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The revolution ofthe “ New Hollywood ” movementproved to be short - endure asSpielberg ’s creative activity of the summertime smash hit with 1975’sJawsset off a chain reaction that led to studio apartment dominating the ‘ 80 with flashy , lightweight fare free of esthetic deservingness — a clime that did n’t do the thriller genre many favors . Edge - of - your - seat thrill rides were few and far between throughout the ten .
Still , as with any decade , no matter how many stinkers were getting raise by the Hollywood studio system , there were also plenty of heavy flick getting made . Some of the ripe and worst thrillers were released in the 1980s .
Best: Dead Calm (1989)
Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman ’s tranquil seabound vacation takes a dark turn when they cull up a man who ’s lose at ocean and might not be who he claims he is .
Orson Welles tried and failed to get his own adaptation ofDead Calmoff the ground , but Phillip Noyce did a fine job of make up for it .
Worst: The Punisher (1989)
Although it did n’t touch U.S. field of operations until 1991 , the first film adaptation of Marvel’sPunishercomics was ab initio give up in 1989 , so it ’s technically an ‘ 80s movie — and unfortunately , it ’s one of the big .
Dolph Lundgren playingindestructible crime - fighter Frank Castlesounds awesome on paper , but the movie ’s endlessly long and floating action scenes do n’t provide the grindhouse comic book thrills they promise .
Best: Thief (1981)
Michael Mann kvetch off his directing vocation in vogue withThief , a slick neo - noir starring James Caan in one of his all - time finest performances as a disillusioned safecracker .
In his stylish introduction , Mann bring the street of Chicago to life with rainfall - dowse , neon - lit configurations and an iconic soundtrack by Tangerine Dream .
Worst: Cruising (1980)
William Friedkin is a terrific conductor of thrillers , exemplified bysuch masterpiece asThe French connectedness , but he overlook the mark onCruising . Al Pacino stars as a investigator investigating a successive killer targeting homophile men in New York ’s clandestine S&M subculture .
The pic was wildly controversial for its damaging depiction of the gay community , and what ’s worse is that it attempt to have its cake and deplete it too when treading in offensive territory .
Best: The Vanishing (1988)
Although it was ball up by a direful American remake five years by and by , director George Sluizer ’s Dutch thrillerThe Vanishingis a true masterpiece of the musical genre .
It weaves the story of a gentleman’s gentleman ’s three - year search for his kidnap partner into an intricate structure , build up toward a jaw - dropping braid .
Worst: Physical Evidence (1989)
Michael Crichton should ’ve stupefy to writing book instead of making movies ( his awing celluloid version ofWestworldnotwithstanding ) . When he got in the director ’s chairperson to helmPhysical Evidence , a thriller about an incriminated x - cop trying to raise his whiteness , he dismiss the ball .
Despite a attached lead carrying into action by Burt Reynolds , Crichton ’s by - the - numeral channelise style fails to enkindle any upheaval from the interview .
Best: First Blood (1982)
In its later installment , theRambofranchise becamecharacterized by record - break body counts and excessive graphical violence . However , the original movie , First Blood , was a small - scale thriller responding to the discussion of Vietnam War veteran . John Rambo finds out all his friends from ‘ Nam are deadened , then reaches his breaking point when he ’s drive out of town by the local copper .
He escapes from the bull ’ clutches and into the Wood , where he relies on his survival instincts to fend for himself and evade capture . Sylvester Stallone has said that it ’s not a political motion picture , butit has a lot to say about post - Vietnam attitudes toward soldiersand the effect of PTSD .
Worst: Raw Deal (1986)
Arnold Schwarzeneggercan give amazingly strong performanceswith the right role – i.e. an emotionless bionic woman – but for everyTerminator , the Austrian Oak has star in a twelve crummy , generic shoot-‘em - ups .
1986’sRaw Dealfalls into that category . It achieve the phenomenal feat of setting up the most simplistic plot imaginable and then bungling it along the means .
Best: Blow Out (1981)
Brian De Palma ’s answer to Antonioni’sBlowupand Coppola’sThe Conversationstars John Travolta as a intelligent effects recorder search for the unadulterated screaming for a horror movie he ’s working on . He unintentionally captures audio of an assassination need a presidential candidate and becomes paranoid that he ’s been wrap up in a widespread confederacy .
De Palma occur up with the construct forBlow Outwhile he was shootingDressed to Kill , another terrific ‘ fourscore thriller that did n’t quite make this list . Blow Outis arguably the director ’s masterpiece , andone of Quentin Tarantino ’s favorite movies .
Worst: Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)
PuttingDeath Wishprotagonist Paul Kersey in a premise likeYojimboorA Fistful of Dollars , play two street gangs against each other , was a great idea for the third sequel to the classic vigilance man thriller . Charles Bronson just looks exhausted by the quaternary go - around .
However , in carrying out , Death Wish 4is just as needlessly violent and preachy as the other sequels , failing to recapture the intuitive , cathartic thrills of the original .
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