Now we’re talking. This 1983 portmanteau treat, Nightmares is a classic example of the genre. Four short stories that vary in content, ambition and, of course, quality and featuring loads of actors who went on to have just as varied careers. It’s complete nonsense! Just how we like them…
Okay, we’re cheating a bit here. John Carpenter’s portmaneau horror, Body Bags actually hit our screens in 1993 and is therefore out of our remit but it’s so literally dripping in 80s portmanteau cliches that it serves as the perfect introduction to this series of articles.
“It’s back! Big is back, because bigger is better than ever! 6000 SUX: An American Tradition!” – Advertisment for the ultimate embodiment of the American dream in Robocop (1987).
“I don’t think so. We just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound ‘fine’?” – Ash (played by Bruce Campbell) gets set straight by Mirror Ash (played by Bruce Campbell) in Evil Dead II (1987). (skip to 1:45 for the line)
Sylvester Stallone used to have real box-office draw in the ’80s you know. Him and Arnold Schwarzenegger were the only guys in town that really mattered until JCVD & Bruce Willis showed up later in the decade. Here he is in an insert action star vehicle featuring an ace turn […]
“I’m the one you can’t break. I’m what you’ve been afraid of all your life!” One of a number of so-called ‘Ozploitation’ movies to have emerged from down under in the 1980s, Turkey Shoot is a bizarre curio, which stars a bunch of Australian soap actors alongside Steve Railsback and […]
When Bloodsport single-handedly invented the UFC back in 1988, it did for fight flicks what Streetfighter II did for fighting games. It introduced a host of different fighters each with their own discipline. Jean-Claude Van Damme was the karate guy, you had the little kung fu fella, Bolo Yeung being… […]
God damn! We love Meg Foster. She was in They Live and Best of the Best 2 and has the piercing blue eyes of an ice dragon. She’s also genuinely the loveliest celebrity we have ever met.
Creature (1985) “First you die. . .Then the terror begins” Coming some six years after its obvious inspiration, Alien, you’d expect Creature to have borrowed a few tricks from Ridley Scott’s sci-fi/horror masterpiece but alas Creature’s bad acting, unconvincing sets and piss-poor monster feel more like a Star Trek episode […]
Bobby Rhodes. He plays a pimp in Demons. Gets killed. Plays a fitness instructor in Demons 2. Bobby Rhodes. Because.