Although I’m a 90s kid, the 80s had the best music and movies going. From Live Aid in 1985 featuring the artists at the time who were and are legends today, to all these iconic movies, it was a great decade for pop culture. Here’s are seven cult-classic 80s movies you must watch at least once.

Best 80s Cult Classics

1. Back To The Future (1985)

When Marty McFly’s friend, Doc Brown, creates a time machine, Marty is transported back to 1955 where he get’s to witness his parents falling in love for the first time, except now that Marty is in the picture, his mother seems to have fallen for him instead!

The Back to the Future trilogy are classics, and is still as entertaining today, the series was even the inspiration behind Rick and Morty.

2. Heathers (1988)

Veronica Sawyer swears she’s done with High School boys, until the new “dark horse” shows up in school catches her eye. Veronica hates her new life within the popular clique, the Heathers, and JD seems to be a way for Veronica to get what she wants.

Heathers is one of my all time favourite movies, it’s like the Mean Girls before Mean Girls but much much darker. The musical adaption was fantastic, but we don’t speak about the show.

3. Dead Poets Society (1989)

Set in 1959, Dead Poets Society is about a quirky new English teacher who inspires his class in ways they never imagined. One of Robin Williams more iconic roles, the movie is both devastating and inspiring.

I only watched this after Robin Williams passed away, and it instantly became a favourite. I’ve found that your English teacher is either the most inspirational person ever, or you hate them. I finished school in 2015 and still refer back to life lessons from my English teacher who was like a real life Mr Keating.

4. Aliens (1986)

Having been in a deep space sleep for over 50 years, Lt. Ripley is woken up to find only one survivor of a space colony, a 9-year old girl, as a terrifying alien race is no match for space travelling humans. It’s up to Ripley and the crew to defeat the Aliens and save themselves.

Although not the first in the Alien franchise, Aliens was the one that stuck out to me. The aliens themselves definitely haven’t aged all that well as technology has come a long way but it’s definitely still watchable, and I’d still pick the original over a remake.

5. The Breakfast Club (1985)

Arguably the most popular 1980’s cult classic, The Breakfast Club is about five teenagers who become the most unlikely of friends in detention. All about youth, teen angst, and societal pressure, there’s someone for everyone to relate to in the mismatched crew.

Personally, I was the most like Allison when I was in school, but I was too much of a goody-two-shoes to ever get detention.

6. National Lampoons Vacation (1983)

The first of the four Vacation movies, Vacation follows the Griswald family’s trip across the US as they try to enjoy a family holiday in Wally World. Except, bad luck plagues the Griswald’s, and the road-trip turns into a hilarious disaster.

They remade the movie in 2015, with a pleasant twist as it was actually about Clarke Griswald’s son, Russell, as opposed to a blatant re-boot. Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo took back up their roles, as the now elderly, parents. What’s funny about the series is that the kids are always played by different actors in the movies and no one bats an eyelid, a young Johnny Galecki played Russell in the Christmas Vacation.

7. Poltergeist (1982)

An average suburban American family begins to experience strange occurrences through their TV, and the spirits take a liking to the youngest child, Carol Ann. When the spirits turn malevolent, and take Carol Ann through the TV, the family has to seek the help from a medium.

They remade this film, but I much prefer the original poltergeist. The old style makes it more spooky, but it doesn’t look too realistic to actually be scary today.

Honourable Mentions

I feel the need to mention Labyrinth, Die Hard, and Ferris Buellers Day Off, which were also great 80s movies!

This song is a pretty good summary of this post:

What are your favourite 80s movies?