The 80s Movie Podcast

A Brief History of the Halloween Movies

In this very special episode, we do something that only 13,948 other podcasts have already done or are in the process of doing this week: taking a look back at the Halloween movies.

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The Films of Bill Forsyth

In this episode, we discuss the career of one of the best filmmakers to come out of 80s cinema: Scottish filmmaker Bill Forsyth.

Oh, you've never heard of him? Or you're only familiar with one of his films? Join us on a cinematic journey through the career of a filmmaker who regularly revisited themes of loneliness, isolation, and alienation, and made them hilarious, touching, and poignant.

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Dollar Houses

On this very special episode of The FilmJerk Podcast, we talk not about a specific movie or filmmaker or actor or distribution company, but of a moviegoing concept that was huge in the 1980s but has all but disappeared from the movie-going landscape: the dollar house. AKA the discount house, the bargain house, and the second run theatre.

The United Film Distribution Company and Taurus Entertainment: Part Three

As we conclude our multi-part miniseries, The United Film Distribution Company, one of the first distributors to be operated by a motion picture exhibition company, has become Taurus Entertainment, and will go on one of the worst runs of film releases any distribution company has ever had.

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The United Film Distribution Company and Taurus Entertainment: Part Two

We continue our multi-part miniseries on The United Film Distribution Company and Taurus Entertainment, one of the first distributors to be operated by a motion picture exhibition company. This week, we talk about several of their biggest successes, including Mark L. Lester's Class of 1984, Richard Hiltzik's Sleepaway Camp, and the Gone With the Wind of zombie movies, George A. Romero's Day of the Dead.

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The United Film Distribution Company and Taurus Entertainment: Part One

We begin a multi-part miniseries on The United Film Distribution Company and Taurus Entertainment, one of the first distributors to be operated by a motion picture exhibition company, who teamed with filmmaker George A. Romero to produce and/or distribute several of his most popular and enduring movies, including Dawn of the Dead and Creepshow.

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The Grounded Genre of 80s Movies: Part 2

This episode completes a two-part miniseries on an interesting concept in examining genre movies in the 80s, Grounded Genre. Joining us for this miniseries is our very special guest Sarah Bullion, an award-winning director, producer and screenwriter who also spent ten years on sets as a prop master and second assistant director.

The Grounded Genre of 80s Movies - Part 1

This episode starts a two-part miniseries on an interesting concept in examining genre movies in the 80s, Grounded Genre. Joining us for this miniseries is our very special guest Sarah Bullion, an award-winning director, producer and screenwriter who also spent ten years on sets as a prop master and second assistant director.

FilmDallas Pictures

This week, we take a look back at the quick rise and even quicker fall of FilmDallas Pictures, which began its life as a Texas-based film investment company in 1983. After helping to produce two Oscar-winning films in 1984, they would take a leap of faith to become a film distribution company, only to be completely gone from the film industry by the end of 1988.

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Blue Thunder and WarGames

On this week's episode of The FilmJerk Podcast, we examine how one filmmaker, John Badham, would end up with the rare feat of having two hits movies, Blue Thunder and WarGames, released only three weeks apart.