Image credit: DEG, Orion Pictures, Les Films du Griffon, Apollo Pictures, New World Pictures, Hemdale, Springvale Productions, Vestron Pictures, Cinepro
Surprisingly enough, the '80s were a golden era for post-apocalyptic movies, often overshadowed by blockbuster hits like "Mad Max" or "The Terminator."
Here are some of the lesser-known 80s films about Apocalypse that still make an entertaining watch in 2023.
1. "Radioactive Dreams" (1985) Philip and Marlowe were just kids when nuclear war broke out. Raised in a fallout shelter with a stash of pulp novels, these guys emerge 15 years later as would-be detectives in a world gone mad. They're naive as hell, unaware that their prized possession – two keys – could launch some nukes.
The duo gets caught up with cannibals and mutated creatures while bumbling their way through this new world, trying to stop another apocalypse.
2. "Cherry 2000" (1987) This one's got a killer premise: In the future, people have robot spouses. When Sam's Cherry 2000 model short-circuits, he goes to great lengths to find a replacement, hiring a tough-as-nails tracker named Edith. They travel through a wasteland full of trigger-happy scavengers to get to an abandoned factory filled with Cherry 2000s. Along the way, Sam realizes he's falling for Edith, not the android.
3. "Dead End Drive-In" (1986) Imagine being trapped in a drive-in theater that's become a concentration camp. That's the life for Crabs, a young man who just wanted a fun night out.
When the tires of his '56 Chevy are stolen, he's stuck in a drive-in where society's "undesirables" are kept docile with junk food and B-movies. Crabs doesn't take this lying down. He starts planning his escape, involving lots of pyrotechnics and a crazy car chase through the encampment.
4. "Steel Dawn" (1987) If you blended a samurai movie with a Western and set it after the end of the world, you'd get "Steel Dawn." Patrick Swayze plays Nomad, a warrior roaming the desert. He ends up defending a group of settlers from an evil warlord named Damnil. Nomad goes full Clint Eastwood, training the settlers and setting up traps.
When Damnil kidnaps the settler leader's son, Nomad goes on a one-man rescue mission, slicing through Damnil's goons like a hot knife through butter.
5. "The Quiet Earth" (1985) Imagine waking up to find that you're the last person on Earth – no zombies, no raiders, just empty streets. That's what happens to Zac, a scientist in New Zealand. He eventually finds two other survivors, Joanne and Api. The trio discovers that they're alive because they died at the precise moment of a scientific experiment gone wrong, which wiped out humanity. Together, they try to reverse the experiment.
6. "Miracle Mile" (1988) Harry picks up a ringing payphone and hears a panicked voice saying nuclear missiles are minutes from hitting LA. He thinks it's a prank – until he doesn't. Panicked, Harry rushes to find Julie, the woman he just fell head over heels for.
The city turns into mayhem as word spreads. Harry and Julie fight through traffic jams, crazed looters, and their own growing despair as they try to reach a helicopter to escape.
7. "Hell Comes to Frogtown" (1988) Rowdy Roddy Piper plays Sam Hell, a man with a very particular asset in a world where most men are sterile – he's fertile. Captured by a group of militant nurses, he's sent on a mission to rescue fertile women from humanoid frog mutants. Yes, this is that kind of movie.
Strapped with an explosive chastity belt to ensure he completes the mission, Hell battles through Frogtown with Spangle, his keeper, to save the women and, well, propagate.
8. "2019: After the Fall of New York" (1983) Blatantly ripping off "Escape from New York," this Italian film oozes campy charm.
Parsifal, a survivor, is chosen to rescue the last fertile woman on Earth, hidden somewhere in the ruins of NYC. Aiding him are Ratchet, a mechanic, and Bronx, a warrior. They face cannibals, mutants, and cyborgs on their quest, enduring bizarre traps like a "snakes and ladders" game of death. Parsifal even loses an eye but gains a fancy eyepatch, making him a dead ringer for Snake Plissken.
9. "World Gone Wild" (1987) Set 2087, water is the most valuable resource, and a peaceful settlement called Lost Wells has plenty of it. Enter Derek Abernathy, a messianic villain who wants to poison the water supply with alcohol to control the people. The settlement hires a mercenary, George Landon, to protect them.
A showdown becomes inevitable, complete with rigged explosives, booby traps, and a climactic duel between Landon and Abernathy.
10. "Wired to Kill" (1986) "Home Alone" in a post-apocalyptic setting. After a gang kills his family and leaves him injured, a teenage genius named Steve decides to take matters into his own hands. Using his knack for gadgets, he turns his home into a fortress of traps, armed with a remote-controlled robot armed with a crossbow and other lethal gizmos.
