Pop Culture Phenomenon Films: 80’s

Jack Torrance, ends up taking his family, his wife Wendy, and son, Danny to the Overlook Hotel, which is located in a very remote area in Colorado, where he is about to start his new job, as the hotel’s new caretaker.

However, the place has its secrets, and Jack slowly but but surely unravels, while Danny discovers that he has latent psychic powers, and can see things others can’t.

A big storm, meanwhile is about to arrive. Can Wendy and Danny survive?

While the film, is considered to be a classic horror movie, there is the fact, that the film’s director, was pretty exacting at times. Just ask Shelly Duvall. And also the fact, that Stephen King, really didn’t like the film, and how deviated from the source material.

Unlike Kubrick's previous works, which developed audiences gradually through word-of-mouth, The Shining initially opened on 10 screens in New York City and Los Angeles on the Memorial Day weekend, then was released as a mass-market film nationwide within a month.

The European release of The Shining a few months later was 25 minutes shorter due to Kubrick's removal of most of the scenes taking place outside the environs of the hotel.

The Shining opened on the same weekend as The Empire Strikes Back but was released on 10 screens and grossed $622,337 for the four-day weekend, the third highest-grossing opening weekend from fewer than 50 screens of all time, behind Star Wars and The Rose had a per-screen average gross of $62,234 compared to $50,919 for The Empire Strikes Back from 126 screens.

The U.S. network television premiere of The Shining (on the ABC Friday Night Movie of May 6, 1983 started with a placard saying, "Tonight's Film Deals With the Supernatural, As a Possessed Man Attempts to Destroy His Family."

With the movie's ambiguities, it is not known how Kubrick felt about or if he agreed with this proclamation. The placard also said that the film was edited for television and warned about the content.

There is also, the made for TV miniseries, and the sequel, Doctor Sleep.

After destroying the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance battles the Empire on the ice planet, Hoth. A battle, that they lose.

With the group splitting up, Luke heading to Dagobah to train with Jedi master, Yoda, and Han, Princess Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Chewbacca, to Cloud City, to hide out until things blow over, things have never been more bleaker for our heroes.

Then there is Luke’s confrontation with Darth Vader. The film, featured earlier performances by John Ratzenberger, and Treat Williams, the film was one of the highest grossing film of the year, and critics gave the film, overall great reviews.

Years, later Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, ended up with a special edition, in theatres and on video.

The film is considerably more darker, than Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, and for many the best film in the series, it also marked the first appearances of Lando Calrissian, Yoda, and Boba Fett.

Upon its initial release, The Empire Strikes Back received mixed reviews compared to the positive reception of Star Wars.

The film appeared fourth-most on 24 critics' top ten films of the year lists.

Fan reactions were decidedly mixed, concerned by the change in tone and narrative reveals, particularly Leia's love for Han over Luke and his relationship with Vader.

Some critics believed The Empire Strikes Back was a good film but not as enjoyable as Star Wars.

They believed the tonal shift featuring darker material and more mature story lines detracted from the charm, fun, and comic silliness of the original.

Three space criminals, General Zod, Ursa, and Non, escape from The Phantom Zone, to con conquer Earth, and destroy Superman!

With Lex Luthor, teaming up to take on the Man of Steel. However, Superman longer has his powers. Is Earth doomed? Can Superman save the day?

The film, featured earlier performances by Richard Griffiths, John Ratzenberger, and Shane Rimmer, Richard Donner had completed about half of the film before they replaced him with Richard Lester.

Both Lester and the Salkinds reached out to Donner at the end of filming and offered to give him co-directing credit on part 2; but Donner refused.

That meant that Lester had to go back and reshoot 20% of the movie since industry union rules dictate that a director must have directed 80% of the movie to get his name listed in the credits; which he did wind up doing.

Years later, the Donner Cut would be released on physical media.

The song, “Picking Up the Pieces”. by The Average White Band was used in the film.

The film, was later followed by two sequels. With decreasing results.

The film received positive reviews from film critics who praised the performances from Reeve, Stamp and Hackman, the visual effects, and humor. It grossed $190 million against a production budget of $54 million, a box office success but less than its predecessor.

A sequel, Superman III, was released in June 1983, for which Lester returned as director.

A director's cut of the film, restoring the original vision for the film under Donner's supervision, titled Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, was released on November 28, 2006 in various home media formats.

The film, itself was partially filmed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

With effects work by Colin Chilvers and Robert Harman.

Drowning his sorrows after that botched mission during WWII, the traumatised former fighter pilot with a fear of flying, Ted Striker, still hasn't got over his old flame and flight attendant,

Elaine Dickinson. Determined to win her back, Ted boards a domestic flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, only to come face-to-face with a severe case of in-flight food poisoning that is threatening everyone's lives.

Now, with most of the passengers and the entire cockpit crew down with the food-borne illness, Striker has no other choice but to confront his inner demons and take over the control of the ungovernable aircraft with the help of a gruff air-traffic controller and his former commander.

Can Ted land the plane and save them all?

A comedy classic, critics and audiences laughed their heads off, watching Airplane, and it’s considered to be one of the best comedy films, ever.

Airplane, featured hilarious performances by Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Neilsen, and Leslie Bridges, as well early performances by Jonathan Banks, and Gregory Itzin.

Airplane, itself is a spoof of not just the Airport films, but also the play and film, Zero Hour.

The film, was made for $3.5 million[3]m and landed with $171 million, with music composed by Elmer Bernstein.

In 1957, a young boy named Jason drowns in a lake near Camp Crystal Lake. The next year, two counselors are murdered. In 1980, a descendant of the original owners reopens Camp Crystal Lake with some counselors' help. The counselors gets killed one by one by a mysterious person. Could it be Jason, out for revenge?

Friday the 13th, marked the beginning of a blood, series of horror films, and a successful one too.

Kevin Bacon, made one of his first film appearances and was memorably killed off. Critics, felt that it was needlessly and pointlessly violent.

“Fly Away Tiny Sparrow”, which was performed by Angela Rotella is on the soundtrack, as well as music composed by Henry Manfredini, and was made for $550,000, and garnered $59.8 million.

The film’s make up effects, were provided by effects legend Tom Savini.

In this pseudo audio biography of the Village People, Jack Morell (a thinly disguised caricature of the group's founder, Jacques Morali) is a struggling composer desperate to gain fame with his songs, but all he needs is a group to sing them.

With the help of his roommate Samantha and a lawyer named Ron, Jack forms a group of six "macho men" from his Greenwich Village neighborhood, and the rest of the film details their rise to fame from New York City to a climatic concert in San Francisco.

The film, also featured a earlier performance by former Olympic athlete, Caitlin Jenner.

By the time of the film's release during the summer of 1980, the disco genre had not only peaked in the United States but also was experiencing a backlash there. As a result, the film received scathing reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box office.

At a cost estimated at $20 million, the film was a colossal failure financially, bringing in only a tenth of that in gross revenue, and is considered one of the reasons for the downfall of AFD.

Featuring the music, of The Village People, critics wanted the music to stop.

And it did.

Can't Stop the Music was the first winner of the Worst Picture Golden Raspberry Award, for it was a double feature of this and Xanadu that inspired John J. B. Wilson to start the Razzies.

The film is listed in Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of "The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made".

By the time of the film's release during the summer of 1980, the disco genre had not only peaked in the United States but also was experiencing a backlash there. As a result, the film received scathing reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box office.

At a cost estimated at $20 million, the film was a colossal failure financially, bringing in only a tenth of that in gross revenue.

North Sea Hijack (released as ffolkes outside the UK and as Assault Force on US TV, is a 1980 British adventure film starring Roger Moore, Lea Brodie, James Mason, Anthony Perkins and Michael Parks.

It was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and adapted by Jack Davies from his novel, Esther, Ruth and Jennifer.[

This film was a vehicle for both Moore and Perkins to try to escape typecasting. Previously, Moore had been practically typecast as a womanising, happy-go-lucky playboy in such series as The Saint, The Persuaders! and as James Bond.

In contrast to those parts, he portrays a bearded, eccentric, arrogant, cat-loving chauvinist with master strategist skills who does needlepoint.

Also known as Ffolkes, for critics it’s still a flop. “A skunk by any other name would smell as bad.” The film, featured a earlier performance by Michael Parks.

Moore would continue to play James Bond, until his last film, as Bond “A View to a Kill”.

Critics, wanted this licence to be revoked. Audiences agreeddd.

Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel selected the film as one of their "dogs of the year" in a 1980 episode of Sneak Previews.

The film hold a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes based on six reviews. Quentin Tarantino called the film Roger Moore's best.

It garnered $2,993,772 in theatres, and was released by Universal Pictures. But not on Peacock.

A pair of grizzled frontiersmen fight Indians, guzzle liquor and steal squaws in their search for a legendary valley 'so full of beaver that they jump right into your traps' in this fanciful adventure.

The film, featured earlier performances by Stephen Macht, Victoria Racimo, Seymour Cassel, John Glover, David Ackroyd, Tim Haldeman, and William Lucking, and was written by Fraser Clarke Heston, the son of Charelton Heston.

Both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film negative reviews, selecting the film as one of their "dogs of the year" in a 1980 episode of Sneak Previews.

Siskel added "Heston has simply failed to grow up, this is a 1950s movie in its look, its comedy and in its racist attitude towards Indians. It portrays them in some battle scenes as shuffling freaks in redface."[5] In his annual publication, Leonard Maltin rated the film BOMB and described it as "crude, bloody and tiresome good-guys-vs-Indians western.”

The film was shot in Wyoming at Bridger-Teton National Forest, Grand Teton National Park, Shoshone National Forest and Yellowstone National Park.

It was also a box office dud, having grossed $6 million.

When Time Ran Out... is a 1980 American disaster film directed by James Goldstone and starring Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset and William Holden.

The supporting cast features James Franciscus, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Burgess Meredith, Valentina Cortese, Veronica Hamel, Pat Morita, Edward Albert and Barbara Carrera.

Produced by Irwin Allen, When Time Ran Out...'s screenplay by Carl Foreman and Stirling Silliphant is marginally based on the 1969 novel The Day the World Ended by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts detailing the factual 1902 volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée on Martinique, which killed 30,000 people in five minutes by pyroclastic flow.

It marked the second and final time Newman and Holden appeared in a film together following the box office triumph of The Towering Inferno six years earlier, as well as reuniting Borgnine and Buttons from The Poseidon Adventure. When Time Ran Out..., however, was a commercial flop and Allen's last theatrical release and is often regarded as the final 1970s era disaster film.

The film was critically panned, and it was a commercial disappointment. Paul Zastupnevich's work on the film was recognized by a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Tourists are surprised by a volcanic eruption in a lonesome hotel in the Caribic.

The hotel owner ignores all warnings and advises his guests to wait for a rescue team. Only a small group follows expert Hank to reach higher regions. They start an adventurous journey across the island.

Made for $20 million, time ran out for the film, at $3.8 million.

Slow-moving and dark, this Klute clone stars Talia Shire as Emily Hollander, a retiring, painfully introverted woman with a stutter who advertises her insecurity. She is attacked one day and her anguish recorded on tape by her assailant.

It soon becomes apparent that her wacko lesbian neighbor Andrea is in love with her but too demented to express herself openly. She hired the assailant, though exactly why is not clear.

Detective Bob Luffrono is called in to watch over Emily and perhaps corner her attacker. The relationship between Emily and the detective starts to slowly heat up, but meanwhile, there is Andrea with her telescope, spying on Emily and definitely up to no good.

Released in theaters roughly one month before Cruising, another film that was protested by gay rights activists for portrayals some deemed homophobic and hateful stereotypes.

Windows is a 1980 American thriller film directed by Gordon Willis and starring Talia Shire, Joseph Cortese and Elizabeth Ashley.

It was the only film directed by Willis, who is better known as a cinematographer for such films as The Godfather series and several films by Woody Allen.

Critics, gave the film negative reviews and was a box office flop in theatres.

A deeply disturbed photographer and Vietnam veteran, named Kirk Smith, terrorizes Los Angeles by going around strangling lingerie-clad young women in their homes while taunting Lindsay Gale, a young psychologist, by calling her on a radio call-in show to describe his sexual hang-ups and misogynistic ways,

while a local police detective, Lt. McCable, is always two steps behind in trying to catch the psycho.

The film, featured earlier performances by Ben Frank, James Westmoreland, Pamela Jean Bryant, and Don Lake.

Don't Answer the Phone! is a 1980 American psychological horror film co-written and directed by Robert Hammer.

While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic.

Vincent Canby in The New York Times felt the film was "a nasty, dimly executed exploitation movie about a psychopathic fellow who roams around Los Angeles strangling women with stockings and then mutilating their bodies. The performances are terrible, as are the writing and the direction…"

Paul Taylor in Time Out magazine called it "a routinely mindless sickie".

Leonard Maltin, gave the film a BOMB rating, stating that it was another psychopathic Vietnam veteran killer film, warning readers to not watch the film.

While Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, signal the final of being of the most disgusting films they have ever seen, declaring it to be a Women in Peril Film.

The film, garnered $2 million dollars.

The winter weather isn't the only thing that's frightful about this unconventional holiday offering about a toy maker whose obsession with Christmas spirals dangerously out of control.

After enduring a traumatic childhood in which he learned there was no such thing as Santa Claus, Harry Stadling takes it upon himself to judge the "naughty" and the "nice." But instead of spreading cheer, he opts for fear.

The film, featured earlier performances by Jeffrey DeMunnm Patrica Richardson, Ellen McElduff, Philip Casnoff, Robert Lesser, Stephen Mendillo, Bill Raymond, and Brandon Maggart.

Interesting fact, Maggart is also the father of alternative rock, Fiona Apple.

it has gained a cult following, including praise and repeated viewings by director John Waters.

While not prosecuted for obscenity, Christmas Evil was seized and confiscated in the United Kingdom under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959, during the video nasty panic.

Christmas Evil, made for $85.000.

Ho Ho! Merry evil Christmas!

A Sho in the Kalahari desert encounters technology for the first time--in the shape of a Coke bottle.

He takes it back to his people, and they use it for many tasks. The people start to fight over it, so he decides to return it to the God--where he thinks it came from.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to a clumsy biologist, a schoolteacher assigned to a small village, and a despotic revolutionary.

The Gods Must Be Crazy was initially released in South Africa on 10 September 1980 by Ster-Kinekor Pictures.[2]Within its first four days of its release, the film broke box office records in every city in South Africa.

It became the highest-grossing film of 1982 in Japan, where it was released under the title Bushman.

Executive producer Boet Troskie sold the distribution rights to the film to 45 countries.

From there, it became one of the most highest grossing foreign films, during its release.

The Gods Must Be Crazy, was followed by a sequel and several unrelated films.

Within its first four years of release, The Gods Must Be Crazy had grossed $90 million worldwide.

As of 2014, the film has grossed R 1.8 billion (approx. $200 million) worldwide, including over $60 million in the United States.

Hardly Working is a 1980 American comedy film directed by, co-written by and starring Jerry Lewis and Susan Oliver, filmed in 1979, released in Europe in 1980 and then in the United States on April 3, 1981 through 20th Century Fox.

This film marks the final theatrical release for Oliver, as the rest of her career only featured on several television movies and series, before her death in 1990.

In Jerry Lewis's first film in a decade, he plays Bo Hooper, an unemployed circus clown who can't seem to hold down a job. The film opens with a brief montage of clips from past Lewis movies.

He then moves into a succession of jobs that he gets himself fired from including a gas station attendant and a mailman.

All with disastrous results.

The movie received negative reviews; Roger Ebert gave it zero stars and called it "one of the worst movies ever to achieve commercial release in this country [...] no wonder it was on the shelf for two years before it saw the light of day."

Both Ebert and Gene Siskel included the film in their list of the worst movies of 1981, referring to it as “one of worst, most incompetent, most chaotically constructed comedies I’ve ever seen”, agreeing that the only reason it wasn't the very worst film of the year (Siskel gave that nod to Billy Wilder's flop final film Buddy Buddy and Ebert singled out Heaven's Gate) was because those other films were more ambitious and therefore more brutal failures than a film as amateurish and poorly made as Hardly Working was.

In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin gave it two stars out of four with this comment: "Not a very good movie; the opening montage [...] is much funnier than anything that follows."

It hardly worked $8 million dollars. It was was released by 20th Century Fox, which is owned by Disney, but not on Disney+.

“Who is the mousiest of mouses?”

Kagemusha (影武者, Shadow Warrior) is a 1980 epic jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa.

It is set in the Sengoku period of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class criminal who is taught to impersonate the dying daimyō Takeda Shingen to dissuade opposing lords from attacking the newly vulnerable clan.

Kagemusha is the Japanese term for a political decoy, literally meaning "shadow warrior". The film ends with the climactic 1575 Battle of Nagashino.

When a powerful warlord in medieval Japan dies, a poor thief recruited to impersonate him finds difficulty living up to his role and clashes with the spirit of the warlord during turbulent times in the kingdom.

The film, featured earlier performances by Kaori Momoi, Daisuke Ryu, and Tatsuya Nakadai, and is considered to be one of Akira Kurosawa’s best films, if not of the most definitive samurai films, ever.

Made for ¥2.3 billion, or ($11 million) or $7.5 million or $6 million, the film garnered $33 million, roughly.

Carny is a 1980 American drama film about a waitress who joins a traveling carnival.

It stars Gary Busey, Jodie Foster, and Robbie Robertson. It also includes an early role for Fred Ward.

The film, featured a earlier performance by Craig Wasson, who plays Patch, worked summer jobs in the traveling carny circuit when he was fourteen and fifteen, respectively.

Besides providing inspiration for this film, Robertson's experiences working in the carny circuit as a teenager also inspired the song "Life is a Carnival" by The Band.

This movie was ''ostensibly'' the ''first adult'' film role of actress Jodie Foster according to a review first published in show-business trade-paper 'Variety' on 31st December 1979.

It was also, the debut theatrical feature film as an actor for Canadian musician Robbie Robertson who played Patch.

The film, wax made for 6 million, and garnered $1,817,720.

La Cage aux Folles II is a 1980 French comedy film and the sequel to 1978's La Cage aux Folles.

It is directed by Édouard Molinaro and stars Michel Serrault as Albin (stage name ZaZa), the female impersonator star of a gay night-club revue, and Ugo Tognazzi as Renato, his partner of over 20 years

Nightclub owner Renato and his transvestite companion/lover Albin becoming involved with the local cops and foreign spies when Albin unwittingly gets his hands on a roll of stolen microfilm.

The gay couple then hide out in Renato's native Italy, but find little peace there with their frequent bickering among themselves.

The film, garnered decent reviews, and made $7 million, and was later followed by a a sequel.

This film adapts the final book of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy where the Hobbits, Frodo and Samwise, struggle through the barren land of Mordor to destroy the Ruling Ring in Mount Doom.

At the same time, Gandalf and the others wage a desperate battle against the forces of Sauron at Minas Tirith, but Sauron seems to have the upper hand while the source of his power, the Ring, slowly threatens to corrupt its bearers.

The Return of the King (also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits) is a 1980 animated musical fantasy television film created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft.

It is an adaptation of part of J. R. R. Tolkien 1955 high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. It takes its name from The Return of the King, the third and final volume of the novel, and is a sequel to the 1977 film The Hobbit.

The special aired on ABC on Sunday, May 11, 1980 after a legal challenge filed by the Tolkien Estate and Fantasy Films was settled.

Critical and fan reaction to The Return of the King was lukewarm

Years later, a live action movie about The Return of the King, would be directed by Peter Jackson.

Many Tolkien fans were disappointed when Ralph Bakshi's 1978 adaptation of "Lord of the Rings" covered only the first two books of Tolkien's trilogy.

When it became clear that Bakshi would not produce a sequel, Rankin and Bass finished the story for him with this TV movie.

Many Tolkien fans agree that Bakshi's film was a more mature and detailed adaptation of Tolkien's stories.

Breaking Glass is a 1980 British film starring Hazel O'Connor, Phil Daniels and Jonathan Pryce.

It was co-produced by Dodi Fayed and written and directed by Brian Gibson, his feature film debut.

The film was screened out of competition at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival.

The soundtrack album, featuring songs performed by O'Connor, reached number 5 in the UK and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry.[5] Two singles, "Eighth Day" and "Will You", both reached the UK Top 10.

This British rock musical tells a tale older than dirt -- the saga of the rise to fame of an eager young star, only to discover that fame is not all that it is cracked up to be.

Hazel O'Connor is a young punk-rocker, singing her angry diatribes on the splintered stages on third-rate London venues. Soon enough, she meets up with a young, aspiring manager Phil Daniels, and she rises to the top.

But success puts a damper on a burgeoning love relationship, and when Jon Finch arrives, playing a sleek and smooth record promoter, the duo's artistic independence is also compromised.

Featuring cameos by Jim Broadbent, Paul MacCartney, Marilyn, and Boy George, featuring Richard Griffiths in a earlier performance.

Released, by Paramount Pictures, but not on Paramount+.

Breaking Glass, was made for $3 million rock bucks.

Sadly, Brian Gibson, and Dodi Fayed, died years later.

Brubaker is a 1980 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It stars Robert Redford as a newly arrived prison warden, Henry Brubaker, who attempts to clean up a corrupt and violent penal system.

The screenplay by W. D. Richter is a fictionalized version of the 1969 book, Accomplices to the Crime: The Arkansas Prison Scandal by Tom Murton and Joe Hyams, detailing Murton's uncovering of the 1967 prison scandal.

The film, featured earlier performances by M. Emmett Walsh, Morgan Frreman, Matt Clark, Everett McGill, Harry Groener, and J.C. Quinn,

Made for $9 million, the prison break ended witn up$37,121,708, and positive sentence from critics.

Released, by 20th Century Fox, and is available from the Mouse, on Disney+.

Marcello Mastroianni is lothario Snaporaz. After unsuccessfully seducing a woman on a train, he follows her to a hotel in the middle of a forest where a feminist convention is taking place.

From that point on, Snaporaz finds himself in one compromising adventure after another.

He is tormented by women on roller skates, accosted by a nymphomaniac, and chased by drugged up teenagers.

He eventually seeks refuge in the castle-like fortress of Dr. Uberkock, who is having a party in celebration of his 10,000th sexual conquest.

The film, garnered decent reviews, and garnered $6.2K in theatres.

The Formula is a 1980 mystery film directed by John G. Avildsen. It was produced and written by Steve Shagan, who adapted his own 1979 novel The Formula. It stars Marlon Brando, George C. Scott, Marthe Keller, John Gielgud, G. D. Spradlin, and Beatrice Straight.

The film follows the attempts by different groups who wish to either secure or destroy a synthetic fuel formula invented by the Nazis at the end of World War II which would end reliance on the supply of oil.

A detective uncovers a formula that was devised by the Nazis in World War II to make fuel from synthetic products, thereby eliminating the necessity for oil, and oil companies.

A major oil company finds out about it and tries to destroy the formula, and anyone who knows about it.

The film, featured a earlier performance by Craig T. Nelson, with Nelson, later co starring with Beatrice Straight, a few years later in the movie, Poltergeist.

Made for $13.2 million, the film garnered $8.9 million.

Bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson is receiving death threats from a criminal he helped put away.

This while his girlfriend is about to give birth, an event he isn't looking forward to.

The Hunter is a 1980 American biographical action thriller film[2] directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Steve McQueen.

The film was McQueen's final role before his death in November of that year at age 50.

The cast also features Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson, and Richard Venture. This was the last theatrical film made by director Buzz Kulik.

The film, featured earlier performances by Tony Burton, Taurean Blacque, Thomas Rosales Jr., Levar Burton, and Tracey Walter,

Steve McQueen was diagnosed with cancer the month after filming had ended. He first began to suspect his condition in the autumn of 1979, while he was shooting scenes for this film on location in Chicago.

The real Ralph Thorson, portrayed by Steve McQueen in this movie, was killed by a car bomb in 1991.

The film received poor reviews, with several critics suggesting it felt like it was made for television.

In Leonard Maltin's publication TV movies, the film is given a BOMB rating and the entry states: "McQueen's last picture and probably his worst."

Dominick DiNapoli has always been a big kid who loved eating. It was his favorite thing. Then his cousin dies from health complications due to a lack of exercise and improper diet.

Antoinette, Dominick's sister, makes him promise to see a diet doctor and lose some weight.

This is very hard for Dominick, but he tries. He also finds motivation when he meets Lydia, and he discovers a love that is more intense than his love of food.

This film was also reviewed in the psychiatric monograph The Eating Disorders, which concluded that the film "... veers between comedy and pathos as a man discovers ... fat is the ... only sin in America." They approvingly note that, "The motivation for overeating and binge dieting are lampooned ... [and] medical consequences ... are elaborated in ... comedic fashion.”

The film marked a turning point in the lives of actors Richard Karon and Paul Zegler who played DeLuise's obese "Chubby Checker" support group members. Both actors lost large amounts of weight in the years,
subsequent to the making of the film.

For critics, it was decent enough, but not substantial enough for a film, while Fatso garnered adequate interest from audiences.

The film, earned $7,653,061 in theatres. Released by 20th Century Fox, on Disney+ not on your life.

A South American quasi-revolutionary/guerilla/terrorist and a misled, admiring girl compatriot manage to kidnap the U.S. President during a diplomatic visit to Toronto.

With a nondescript armored truck, crudely yet somehow elaborately rigged with high explosives (and the President trapped inside), the two terrorists keep the Secret Service at bay until in the end, Assanti is killed and Shatner has to find a way into the truck anyway.

Based on the novel by Charles Templeton, a secret service chief leads a game of cat and mouse when a gang of third-world terrorists kidnap the President.

The film, featured a earlier performance by Jackie Burroughs, this film was first released in the U.S. and Canada around August-September 1980, which was about just six months before the assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. on the American President Ronald Reagan on Monday, March 30, 1981.

The film received lukewarm ratings overall. It received a lot of talk from the New York Post and the Newark Star Ledger as well as outstanding reviews from Bergen Records and other newspaper organizations.

Unlike Bergen Records and other newspapers, Janet Maslin, from The New York Times, disagreed with the reviews because she thought the plot was not fresh enough to be frightening and the characters were not brave enough to do anything new.

Midnight Madness is a 1980 American comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and starring David Naughton, Stephen Furst, Eddie Deezen, and Maggie Roswell.

The city of Los Angeles is the game board as five teams of college students attempt to win "The Great All-Nighter", a dusk-to-dawn competition dreamed up by an eccentric graduate student.

David Naughton and Stephen Furst are paired with a grab-bag group of fellow students including Michael J. Fox in his first film appearance.

The film was directed and written by Michael Nankin and David Wechter.

The film, featured earlier performances by Michael J. Fox, Paul Reubens, Stephen Furst, Sal Lopez, Dirk Blocker, Maggie Roswell, and Andy Tennsnt, who would later become a director, the film also featured a cameo by former Disney president, and film producer Ron Mlller.

The movie, also featured songs by Donna Fein, the movie inspired Joe Belfiore, a high school junior in Clearwater, Florida, to create a similar game.

He took the game with him to Stanford University, then ultimately to Microsoft. The Game, as it came to be called, in turn, inspired the movie The Game.

Disney released this movie, its second to be rated "PG" by the MPAA (the first being The Black Hole, without any mention of its involvement, in hopes that teenage audiences might be more likely to see it if they didn't know that it was a Disney picture.

However, the cover art of the 2004 DVD release of the movie credits the movie to Walt Disney Pictures.

Will it ever be released on Disney+? Not likely.

Midnight Madness has inspired many spin-offs and other Alternate Reality Games (ARG). Live recreations include these:

The Game is a non-stop 24 to 48-hour puzzle solving race in the San Francisco Bay area and the Seattle area.

Minnie's Moonlit Madness (Anaheim, California).Each year hundreds of Disney cast members raise money for charity by participating in a trivia Q&A and scavenger hunt in Disneyland or Disney's California Adventure after park operating hours.

Midnight Madness Events (New Jersey) runs Midnight Madness events in the New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut area for towns, private paries, and fundraisers. Interactive game in cars with teams of 4 to 6 players on a 15 clue route.

The film, featured earlier performances by Saul Rubinek, and Kate Lynch, with the film being made in around Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Several Canadians appeared in the movie. These included cast members Donald Sutherland, Saul Rubinek, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Flaherty and Tony Rosato.

It Was also, the first starring role in a North American theatrical feature film of actress Suzanne Somers.

The place where the seals lived and were endangered was ''Dawson Bay'' in Alaska, USA. In real life, there is no Dawson Bay located in Alaska, USA so the place is fictional.

There is however a Dawson Bay in Manitoba in Canada.

The picture sat in limbo and stagnated in development hell for about six and a half years between its inception in early 1972 until about mid 1978.

Nothing Personal is a 1980 Canadian-American romantic comedy film starring Suzanne Somers and Donald Sutherland. Sutherland plays a professor who objects to the killing of baby seals. Somers, a Harvard-educated attorney, tries to aid him.

The film has been extremely poorly reviewed. Cinema Canada criticized the film's "coarse, obvious humour", "unfunny and unexciting" car chases, and claimed that the film's principal concern was "speed, not coherence".

Leonard Maltin described Nothing Personal as an "inane romantic comedy", while TV Guide described the film as "tedious, witless, and implausible, with nonexistent direction and scythe-wielded editing.

Gilda Radner, Bob Newhart, and Madeline Kahn star in this comedy. The farce sends up an idiotic First Family in the persona of a bumbling president, his semi-alcoholic wife, and his oversexed daughter.

Satirizing the artificial, formal speech of real-life First Families in television interviews, director Buck Henry carries this mode of speech into their private lives as well.

The trio travel to an African country where the First Daughter is kidnapped and white Americans are traded as slaves in exchange for some special animal dung that is able to accelerate plant growth.

First Family is a 1980 American comedy film written and directed by comedian and actor Buck Henry, and starring Bob Newhart, Madeline Kahn, Gilda Radner, Harvey Korman, Rip Torn, Austin Pendleton, Fred Willard and Richard Benjamin.

It received negative reviews.

The film, featured a earlier performance by Tony Plana, Miriam Flynn, and a cameo by Philip Roth, witn First Family only garning $15.2 million in theatres, few voted for this film.

Critics, also didn’t vote for it either. It was also, the second and last film, directed by Buck Henry.

A ship pulls into New York Harbor with no one on board. The police find a cargo full of green pulsating eggs. Upon contact, the eggs explode spreading a green acid like substance that seeps into the skin and explodes.

It is later discovered that the eggs are being manufactured in South America by a one-eyed Martian that grew from a tiny seed a former astronaut brought back from a expedition to Mars.

The BBFC classified the uncut version with a 15 certificate. It was released on home video in the United States under the titles Alien Contamination and Toxic Spawn, which are both heavily edited.

Cozzi later revealed that Cannon Films, the film's North American distributor, had changed the name to Alien Contamination in order to capitalize on the popularity of Ridley Scott's Alien.

It is now available in the US in an unedited version which has been released on DVD.

Some critics, felt while the film has a interesting idea, but it’s a very routine horror film, with routine gore and violence.

In a contemporary review, Variety referred to the film as a "routine tale" that was a poorly written horror film that did not hide its Italian origins with "silly English dialog" and "poor dubbing" being its giveaways.

How to Beat the High Cost of Living is a 1980 American comedy heist film starring Susan Saint James, Jane Curtin, and Jessica Lange.

Set in the aftermath of the economic recession of the 1970s, the film follows three women in suburban Oregon who, each facing personal and financial crises and desperate for money, devise a plan to steal a large amount of cash from a giveaway event in the local shopping mall.

The film features supporting performances by Dabney Coleman, Fred Willard, Richard Benjamin, Eddie Albert, Scott Elliott, Cathryn Damon, Sybil Danning, and a cameo by Curtin's fellow Saturday Night Live co-star Garrett Morris.

The film was produced by American International Pictures (AIP) but released under Filmways in the summer of 1980, as AIP had merged with the latter following the film's completion. It is considered the final AIP production, before its revival by MGM in 2020.

Later on, Jane Curtain and Susan Saint James, would star in the TV series, Kate & Allie, the picture had two working titles: Moneyball and The Spirit of '80.

About just over thirty years later, Hollywood actually made a movie called Moneyball.

Made for $4.8 million, the film cashed out with $7.5 million[2] or $2.4 million.

Alex, a psychopathic mechanic, rapes a woman in the park. Later, a debauched couple pull into his shop needing car repair.

They invite Alex and his mentally challenged buddy to join them at a decadent suburban party. Once there, Alex amuses himself by raping the guests and tormenting them in various ways.

The entire film was shot on a low budget, in only three weeks in September 1979, after Deodato had finished production on Cannibal Holocaust.

Exteriors were done on location in New York City, while Interiors were completed at Incir De Paolis Studios in Rome, Italy.

The film, was also one of the Video Nasties, films deemed to be unacceptable by UK censors.

At camp for the summer, two teenage girls from very different backgrounds face off in an unexpected contest. Streetwise Angel comes from a poor neighborhood, while naïve Ferris has never wanted for anything.

Both girls are on the brink of womanhood and, due to some intense peer pressure, they agree to compete to see who can lose her virginity first. But their impressions of sex and love are challenged as they race toward adulthood.

The film, featured earlier performances by Matt Dillon, and Cynthia Nixon, with the film’s director, Robert F. Maxwell, would later direct Gettysburg and it’s sequel, Gods and Generals.

The film made $19.4 million domestically against a budget of $5.3 million.

NBC later acquired broadcasting rights for $2.7 million and the network first aired the film on May 9, 1983.

The film also made $1.2 million in the ancillary markets.

Critics felt that the performances of Tatum O’Neal and Kristy McNichol, were some of the best performances, ever done by teen actress, and the even handed ness and matter of fact ness, towards what could have easily been a explicit teen sex film.

Sadly, because of music issue rights, the film may never be released on DVD, for now.

The film was notable for having a contemporary pop soundtrack, with music by artists like Blondie, Rickie Lee Jones, Supertramp, The Cars, and Iain Matthews.

Hero at Large is a 1980 American superhero comedy film starring John Ritter and Anne Archer.

The film was written by AJ Carothers and directed by Martin Davidson. The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams.

An idealistic but struggling actor finds his life unexpectedly complicated when he stops a robbery while wearing the costume of Captain Avenger, a superhero character of a film he is hired to to promote.

He decides to dabble at being a superhero only to find that it is more difficult and dangerous than he ever imagined.

The film, featured earlier performances by Anne Archer and Kevin Bacon, critics felt that the film was a flying turkey.

The late film critic Roger Ebert in a review called the movie "a big, dumb, silly, good-hearted albatross of a comedy".

The film, grossed a unheroic $15.9 million in theatres.

You could argue that Kick Ass and Super, are both darker versions of Hero at Large.

Blood Beach is a 1981 American horror film written and directed by Jeffrey Bloom and starring David Huffman, John Saxon, and Burt Young.

The he premise, conceived by Steven Nalevansky, involves a creature lurking beneath the sand of Santa Monica Beach that attacks locals and vacationers.

The film's tagline is: "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, you can't get to it.”

The film, featured earlier performances by Julie Dolan, Laura Burkett, Marcus Chong, and Stefan Gierasch, the film also a earlier film written and directed by Jeffrey Bloom.

The setting was the Santa Monica (CA) State Beach, where the film was shot, but the habitat of the monster in the film also extends to sand at Venice Beach.

With effects work, by Bill Balles, Dan Cangemi, Dellwyn Rheume, and Bill Stoker, the film was produced by Sidney Beckerman and Neil Canton.

The film, made only $2 million in beach cash.

Goofy, silly, and remarkably unbloody (to a certain point), and also a pre underground Tremors monster film!

The Mirror Crack'd is a 1980 British mystery film directed by Guy Hamilton from a screenplay by Jonathan Hales and Barry Sandler, based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side.

It stars Angela Lansbury, Geraldine Chaplin, Tony Curtis, Edward Fox, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, and Elizabeth Taylor.

Scenes were filmed at Twickenham Film Studios, Twickenham, London and on location in Kent.

The film, featured a earlier performance by Pierce Brosnsn in addition, Anthony Steel, Dinah Sheridan, Nigel Stock, Hildegard Neil, John Bennett and Allan Cuthbertson are among the actors who appear in Murder at Midnight, a black and white 'teaser' movie shown at the beginning of the film.

Natalie Wood was originally chosen to play the role eventually played by Elizabeth Taylor.

Margaret Courtenay later appeared in the BBC TV adaptation The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side starring Joan Hickson as Miss Marple.

The film was made for $5.5 million, and earned $5.5 million.

The film was considered a box office disappointment in the United States.

Lansbury never reprised her performance as Miss Marple.

New Year's Evil is a 1980 American slasher film written and directed by Emmett Alston, co-written by Leonard Neubauer, and starring Kip Niven, Roz Kelly, and Chris Wallace.

The plot follows a Los Angeles punk rock and new wave show host who receives a series of phone calls during a televised New Year's Eve bash from a killer warning of impending murders that he plans to exact as the New Year dawns on each time zone.

The film, featured a earlier performance by Teri Copley, New Year's Evil was theatrically released in the United States on December 19, 1980, by Cannon Film Distributors.

It rarely screened theatrically again until the latter half of the 2000s, most prominently at Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, California, most recently on December 29, 2018.

W. Michael Lewis and Laurin Rinder composed the film soundtrack and produced the title track's recording, "New Year's Evil", and featured music by Shadows and Made in Japan.

New Year’s Evil, was made for $500,000, and has become a cult film, years later.

Tourists take a boat to a remote island, where they find that most of the people have disappeared, and something is stalking them.

They find a hidden room in the big mansion on a hill, and an ancient diary, which gives them clues to the source of the terror.

The film, featured earlier performances by Tisa Farrow, Mark Bodin, and Bob Larson, it was the very first movie reviewed by Joe Bob Briggs for the Dallas Times-Herald.

When submitted for re-classification in the UK (after being banned for 18 years), the uncut version of this film was never brought before the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification).

Rather, the heavily cut, R-rated version was submitted, possibly by mistake.

The title "Anthropophagus" seems to be a reference to anthropophagy, which is cannibalism.

Anthropophagus, was later followed by two sequels.

Antropophagus was released in Italy on 9 August 1980.

It was released in the United States on 9 October 1981, under the title "The Savage Island".

Don't Go in the House[i] is a 1980 American horror film written and directed by Joseph Ellison, written by Ellen Hammill and Joe Masefield, and starring Dan Grimaldi.

Its plot follows a disturbed man who, after suffering an abusive childhood in which his mother punished him with burning, becomes a pyromaniac and serial killer who kidnaps and burns alive any women who resemble her.

Filmed in the historic Strauss Mansion in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey from February-March 1979,

Don't Go in the House was released one year later in the spring of 1980, and was met with sharp criticism from film critics due to its graphic depictions of violence, particularly a sequence in which the protagonist burns a nude woman alive with a flamethrower.

The film, also featured earlier performances by Dan Grimaldi, and Darcy Shean.

The last proto-slasher film to be released before Friday the 13th, which changed the industry forever.

The first video release in the UK was uncut. A following cut version was later unofficially approved by the BBFC. The film was not prosecuted as a 'video nasty' as the distributor assured the BBFC that this cut version would replace the uncut version.

I.E., this movie deviates a lot from the slasher norms Friday the 13th will establish, such as having a low body count and no clear-cut final girl.

The soundtrack, featured songs by The Daryll/Barber Ban, Jerre Palmer, and L'Ectrique.

The film, was made for $250,000, and earned $2.95 million.

Sandy and Greg are two teenage kids going camping with their friends in California.

Their plan is to go to the lake in town, and despite warnings from the creepy town gas station owner, Joe Taylor, the kids go camping there and end up separated from each other.

Greg and Sandy team up with Taylor to save the town, but unfortunately for them, Taylor is rather eccentric and fixated on hunting down the hostile alien threatening them, and a former Vietnam war veteran, Fred Dobbs, is convinced that Sandy and Greg are the aliens.

The film, featured earlier performances by David Caruso, and Kevin Peter Hall, who later played The Predator in Predator and Predator 2, and Harry in Harry and the Henderson, as the alien.

Sadly, Kevin Peter Hall, passed away years later.

The film’s writer, Bennet Tramer would later go on to write episodes for the show, Saved By the Bell.

With cinematography by Dean Cundley, and effects work by Rick Baker, and the film later going on to be repurposed kind of sort, for the movie Predator.

The studio company that owned the rights to the movie, Filmway Pictures, later sold it to the now bankrupt Orion Pictures. Long unavailable in America on VHS, Laserdisk, DVD, or Blu-Ray,

this film was finally given an official Region 1 release in both the DVD and Blu-ray formats by Shout! Factory in August, 2014.

It was also made for 150,000, half of it going to get Jack Palance for the film.

Roadie is a showbiz saga about the working slobs who make live pop-music performances happen.

Texas good ol' boy Travis W. Redfish (pop singer Meat Loaf) drives a Shiner beer truck on his appointed rounds, but he becomes smitten with rock groupie Lola Bouillabase (Kaki Hunter), a "roadie" whose sole ambition in life is to bed her idol, Alice Cooper (playing himself).

Travis' grizzled pappy, Corpus C. Redfis, feels disgusted by his son's lifestyle. After hearing that Cooper and his band are on tour, Lola sets out to catch up to them and offer her services, with Travis in pursuit.

Along the way, they meet a number of pop-music stars -- Blondie, Asleep at the Wheel, Hank Williams Jr., Roy Orbison, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott -- who are all working on their own tours.

Travis signs on, himself, as a groupie for a rock band, and is quickly dubbed "greatest roadie of all time," but he soon realizes that he must return to Texas for the wedding of his sister and his best friend.

Can their love, survive rock ‘n roll?

You may not have heard if the film, but the songs by Eddie Rabbit, Stephen Bishop and Yvonne Elliman, Roy Orbison and Emmylou Harris, and Pat Benatar?

That being, “Your Precious Love, “Driving My Life Away”, “That Lovin' You Feelin' Again“ and “You Better Run”? You may have heard of those songs. These and many more, were in the film.

With cameos by Debbie Harry, Roy Orbison, Hank Williams, Jr, Alice Cooper, with Meat Loaf and Alice Cooper, making worthy cameos in the film Wayne’s World.

Critics, booed the film, and it bombed with the movie having been made for $4.7 million, grossing only $4,226,370.

Harvey and Zoey, two tourists travelling through Israel, discover an ancient scroll describing the life of Herschel,

the man who was almost Moses. Herschel receives the command from God to free his people from Egyptian slavery, but Moses keeps blundering by and taking all the credit.

Several other biblical stories, such as Lot and his wife, David and Goliath, and the miracles of Jesus, are also parodied in this story of the life of a man trying to follow the path to God, but somehow always seeming to lose his way.

The film, featured a performance by Sam Weisman, who would later go to direct George of the Jungle, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, D2: The Mighty Ducks, and other films, as well as TV episodes.

Critics, felt it was a very unfunny film, with Life of Brian, being the better film of the two.

Made for $12 million, it earned roughly $14,155,617 in theatres.

Against the backdrop of spine-chilling stories of drowned mariners and a 100-year-old shipwreck lying on the bottom of the sea, the peaceful coastal town of Antonio Bay, California is making preparations to celebrate its centennial.

However, as strange supernatural occurrences blemish the festivities, a dense fog starts to shroud the seaside town, leading to unaccountable disappearances. A century ago, a hideous crime was committed by the town's elders.

Now, the restless dead have returned for revenge. Is there something evil lurking in the fog?

Filmed in the spring of 1979, The Fog was scheduled to be released at Christmas that year by AVCO Embassy Pictures, but its release date was delayed to February 1, 1980.

The film divided critics upon release, receiving praise for its visuals and acting, and criticism for its structure and screenplay. Despite mixed reviews, the film grossed $21.3 million domestically.

The Fog contains themes of revenge and repressed corrupt historical events resurfacing in contemporary small-town America. In the years since its original release, it has been noted for establishing a cult following. A remake was released in 2005.

There, is also the effects works by maestro of scares, Rob Bottin

Beware, The Fog.

Julian makes a lucrative living as an escort to older women in the Los Angeles area. He begins a relationship with Michelle, a local politician's wife, without expecting any pay.

One of his clients is murdered and Detective Sunday begins pumping him for details on his different clients, something he is reluctant to do considering the nature of his work. Julian begins to suspect he's being framed. Meanwhile Michelle begins to fall in love with him.

The film, was later made into a one season TV series, and was a moderate critical success.

The film's musical score was composed by Giorgio Moroder, who was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.

The main theme song of the film is "Call Me" performed by Blondie. The song was written by Moroder and Blondie vocalist Debbie Harry, and became a huge worldwide success in 1980.

It peaked at number one in several countries including the US and the UK, and became the highest-selling single of 1980 in the United States.

In 1981, the song was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Moroder and Harry further shared a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

The film, was made for $5 million, and earned $52.7 million.

A baby alligator is flushed down a Chicago toilet and survives by eating discarded laboratory rats injected with growth hormones.

The small reptile grows gigantic, escapes the city sewers, and goes on a rampage.A herpetologist helps a detective track her flushed-away pet, now a king-size mutant called Ramone.

The film, marked a film debut of sorts for Bryan Cranston, who worked on the film as a production assistant for the Special Effects department.

The film received praise from critics for its intentional satirizing of genre clichés. A direct-to-video sequel was released in 1991, entitled Alligator II: The Mutation.

Despite the title, Alligator II shared no characters or actors with the original. A tabletop game based on Alligator was distributed by the Ideal Toy Company in 1980.

The film, was made for $1,750,000, and earned $6,459,000 in theatres, with effects by Richard O. Helmer, John Ramsay Jr., and William Shourt, and music by Craig Huxley.

“Alligators, in the sewer.”

A trucker turned prize fighter, his brother and their pet orangutan have a series of misadventures involving the mob, corrupt cops, motorcycle gangs and pretty dames.

Hijinks insue.

The film, featured early performance by Julie Brown, and Anne Ramsay.

Any Which Way You Can started filming in summer 1980.[6] The film was filmed in the California communities of Sun Valley, North Hollywood, and Bakersfield, and in Jackson, Wyoming.

Glen Campbell performed the "Any Which Way You Can" title song track in the final scene of the movie, and the song was a Top-10 hit on the country music charts.

While the film, was a financial success, critics didn’t monkey around with the movie, all though the original film, Every Which Way But Loose, is the better film.


Made for $15 million, the film sang away with $70.7 million, after its release in theatres.

Alphie and Bibi, two sweet, naive youths from Moose Jaw, Canada, have come to America to compete in the 1994 Worldvision Song Festival.

Although the pair have talent, they are beaten out by the underhanded tactics of the festival favorites, another duo with the backing of BIM: Boogalow International Music, and its leader, Mr. Boogalow.

Though crestfallen by their loss, Bibi and Alphie are soon delighted to hear that Mr. Boogalow has taken an interest in their music and wants to sign them to his label.

All is looking up for the two until they begin to discover the dark underside of the rock and roll world.

This could be, the only futuristic sci fi Musical, that takes place in Moose Jas, Alberta, Canada.

Though set in the United States of America, the whole film was predominantly shot in Berlin, Germany.

The film, featured earlier performances by Miriam Margolyes, Finola Hughes, and Catherine Mary Stewart.

William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, proved a workmanlike producer/director for 1979's The Ninth Configuration.

Army psychiatrist Col. Kane (teetering on the sanity brink himself) tries to minister to the patients in a military mental hospital.

The fact that the hospital is located in a brooding old castle is hardly conducive to speedy recoveries.

Nor does the mid-film barroom brawl indicate that Kane's approach to mental health is all that workable. Blatty adapted the screenplay for The Ninth Configuration from his own novel Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane (which also served as the film's title during one of its many releases).

It is hard to tell if what you're going to see is the "director's cut," since there are several versions of this film, running anywhere from 99 to 140 minutes.

The film, featured a earlier performance by Scott Wilson, The Ninth Configuration (also known as Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane) is a 1980 American psychological drama film written, produced, and directed by William Peter Blatty, in his directorial debut.

The second installment in Blatty's "Faith Trilogy" after The Exorcist, it is based on Blatty's 1978 novel The Ninth Configuration, which was itself a reworking of an earlier version of his 1966 novel Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane!.

The initial 1966 publication of the novel featured an exclamation mark at the end of the title, while all subsequent publications saw it removed.

The Ninth Configuration, featured the song “San Antone” by Denny Brookes, and music composed by Barry DeVorezon.

Brady Hawkes, The Gambler, receives a letter from his son indicating he needs help.

This sends Brady to the rescue. Along the way Brady meets up with Billy Montana, a young man who thinks he knows everything about playing cards. Brady teaches Billy a few lessons along the way and they end up forming a strong friendship and team up together.—

Kenny Rogers as The Gambler (also known as The Gambler) is a 1980 American Western television film directed by Dick Lowry.

The film premiered on CBS on April 8, 1980. It was loosely based on the Grammy-winning Kenny Rogers song of the same name,[1] and stars the singer as Brady Hawkes, a gambler trying to reunite with a son he never knew, played by Ronnie Scribner.

It was a critical and commercial success, receiving an Eddie Award and two Emmy nominations, and resulting in four sequels.

The Gambler, aired on April 8, 1980 on CBS.

A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in New York's S&M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns is sent undercover onto the streets as decoy for the murderer.

Working almost completely isolated from his department, he has to learn and practice the complex rules and signals of this little society. While barely seeing his girlfriend Nancy anymore, the work starts changing him.

On first viewing the film, Richard Heffner, head of the ratings board, said "There aren't enough XXXs in the alphabet to rate this movie."

It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker about a serial killer targeting gay men, particularly those men associated with the leather scene in the late 1970s. The title is a double entendre, because "cruising" can describe both police officers on patrol and men who are cruising for sex.

Poorly received by critics upon release, Cruising performed moderately at the box office. The shooting and promotion were dogged by gay rights protesters, who believed that the film stigmatized them.

The film is also notable for its open-ended finale, which was criticized by Robin Wood and Bill Krohn as further complicating what they felt were the director's incoherent changes to the rough cut and synopsis, as well as other production issues.

Ed O’Neill, James Remar, and Powers Boothe, all made earlier performances in the film, and featured songs by Rough Trade, Willy DeVille, The Cripples, and other films.

The film, was made for $11 million, and garnered $19.8 million in its theatrical release.