8 MOVIES FROM THE 80S THAT DESERVE MORE LOVE

Here at CA towers we pride ourselves on our love for the movies of the 1980s. Anything from the big blockbusters such as ET, Star Wars and The Terminator down to the more obscure films like Night Of The Comet, Steel Dawn and the animated film Rock & Rule. So We decided to take a look at some of the films that came out during the decade of slashers, Cocaine and Huey Lewis and The News... I present to you, 8 Movies From The 80s That Deserve More Love....

TUFF TURF (1985) Dir: Fritz Kiersh

Tuff Turf is the kind of film you can only really discover late at night while channel hoping. You skim through the channels usually looking for boobs or a car chase flick, then you spot James Spader. Ah Spader that sleezy godlike man, a man who can turn your stomach but also turn you on. You sit and watch what is basically a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Basic plot is new guy in town picks a fight with the local gang, pissing off the leader but falling in love with the gang leader's main squeeze. Then you spend the movie trying to persuade said squeeze to become your squeeze while trying to survive against the gang who want your head. I remember seeing lots of films that followed this same plot, a plot that's gonna appear again on this list a bit further down, but why does Tuff Turf deserve more love? Simple, Awesome performances from James Spader who, lets face it, has never given a duff performance even if the film is a pile of crap, Alien Hunter i'm looking in your direction and from Kim Richards, the little girl off those Disney flicks about a mountain and aliens. It has an awesome soundtrack featuring Jack Mack and The Heart Attack and Some choice cuts from Jim Carroll, Author of the book The Basketball Diaries. Even Robert Downey Jr looking like a 10 year old shows up. Its a familiar plot but such a great unappreciated film that it's worth your time to check it out.

SHOOT TO KILL (1988) Dir: Roger Spottiswood (aka Deadly Pursuit UK title)

I fucking love Shoot To Kill, it's a fast paced action adventure wilderness survival movie about a serial killer being chased by a veteran cop and a bitter mountain man. Seriously, Shoot To Kill is a an absolute blast. The plot concerns an escaped criminal and the cop sent to track him down who joins up with a mountain guide in the wilderness after joining up with a hiking group. The coolest thing about Shoot To Kill is that we don't know who the killer is until it's revealed midway through the film and to throw us off, the men in the group are played by actors known for playing criminals, which if you ask me is bloody good casting. Sidney Poitier plays the veteran cop/FED on the killer's trail and Tom Berenger who at one time was a fucking badass plays the mountain guide. Why does it deserve more love?....See above. It's AWESOME...Damn I really wanna watch it again now. Featuring a cast of actors that includes Poitier, Berenger, Kirsty Ally, Clancy Brown, Andrew Robinson and Richard Masur, you really can't go wrong with this one. It features some great chases, some really well crafted stunts and a great shootout towards the end. Seriously folks, check this one out...

THRASHIN' (1986) Dir: David Winters

I discovered Thrashin' just as I was getting into Skateboarding, there was a huge lack of skateboarding films, still is too, and with the exception of Gleaming The Cube, the only skateboarding films around were The Skateboard Kid and it's god awful sequel, if you haven't seen them, I wouldn't recommend them. Anyways, Coming off the success of The Goonies, Josh Brolin stars as Corey Webster, a skater who makes his way to LA and runs afoul of the local gang, a gang of skaters, hahaha, like a punk gang from a PA movie, any way, Corey falls in love the leader's SISTER, the leader wants to take Corey out, so they have a strange sort of skate duel with maces, it's the same plot of Tuff Turf basically.

What makes Thrashin deserve your love? Well for starters its a pretty cool movie, the skate montages are on point, Brolin is a cool guy, the music is awesome, even features an early appearance from The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and it's just a fun as hell flick. It's an ideal movie for skaters, I mean Gleaming The Cube is a cool flick, more a murder thriller than straight up skate flick but Thrashin' is a good 80s popcorn flick. Sadly it's hard to come by these days but if you find it, watch it.  

THE NIGHT BEFORE (1988) Dir: Thom Eberhardt

The Night Before is one of those films, you see as a kid on VHS because it's got the dude from Bill & Ted in it, then you watch it again 30 years later and realise, holy fuck this is basically a sexploitation comedy, but, The Night Before is much more than that, It's a film that runs a bit like Miracle Mile, I don't mean with nukes and Brian Thompson in a leotard, I mean it takes place over the course of one night and our main character played with Shakespearean brilliance by Keanu Reeves, coming up against obstacles at every turn after accidentally selling his prom date to a Latino drug dealer /pimp. Its a fun little PG-13 comedy that has some funny moments and some pretty dark moments but never gets too serious and lets the viewer just enjoy a night of one thing after another. Released a year before Reeves made it big in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Keanu proves he's a dab hand at wierdo loser comedy, something brilliantly brought to the role of Ted Theodore Logan, His female co-star is the delectable and still insanely hot even in 2016, Lori Loughlin and featuring a support cast made up of Suzanne Snyder, Trinidad Silva and Theresa Saldana who sadly passed away this year. It comes from the director of the awesomely awesome in every way End of the world zombie valley girl film, Night Of The Comet. I can recommend this as an alternative to the John Hughes teen movies of the 80s, it's a lot of fun and definitely deserves more love.

RAD (1986) Dir: Hal Needham

RAD is one of those elusive movies that has never seen either a DVD or a Blu-Ray release but exists in a HD transfer that can be seen every now and then on the telly box. I absolutely adore this movie, I saw at the same time I saw Thrashin', I was getting into extreme sports at the time and I had a Quadrilogy of films i'd watch continuously, those were Gleaming The Cube, Thrashin', BMX Bandits and Rad. It follows Cru Jones an ace BMXer who jumps at the chance to enter an insane contest called The Helltrack. He meets and falls in love with Christian, A female amateur racer and with her help, along with his friends, Cru heads off to conquer the Helltrack.

I love this movie, it's a not only a great teen romance, but it's also a great sports movie. The BMX footage and stunts are brilliantly staged by legendary stuntman turned director Hal Needham and the film sports one of the greatest soundtracks this side of Rocky 4. The cast is pretty good with Bill Allen (Streamers '83), the gorgeous Lori Loughlin (The Night before), Jack Western and Ray Walston. It's a really fun film that sadly, due to it's insane unavailability, hasn't got the love that it deserves. The only time i'll ever do it, but if you have to use a torrent site to find it, then go a head, it's definitely one that deserves to be much more highly regarded than it is...

D.A.R.Y.L (1985) Dir: Simon Wincer

In a year that gave us great family films like The Goonies, Explorers, Cocoon, Teen Wolf and Young Sherlock Holmes, D.A.R.Y.L doesn't seem to get the same recognition that those films got. It's great family film with a sci-fi twist and not only is it fun but also quite heart wrenching at times, not on the level of say Atreyu losing Artax in NeverEnding Story but it still has some pretty sad moments. The film follows a little boy called Daryl, he's found after being taken from somewhere and sent to live with foster parents played brilliantly by Michael McKeen and Mary Beth Hurt. But there's something different about Daryl, he's actually a robot. The film follows some shady government agents trying to retrieve Daryl to do experiments on him while his family and friends are trying to find out where he is. He escapes with the help of one of the scientists and commandeers a stealth bomber to return to his new family. Yeah it sounds a bit mental the way I write it but it's such a lovely film. The cast are excellent, Barrett Oliver plays Daryl and nails the child robot role, McKeen and Hurt are great as the parents and the film has a wonderful soundtrack. Definitely belongs in the same conversation when talking about great 80s family movies. Seek this on out...

MAN ON FIRE (1987) Dir: Elie Chouraqui

Bet you didn't know that Tony Scott's excellent revenge flick Man On Fire was a remake did ya? Well it is and this film proves it. It's much less an in your face action flick and more a character study of a broken man. The relationship between the main characters, Creasy and Sam, does have some strange sexual undertones, like the relationship between Leon & Matilda but it's never thrown in your face or acted upon. The film follows the same plot, ex-merc John Creasy is hired as a bodyguard for a rich American living in Italy, girl is kidnapped, Creasy gets her back. Exactly the same, even has Chris Walken's part but played by Joe Pesci, Creasy's gun guy. The Kidnapper is played by Danny Aiello and the film shows more of the kidnappers than the nameless kidnappers in Scott's version. Italy is apparently a beautiful country to visit, Man On Fire doesn't really show us that, the film has a grit and grunge look to it, muted tones and dirty colours. The action scenes are well handled but this is more a film about a broken man finding a purpose. The Original Man On Fire is a great little thriller made all the better by Starring Scott Glenn as Creasy. The Film is available on DVD but only on a German or Spanish disc, I can't remember. It definitely a film worth seeking out even if to just compare the two.

COHEN AND TATE (1989) Dir: Eric Red

Cohen and Tate is a great underrated thriller. Written and directed by Eric Red (Bad Moon) and starring Adam Baldwin (Chuck/Firefly) and the awesome Roy Scheider, Cohen and Tate are two hitmen, hired to kidnap a 9 year old boy from witness protection after witnessing a mob hit in Texas. The two killers take out the boy's family and grab the kid. What follows is a game of cat and mouse in the backseat of car as the kid begins to play the two killers against each other, like a back seat Yojimbo, as they head towards Houston to deliver the boy.

It's a great thriller and opens with brutal violence as the two killers take out the agents and the family and then we get mind games a-plenty on the journey to Houston. Scheider is just the coolest, exuding more charm and humanity than that of his younger partner. Adam Baldwin plays Tate as a hotheaded psycho if you will and the two men balance each other out. Eric Red's screenplay is good, the idea is simple and the execution almost faultless. Like I said Cohen & Tate is a great underrated thriller and is definitely worth seeking out. It's available on Blu-ray from Shout Factory in The US.

Well there we go, that's your 8 movies from the 80s that deserve more love. Hope you enjoyed reading about them and watching the trailers. Stay tuned as there may be more of these types of lists to come. Maybe a 9 movies from the 90s list, who knows....