some personal favorites from my favorite decade

1980

1. My Bodyguard (Tony Bill)
2. Gloria (John Cassavetes)
3. The Attic (George Edwards)
4. Night of the Juggler (Robert Butler)
5. Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma)
6. Altered States (Ken Russell)
7. Fame (Alan Parker)
8. Inferno (Dario Argento)
9. Cruising (William Friedkin)
10. The House on the Edge of the Park (Ruggero Deodato)

Honorable Mentions: He Knows You’re Alone (Armand Mastroianni), The Fog (John Carpenter), Alligator (Lewis Teague), Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese), Return of the Secaucus Seven (John Sayles),The Elephant Man (David Lynch)

1981

1. Possession (Andrzej Żuławski)
2. Strange Behavior (Michael Laughlin)
3. Diva (Jean-Jacques Beineix)
4. Ms. 45 (Abel Ferrara)
5. An American Werewolf in London (John Landis)
6. Happy Birthday To Me (J. Lee Thompson)
7. Deadly Blessing (Wes Craven)
8. Halloween II (Rick Rosenthal)
9. Blow Out (Brian De Palma)
10. Dead & Buried (Gary Sherman)

Honorable Mentions: Evilspeak (Eric Weston), Final Exam (Jimmy Huston), American Pop (Ralph Bakshi), Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan), The Funhouse (Tobe Hooper), Southern Comfort (Walter Hill)

1982

1. Class of 1984 (Mark L. Lester)
2. Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper)
3. The Thing (John Carpenter)
4. Q: The Winged Serpent (Larry Cohen)
5. Creepshow (George A. Romero)
6. Tex (Tim Hunter)
7. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott)
8. Liquid Sky (Slava Tsukerman)
9. Cat People (Paul Schrader)
10. Vice Squad (Gary Sherman)

Honorable Mentions: White Dog (Samuel Fuller), Eating Raoul (Paul Bartel), Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (Robert Altman), Made In Britain (Alan Clarke), The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson), Next of Kin (Tony Williams)

1983

1. The Fourth Man (Paul Verhoeven)
2. Streamers (Robert Altman)
3. Of Unknown Origin (George P. Cosmatos)
4. Christine (John Carpenter)
5. The Moon in the Gutter (Jean-Jacques Beineix)
6. The Final Terror (Andrew Davis)
7. Vigilante (William Lustig)
8. 10 to Midnight (J. Lee Thompson)
9. Blood Beat (Fabrice A. Zaphiratos)
10. Basket Case (Frank Henenlotter)

Honorable Mentions: One Dark Night (Tom McLoughlin), Sleepaway Camp (Robert Hiltzik), Strange Invaders (Michael Laughlin)

1984

1. A Nightmare on Elm Street (Wes Craven)
2. Scream for Help (Michael Winner)
3. Reckless (James Foley)
4. The Hit (Stephen Frears)
5. Perfect Strangers (Larry Cohen)
6. Mike’s Murder (James Bridges)
7. Alphabet City (Amos Poe)
8. Electric Dreams (Steve Barron)
9. Body Double (Brian De Palma)
10. Blood Simple (Joel Cohen, Ethan Cohen)

Honorable Mentions: Brother From Another Planet (John Sayles), Razorback (Russell Mulcahy), Fear City (Abel Ferrara), Gremlins (Joe Dante), The Neverending Story (Wolfgang Peterson), Special Effects (Larry Cohen), Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch), Cloak and Dagger (Richard Franklin), Beat Street (Stan Lathan), Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (Mamoru Oshii), Heavenly Bodies (Lawrence Dane), Suburbia (Penelope Spheeris), Crimes of Passion (Ken Russell), Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Steven Spielberg)

1985

1. My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears)
2. After Hours (Martin Scorsese)
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (Jack Sholder)
4. Fortress (Arch Nicholson)
5. To Live and Die in L.A. (William Friedkin)
6. Smooth Talk (Joyce Chopra)
7. The Goonies (Richard Donner)
8. Witness (Peter Weir)
9. Demons (Lamberto Bava)
10. Tenement (Roberta Findlay)

Honorable Mentions: Mala Noche (Gus Van Sant), Friday the 13th V: A New Beginning (Danny Steinmann), Ran (Akira Kurosawa), Silver Bullet (Daniel Attias), The Breakfast Club (John Hughes), Return To Oz (Walter Murch), Real Genius (Martha Coolidge), Trouble In Mind (Alan Rudolph), Vision Quest (Harold Becker), Heaven Help Us (Michael Dinner), Fright Night (Tom Holland), Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman)

1986

1. Mona Lisa (Neil Jordan)
2. Something Wild (Jonathan Demme)
3. Lucas (David Seltzer)
4. River’s Edge (Tim Hunter)
5. Noir et Blanc (Claire Devers)
6. Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
7. Deadly Friend (Wes Craven)
8. Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Hayao Miyazaki)
9. Vamp (Richard Wenk)
10. The Fly (David Cronenberg)

Honorable Mentions: Soul Man (Steve Miner), Evil Laugh (Dominick Brascia), The Majorettes (William Hinzman), Killer Party (William Fruet), Critters (Stephen Herek), The Fringe Dwellers (Bruce Beresford), The Hitcher (Robert Harmon), The Boy Who Could Fly (Nick Castle), Sleepwalk (Sara Driver), Fire with Fire (Duncan Gibbins), Stand by Me (Rob Reiner), Dead-End Drive In (Brian Trenchard-Smith)

1987

1. Five Corners (Tony Bill)
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (Chuck Russell)
3. The Bedroom Window (Curtis Hanson)
4. Three O’Clock High (Phil Joanou)
5. Anguish (Bigas Luna)
6. Opera (Dario Argento)
7. Stage Fright (Michele Soavi)
8. Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow)
9. China Girl (Abel Ferrara)
10. Slumber Party Massacre II (Deborah Brock)

Honorable Mentions: Angel Heart (Alan Parker), The Principal (Christopher Cain), Robot Carnival (Atsuko Fukushima, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Hiroyuki Kitazume, Mao Lamdao, Kôji Morimoto, Takashi Nakamura, Hidetoshi Omori, Katsuhiro Ôtomo, Yasuomi Umetsu), Enemy Territory (Peter Manoogian), Housekeeping (Bill Forsyth), The Lost Boys (Joel Schumacher), Adventures in Babysitting (Chris Columbus), Hiding Out (Bob Giraldi), Three Bewildered People in the Night (Gregg Araki), Siesta (Mary Lambert), The Gate (Tibor Takács),Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (Bruce Pittman), Mannequin (Michael Gottlieb)

1988

1. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (Renny Harlin)
2. Married to the Mob (Jonathan Demme)
3. Miracle Mile (Steve Da Jarnatt)
4. Masquerade (Bob Swaim)
5. Beetlejuice (Tim Burton)
6. Tapeheads (Bill Fishman)
7 Hairspray (John Waters)
8. Running on Empty (Sidney Lumet)
9. Spike of Bensonhurst (Paul Morrissey)
10. Paperhouse (Bernard Rose)

Honorable Mentions: Big (Penny Marshall), The Chocolate War (Keith Gordon), My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki), Poltergeist III (Gary Sherman), The Blob (Chuck Russell), Child’s Play (Tom Holland), The Vanishing (George Sluizer), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (John Carl Buechler), The Fruit Machine (Philip Saville), The Moderns (Alan Rudolph), Cellar Dweller (John Carl Buechler), Sticky Fingers (Catlin Adams), Talk Radio (Oliver Stone)

1989

1. Parents (Bob Balaban)
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (Stephen Hopkins)
3. Vampire’s Kiss (Robert Bierman)
4. Sea of Love (Harold Becker)
5. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (Rob Hedden)
6. Blue Steel (Kathryn Bigelow)
7. Society (Brian Yuzna)
8. Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch)
9. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (Peter Greenaway)
10. Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (Masami Hata, William T. Hurtz)

Honorable Mentions: Teen Witch (Dorian Walker), Heathers (Michael Lehmann), Johnny Handsome (Walter Hill), Cat Chaser (Abel Ferrara), Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee), Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (Michael A. Simpson), Flesh Eating Mothers (James Aviles), Earth Girls Are Easy (Julien Temple), Tetsuo, the Iron Man (Shin’ya Tsukamoto), Dead Calm (Phillip Noyce), Drugstore Cowboy (Gus Van Sant), Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (Dominique Othenin-Girard), Celia (Ann Turner), After Midnight (Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat)

My Top Ten Films of Each Year in the Eighties