The Challenge (1982) – John Frankenheimer

Scott Glenn sports a truly horrific bowl cut in his first leading role, starring alongside Toshiro Mifune in the Frankenheimer-helmed The Challenge. Featuring a score by Jerry Goldsmith and a supporting cast that includes Sab Shimono and Clyde Kusatsu, the film is a pretty solid action entry though it wasn’t the film Glenn and Mifune…

Alligator (1980) – Lewis Teague

I remember seeing the poster for Alligator when I was a kid, and while I liked the shadowy look of the art, with a giant alligator peering out of an arched sewer, I never really had much of a desire to see it. Even as I grew older and heard some semi-decent things about it,…

Piranha (1978) – Joe Dante

The next title from the What Else to Watch list as featured in DK Canada’s The Movie Book following the recommendation of Jaws is one of the first films to cash in on the dangerous aquatic animals films. Roger Corman produces a script by John Sayles and cult favorite Joe Dante directs this b-movie schlock…

Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) – Jimmy T. Murakami

  With the advent of Star Wars in the late 70s, every studio, almost every writer, wanted to get in on the sci-fi band wagon, including Roger Corman. Known for his exploitation films with incredibly low budgets, Battle Beyond the Stars, was his biggest budgeted film, and was my introduction to the story of the…

The Brother From Another Planet (1984) – John Sayles

The 101 Sci-Fi Movies list brought me this one that I had never seen before, and it works because of one simple fact. Joe Morton is awesome. Always has been, always will. The story, written and directed by John Sayles, follows the adventures of an unnamed alien, simply referred to as Brother (Joe Morton), who crashes off…