CBS LATE MOVIE: Ruckus (1980)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Ruckus was on the CBS Late Movie on January 27, 1984 and January 3 and May 22, 1986. Ruckus arrives at the end of the 1970s, a time when The Dukes of Hazzard and Smokey and the Bandit led a redneck renaissance in pop culture. Kyle Hanson (Dirk Benedict, Body Slam) spent eight months as a […]
CBS LATE MOVIE: Alligator (1980)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Alligator was on the CBS Late Movie on November 18, 1983 and September 14, 1984. There are moments in horror movies when even the most jaded of us can be upset by a visual or an idea. In Alligator, there’s plenty to be disgusted by, but for me, the dead dogs being floated down a sewer […]
How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980)
Set against the backdrop of late-70s economic turbulence, the film follows three lifelong friends in Eugene, Oregon—Jane (Susan Saint James), Elaine (Jane Curtin) and Louise (Jessica Lange)—who are pushed to the absolute financial brink by inflation, messy divorces and collapsing businesses. When ordinary life becomes completely untenable, they hatch an audacious scheme: drill a hole […]
Nightkill (1980)
Directed by television and genre veteran Ted Post (The Baby), this sun-baked Phoenix thriller sits in a fascinating middle ground—too stylish and dark for standard network television, yet abruptly dumped onto NBC as a Movie of the Week before finding a strange second life on home video via notorious British distributors like VIPCO. Far from […]
CULT EPICS 4K UHD, BLU-RAY and DVD RELEASE: Girls (1980)
Three teenage friends — Suzanne (Charlotte Walior), Annie (Zoé Chauveau), and Catherine (Anne Parillaud) — are ready to navigate the emotional turbulence of adolescence, love and self-discovery. This involves spending their nights in discos and cinemas chasing adventure and romance. Soon, they are joined by Suzanne’s younger sister, Betty (Isabelle Mejias), who eagerly imitates their […]
Sybil Danning’s Adventure Video: Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980)
Also known as Dragon and the Cobra — perhaps to cash in on Williamson playing Black Cobra? — this was released as a Sybil Danning’s Adventure Video title, and man, that back title alone makes me lose consciousness. Maybe that’s Sybil using Dim Mak on me. Adolph Caesar — the man whose voice told us “A […]
Sizzlin’ Summer of Subterranean Psychotronica 2026: Scruffy (1980)
Week 6 (July 26 – Aug 1) – Generic Cartoon Tapes “Every day is Saturday Morning at this Jo-Ann Fabric. Every space is liminal in Sylvester’s head (hand-drawn for PS1)” – Scumbalina Man, talk about bleak. Born in an abandoned house alongside her mother, Duchess (June Foray, Rocky the Flying Squirrel), a bright-eyed English Springer Spaniel puppy named […]
USA UP ALL NIGHT: The Children (1980)
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Children was on USA Up All Night on April 12, 1991 and August 22, 1992. The best thing I can say about this movie is that nearly everyone in it is a horrible person. There are cops that don’t do their jobs well, expectant mothers that smoke and other parents that couldn’t care less […]
USA UP ALL NIGHT: Somewhere In Time (1980)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Somewhere In Time was on USA Up All Night on August 12, 1994. Sometimes, a film is rejected by the critics upon arrival, only to be lovingly rescued by audiences over the decades. Somewhere in Time is the gold standard of this cult classic trajectory, a sweeping, unabashedly earnest romantic fantasy that defies the cynicism […]
USA UP ALL NIGHT: Up the Academy (1980)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Up the Academy was on USA Up All Night on February 18 and July 28, 1989; June 27 and July 28, 1990; February 5 and June 25, 1994; February 24, April 10, August 5 and 25, 1995. In 1980, 8-year-old Sam was all in on MAD Magazine—every issue. It’s how I saw so many R-rated […]
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