getting tediously drowsy or stale like so many period pictures tend to come out.

The casting is strong with John Cusack leading as Buck Weaver. As his teammate can be seen young Charlie Sheen, who’d incidentally go on starring in Major League, a hugely successful baseball comedy released the following year.

80s-o-meter: 35%

Total: 72%

#801 Lady in White (1988)

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An indie spooky story, Lady in White is the kind of underdog movie you’d hope to be really good, but woefully its flaws ultimately outweight the positives.

The movie is much too slow paced and neither the effects or the ghost seem convincing, yet still the movie chooses to showcase both for even minutes at the time. Both the flashback narrative and the 60s social commentary of the racism just don’t seem to fit in with the rest of the movie, and leaving those along some other bits to the cutting room floor would’ve made the viewing a much tighter experience.

Lukas Haas is a natural in the lead role and I really digged the attempt to build a solid ghost story instead of just your typical slasher or a jump scare horror movie.

Although the movie wasn’t the buried treasure I was hoping for, I do recognise the aspects that have made it a favorite to so many so I still recommend people to check it out if the synopsis raises any kind of curiosity.

80s-o-meter: 50%

Total: 60%

#799 Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

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A movie with tremendously good production values, made by the very best talent of the Hollywood Who Framed Roger Rabbit is ultimately ruined by its now outdated gimmick of mixing in cartoons with live camera action.

A big part of why I love the 80s movies is that I’ve always preferred well executed puppeteering magic to using CGI characters. As much as we humans want to buy in to the stories, we’re really sensitive for any glitches in the matrix; it’s usually enough to break the illusion if one of the actors is watching to a slightly off direction when trying to interacting with the imagined character. The effects also tend the look cool at the time, but grow old just in few years.

Roger Rabbit’s very experimental nature mixing cartoon characters with live introduces many of the same problems: The novelty off the effects has worn off and the resulting movie lacks the needed immersion.

Then, there’s the obvious problem with the characters. Roger Rabbit, a character cut and pasted together for this movie is annoying. I’m talking about Jar Jar Binks annoying. Even worse yet, the character and its constant screaming around paired with the slapstick humor is totally devoid of any laughters. As a proof, Roger never became a classic character that’d go on to live outside the movie. The actual actors luckily do much better here: Bob Hoskins is choice for the classic film noir Hollywood sleuth and Christopher Lloyd makes his vulture-like Judge Doom character a perfect human-cartoon character blend.

The movie was received well by the critics and went on to win three Oscars. I can’t help but to think many were blinded by the novelty of the movie’s technical merits.

80s-o-meter: 55%

Total: 48%

#798 Clean and Sober (1988)

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Starting this blog a few hundred movies ago I never quite imagined Michael Keaton becoming one of my favorite actors of the era. Sure, I’d previously digged him in Beetlejuice and Batman, but after discovering his great comedic energy in Night Shift, seeing him fighting him for the american worker in Gung Ho and now in Clean and Sober, it’s becoming quite obvious that Keaton is one of those rare talents, born with a great screen present.

Mostly known for his comedies – some of them horrible misfires – Clean and Sober marks the first drama feature movie for Keaton. He uses his energetic talent well as Daryl, a real estate salesman whose life is spiralling fast out of control after drug and alcohol abuse that’s wrecked his career and his personal life.

The character is very well crafted and devoid of the usual clichés that usually go with the addicts in the pictures; he’s witty enough to be able to land himself a decent job and to hold on to it, fooling everyone there’s no problem. It’s even when the addiction is about to land him in jail that he keeps on trying to bullshit himself out of the situation, totally unaware that he has a problem. Morgan Freeman and M. Emmet Walsh perform superbly as two former addicts now providing support for other abusers, patiently trying to hold a mirror up for Daryl for him to finally come in terms with his situation.

If you’ve ever suffered from an addiction or lived with someone who did, Clean and Sober will surely strike a truthful chord.

80s-o-meter: 80%

Total: 93%

#782 I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)

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I’m Gonna Git You Sucka is a blaxploitation spoof comedy that’s style wise somewhere half way between crazy comedies like Spaceballs and The Naked Gun series and spoof comedies like Life of Brian and Return of the Killer Tomatoes.

The fundamental problem with I’m Gonna Git You Sucka is that it tries much too hard to be funny and to equal its paragons, but just isn’t nowhere witty enough to provide the actual laughs. Instead, we’re presented with funnily dressed up pimps and overdosing on gold chains, but the movie never proceeds to do anything wittier or more inventive with any of these concepts.

The strong cast is the most interesting aspect of the movie; legends of blaxploitation like Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas, Isaac Hayes and Jim Brown prove to have a strong screen presence even if put in a weak comedy. The great Steve James reprises his role from the American Ninja series, although the script doesn’t give him much to work with. Young Chris Rock can be seen in a small role in possibly the most hilarious skits of the movie, haggling in a diner for some spare ribs.

If it’s blaxploitation comedy you’re after I can’t do nothing but recommend the amazing 2009 filmatization Black Dynamite over this one.

80s-o-meter: 67%

Total: 50%

#778 Goddess of Love (1988)

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Vanna White, best known to the general public as the hostess of Wheel of Fortune stars in Goddess of Love, a made-for-TV romantic comedy. Although is safe to say the movie wasn’t destined to steal away any academy awards from the theatrical releases, it’s still somewhat passable as a real movie even if the obvious commercial break transitions are a straight giveaway.

The plot: Zeus turns Venus – the goddess of love – into a statue that turns alive in 1988 Los Angeles, causing all sorts of silly events and misunderstandings to unravel. For a plot this fluffy and trifle the movie is surprisingly entertaining, and even the suspension of how it all will turn out in the end is kept admirably.

While it’s impossible to recommend the movie to anyone and still save one’s face, for those who know what they’re getting into Goddess of Love offers solid 90 minutes of nonchalant – and totally trivial – entertainment.

80s-o-meter: 88%

Total: 67%

#772 You Can’t Hurry Love (1988)

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You Can’t Hurry Love is a fish out of water story about a young man moving to LA, trying to find a direction in his life while seeking for true love, mostly by trying to pass as a real LA cool cat. The story revolves around video dating which was a huge hit in the late 80s. These awkwardly shot VHS videos have been amusing people ever since they were uploaded to Youtube some 20 years later. Story is a strong word here though as the movie is more like loose scenes that somehow blend into each other.

For being a low budget movie, You Can’t Hurry Love has managed to gather some impressive cameos and song licences (not written for the movie, obviously); Charles Grodin makes a short but sweet visit as a disgruntled, condom-dispensing dad and Phil Collins’ huge 1982 hit song You Can’t Hurry Love can be heard as the title soundtrack for the movie. David Packer, formerly known to public from V the TV Mini-series and its sequels makes for a performance that’s synonymous with the movie itself: Unwitty but sympathetic and lovable.

You can’t hurry love isn’t obviously significant, nor even a good movie in any way – but somehow, one just can’t be too angry about it all.

80s-o-meter: 89%

Total: 60%

#765 Halloween 2017: 976-Evil (1988)

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Considering that Robert Englund had very much become a household name for horror as Freddy in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series, his directorial debut 976-Evil surprisingly lacks some essential ingedients to make a quality horror movie.

First of all, the movie is pretty low on scares. Secondly, as soon as the movie lead gets possessed by the evil, we kind of lose our protagonist there, leaving the audience with no-one to root for for the second half of the movie, effectively making the movie sort of a revenge porn instead of horror.

Stephen Geoffreys pretty much reprises his role from Fright Night, playing a nerdy character who finds himself empowered by the forces of the evil. While the performance here falls short of the other one, it’s still Geoffreys’ and his ability to create these somewhat of their trolley, but still much likeable characters that make this movie worth your time.

Even with its obvious shortcomings, 976-Evil is professionally executed movie that may unspectacular – but never dull.

80s-o-meter: 86%

Total: 70%

#763 Halloween 2017: Return of the Living Dead II (1988)

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The sequel – this time written and directed by Ken Wiederhorn – follows the look and feel of the original movie closely, and does not wander too far away from the winning formula. In this case the decision applaudable, making Return of the Living Dead II worth watching, even if it is the weaker movie of the two.

James Karen and Thom Mathews, the hilarious screaming and moaning duo from the first movie return as completely new characters here as if the events in the first movie never took place, but the movie thankfully acknowledges this by joking openly about it.

Some of the familiar reanimated cadavers – like the modernised version of the Tarman – are back, but the sequel falls behind the original in the overall quality of the effects, never surpassing its three year older big brother. The sequel trades in some of its quality to quantity by marching huge armies of living dead on the screen, ending up with a much less memorable array of baddies.

The series would go on to spawn three more sequels, one in 1993 and two in 2005, all of which are mostly unrelated to these eighties originals.

80s-o-meter: 90%

Total: 82%

#759 Halloween 2017: Transformations aka Alien Transformations (1988)

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By pure coincidence, Transformations is the second movie in a row featuring a succubus in its story. While in Deadly Blessing we heard warnings about such demonic spirit, here we actually see one taking a female form to infect a lonely space traveller with a deadly disease, who then goes on to cause an epidemy on a distant mining colony located somewhere in the outer edges of the galaxy.

As a result of mediocre cinematography and set design Transformations can never establish the outer space planetary location and shake off its strong shot-in-a-studio look and feel, which brings the experience down quite a bit. That – coupled with the camera zoom-ins and subpar acting – make the overall experience clumsy, but not quite enough to warrant involuntary, campy humour.

The movie does has a very admirable underdog tone to it that kept me rooting for it for quite a while. Unfortunately there is no actual payoff here, and the end of the movie is just as lukewarm as the movie itself.

80s-o-meter: 65%

Total: 52%

#757 Halloween 2017: Cellar Dweller (1988)

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Playing like an elongated episode of The Twilight Zone or Amazing Stories, Cellar Dweller presents us with a far fetched concept of comic book drawings taking a life of their own and killing residents in an art colony.

Jeffrey Combs known from the cult classics Re-animator and From Beyond makes a brief visit as the original Cellar Dweller comic book artist killed in the very first minutes of the movie.

80s-o-meter: 70%

Total: 58%

#755 Halloween 2017: The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

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Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow is an intensive, palm sweating ride that doesn’t really hold back. Shot on a location in Haiti, the movie wonderfully captures the essence of steamy voodoo huts, black magic and colorful potions mixed with the whole spectrum of local people, politics, nature and fauna.

The story follows a scientist visiting Haiti in hopes of learning the secrets of a potion able to turn its victims into a paralysed dead alive, seemingly dead but still alive, and he soon realises he’s dealing with forces beyond his grasp. The movie constantly tightropes on the fine line between dream and nightmare, with every scene capable going either way. The scene with the zombie midget bride is one of the eeries scenes I’ve seen this halloween, and one that will surely haunt me for some time.

It’s only in the last few meters of the movie that it looses its core focus and resorts to some needless screen effects that don’t really match up with the quality seen before in the movie. Even so, The Serpent and the Rainbow is regarded by many as Craven’s best – and I’m inclined to agree.

80s-o-meter: 80%

Total: 86%

#753 Halloween 2017: Friday the 13th Part VII The New Blood (1988)

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I don’t have to tell you that six sequels in seven years to any movie is downright ridiculous. But, here we go..

Friday the 13th Part VII The New Blood starts when Jason, trapped to the bottom of the lake gets freed by a young woman with psychokinetic powers, and is soon on the killing spree once again. Compared to Jason Lives, the Part 7 is a big step back to the generic slasher world – including many obligatory pairs of nude tits – and ends up even much less insignificant than the previously weakest parts 3 and 4. Thanks to MPAA the movie is very low on gore, and the whole cast is so unbelievably trivial I found myself rooting for Jason this time around.

That is, when I wasn’t yawning while the movie dragged on like a sloth on valium.

Gone are the action and the playfulness of the previous movie, replaced by inane, tired clichés like cats giving jump scares, leaving The New Blood a totally irrelevant, piss poor slasher.

80s-o-meter: 81%

Total: 9%

#727 Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988)

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Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is one of those movies made shoddy and stupid by design in order to make them cult classics. There’s a constant stream of low quality, weirdness, dumb jokes, prostitutes, tits and chainsaws, but not really anything much more.

The problem here is that the movie is smart-alecky without being witty and never takes anything seriously enough to have any kind of substance to make watching of the movie interesting. The few chuckles the movie provides now and then aren’t really enough to justify watching this 80 minutes of nonsense.

I’m not quite sure for whom the Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is made for. Those interested in having a b-movie night with some friends know there are a lot of crappier, more entertaining, unintentionally hilarious movies out there to enjoy.

80s-o-meter: 84%

Total: 22%