The likes ofGhostbustersandGremlinsserved up comedy, action and the macabre in equal measure.
Then there was Milos Formans sumptuous period dramaAmadeus, which was a hit with audiences and at the Oscars.
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20. as a videogame-obsessed kid who becomes an 11-year-old spy.
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19.
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18.
The movie, calledSpartan Xin Japan, got a videogame tie-in of the same name courtesy of Irem.
That game reached the west asKung Fu Master,thus sparking a wave of 80s side-scrolling brawlers.
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17.
Razorback
The second film fromHighlanderandRicochetdirector, Russell Mulcahy,Razorbackis arguably the best killer boar movie ever made.
Its in a local video shop, we suspect, that most people first discovered this Australian horror gem.
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16.
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15.
Watch Runaway on Amazon
14.
Violent and mesmerisingly colorful, this is another great, underrated thriller from Hill.
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13.
Starman
Two years after he outraged some critics with his sci-fi horror remake,The Thing(Instant junk!
one reviewer growled), John Carpenter tried to make amends with this romantic genre fable.
Bridges, in particular, is magnificently strange as the alien, all weird vocal rhythms and staccato movements.
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12.
Could it be that Block himself has something to do with it all?
That question is what givesTightropean air of tension thats deserving of its title.
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11.
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10.
A stolen pig provides the flashpoint for a lightweight yet very funny romp, illuminated by a stunning cast.
Kris Kristofferson and Treat Williams star in a thriller told by director William Tannen in taut, terse fashion.
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7.
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6.
Powers Boothe and Kathleen Turner also co-star.
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4.
Woods once describedOnce Upon A Time in Americaas Leones finest film.
He may well be right.
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2.
1984
Terry Gilliams funny, febrileBrazilwas clearly inspired by George Orwells classic dystopia.
Look out too for Richard Burton, whos magnificent in his final screen appearance as OBrien.
Like the book,1984is the kind of film that can haunt the mind for days afterward.
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1.
The ballet dancer listens in horror as the mother rages incoherently down the line, before abruptly shooting herself.
Residents begin to randomly lose their temper, engage in acts of petty theft and spur-of-the-moment sexual congress.