1981 IN FILM

My favourite films released in the U.S. in 1981. Top 30 & many honorables.

(ballot)











30.THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER

.

                AN AMERICAN
29.     WEREWOLF IN LONDON

.

28.           AMERICAN POP

.

27.          THE FUNHOUSE

.

26.           ATLANTIC CITY

.

25.                PIXOTE

.

24.   PENNIES FROM HEAVEN

.

23.              EXCALIBUR

.

22.      THE AVIATOR'S WIFE

.

21.                  LOLA

.

20.        MODERN ROMANCE

.

19.              POLYESTER

.

18.                  REDS

.

              LE PONT DU NORD

17.[THE NORTH BRIDGE]

.

16.        VERNON, FLORIDA

.

15.         OVER THE EDGE

.

14.     SOUTHERN COMFORT

.

13.             INDIA SONG

12.           THE HOWLING

.

11.          CUTTER'S WAY

.

10.               MANIAC

9.                    THIEF

.
                 FEHÉRLÓFIA:
8.   SON OF THE WHITE MARE

.

7.   RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

.

6.             TIME BANDITS

.

5.   ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

.

4.                   MS. 45

.

3.    POSSESSION [Director's cut]

.

2.            THE EVIL DEAD

.

1.                BLOW OUT

*****

ALSO ESSENTIAL. NOT RANKED.

(other titles of 1981 I loved that could've placed)

THEY ALL LAUGHED

.

BUBBLE BATH [HABFÜRDÖ]

SCANNERS

DIRTY HO 爛頭何

MAN OF IRON

MAN OF MARBLE

CRAC

.
 

OUT OF THE BLUE

.
 

GOOD RIDDANCE

[LES BONS DÉBARRAS]

.

EINMART

.
 

PERMANENT VACATION

.
 

ROAD GAMES

.

GALLIPOLI

.
 

MY DINNER WITH ANDRE

.
 

SHARKY'S MACHINE

.
 

CATTLE ANNIE 
AND LITTLE BRITCHES

.

THE DECLINE
OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION

.
 

PRINCE OF THE CITY

.
 

S.O.B.

.
 

HEAVY METAL

.
 

RAGGEDY MAN

.

THE FOX AND THE HOUND

.
 

MOMMIE DEAREST

.
 

BENEATH THE SKIN

THE PRODIGAL SON

.
 

OUTLAND

.
 

CRIPPLED AVENGERS 
[RETURN OF THE 5 DEADLY VENOMS]

.
 

THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY

.

 FROM THE
LIFE OF THE MARIONETTES

.
 

THE FRENCH
LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN

.
 

DREADNAUGHT 勇者無懼

.
 

MEA CULPA

DRAGONSLAYER

HUMAN LEAGUE: 

DON'T YOU WANT ME

HEAVEN'S GATE [Director's cut]

.

 THE HISTORY

OF THE WORLD: PART 1

.
 

KNIGHTRIDERS

.
 

STRIPES

.
 

MARIANNE & JULIANE

[THE GERMAN SISTERS]

BLOOD WEDDING

.
 

BODY HEAT

.
 

LION OF THE DESERT

.

THE POSTMAN
ALWAYS RINGS TWICE

.
 

MEPHISTO

.
 

NIGHTHAWKS

.
 

TAPS

AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'

*****

1981
TOP 30

1. BLOW OUT (De Palma)
2. THE EVIL DEAD (Raimi)
3. POSSESSION (Zulawski)
4. MS. 45 (Ferrara)
5. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (Carpenter)
6. TIME BANDITS (Gilliam)
7. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (Spielberg)
8. FEHÉRLÓFIA (Jankovics)
9. THIEF (Mann)
10. MANIAC (Lustig)
11. CUTTER'S WAY (Passer)
12. THE HOWLING (Dante)
13. INDIA SONG (Duras)
14. SOUTHERN COMFORT (Hill)
15. OVER THE EDGE (Kaplan)
16. VERNON, FLORIDA (Morris)
17. LE PONT DU NORD (Rivette)
18. REDS (Beatty)
19. POLYESTER (Waters)
20. MODERN ROMANCE (A.Brooks)
21. LOLA (Fassbinder)
22. THE AVIATOR'S WIFE (Rohmer)
23. EXCALIBUR (Boorman)
24. PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (Ross)
25. PIXOTE (Babenco)
26. ATLANTIC CITY (Malle)
27. THE FUNHOUSE (Hooper)
28. AMERICAN POP (Bakshi)
29. AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (Landis)
30. GREAT MUPPET CAPER (Henson)

RUNNER UP

THEY ALL LAUGHED (Bogdanovich), HABFÜRDÖ (Kovásznai), SCANNERS (Cronenberg), DIRTY HO (Chia-Liang Liu), MAN OF MARBLE + MAN OF IRON (Wajda), CRAC (Back), OUT OF THE BLUE (Hopper), GOOD RIDDANCE (Francis Mankiewicz), EINMART (Dammbeck), PERMANENT VACATION (Jarmusch), ROAD GAMES (R Franklin), GALLIPOLI (Weir), MY DINNER WITH ANDRE (Malle), SHARKY'S MACHINE (Reynolds), CATTLE ANNIE & LITTLE BRITCHES (L.Johnson), DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION (Spheeris), PRINCE OF THE CITY (Lumet), S.O.B. (Edwards), HEAVY METAL (Potterton), RAGGEDY MAN (Fisk), FOX & THE HOUND (Berman/Rich/Stevens), MOMMIE DEAREST (Perry), BENEATH THE SKIN (Condit), THE PRODIGAL SON (Hung), OUTLAND (Hyams), CRIPPLED AVENGERS (Cheh), HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (Fulci), FROM THE LIFE OF THE MARIONETTES (Bergman), FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN (Reisz), DREADNAUGHT (Woo-ping), MEA CULPA (Conner), DRAGONSLAYER (Robbins), DON'T YOU WANT ME (Barron), HEAVEN'S GATE (Cimino), HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1 (M.Brooks), KNIGHTRIDERS (Romero), STRIPES (Reitman), DIE BLEIERNE ZEIT (Von Trotta), BLOOD WEDDING (Saura), BODY HEAT (Kasdan), LION OF THE DESERT (Akkad), POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (Rafelson), MEPHISTO (Szabó), NIGHTHAWKS (Malmuth), TAPS (Becker), AIN'T MISBEHAVIN (Chris Sullivan)