However, we are now witnessing a polarisation of film budgets into two tiers: large productions ($120–150m) and niche features ($5–20m). Double features were the norm, showing a main feature, usually a big budget studio picture with star names, and a B movie afterwards. The great 80s movies that time forgot. Once again, the human cast are pretty forgettable and are only memorable for the manner of their deaths. All rights reserved. It tries its best to entertain and thrill its audience and never resorts to mocking itself like so many modern horror films. They took B movies to the next level of automatism and absurdity. By the 1980’s, home video and cable movie channels had arrived, this spelt the death of the Grindhouse cinema. [38] Similar projects are designed as "episodes" set in the TV-based Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer universes. The outlaw and his gang still hold the townspeople hostage in a cycle of fear. Some of those include the fantasy epic (NeverEnding Story, Princess Bride), teen movies (Breakfast Club, Weird Science), the new corporate overlord (Wall Street, Trading Places), women making strides in the workplace (Baby Boom, Working Girl), and rising hip-hop culture (Krush Groove, Do the Right Thing). This site uses third party cookies for analytics and advertising. Bloodfist 2050, directed by long-time B filmmaker and Corman collaborator Cirio H. Santiago, went straight to DVD in the United States. "[14] In 1981, New Line Cinema put out Polyester, a John Waters movie with an estimated $300,000 budget and an old-school exploitation gimmick: Odorama. "[41], David Handelman ("The Brothers from Another Planet,", Finler (2003), p. 42. Are the top '80s action movies ultra-violent like RoboCop or do you prefer something a bit goofier like Big Trouble in Little China? The term B movie was first coined in Hollywood’s Golden Age which ran from the 1930’s through till the late 1950’s. Eight teenagers who work in the mall decide to have an after-hours party in a furniture store. Tagline: In space no one can eat ice-cream. "Horror Hero of the 90s, Half Man, Half Bomb,", Sapolsky, Barry S., and Fred Molitor (1996). Production cost on Conan the Barbarian was an estimated $20 million. "Allied Artists Seeks Help Under Bankruptcy Act; Allied Artists Files Chapter XI,", Maslin, Janet (1997). Horror westerns are rare and seldom work, but in this instance they are able to find the right balance. The films reflected the times, in the 70’s B horror movies were grim and nihilistic, like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974) and “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977). Strange Behaviour (Michael Laughlin, 1981).
I triple-dog dare you to make a 90's and 80's B-movie list bigger than this.
Comparing it to Night of the Living Dead, one reviewer said "it achieves a similarly claustrophobic intensity on a microscopic budget. However, we’re beginning to look at 1980s cinema with blinders on, only referencing certain directors and certain films. In 1986, the company acquired and distributed two unreleased films, Sizzle Beach U.S.A. (shot in 1974) and Shadows Run Black (shot in 1981), capitalizing on performances by Kevin Costner, who had recently appeared in the popular Silverado (1985) and was set to headline The Untouchables (1987). Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Movie Box Office Results by Year, 1980–Present, "Made in the Philippines: Cirio H. Santiago Interviewed", "One More Ride on the Hollywood Roller-coaster", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=B_movies_since_the_1980s&oldid=971782444, Articles with dead external links from October 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Canby, Vincent (1984). The Terminator, Die Hard, and Raiders of the Lost Ark were all released in the 1980s, after all. This is the biggest collection of B-movies, trashy movies, pulpy movies, dumb science fiction, fantasy, action, and horror movies from the 1980's and 1990's that you will ever need. One of the first leading casualties of the new economic regime was venerable B studio Allied Artists, which declared bankruptcy in April 1979. You also have Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop, Aliens, and many more good 1980s action movies.
An exploding head being the one that sticks in the mind.
The Klown puppets are marvellously done, they are cheerfully creepy and deeply sinister. It includes frontal nudity, many sexual encounters and coolly grotesque situations linking sex and violence in graphic, sickening ways. Troma Pictures is a legendary B movie studio founded in the middle of the sixties exploitation era. Written and directed by Jeremy Horton, 100 Proof (1997) is based on the true story of a killing spree that occurred in Lexington, Kentucky, a decade earlier. You get to decide the best and the rest with your votes. Taste of Cinema 2019.