80’s Cult Classics

Highlander (1986)

• Directed by Russell Mulcahy
  • Directed music videos for
    • Elton John
    • AC/DC
    • Rod Stewart
  • Teen Wolf The Movie 2023
  • The Shadow
  • Highlander II: The Quickening
• Starring Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, and Roxanne Hart
• Budget of 19 million and Box Office of 12.8 million
• Trivia
  • Gregory Widen wrote the script for Highlander, as a class assignment while he was an undergraduate in the screenwriting program at UCLA. Widen also used Ridley Scott’s 1977 film The Duellists as inspiration for his story. After reading the script, Widen’s instructor advised him to send it to an agent. Widen sold the script for US$200,000. It became the first draft of what would eventually be the screenplay for the film.
  • Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert got along so well during filming that they called each other by their characters’ names even when they were not filming, and it was at Lambert’s insistence that Connery and his character returned for Highlander II: The Quickening (1991).
  • Christopher Lambert had just barely learned to speak English when he took this role. The only other English-speaking movie he had been in at that point was Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), in which he spoke only a few words.
  • The opening voice-over by Sean Connery has an echo effect, because it was recorded in the bathroom of his Spanish villa (where he had been working with a voice coach, in order to perfect the Spanish accent he used in the movie). It was played for the producers over the phone, and they approved of it because they could not discern the quality of the recording that way.
  • Kurt Russell was originally cast as Connor MacLeod, but he pulled out of the project at the insistence of his girlfriend Goldie Hawn. He instead starred in Big Trouble in Little China (1986),
  • According to director Russell Mulcahy, the crew felt that Clancy Brown had become the Kurgan and some refused to go near him.
  • In preparation for this movie, Christopher Lambert trained extensively with sword master and British Olympic fencer Bob Anderson.
  • In the Scottish festival scene, Ramirez shows MacLeod his sword, claiming it was made by his last father-in-law, Masamune. There was a real Masamune, Goro Masamune, who is renowned as the greatest swordsmith of the Tokugawa Shogunate era. Believed to have lived in the late thirteenth to early fourteenth century, his swords were the most cited in the Kyoho Meibutsu Cho, a Kyoho-era sword catalogue compiled by the Honami family of sword polishers and appraisers in 1714 on the orders of Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune.
  • Clancy Brown improvised the line in which he poignantly addresses the sparse congregation and clergy in the church, “I have something to say! It’s better to burn out… Than to fade away!!!” “It’s better to burn out than to fade away” were also lyrics to the Neil Young song ” Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” released on his 1979 album “Rust Never Sleeps”, and the Def Leppard song “Rock of Ages”, released on their “Pyromania” album in 1983.
  • Some scenes were deleted from the movie and ended up being lost forever when they were destroyed in a warehouse fire. One of these was a duel sequence that introduced an Asian immortal named Yung Dol Kim. In this deleted scene, Kim was working as a night security guard in a New York City office building at the time of the Gathering, where he was challenged by the Kurgan. Kim fights Japanese two-sword style. During the fight, Kim surrenders, wearying of Immortal life and is willing to kill himself. The Kurgan takes his head and the body explodes out of the fortieth floor of the building. In the continuity of the movie, the Kurgan’s duel with Kim takes place before his duel with Kastagir. A few stills from the sequence, some in color, and others in black-and-white, did survive and were later used in the collectible card game based on this movie for cards featuring the Kim character. Other deleted and lost scenes are a flashback where Connor meets with Thomas Jefferson, a bar scene when Connor and Kastagir go out for a drink and are partying in the bar, where they meet Detective Walter Bedsoe, who ends up drinking and partying with them. This scene also expanded more on Kastagir and Connor’s relationship, and revealed that they met during the American Revolutionary War. There was also a scene in which Connor shows Brenda his katana, the sword she was so intrigued about after finding metal shards from it in the parking garage after their sex scene
  • Clancy Brown originally wanted the Kurgan to be dressed in a suit and bowler hat.
  • Rutger Hauer and Nick Nolte were considered for the role of the Kurgan.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger was offered the part of the Kurgan but he turned it down.
  • This was originally a stand-alone movie, and did not perform well at the box office. However, Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) came about because this movie had developed such a cult following amongst fantasy and science fiction fans.
  • According to Hulk Hogan, he was offered the part of Connor MacLeod, but he turned it down in order to focus on his wrestling career. Ironically, in the beginning scene, Connor Macleod is at Madison Square Garden watching a wrestling match involving the Fabulous Freebirds.
  • A year after to the premiere of the movie, it was premiered Bloodsport (1988), about the life of martial artist Frank Dux, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme. In this movie, Francis Dux played Old Man in Car (a witness of the fight between Kurgan and Kastagir), but to be credited as “Frank Dux”, some people thought that they were the same person.

Less Than Zero (1987)

• Directed by Marek Kanievska
  • Another Country
• Starring Andrew McCarthy, Robert Downey Jr, Jami Gertz, and James Spader
• Budget of 8 million and Box Office of 12.4 million.
• Trivia
  • Loosely based on book of same name by Bret Easton Ellis
  • According to the “Robert Downey Jr Film Guide” website, Marek Kanievska suggested Robert Downey Jr. and Andrew McCarthy should go out and party to ‘get into character’ which ended with Downey in the middle of Santa Monica Boulevard, howling at the moon, and McCarthy had to bail him out of jail.
  • Because the novel didn’t have a central plot or a core set of protagonists, but was more a set of interwoven events happening to a larger group of friends, this film differs considerably from the novel. In a surreal twist, the sequel novel, ‘Imperial Bedrooms’, has the original novel’s characters aware of the film version of “Less Than Zero.”
  • Robert Downey Jr. plays a drug addict in the film. This proved prophetic, as he suffered drug and alcohol addiction in later life. He recalled: “Until that movie, I took my drugs after work and on the weekends. That changed on Less Than Zero (1987), the role was like the ghost of Christmas future. The character was an exaggeration of myself. Then things changed and, in some ways, I became an exaggeration of the character.”
  • Brad Pitt was paid US $38 for his uncredited cameo appearance.
  • Despite the rough experience of the shoot, Robert Downey Jr. considers this movie to be one of his all time favorite movies of his own, citing his performance of Julian Wells as “the ghost of Christmas Future,” to his personal life.
  • Unlike the movie, in the novel Clay Easton is identified as bisexual.
  • Cinematographer Edward Lachman remembers that originally the film was a lot “edgier” and that the studio took it away from Marek Kanievska. He also recalled a scene he shot with Red Hot Chili Peppers: “The Red Hot Chili Peppers were in that film and the studio became very conservative and they said, ‘Oh the band, they’re sweaty and they don’t have their shirts on.’ They destroyed an incredible Steadicam shot, all because they had to cut around them being bare-chested.”
  • Keanu Reeves was originally to play the character Clay Easton. Eventually, the role was cast with Andrew McCarthy.
  • In one of Brad Pitt’s first roles as an extra, during a take Brad added his own unscripted line of dialogue in order to get a SAG (actor’s union) card. The director yelled cut and he was told if he did it again he would be fired.
  • Stephen Colbert auditioned for a role in this movie
  • Jami Gertz is the actress who plays Blair in this movie based on the first novel by Bret Easton Ellis. In another book written by Ellis, “American Psycho,” Patrick Bateman inquires about actress Jami Gertz at the Video Visions video store in New York’s Upper West Side. The video store clerk does not know who Gertz is. Bateman then fantasizes briefly about having sex with Gertz while trying not to pay attention to someone talking to him.
  • The last name of Andrew McCarthy’s character, Clay Easton, is the same name as the middle name of source novelist Bret Easton Ellis. Clay’s surname was not given in Ellis’ source novel “Less than Zero.” Its use here in this movie is a direct reference to the author.
  • Marek Kanievska was hired as director for two reasons and these were based on his direction of his critically acclaimed movie Another Country (1984). This was because Kanievska had in that movie (1) fashioned unsympathetic characters making them sympathetic and (2) been able to handle themes of bisexuality and sexual ambivalence.
  • Filmed at the Scream nightclub (near the 1:02 mark). The “Scream” was a popular nightclub during the 1980s, catering to the Glam Rock, and Goth genres, particularly during the mid 80s, boasting three bars, stage for live music, movie theater, coat-check, video room, blacklight hallway and dance floor (located upstairs). Getting to the upstairs rooms required braving a two-story climb that lined the outside of the building.
  • According to screenwriter Harley Peyton, Kiefer Sutherland and Uma Thurman had auditioned for roles in the movie.
  • Brad Pitt: Uncredited, as an extra/background artist portraying a preppy guy party-goer and seen as Clay Easton enters the party at the movie’s beginning.

The Evil Dead (1981)

• Directed by Sam Rami
  • Spiderman
  • Darkman
  • Dr Strange 2
• Starring Bruce Campbell, Richard Demanicor, and Ellen Sandweiss.
• Budget of 375K and Box Office of 29.4 million
• Trivia
  • The cabin used as the film’s set was also lodging for the 13 crew members, with several people sleeping in the same room. Living conditions were terrible, and the crew frequently argued. The cabin didn’t have plumbing, so the actors went days without showering, and fell ill frequently in the freezing weather. By the end of production, they were burning furniture to stay warm.
  • Andy Grainger, a friend of Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi, gave them this advice: “Fellas, no matter what you do, keep the blood running down the screen.” They included the scene in the finished film where the blood runs down the projector screen as a tribute to him.
  • At the end of principal shooting in Tennessee, the crew put together a little time capsule package and buried it inside the fire place of the cabin as a memento of the production to whomever found it. The cabin has since been destroyed and only the fireplace is still intact.
  • Bruce Campbell put up his family’s property in Northern Michigan as collateral so that Sam Raimi not only could finish the film, but also blow it up to 35 mm film which was required for theatrical release. Raimi was so grateful for his financial contribution, he credited him as co-producer.
  • Director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell were friends from high school, where they made many super-8 films together. They would often collaborate with Sam’s brother, Ted Raimi. Campbell became the “actor” of the group, as “he was the one that girls wanted to look at.”
  • The film’s first cut ran at around 117 minutes, which Bruce Campbell called an impressive achievement in light of the 65-minute length of the screenplay. It was then edited down to a more marketable 85 minutes. The original version was conceived as a horror drama with the occasional joke to bring some levity, and would focus on the terror that made it to the final product, but also the tragedy of Ash slowly losing his friends and his guilt for not being able to save them. After watching the first cut, Raimi, Campbell and Tapert agreed “the film is already grim enough” and trimmed it to a straight horror film.
  • The eerie wind noise in the movie was recorded by Sam Raimi. He first heard it through his bedroom window while he was trying to sleep and thought it would be perfect for the movie.
  • Sam Raimi originally wanted to title this film “Book of the Dead,” but producer Irvin Shapiro changed the title to “The Evil Dead” for fear that kids would be turned off seeing a movie with a literary reference.
  • When Cheryl returns to the cabin, (right after the scene with the vines where she complains about wanting to go home) Scott goes to say something and then suddenly stops, throws his head back, and steps out of the shot. This was due to the actor (Richard DeManincor) blowing his line.
  • The tape recorder found in the cabin belonged to Bruce Campbell’s father.
  • A cameraman slipped during filming, smashing his camera into Bruce Campbell’s face and knocking out several of the actor’s teeth.
  • During the scene where Ash is about to cut up his girlfriend with a chainsaw, Bruce Campbell actually had to use a real chainsaw and hold it up to the actress’s chest. You can see on the close-up of Linda’s neck (looking at the necklace) that her pulse is racing.
  • During the premiere of Ash vs Evil Dead (2015), Bruce Campbell claimed that the final shot in this film where Ash is attacked by a surviving demon was achieved by mounting a camera on a tripod, then mounting that tripod on a motorcycle and driving it through the forest, through the cabin, and deliberately into Campbell. He also claimed to have broken some ribs because of this.

Real Genius (1985)

• Directed by Martha Coolidge
  • Valley Girl
  • Rambling Rose
• Starring Val Kilmer, Gabe Jarret, Michelle Meyrink, and William Atherton
• Budget of 8 million and Box office of 13 million
• Trivia
  • When Lazlo Hollyfeld (Jon Gries) sends in a large number of entries to the Frito-Lay contest, he is mirroring the actions of Caltech students Steve Klein, Dave Novikoff and Barry Megdal, who, in 1974, used a similar strategy to win a McDonald’s sweepstakes. Their entries came to roughly 1/5th of the total entries and won them a station wagon, $3,000 cash and $1,500 in food gift certificates.
  • The recurrence of the initials “DEI” in the movie is no accident. The truck that is used to transport the popcorn to Dr. Hathaway’s new house has “Drain Experts Inc.” emblazoned on its side. The company Chris interviews with at the beginning (and which funds Dr. Hathaway’s show “Everything”) is Darlington Electronic Instruments. The initials are rumored to have been inscribed by Caltech alumni at (among other places) the summit of Everest, on the moon and on many satellites and space probes manufactured at Jet Propulsion Labs (which sits just up the hill from Caltech in Pasadena). There has long been an unofficial contest to see who could place the letters DEI into the most prominent public view. Their placement in this film was with the full complicity of director Martha Coolidge and her Caltech advisor, David Marvit.
  • Director Martha Coolidge said of this movie: “The audience has a kind of sixth sense, they know when they’re being lied to. I was taken by the story from the start. I’m fascinated by science, but I knew that to make the comedy work – and the characters worth caring about – we had to do our homework”.
  • As revealed in the documentary Val (2021), some of the pictures on the wall in Mitch and Chris’ dorm were drawings made by Val Kilmer’s brother Wesley.
  • Yuji Okumoto and Gabriel Jarret would go on to fight Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989), respectively.
  • After Chris Knight tells Mitch the importance of studying philosophy with science, so as to not go crazy, he says that the first thing Mitch should do is get even with Kent because it would be “a moral imperative”. Immanuel Kant, a similar name to “Kent”, is a philosopher famous for his “categorical imperative”, that states: “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.” Thus Kent’s actions against Mitch open make it morally permissible for others to the same to him.

Cobra (1986)

• Directed by George P. Cosmatos
  • Rambo First Blood Part II
  • Leviathan
  • Of Unknown Origin
• Starring Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen, Reni Santoni, and Brian Thompson.
• Budget 25 million and box office of 40 million.
• Trivia
  • A very rare workprint of the movie has circulated among fans. Although most copies are poor quality, it has 30 to 40 minutes of footage not available in any other version. It also has all of the X-rated material removed from the final release.
  • Body count: 52, 41 are killed by Cobra.
  • Brian Thompson had to buy his own ticket to see the film himself personally because he was not invited to the films’ premiere by the films’ producers and Warner Bros. which still mystifies him to this day.
  • When Sylvester Stallone was signed to play the lead in Beverly Hills Cop (1984), he did a lot of work on the screenplay, turning it into an action extravaganza that the studio couldn’t afford. He eventually left Beverly Hills Cop and channeled his ideas for that project into this movie. Brigitte Nielsen(Ingrid) would play a villain in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987).
  • Some of the cuts made to avoid an X-rating include: the first murder victim having her hands severed; an extended autopsy scene, including lingering shots of naked and mutilated bodies; a longer death for Ingrid’s photographer Dan, including a shot of him slipping on his own blood while trying to escape; more deaths of the townspeople during the climax, including a person getting hit in the face with an ax.
  • At one point during filming, Sylvester Stallone complained to cinematographer Ric Waite that they were falling behind, and said he and his crew needed to work harder. Waite responded by saying that if Stallone “gets his hands off Brigitte Nielsen’s ass and stops showing off to his bodyguards, maybe they wouldn’t have problems with time”. Stallone was shocked that somebody would talk to him that way, but he toned down his ego for a few weeks. In an interview, Waite also said that Stallone had a great sense of humor, despite his huge ego. He also confirmed a rumor that Stallone was the true director of the film, calling credited director George P. Cosmatos a good producer, but a bad director.
  • Sylvester Stallone said he got the idea for the LAPD’s “Zombie Squad” from a real-life Zombie Squad in Belgium, comprised of cops who go out at night and handle crazed criminals on their own terms.
  • The original rough cut was over two hours long. Due to concerns it might not be a hit, the final cut was 87 minutes, thereby increasing the number of screenings per day. Some of the more violent scenes were also cut to avoid an X-rating. A great deal of plot detail was either removed or sped up while most of the violence and nearly every death was edited or depicted off-screen, resulting in numerous continuity errors.
  • In 2017, Sylvester Stallone used his Instagram page to post a picture of Cobretti standing next to the 1950 Mercury car with the caption, “Comeback or throwback?” Thousands of fans used this as the opportunity to lobby Stallone for a sequel or director’s cut Blu-ray of the film.
  • When Sylvester Stallone was on set, he was in fact literally directing the film with George P. Cosmatos acting as the on set Director. Stallone literally mapped out and planned a lot of the shots including the speech where Brian Thompson calls Cobra “a pig”. Stallone said to him “For your close up, I want you to drink as much water as you can so we can see your spit on camera”. Cosmatos would just agree with Stallone with everything he wanted to do and stay out of his way.
  • When Sylvester Stallone was not on set, George P. Cosmatos acted like a tyrannical person to the cast and crew which rubbed many people the wrong way including Brian Thompson, who Cosmatos said to him “If you had listened to me, you would’ve had a better performance” which he didn’t take too kindly to. Thompson referred to him as a “pale chain smoker”.
  • There were plans to do a sequel, which never materialized.
  • The Night Slasher does not reveal the motivation for the murders until his final scenes. The motivation amounts to “Social Darwinism”, a belief that “survival of the fittest” translates to the strong having to dominate or eliminate the weak. More accurately, the application of the phrase in the Darwinian evolutionary theory means that organisms benefit from having phenotypic characteristics that enhance survival and reproduction. The survivors are often better able to adapt to changing conditions, they do not have to be stronger than other organisms.

Repo Man (1984)

• Directed and Written by Alex Cox
  • Sid and Nancy
  • Repo Chick
  • Wrote Fear and Loathing in Lost Vegas
• Starring Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, and Olivia Barash.
• Budget of 1.5 million and box office of 3.7 million.
• Trivia
  • No special effects were used to make the Chevy Malibu glow while parked at the repossession lot. Instead, the car was completely coated with 3M reflective paint, at an approximate price of $600 per bucket.
  • The company that makes the “xmas tree” air fresheners was one of the sponsors of the movie.
  • Harry Dean Stanton wanted to do a ‘baseball-type signal’ to Emilio Estevez in a scene where he had to show him where to park a car. Cox – a notorious sports-hater – refused the suggestion. According to Alex Cox on the DVD commentary, Stanton lost his temper: “I’ve worked with the greatest directors of all time. Francis Ford Coppola. Monte Hellman. You know why they’re great? Because they let me do whatever the fuck I wanted!”
  • Alex Cox visited Iggy Pop personally at his apartment, to explain the movie to him and request that he do a song for the soundtrack. Iggy’s career was going through a rough patch at that point – prompted in part by the singer’s ‘wild lifestyle’ – and he needed some money and breathing space. It also helped that Cox gave Iggy carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with the song. “It was like a gift from God to express myself,” said Iggy of the opportunity.
  • The Repo Man’s code is based on an amalgamation of wisdom given to Alex Cox when he was serving in real life as a repo man.
  • Agent Rogersz is supposed to have a cybernetic, metallic arm. Due to the low budget of the film, the producers were unable to come up with a convincing prop arm. Her arm in the film appears to be nothing more than a glove made out of metallic-threaded cloth. The cheap effect confused numerous viewers as to why other characters in the film were so fascinated by her “glove”.
  • Lance Henriksen was a front runner for the part of the lobotomized driver of the Chevy Malibu. Dennis Hopper was considered for the role of Bud, but his erratic behavior at the time ultimately made him unsuitable for the part.
  • Graffiti behind the punks dancing in the alley says “Circle Jerks”, which is the name of the band which appears later in the film.
  • Alex Cox: on a bench watching the Rodriguez brothers steal a car.

Young guns (1988)

• Directed by Christopher Cain
  • The Principal
  • The Next Karate Kid
  • Gone Fishing
• Starring Emilio Estevez, Jack Palance, Keifer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dermot Mulroney, Charlie Sheen, and Terrance Stamp.
• Budget of 11 Million and Box office of 56 million
  • At night, the actors would actually get together to play music and sing. When they were drunk, they’d make Lou Diamond Phillips sing “La Bamba”, as he had played Ritchie Valens in La Bamba (1987).
  • Like virtually all movies about the events surrounding the Lincoln County War, John Tunstall is depicted as an older, sophisticated man. Tunstall was 24 when he was murdered, younger than most of the Regulators. Josiah “Doc” Scurlock was 31 at the time of Tunstall’s murder, and Richard “Dick” Brewer was 27. Only 20-year-old Billy the Kid was younger.
  • Emilio Estevez was very depressed throughout the shoot because he had recently broken up with his girlfriend. One night, Lou Diamond Phillips decided to play a prank on him in an effort to cheer him up. Phillips had the wardrobe department put make-up on a sheep, dress it up, and put it in Emilio’s room.
  • In one scene, Billy reads a report that claims he is a lefty, and replies, “I ain’t left-handed.” This is a reference to films, books, and media wrongly claiming Billy the Kid was left-handed based on a tintype photograph of him. Tintypes produce a reversed image, making Billy look like he used his left hand to shoot.
  • Some of the actors rode so fast that Christopher Cain yelled at them for being dangerous. Lou Diamond Phillips recalled, “It was the one day when he sort of chastised us for being young.”
  • Fans often ask the actors if they really did peyote. It was actually cream of mushroom soup.
  • In the final battle, on a day he wasn’t shooting, Emilio Estevez dressed as a bad guy and fought along with them.
  • Dialogue by Casey Siemaszko’s character is sampled in the 1994 hip-hop song “Regulate” by Warren G and Nate Dogg,. According to the DVD commentary, Siemaszko had no clue that had happened and had never heard of the song.
  • Tom Cruise was in one of the shootouts in which his character was killed. The actor was on set accidentally and asked to be in the film because he had never taken part in a western movie and he was really excited to try.
  • The cast joked around all the time, including making fun of how Charlie Sheen pronounced “Billay”.
  • In a recent Michael Rosenbaum “Inside of You” Podcast Kiefer Sutherland admitted the first thing the studio shot for this movie was the trailer. (Which of course means the trailer featured scenes not actually in the movie). Sutherland said back in the 80s that was pretty standard.
  • In real life, “Dirty” Steve Stephens survived the Lincoln County War. He left Lincoln after the conflict, announcing his intention to relocate to Denver, Colorado, then disappeared. His ultimate fate and final resting place remain unknown.
  • Charlie Bowdre was a real historical figure. In the movie, he dies. In real life, he survived until a gunfight at Stinking Springs, New Mexico that was depicted in Young Guns II (1990). He was laid to rest in the old Fort Sumner Cemetery. Seven months later, Billy the Kid was laid to rest beside him and Tom O’Folliard.
  • Dick Brewer is shot in the stomach during the shoot-out with Buckshot Roberts. In reality, the top of his head was blown off. Almost everything else about the shoot-out is true, other than Doc being shot in the hand and Roberts taking refuge in an outhouse. In reality, George Coe’s finger was shot off, and Roberts (who was gravely wounded by a shot to the gut that started the gunfight) was hiding in a small home.

Heathers (1989)

• Directed by Michael Lehmann
  • Hudson Hawk
  • Airheads
  • My Gian
  • 40 days and 40 nights
• Starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, and Lisanne Falk.
• Budget of 3 million and box office of 1.1 million
• Trivia
  • The same week Winona Ryder received the script, a student from her high school committed suicide, which only inspired her more to do the film.
  • Winona Ryder’s agent begged her not to be in the movie, stating her “career would be over.”
  • Shannen Doherty had problems saying the profanities in the script because of her conservative upbringing. She couldn’t keep a straight face. As a result, she smirks when she says, “Veronica, why are you pulling my dick?”
  • It was Tori Spelling, who had seen Shannen Doherty in this film, who recommended to her father Aaron Spelling that Shannen be cast in his new show about high school Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990).
  • Brad Pitt auditioned for the role of J.D. He was rejected because he was considered “too nice.” Brad Pitt would later star with Christian Slater in Interview With The Vampire and True Romance.
  • A 2014 Entertainment Weekly retrospective revealed that the original read-through of the script with the producers was held with Dana Delany playing Veronica Sawyer and Brad Pitt as J.D. During subsequent casting, Shannen Doherty was first interested in playing Veronica but Winona Ryder had already been cast. Producers wanted Doherty to audition to play Heather Chandler but Doherty preferred the part of Heather Duke and was eventually cast in that role. (Dana Delaney was in her 30s at the time and was about to be cast in a recurring role in 30something so that really wouldn’t have worked!)
  • Johnny Depp was considered for the role of J.D. However, He would later have a relationship with Winona Ryder and they would appear together in Edward Scissorhands.
  • D. tricks Veronica into killing the jocks by claiming to use “ich luge” bullets, which he claims only pierce the skin. “Ich lüge” is German for “I lie” or “I’m lying”. Right before he tells her this, he asks if she knows German.
  • Winona Ryder claims that she has many favorite moments from the film. The one that usually comes to mind is when she is walking up the hill after seeing JD in the cow-tipping scene. In the background, just barely visible, Heather McNamara is being date raped by one of the jocks. Ryder says the scene is so subversive and dark that once you notice it, you can’t stop thinking about it.
  • The priest at the funerals is Otho (William Glenn Shadix). He and Winona Ryder were in Beetlejuice together.

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

• Directed by John Carpenter
  • Halloween
  • The Fog
  • They Live
  • Escape from New York
• Starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, Victor Wong, and James Hong.
• Budget of 19 million and Box office of 11.1 million
• Trivia
  • Kurt Russell confessed on the DVD commentary that he was afraid of starring in the movie because he had made a string of movies that flopped at the box office. When he asked John Carpenter about it, he told Kurt that it didn’t matter to him – he just wanted to make the movie with him.
  • The Chinese characters in the main title translate to “Evil Spirits Make a Big Scene in Little Spiritual State.”
  • John Carpenter envisioned the film as an inverse of traditional scenarios in action films with a Caucasian protagonist helped by a minority sidekick. Jack Burton, despite his bravado, is constantly portrayed as rather bumbling; in one fight sequence he even knocks himself unconscious before the fight begins. Wang Chi, on the other hand, is constantly portrayed as highly skilled and competent.
  • Kurt Russell suffered a bad case of the flu during the scene just after the brothel, so the sweat on his body is real, caused by the fever.
  • Jackie Chan was John Carpenter’s first choice to play Wang Chi, but producer Lawrence Gordon was highly against it, fearing Chan’s English wasn’t good enough after seeing his performances in Battle Creek Brawl (1980) and The Protector (1985), but Carpenter wanted Chan after the success of Police Story (1985). Chan declined and Dennis Dun was cast instead.
  • John Carpenter and Kurt Russell explain on the audio commentary that the test screening was so overwhelmingly positive, that both of them expected it to be a big hit. However, 20th Century Fox put little into promoting the movie, and it ended up being a box-office bomb. In addition, the film was released in the midst of the hype for Aliens (1986), which was released sixteen days afterwards. However, it went on to be a huge cult hit through home video. Carpenter and Russell explained that the reason the studio did little to promote the film, was because they simply didn’t know how to promote it.
  • According to John Carpenter in the DVD commentary, Carter Wong, who plays Thunder, worked as a martial arts instructor with the Hong Kong Police.
  • Although Kurt Russell was John Carpenter’s only choice for the lead role, the studio suggested Jack Nicholson or Clint Eastwood. Once they proved unavailable, Carpenter was able to cast Russell.
  • The martial arts sequences were not hard for Dennis Dun who had “dabbled” in training as a kid and done Chinese opera as an adult. He was drawn to the portrayal of Asian characters in the movie as he said, “I’m seeing Chinese actors getting to do stuff that American movies usually don’t let them do. I’ve never seen this type of role for an Asian in an American film.”
  • Regarding the ornate Lo Pan marriage scene towards the end of the film, “That whole set with the mouth, coming down the steps of the escalator, it was very dangerous,” James Hong revealed. “It was a very narrow escalator, and I was on lifts, 12-inch lifts. All of a sudden, John said, ‘We don’t have time, we’ve got to do it right away.’ I said, ‘Can’t you get a stunt man, get George Cheung, he’s my stunt man.’ He said, ‘No, no, you just got to step in.’ So, with that long robe, I tried to put it over the lifts, and when I stepped on just the part before you go down, the real escalator, I said, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be my last scene.’ … It looked like I was fierce, but I was trembling. That’s the way it was, everything had to be real.”
  • The studio felt that Kurt Russell was an up-and-coming star. Russell was initially not interested because he felt there were “a number of different ways to approach Jack, but I didn’t know if there was a way that would be interesting enough for this movie.” After talking to John Carpenter, and reading the script a couple more times, he gained insight into the character and liked the notion of playing “a hero who has so many faults. Jack is and isn’t the hero. He falls on his ass as much as he comes through. This guy is a real blowhard. He’s a lot of hot air, very self-assured, a screw-up.” Russell also commented; “at heart he thinks he’s Indiana Jones, but the circumstances are always too much for him.”
  • The movie was parodied in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: A Chinatown Ghost Story (2014), an episode of the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They even had James Hong provide the voice of a near carbon copy of Lo Pan named Ho Chan.
  • Zach Braff went as Jack Burton to Kate Hudson’s 2014 Halloween party and ran into Kurt Russell. They posed for a photo.
  • In the DVD commentary, John Carpenter jokingly says that Kurt Russell’s character Jack Burton is the hero of the movie, but other than killing Lo Pan, and saving Wang when he shoots the guard, he is more of a sidekick throughout the movie.
  • The lipstick coming off of Kim Cattrall and onto Kurt Russell wasn’t a planned joke, but something they improvised when they saw the makeup used on the actress came off so easily. Carpenter notes this is just another example of how certain actors won’t let themselves look like a fool and why Russell was such a perfect choice for the Jack Burton role.

Stand by Me (1986)

• Directed by Rob Reiner
  • Few Good Men
  • This is Spinal Tap
  • Ghosts of Mississippi
• Starring Will Wheaton, River Phoenix, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell
• Budget of 8 million and box of 52 million
• Trivia
  • After director Rob Reiner screened the movie for Stephen King, he noticed that King was visibly shaking and wasn’t speaking. He left the room and upon his return, told Reiner that the movie was the best adaptation of his work he had ever seen.
  • In the campfire scene in which Chris breaks down, Rob Reiner was sure River Phoenix could do better. He asked him to think of a time in his own life when an adult had let him down and use it in the scene, which Phoenix did. Upset and crying, he had to be comforted by the director afterwards. The result of Phoenix’s exercise is the scene that ended up in the final cut.
  • Kiefer Sutherland claimed in an interview that in one of the locations of the film, a Renaissance Fair was being held and the cast and crew attended and bought some cookies. Unfortunately, the cookies turned out to be laced with pot and two hours later, the crew found Jerry O’Connell high and crying somewhere in the park.
  • The pond the boys fall into was a man-made pool because the crew wanted them to be “safe and secure” and did not want to put them in a real pond because they did not know what would be in it. However, Corey Feldman stated in an interview that the joke of the whole thing was the pool was built, buried and filled with water in the beginning of June and by time they got to film the scene, it was the end of August. So it had been out in the woods for three months and they did not know what was in it anyway.
  • Corey Feldman has stated in several interviews that of all the characters he’s played, Teddy was actually the closest to his personality and personal life at the time.
  • In the scene where Gordie and Chris race each other through the junkyard, Wil Wheaton could run faster than River Phoenix but Wheaton’s character was supposed to lose. Wheaton had to fake a fast run when running slow so that Phoenix’s character would win.
  • While practicing his lines, Jerry O’Connell was impressed that, as an 11-year old, he was being allowed to swear.
  • Director Rob Reiner had trouble casting the role of “The Writer,” first casting David Dukes, then going to Michael McKean, among others, before finally settling on high school friend Richard Dreyfuss.
  • he late Michael Jackson was asked to do a cover of the late Ben E. King’s song, “Stand by Me,” for the movie; Rob Reiner, in the end, thought the original version better suited the movie.
  • Rob Reiner credits much of his success with his cast to the fact that he had been an actor himself. Wil Wheaton said he did not realize it at the time, but that the experience of working with Reiner taught him the meaning of the term “an actor’s director.” In the making-of documentary, Kiefer Sutherland said of Reiner, “Because he’s so proficient as an actor, he can allow you to discover a moment when in fact he’s telling it to you
  • Sean Astin said he auditioned for the role of Chris right after River Phoenix had done his audition. When Astin walked into the room, he said he knew that he had no chance because he saw the filmmakers were choked up and holding back tears, meaning Phoenix had just nailed his audition. Astin said he was equally impressed by Phoenix’s performance when he saw the film, and agreed that Phoenix was the right actor for the part.
  • Wil Wheaton, who played writer Gordie Lachance as a youth, would grow up to author a half-dozen books himself.