Forget the big blockbusters, these underground cult classics deserve your attention.
The Breakfast Club – 1985
‘Five strangers with nothing in common, except each other.’
Take five high-school student stereotypes: the jock, the geek, the posh princess, the goth and the rebel. They have nothing in common. Give them an all-day detention on a Saturday, and you’ll create ‘The Breakfast Club.’ This coming-of-age tale runs deeper than the usual teen comedy. Author John Hughes weaves a bittersweet tale, which is slowly revealed as the group begins to bond and open up to each other. They share their deepest darkest secrets, which include harrowing tales of abuse, peer-pressure and suicide attempts. The group have a tight bond by the end of the film, formed not just through their shared past experiences but through newly-formed romances and wicked dark comedy.
Stand By Me – 1986
‘For some, it’s the last real taste of innocence, and the first real taste of life. But for everyone, it’s the time that memories are made of.’
Oh my, the emotions! Introducing four 12-year-old boys who will stay in your lives forever after this film. Gordie, Chris, Teedy and Vern are friends who go on a camping adventure to find the rumoured dead body of a missing local boy. Starring the ill-fated River Phoenix, Stand by Me is based on Stephen King’s ‘The Body.’ The story beautifully documents each characters journey from young lad to teenage tearaway, mirrored when their journey to ‘see a dead body’ becomes a fight for survival and a test of knowing when it’s time to grow up.
The Goonies – 1985
The pirates map, the villainous crooks, the underground caverns, the booby traps, the skeletons, the monster, the lost treasure, and the magic that is…THE GOONIES.
This is probably the most fantastical film on this list. The Goonies are a group of kids whose homes are threatened when developers purchase the land and intend to build a golf course on it. When the children find a 17th Century pirates map, they seek out the treasure to buy back the land in order to save their homes. Unfortunately the treasure is buried under the Fratellis house, a crime family who make the mafia seem harmless. The Goonies have to avoid the pirates deadly booby-traps, evade capture by the Fratellis, and ensure that they reach the treasure first. An American adventure comedy with some heartwarming moments, this film became a firm favourite in the 80’s and has remained popular ever since.
Steel Magnolias – 1989
The funniest movie ever to make you cry.
Another weepie I’m afraid! With a star cast including Sally Fields, Julia Roberts and Dolly Parton, the true tale of the Steel Magnolias stole hearts in cinemas across the world. The film features six women who develop an incredible bond which stems from the day one marries to the day one dies. Heartache, humour and friendship form the basis of one of the most loved films of the 80’s.
“There may be no movie that better epitomises the bond of female friendship than Steel Magnolias.”
E.T the Extra-Terrestrial – 1982
The Story that Touched the World!
When a baby alien was accidently left behind on Earth, it had nowhere to hide from the authorities… until a lonely 10-year-old boy called Elliot found him. As the Extra-Terrestrial, E.T, becomes friends with Elliot’s siblings and learns about Earth, they learn more about him and his wish to go home. Suddenly it is clear that E.T was not made for Earth, he slowly begins to sicken – and through their special connection, young Elliot also sickens. Soon both vulnerable creatures must save each other, and yet each can only be saved by being apart from the other.
The Lost Boys – 1897
Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire…Being wild is in their blood.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster doesn’t it? Well Lost Boys is anything but that, starring an almost unrecognisable Keifer Sutherland. The story is based on a mother and her two young sons who have moved to a small coastal town in California. Plighted by biker gangs and mysterious deaths, the town is a strange place to live. As the two boys set out to find their own paths, the younger of the two winds up becoming friends with a peculiar couple of lads with a penchant for vampire killing. The older brother is lured into the seedy world of the biker gang, helped by a beautiful woman. Neither path sounds promising, but where will they lead?
