Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1986 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. It was also the start to a major shift in cultural and societal norms, and some of those still reverberate to this day.
We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly four dozen.
Yes, we’re insane, but 1986 was that great of a year for film.
The articles will come out – in most cases – on the same day the films hit theaters in 1986 so that it is their true 40th anniversary. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory. In some cases, it truly will be the first time we’ve seen them.
This time around, it’s April 11, 1986, and we’re off to see A Room With a View, Band of the Hand, Critters, and Off Beat.
A Room With a View
The movie that truly kicked off the quiet British film empire of Merchant Ivory.
Based on the 1908 novel of the same name, Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) and her cousin/chaperone Charlotte Bartlett (Maggie Smith) holiday in Florence when they meet Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliott) and his son George (Julian Sands). What starts off as a chance encounter completely changes the course of Lucy’s life.
I can not remember the last time I was this bored during a movie.
The acting was fine, but the story was far too drawn out, and I could only take so much of the British poshness where everything must be interpreted and people appear to be rich for the sake of being rich. If this is your cup of tea, enjoy away. I will be quite glad to never watch this snoozefest again.
Band of the Hand
What if the Suicide Squad was just Miami teen criminals?
Five juvenile delinquents are forced into a program led by a Vietnam veteran Native American named “Indian Joe” Tegra (Stephen Lang). The plan is to train them to survive and then move into the roughest part of Miami to start trying to take back the streets.
To be fair, that is about 20% of the plot of this film because it just keeps expanding and adding unnecessary layers that it feels like no idea was rejected during filming. For instance, when Nikki (Lauren Holly) goes to the crime lord to learn what’s happened to everyone, she is sent to his room for sex where she is seemingly hypnotized by a voodoo alter in the closet because… of course?
Every minute of this movie feels like a side-story to an episode of Miami Vice, and considering Michael Mann was involved in the film, that’s not that surprising.
The story is a mess. The acting is sloppy from most involved. The only redeeming feature of the movie is it is so 80s in its style it feels like an infomercial for the decade. Watch for the fashion, but keep the audio off.
Critters
Hollywood did seem to love small monsters in the 1980s, and it’s not exactly clear why.
An asteroid prison is receiving a delivery of Krites – little aliens with rows of teeth – that manage to escape and hijack a ship. As they make their escape, two shape-shifting bounty hunters chase after them with everyone arriving on Earth. The Krites infest a secluded farm and begin terrorizing a family and small town as the bounty hunters pursue them, tryin to kill all of the pesky alien creatures.
While very much a B-movie throwback to the 1950s, it’s a fun little romp that never asks much of its audience. It went on to spawn a couple sequels, but this one in particular is a fun, and quick watch at just 85 minutes. Good if you’re having a creature feature.
Off Beat
Never in a million years would I have guessed I would be watching a movie about dancing cops, but here we are.
Jon Gower (Judge Reinhold) is a librarian and friends with Abe Washington (Cleavant Derricks), a policeman that sometimes works undercover. Following Jon messing up a sting by accident, Abe makes Jon impersonate him at a program to humanize cops by showing off the power of dance. Jon plans to not stick around, but after meeting Rachel Wareham (Meg Tilly), he decides to stick out to get to know her better.
This movie is, well, honestly, way more entertaining than I would have guessed. By no means am I saying it’s great, but it kept me entertained for 92 minutes. Seeing as I have never even heard of it – and it co-stars the likes of John Turturro, Harvey Keitel, and Joe Mantegna – I was blown away this movie has flown so far under the radar.
Worth a watch. You won’t be gobsmacked by it, but it’s an enjoyable little dramedy.
1986 Movie Reviews will continue on April 18, 2026, with At Close Range, Desert Bloom, and Murphy’s Law.