Top Line (1988) aka Alien Terminator

Warning! Spoilers! Clip: Best Of Top Line



Directed by Nello Rossati

Starring Franco Nero, George Kennedy and Deborah Moore (daughter of Roger Moore aka James Bond)

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Lone Wolf (1988)

Clip: Car Trouble



Clip: Let It Rock



Clip: The Money Shot



Directed by John Callas

Starring Dyan Brown, Kevin Hart and Luciano Saber

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Cheerleader Camp (1988) aka Bloody Pom Poms

Clip: Leif Garrett rapping and Buck Flower losing control of his "hose"



Watch the full movie here:



Directed by John Quinn

Starring Leif Garrett, Lucinda Dickey (from Ninja III: The Domination), Betsy Russell and George 'Buck' Flower

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Ghosthouse (1988)

Clip: Nursery Rhyme



Directed by Umberto Lenzi

Starring Lara Wendel, Greg Scott and Willy M. Moon (!)

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Death Chase (1988)

Directed by David A. Prior

Starring Paul Smith (Pieces, Popeye), Jack Starrett and William Zipp

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Above The Law (1988) aka Nico

Directed by Andrew Davis

Starring Steven Seagal, Pam Grier, Henry Silva, Sharon Stone and Ron Dean

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Nightmare Beach (1988) aka Welcome To Spring Break

Italian language trailer


Directed by Umberto Lenzi

Starring John Saxon, Nicolas De Toth, Sarah Buxton and Michael Parks

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Uninvited (1988)

Directed by Greydon Clark

Starring George Kennedy, Clu Gulager, Toni Hudson and Alex Cord

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The Brain (1988)

Directed by Ed Hunt

Starring Tom Bresnahan, Cynthia Preston and David Gale

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Dream Demon (1988)

Directed by Harley Cokeliss

Starring Jemma Redgrave and Kathleen Wilhoite

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Slugs (1988)

Directed by Juan Piquer Simón

Starring Michael Garfield and Kim Terry

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Memorial Valley Massacre (1988)

Clip: Walter Gets Upset





Directed by Robert C. Hughes

Starring Cameron Mitchell, John Kerry and Mark Mears

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Maniac Cop (1988)

Directed by William Lustig.

Written by Larry Cohen.

Starring Robert Z'Dar, Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon and Richard Roundtree.

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Witchery (1988)

Clip: Linda Blair vs David Hasselhoff



Directed by Fabrizio Laurenti.

Starring Linda Blair and David Hasselhoff.

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Linda Blair and the Hoff in an 80's Italian horror movie? That is the very definition of must-see.

In fact, director Laurenti even managed to convince Blair to do an Exorcist style possession scene which puts this film over the top. Witchery also recycles a few old Suspiria themes with the witch angle but also with the shimmering medallion that seems to hypnotize people. This trailer makes the film seem more brutal and violent than it really feels when you watch the full-length but it will definitely please gore hounds as well.

I recommend this film as the finale in an all-Linda Blair 80's weekend. Start with Hell Night, then Savage Streets and finally, the all-mighty Witchery.

80's Metal Movie Tie-Ins

Dated?

Uh, a little. But horror movies and bad hair metal had a thing going on in the 80's and here's a few samples of some of those glorious train wrecks.

First up, Dokken does the main theme song for 1987's Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. This brings me back to my youth when I took stuff like this quite seriously. I wonder what's more scary to main star Patricia Arquette - Freddy Krueger and his minion of creepy girls skipping rope or Don Dokken's poodle haircut?





Somehow, this one is worse. Alice Cooper continues his embarrasing 80's slide by penning this keyboard driven drivel for 1986's Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.

Yet the video itself is entertaining as hell. The theatre setting is great and there are some truly bad special effects, such as Jason ripping through the screen and Alice inexplicably trying to scare the patrons by breaking a glass bottle over his forehead. Oooohh scary!





I have to include this one even though it's not really a music video. It's one of the climactic scenes of 1986's Trick or Treat, one of the best heavy metal themed films from that era.

That's actor Tony Fields as rock demon Sammi Curr but the music is really by Fastway, a second-tier act that included a former member of Motorhead and a guy from U.F.O.

This film also had Ozzy Osbourne in a great cameo as a preacher who railed against heavy metal lyrics and musicians, lampooning the PMRC and Tipper Gore who were in the midst of their metal witch hunts at the time.

The best part of this is when the guitar goes flying through the air and someone randomly yells "Rock and Roll!!".

If you can't stand the Fastway stuff, fast foward because there is some hilarious shenanigans towards the end and a ripping guitar solo straight from hell that could have been the inspiration for Will Ferrel's classic Satan and Garth Brooks sketch from SNL.




And while we're going there, I might as well bring this one out. A scene from 1988's Black Roses.

The context of this scene is that a metal band called Black Roses is playing a small town and the local parents and authorities are concerned about the effects on their kids. They sit in on the first song to make sure that nothing is going on and the band do their best to fool everyone with a vanilla sounding soft rock song. Soon the parents leave and the real metal begins!





Now, the best for last. This is a clip from 1985's Hard Rock Zombies. It's not a metal song, but there's a bunch of long hair bangers doing choreographed dance moves in the film's big montage scene and even some miming. Completely retarded and great.



Had enough yet? This is another clip from Hard Rock Zombies. This is quite possibly the most ridiculous scene ever put on 35 mm film. The band have been killed earlier in the day and then rose from the dead, making sure they still turn up to do their soundcheck for that night's show! This is some kind of love song for the main girl Cassie in the movie. Oh unrequited love!

Grotesque (1988)

Directed by Joe Tornatore.

Starring Linda Blair, Tab Hunter and Robert Z'Dar.

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The Ogre (aka Demons 3) (1988)

Directed by Lamberto Bava.

Starring Paolo Malco and Virginia Bryant.

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Slime City (1988)

Directed by Greg Lamberson.

Starring Robert C. Sabin and Mary Huner.

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American Hunter (1988)

Directed by Arizal. Starring Christopher Mitchum.

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