9 Forgotten '80s Comedies That Have Aged Like Milk

Published Sep 7, 2026, 1:14 PM EDT Michael Block is a 14 time GLAM Award nominated writer, producer, and host of the podcast Block Talk. Throughout his time in the entertainment industry, he has worked on and off Broadway as a stage manager, written several produced plays, critiqued hundreds of theatrical performances, drag and cabaret shows, and has produced events randing from drag competitoons to variety concerts! On Block Talk, he interviews nightlife personalities, covers the wide world of entertainment through features, ranking episodes, and recaps ALL of Drag Race, as well as Dragula and Survivor. He has interviewed hundreds of RuGirls that span the globe at DragCon NYC, DragCon LA, and DragCon UK. In his free time, he makes one-of-a-kind jewelry and gift baskets with his mom. He is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. Sign in to your Collider account The 1980's were a wild time. The neon-drenched decade was filled with the rise of music videos, totally tubular fashion, and decisions you could absolutely not get away with today. In the world of movies, the '80s gifted the world some fantastic films, from franchise-establishing juggernauts to teen-centric films that made us nostalgic for the good ol' days. But then, there were those films that, looking back, make us cringe. There were certainly some '80s classics that have not aged well that we fondly remember, like Revenge of the Nerds and Porky's, but there is a whole category of titles that have largely been forgotten with time. This list is honoring them. Well, not honoring, but reminding us why they have fallen into oblivion. From uncouth topics to truly ridiculous premises, these '80s comedies are a wild bunch. These films, to put it bluntly, have aged like milk. 'Blame It on Rio' (1984) Image via 20th Century Fox History has proven that age-gap relationships can be socially touchy, but they tend to center on adults of legal age. Maybe in the '80s Blame It on Rio got away with it, but by today's standards, it's a bit icky. Directed by Stanley Donen and based on the French film Un moment d'egarement, Blame It on Rio is a romantic comedy that follows longtime friends and co-workers Matthew Hollis (Michael Caine) and Victor Lyons (Joseph Bologna) take a trip to Rio de Janeiro with Matthew's wife Karen (Valerie Harper) their teenage daughters, Nikki Hollis (Demi Moore) and Jennifer Lyons (Michelle Johnson). When Karen decides to head to Bahia instead, it's just the quartert. What happens in Rio doesn't stay in Rio, as Matthew and Jennifer embark on a line-crossing secret physical relationship. Chaos ensues when Victor cluelessly discovers his daughter is seeing an older mystery man who just happens to be his best friend. Chaos ensues when they track down the lover. A deeply problematic film, Blame It on Rio relies on an uncomfortable affair that is meant to be a lighthearted farce. The premise of a middle-aged man engaging in an affair with a 17-year-old is quite cringe. Rather than leading with Matthew's marital strife as to why the relationship began, the difficult comedic premise took control. With no moral gravity, what was meant to be a screwball comedy was epically tone deaf. Michelle is in full pursuit, and the sex jokes become the entire focus. Despite a talented ensemble, the weak writing couldn't elevate the creepy comedy. Blame It on Rio is a messy comedy that luckily didn't tank any of the stars' careers, all of whom put this film in the rearview mirror. At least the film had a decent soundtrack! 'Earth Girls Are Easy' (1988) Image via Vestron Pictures What Earth Girls Are Easy does extraordinarily well is celebrate camp at full force. But that doesn't mean it's not an uncomfortable comedy to watch back today. Directed by Julien Temple, the film is based on Julie Brown's song of the same name. The vibrant sci-fi romantic musical comedy follows Valerie (Geena Davis), a manicurist in the San Fernando Valley. After catching her two-timing doctor fiancé (Charles Rocket) cheating on her, Valerie is joined by three colorful, furry extraterrestrials—Mac (Jeff Goldblum), Zeebo (Jim Carrey), and Wiploc (Damon Wayans)— who lose control of their ship and splash right into Valerie's pool. After a human transformation, the trio begins to take in pop culture and hit the town as chaos ensues. An out-of-this-world romance, Earth Girls Are Easy is a hilariously jarring romp with iconic musical numbers, before-they-were-stars performances, and a premise that is simply ridiculously cheesy. Matching the bright and bubbly tune, Earth Girls Are Easy meanders through its story, with clashing moments making up a highlight reel of silliness. Earth Girls Are Easy goes full-blown adult-oriented sex farce, using tired tropes about gender, intercourse, and regional stereotypes to ensure the comedy is non-stop. At its core, the message celebrates how extreme physical makeovers dictate beauty standards. Earth Girls Are Easy is drenched in neon-soaked aesthetics, tacky decor, big hair, and exaggerated fashion that make the film a time capsule product. At the end of the day, it’s an incredibly dated film, but fun nevertheless. How this film hasn't made it to Broadway is beyond me. 'Hot Dog...The Movie' (1984) Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Sex comedies were all the rage in the ‘80s. This meant it was an oversaturated genre where only the greats made it out of the decade. That was not the case for Hot Dog…The Movie. Directed by Peter Markle and written by ski filmmaker Mike Marvin, the cult classic comedy centers around Idaho farm boy Harkin Banks (Patrick Houser), who travels to Squaw Valley, California, to prove his freestyle skiing skills. He classes with Rudi Garmisch (John Patrick Reger), an arrogant Austrian champion, while striking up a romance with a hitchhiker named Sunny (Tracy Smith) and being pursued by Sylvia Fonda (Shannon Tweed), Rudi's glamorous ex-girlfriend. Meanwhile, Hardin joins the ragtag group of misfits and partiers known as the "Rat Pack". Known for its raunchy, dated humor, Hot Dog…The Movie relies on a thin underdog premise where raunchiness reigns supreme. Like many movies of the time, the film isn’t necessarily original. Its unique premise stems from its ski-slope setting. It borrows blatant cultural stereotypes, casual sexism, and racial caricatures. Pointing at you, Kendo "Kamikaze" Yamamoto (James Saito). While the skiing elements are actually quite top-tier, to reach that action choreography, you have to sit through uncouth comedy. To watch a scene where a woman is passed out on the floor to which a character jokes, "Now that's a girl i can really take advantage of," you might not fathom how t was ever filmed. If you’re eager to understand the ‘80s sex romp mindset as to why films went full tilt on gratuitous nudity and soft-core sex scenes, including a lowbrow wet t-shirt contest, Hot Dog…The Movie should be viewed for research purposes. That’s about it. 'Johnny Be Good' (1988) Image via Orion Pictures We've seen in the world of college football the wild lengths universities have legally gone to recruit stars. Johnny Be Good went the opposite direction. In a film that doesn't hold up well by today's standards, top high school quarterback Johnny Walker (Anthony Michael Hall) is pursued by many elite colleges, which offer extravagant illegal gifts, ranging from cold, hard cash, free cars, booze, and yes, women. His best friend, Leo Wiggins (Robert Downey Jr.), advises him to go for the biggest payout while his girlfriend, Georgia Elkans (Uma Thurman), wants him to stay local and attend the free state college. But he may not even have a choice when the NCAA begins to investigate him. A silly sports satire where morality is immediately out the window, Johnny Be Good is a generic comedic offshoot that wastes its future high-caliber talent. Trying to capitalize on the Brat Pack made perfect sense. Unfortunately, when scripts are rushed, they flop. Such is the case for Johnny Be Good. The Bud S. Smith-directed film miscasts the lovable nerd as a football star, overshadowed by a thin script. In an attempt to lampoon the high-stakes world of college recruitment, Johnny Be Good relies on easy tropes, like locker room talk that reads like low-hanging fruit, in hopes they land. Though Johnny does seek redemption in hopes of taking control of his life, the journey to that point is a sluggish sludge. In the end, Johnny Be Good is anything but. It's a clumsy comedy that has largely been forgotten on the resumes of its big stars. 'Mannequin' (1987) Image via 20th Century Fox Some plots are so absurd, you question how they received the green light. And yet, that absurdity led to a magically ridiculous film that became a cult classic. In the 1987 fantasy comedy Mannequin, Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy), a struggling artist, earns a job as a window dresser at Princ and Company after he crafts a beautiful female mannequin. Suddenly, the mannequin comes to life under the guise of ancient Egyptian princess Ema "Emmy" Hesire (Kim Cattrall). To save the failing store, Jonathan and fellow window-dresser Hollywood Montrose (Meshach Taylor) craft dazzling displays, only to have them sabotaged by store manager Mr. Richards (James Spader) and bumbling security guard Captain Felix Maxwell (G.W. Bailey). An utterly ridiculous and cheesy slapstick comedy, Mannequin is the epitome of lacking logic. A wild romance that requires an abundance of disbelief, Mannequin is as ridiculous as it sounds. Not every movie has to thrive on logic, but establishing a clear set of universal rules is necessary. That comes into play as only Jonathan can see Emmy in "human" form, which leads to over-the-top reactions from the ensemble. No one questions the magical dummy, allowing the story to just trudge along. The film also features some unfortunate '80s tropes, including persistent and unwanted coworker advances, especially toward Roxie Shield (Carole Davis). Further, Taylor plays Hollywood with a dated, broadly stroked flamboyance that makes his character a stereotype to the max. Through a synth-heavy soundtrack and weak visual effects, Mannequin is a product of its time. Though there was a sequel, it's shocking no one has officially made a reboot. Collider Exclusive · Oscar Best Picture Quiz Which Oscar Best PictureIs Your Perfect Movie? Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one. 🪜Parasite 🌀Everything Everywhere ☢️Oppenheimer 🐦Birdman 🪙No Country for Old Men FIND YOUR FILM → 01 What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don't just entertain — they leave something behind. ASomething that pulls the rug out — that makes me think I'm watching one kind of film and then reveals I'm watching another entirely. BSomething overwhelming — funny, sad, absurd, and genuinely moving, all at once. CSomething grand and weighty — a film that makes me feel the full scale of what I'm watching. DSomething formally daring — a film that pushes what cinema can even do. ESomething lean and relentless — pure tension with no wasted frame. NEXT QUESTION → 02 Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What's yours? AClass, inequality, and what people are willing to do when desperation meets opportunity. BIdentity, family, and the chaos of trying to hold your life together when everything is falling apart. CGenius, moral responsibility, and the catastrophic weight of a decision you can never take back. DEgo, legacy, and the terror of becoming irrelevant while you're still alive to watch it happen. EEvil, chance, and whether moral order actually exists or if we just tell ourselves it does. NEXT QUESTION → 03 How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means. AGenre-twisting — I want it to start in one lane and migrate into something completely different. BMaximalist and genre-blending — comedy, action, drama, sci-fi, all in one ride. CEpic and non-linear — cutting between timelines, building a mosaic of cause and consequence. DA single unbroken flow — I want to feel like I'm living it in real time, no cuts to safety. ESpare and precise — every scene doing exactly what it needs to do and nothing more. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you? AA system — invisible, structural, and almost impossible to fight because it has no single face. BThe self — the ways we sabotage, abandon, and fail the people we love most. CHistory — the unstoppable momentum of events that no single person can stop or redirect. DThe industry — the machinery of culture that chews up talent and spits out irrelevance. EPure, implacable evil — a force so certain of itself it becomes almost philosophical. NEXT QUESTION → 05 What do you want from a film's ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like? AShock and inevitability — a conclusion that recontextualises everything that came before it. BEarned emotion — I want to cry, laugh, and feel genuinely hopeful, even if the world is a mess. CDevastation and grandeur — an ending that makes me sit in silence for a few minutes after. DAmbiguity — something that leaves enough open that I'm still thinking about it days later. EBleakness — an honest refusal to pretend the world is tidier than it actually is. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what's even possible. AA gleaming modern city with a hidden underside — beauty masking rot, wealth masking desperation. BA collapsing suburban life that opens onto something infinite — the multiverse of a single ordinary person. CThe corridors of power and science at a world-historical turning point — where decisions echo for decades. DThe grimy, alive chaos of New York and Hollywood — fame as both destination and trap. EVast, indifferent landscape — desert and highway where violence arrives without warning or reason. NEXT QUESTION → 07 What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable. AProduction design and mise-en-scène — every frame composed to carry meaning beneath the surface. BEditing and tonal control — the ability to move between registers without losing the audience. CScore and sound design — music that becomes inseparable from the dread and awe of what you're watching. DCinematography as performance — the camera not recording events but participating in them. ESilence and restraint — what's left unsaid and unshown doing more work than any dialogue could. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you. ASomeone smart and resourceful who makes increasingly dangerous decisions under pressure. BSomeone overwhelmed and ordinary who turns out to be capable of something extraordinary. CA brilliant, tortured figure whose gifts and flaws are inseparable from each other. DA self-destructive artist whose ego is both their superpower and their undoing. EA quiet, principled person trying to make sense of a world that has stopped making sense. NEXT QUESTION → 09 How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately. AI love a slow build when I know the payoff is going to be seismic — patience for a devastating reveal. BGive me relentless momentum — I want to feel breathless and emotionally spent by the end. CEpic runtime doesn't scare me — if the material demands three hours, give me three hours. DI want it to feel propulsive even when nothing is technically happening — restless energy throughout. EDeliberate and unhurried — I want dread to accumulate in the spaces between the action. NEXT QUESTION → 10 What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want? AUnsettled — like I've just seen something I can't fully explain but can't stop thinking about. BMoved and energised — like the film reminded me what actually matters and gave me something to hold onto. CHumbled — like I've been in the presence of something genuinely important and overwhelming. DExhilarated — like I've just seen cinema doing something it's never quite done before. EHaunted — like a cold, quiet dread that stays with me for days. REVEAL MY FILM → The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is…Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works. ParasiteYou are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it's ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image. Everything Everywhere All at OnceYou want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn't want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it's about. OppenheimerYou are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort. BirdmanYou are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it's about. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor's ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn't be possible. Michael Keaton's performance and Emmanuel Lubezki's restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all. No Country for Old MenYou are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'Night Patrol' (1984) Image via New World Pictures If there was ever a film that demeaned police in a truly embarrassing manner, look no further than Night Patrol. A far cry from the brilliance that was The Naked Gun or Police Academy, the 1984 comedy follows a bumbling, accident-prone police officer named Mevin White (Murray Langston), who moonlights as "The Unknown Comic," who wears a paper bag over his head during his act. When a criminal wearing an identical paper bag starts robbing local bars, Melvin must clear his name as the police squad tracks down the imposter. A fast-paced, moan-inducing spoof of the police, Night Patrol desperately tried to be like its spoof peers, but flopped in the process. The entire premise of the film revolved around Langston's persona from The Gong Show. Directed by Jackie Kong, Night Patrol was filled with juvenile humor, terrible storytelling, and poorly crafted characters. If you think flatulent humor is the source of comedic genius, you will love its usage revolving around Captain Lewis (Billy Barty). He was furious as the sound effects were added during post-production in a last-ditch hope for humor. The entire script was littered with dated, painfully obnoxious, and ill-timed jokes that were stale. Even with the likes of Linda Blair and Pat Morita, there was no saving Night Patrol, which never lived up to its predecessors. The only thing that it's remembered for is its Razzies. 'She's Out of Control' (1989) "Sex, sex, sex. Is that all women talk about?" Tony Danza's character says as a means to make the action happen. Though a story about a father losing her daughter to the birds and the bees seems like the start of a strong comedic premise, the Stan Dragoti-directed coming-of-age film was lambasted by the greatest critics of the time. She's Out of Control follows panicked single father Doug Simpson (Danza), whose daughter Katie (Ami Donlenz) suddenly becomes wildly attractive after a makeover by his girlfriend, Janet (Catherine Hicks). Shocked by her newfound popularity, Doug launches into overprotective father mode. Leaning far too much into sitcom clichés, She's Out of Control fell into the trap of being simply uninspiring with no fulfilling purpose. The idea that a father would be worried about the "dangerous" world of sex for his daughter is an easy storyline. Unfortunately, She's Out of Control took it to the extreme, making Doug and the narrative a tad too creepy. Rather than a wholesome father-daughter story, She's Out of Control lacked realism, leaning on raunchy humor to do the heavy lifting. The story becomes artificial and repetitive quite quickly. Shot in TV-style, She's Out of Control hoped to capitalize on Danza's beloved Who's the Boss, only for it to lack all credibility. The film feels antiquated by today's standards, as policing young women's bodies, especially by parents, is intolerant. 'Soul Man' (1986) Image via New World Pictures If there is a category of film that includes titles that could absolutely not be made today, the '80s comedy that tops the list is Soul Man. The incredibly tone-deaf film stars C. Thomas Howell as Mark Watson, a privileged white college graduate who uses tanning pills and makeup to disguise himself as Black in order to win a full scholarship to Harvard Law School. He experiences casual racism and falls in love with an unsuspecting girl named Sarah Walker (Rae Dawn Chong), only to finally find the guilt in his soul that his selfish stunt is actually quite awful. But not for the reasons you'd assume today. A terrible premise that used blackface for its comedic core, Soul Man was a deeply misguided period film. Directed by Steve Miner and written by Carol L. Black, Soul Man wasn't just built around a taboo; its mission of trying to discuss race was unfortunately minimized by its horrid execution. The film does expose the ridiculous nature of collegiate costs; it simply cannot dismiss the offensive premise. A thin film that shouldn't have survived beyond its ill-conceived pitch, Soul Man minimized the minority experience. Having Sarah, a Black woman, actively unaware that her love interest is actually white, is simply cringe. Especially since Howell's character never fully looked genuinely Black. The film received such backlash that it essentially derailed Howell's rise to stardom. Soul Man is incredibly dehumanizing, told through a white gaze. It's simply a cancelable film. 'Zapped!' (1982) We live in a society where consent is profoundly important, so imagine an '80s comedy in which its absence is used as a humorous device. That's Zapped! The unfortunate teen sex comedy follows nerdy Barney Springboro (Scott Baio), whose science project leads to a freak lab accident that grants him telekinetic powers. Upon learning of his newfound powers, his horny best friend Peyton Nichols (Willie Aames) and class president Berndette (Felice Schacter) encourage him to use it for his own benefit. From cheating at roulette to crudely making women's clothes fly off, Barney must harness his powers before they get out of control. A tonally inconsistent sci-fi comedy, Zapped! relishes in crude, childish humor, with random pranks and sketches that are jarringly mismatched. A poorly constructed coming-of-age film, Zapped! meandered through juvenile gags to make Barney's psychic powers risqué and humorous. Instead, the teen-centric comedy fell flat. Rather than stick with a single narrative device, Zapped! eventually pulls in an exorcism and a teacher getting so high that he hallucinates Albert Einstein (Jan Leighton) riding a bike. Though it's largely '80s-coded with weak humor, the non-consensual moments may have felt like harmless teen antics, but truly led to objectification in the worst ways. The crude gags were so heavy-handed that, by the time it reached the prom scene, it was no longer shocking but overreaching. What could have been a fine parody of films like Carrie and The Exorcist was a bad comedy littered with vulgarity. Zapped! Release Date July 23, 1982 Director Robert J. Rosenthal Writers Bruce Rubin, Robert J. Rosenthal, R.L. Dake Cast Scott Baio Barney Springboro Robert Mandan Walter Johnson Felice Schachter Bernadette