1980s Best Movies

When you think of the 1980s, a few images come to mind: shoulder pads, big hair, and all-cheesy-everything. However, the decade had more to contribute to pop culture than being known as the New Jersey of the 20th century. The 1980s were also an era for incredible classic movies, ones that shifted the film industry as we know it. From John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club to Steven Spielberg’s E.T., the best movies of the 1980s not only shaped its generation but inspired subsequent generations in every way imaginable.

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

This week on Shat the Movies, we’re signing on with Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), the war comedy that promised nonstop laughs and delivered something stranger, sadder, and more complicated. Robin Williams turns in one of his most electric performances as Armed Forces Radio DJ Adrian Cronauer, bringing chaos to the...

The Hitcher (1986)

Shat The Movies hits the open road with The Hitcher, the 1986 horror-thriller that transformed an ordinary highway drive into pure nightmare fuel. Starring Rutger Hauer as the terrifying and impossibly calm John Ryder, the film follows a young traveler who makes the mistake of picking up a hitchhiker—and spends the...

They Live (1988)

This week, Shat The Movies puts on the sunglasses and uncovers John Carpenter’s They Live, the cult classic that turns Reagan-era paranoia into a full-blown alien conspiracy. Starring “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as a drifter who discovers the world is secretly controlled by skull-faced elites, this 1988 sci-fi satire pulls no...

Harry and the Hendersons (1987)

This week on Shat the Movies, we’re asking the important question: what if Bigfoot was just… a really hairy houseguest? Harry and the Hendersons (1987) brings us a giant, gentle creature, a suburban family, and way more emotional damage than anyone signed up for. Gene and Big D break down...

Twins (1988)

This week, Shat The Movies tackles one of the most bafflingly successful high-concept comedies of the ’80s: Twins, the movie that asked, “What if Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito were genetically engineered brothers?” and somehow convinced the world to buy a ticket. Gene and Big D revisit Ivan Reitman’s unlikely...

Top Secret! (1984)

This week, Shat The Movies heads behind the Iron Curtain—or at least a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker version of it—with Top Secret!, the absurdist spy spoof that introduced the world to Val Kilmer as a legitimately charismatic movie star who could also sing, dance, and commit fully to absolute nonsense. Long before Top...

Stakeout (1987)

This week, Shat The Movies parks the surveillance van and cracks open Stakeout, the 1987 buddy-cop hit that proved Richard Dreyfuss could be both wildly neurotic and a believable romantic lead. Gene and Big D revisit this Reagan-era crowd-pleaser to figure out how a movie about police spying on a...

Shoot to Kill (1988)

This week, Shat The Movies heads into the Pacific Northwest wilderness with Shoot to Kill, the late-’80s thriller that blends serial killers, mountain survival, and peak “competent adult movie” energy. Starring Sidney Poitier, Tom Berenger, and Kirstie Alley, this 1988 sleeper feels like the kind of grown-up studio thriller Hollywood...