2. Ghostbusters
3. Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom
8. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
9. Repo Man
10. Starman
11. Gremlins
12. Streetwise
13. Once Upon A Time In America
14. The Pope Of Greenwich Village
15. Paris, Texas
16. Body Double
17. Amadeus
18. 1984
20. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
Bubbling Under: Blood Simple / The Company Of Wolves / Tightrope / The Natural / Broadway Danny Rose
Round-Up
Razorback (1984)
Russell Mulcahy directs Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley and Bill Kerr in this nature horror where a vicious wild boar terrorizes the Australian outback.
Wake in Fright meets Jaws. Future Highlander director Mulcahy makes this an almost neo-expressionist visual delight. Tons of backlighting, dry ice and fans. The content itself is a bit too icky. Though the third act is very similar to The Terminator’s finale… only in a pet food plant full of skinned kangaroos.
6
The Last Starfighter (1984)
Nick Castle directs Lance Guest, Robert Preston and Kay E. Kuter in this teen sci-fi fantasy where a kid completes an arcade game and is recruited to fight an alien armada in space.
A childhood favourite that I haven’t seen since back then. Also an early CGI groundbreaker. The concept is stronger than the execution. Though… if I still watched TV, and still channel surfed, if this happened to be on, I would definitely not switch channels. There’s good adventure and nice humour and decent fantasy here. It probably is the most Amblin-esque release Spielberg had zero involvement with.
7
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
Woody Allen directs himself, Mia Farrow and Nick Apollo Forte in this comedy about a hustling agent whose one successful client needs him to bring his mistress to a make-or-break show.
One of Woody’s last “funny ones”. Admirable and charming that it isn’t trying to be anything more than a very witty comedy.
7
Silent Night Deadly Night (1984)
Charles E. Sellier Jr. directs Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin and Gilmer McCormick in this festive slasher that follows the break down of an orphan teen who watched his parents attacked and killed by Santa.
Takes it’s time to get inside the head of its young killer. Wallowing in the long term and the short term causes of the eventual rampage. The missing link between Halloween and Henry. A jolt too cheap and grubby to be a classic… Christmas or late night.
5
The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984)
W.D. Richter. directs Peter Weller, John Lithgow and Ellen Barkin in this cult sci-fi classic where adventurer, brain surgeon, rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his crime-fighting team, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, must stop evil alien invaders.
Absolutely insane cult bobbins. Dense nonsense poem plotting. If ever there was a way not to tell a story it is this. Hard to know which character we are following, what is lore and what is of narrative prescience. There are quirky interruptions but the stellar ensemble gets lost in the precious mix. Also an over abundance of the shots which have no emphasis on the action they are supposed to be depicting. When people say Howard The Duck is a bad movie I wonder if they have even considered how impenetrably busy this all is. Still like a code sheet with familiar symbols, there is iconic stuff to enjoy if you just let it all wash over you. Self conscious enough that I do want to unlock it one day. I just can’t see that happening with revisits at 20 year intervals.
6
Revenge Of The Nerds (1984)
Jeff Kanew directs Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards and Timothy Busfield in this college comedy where a group of bullied outcasts resolve to fight back for their peace and self-respect.
Dated and in incredibly bad taste. We laughed a ton at this. Equal measures at it and with it. Energised by a shockingly strong soundtrack of hits.
6
I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 