12 Rad ’80s Movies Only Cool Kids Remember

We all remember '80s movie blockbusters, John Hughes classics, and comedy hits that still play today. But here are some '80s movies only cool kids remember.

The Wraith (1986)

Charlie Sheen is best remembered for '80s movies like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Wall Street, but around the same time he made this quietly awesome movie about a mysterious entity — possibly an alien? — that uses a Dodge M4S Turbo Interceptor to fight back against road racing bullies in an isolated Arizona town. Sheen plays mysterious new kid in town Jake.

The totally awesome cast includes a pre-Twin Peaks Sherilyn Fenn as a high schooler who takes an interest in Jake, Randy Quaid as the sheriff, Nick Cassavetes as the main bad guy, and Clint Howard as... "Rughead." If you love desert backroads and fast cars, this is the movie for you. It wasn't a hit but it holds up very well.

License to Drive

Designed as a vehicle (sorry) for the Coreys, pals Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, License to Drive is best remembered today as the breakout role for Heather Graham, who played the movie's '80s dream girl, Mercedes.

Graham recently recalled in a talk at the San Luis Obispo Internationally Film Festival that she was 17 when she was cast in the film. She was surprised by her co-stars' drug use.

“I was super sheltered, and hanging around with kids my age that were doing lots of drugs, that was new for me, because I wasn’t very wild like that,” she said.

She also recalled having a crush on Corey Haim, so their onscreen chemistry (above) was real. The film was a success, earning $22 million on an $8 million budget.

Three O'Clock High (1987)

A box-office disappointment, Three O'Clock High is a kind of high school high noon in which mild-mannered Jerry Mitchell (a pre-Young Guns Casey Siemaszko) accidentally offends new kid Buddy (Richard Tyson), who is rumored to be a dangerous psychopath. When Jerry makes the mistake of touching Buddy, Buddy informs him that they will fight after school — at three o'clock.

Released at a time of comparatively sunny teen '80s movies, Phil Joanou's Three O'Clock High stands out for its dark atmosphere and an ambitious soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.

The film's failure (in theaters) has a silver lining. While he made it, Joanou met U2, who enlisted him to direct their 1988 concert/road movie Rattle and Hum.

Gleaming the Cube (1989)

You know what gleaming the cube means, right? Of course you do — all cool kids do. This skateboarding film, starring Christian Slater (above) as a teen skater investigating the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother, had impressive skating bona fides at a time when skating was really cool.

The film's skating technical advisor was original Z-Boy Stacy Peralta, and skaters featured onscreen included Natas Kaupas,and Tony Hawk.

The title, as we all know, comes from a question asked of skater Neil Blender in a 1983 issue of Thrasher magazine: "Have you ever gleamed inside a cube?" The DVD includes a hidden featurette that explains what "gleaming the cube" means, which of course none of us needed to watch because duh, we already knew. Right?

The film was not a box office success.

Rad (1986)

Like Gleaming the Cube, but with BMX bikes — and Rad got there first. Directed by Smokey and the Bandit mastermind Hal Needham, is about teen racer Cru Jones (Bill Jones) who must decide whether to qualify for Helltrack or take the SAT. He does the right thing.

Along the way he meets a pre-Full House Lori Loughlin, who plays Christian, a young lady so cool she does freestyle bike stunts with him at the prom.

Rad was not a box office success, but cool kids — and rad kids — remember it fondly.

Just One of the Guys

A gender-bender comedy about a female student journalist named Terri Griffith (Joyce Hyser) who goes undercover as a boy to see if she can be accepted as "one of the guys." Lessons are learned, expectations are subverted — and a powerful article is written. Slow clap.

The awesome cast includes Karate Kid villain (and Cobra Kai hero) William Zabka, and, again, Sherilyn Fenn.

The film did decent box office, thanks to cool kids.

Slumber Party Masscare II (1987)

The Slumber Party Massacre movies — there are three — are awesome because they serve as both credible slasher films and parodies of slasher films. All three are written and directed by women, and they're highly aware of the gender dynamics and symbolism in these kinds of movies. (The bad guy's weapon of choice is a drill.)

Slumber Party II is the best because it goes absolutely all out. The sorta rockabilly villain (Atanas Ilitch, above) is an incredibly charismatic cross between Elvis, Michael Jackson and a slew of other music icons, and uses a drill shaped like a guitar and he prances and dances his way through a series of attacks.

All three Slumber Party Massacre movies were profitable because of their very low budgets, though at $500,000, Slumber Party Massacre II was the most expensive, most likely because the villain and effects are so on-point.

Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

Did you seriously think we would include Slumber Party Massacre II and not the film that made it possible? Come on.

If you're looking for a quintessential '80s movie — not a glitzy Hollywood movie, but a movie that really captures the feeling of going to a sweaty, dusty high school in the unregulated '80s — this might be your best bet.

Directed by Amy Holden Jones and written by author and feminist activist Rita Mae Brown, it was financed by the late, great Roger Corman, who also executive produced the second and third films in the trilogy.

Better Off Dead (1985)

Better Off Dead tells the story of Lane Meyer (John Cusack), who engages in a series of self-destructive behaviors after his girlfriend, Beth, breaks up with him after catching the eye of arrogant blond guy Roy Stalin. Luckily, Lane falls under the sway of a new brunette Friend, Monique (Diane Franklin), a French exchange student trapped in the home of Lane's creepy neighbor, Ricky.

Better Off Dead may have seemed like a typical '80s teen comedy on the surface, but its absurdity transcends the genre and kicks it into masterpiece territory.

You could say this movie is so beloved that it's remembered not just by cool kids but by everyone who lived through the '80s, but let's put it like this: If you like this movie, you're cool with us. It was a modest hit in theaters before becoming a stone-cold cult classic.

One Crazy Summer (1986)

The absurdity of Better Off Dead continues in this spiritual sequel, which came out a year later and reassembles much of the old gang: writer-director Savage Steve Holland, Curtis Armstrong, and, of course, who this time plays Hoops McCann, a character who is not unlike Lane Meyer. Joining the team is Demi Moore as Hoops' cool friend and love interest, Cassandra.

While Better Off Dead culminates in a battle to ski the K12, One Crazy Summer ends with a thrilling boat race. It's not as good as Better Off Dead, but what is?

It made back its modest budget, but was watched all summer long, for many summers, on VHS and cable.

How I Got Into College (1989)

That's right, a third movie by Savage Steve Holland, the auteur of absurdist '80s teen comedies. How I Got Into College is about a likable, Lane Meyers-esque young man, Marlon Brown, this time played by the underrated Corey Parker, who dreams of attending the same college as his crush, a pre-Twin Peaks Lara Flynn Boyle.

The film is wittily structured around a series of SAT-style puzzles, and benefits from a cast that also includes Revenge of the Nerds star Anthony Edwards and Saturday Night Live stars Phil Hartman and Nora Dunn, while both were still on SNL. And this being a Savage Steve Holland '80s movie, of course Curtis Armstrong turns up. (That's him in white, above, with Parker, left.)

This one was unfortunately a box office miss, but is beloved by cool kids everywhere whether or not they got into college.

Revenge of the Nerds II (1987)

Of course everyone remembers Revenge of the Nerds. But what about Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise?

That's the one where the nerds travel to Florida for spring break and face the state's rampant anti-nerd discrimination — but overcome it with dignity and aplomb. Also, with the help of a Cuban military arsenal and a pre-Melrose Place Courtney Thorne-Smith (with Robert Carradine, above).

There's a cool emphasis on inclusion in this Nerds – even Ogre (Donald Gibb) gets his moment in the sun. No on 15!

This one was a hit, but is of course overshadowed by Revenge of the Nerds and the modern recognition of how poorly the film has aged, in some regards.

Liked This List of 80s Movies Only Cool Kids Remember?

You might also like this list of Cocky Blonde Guys in '80s Movies or this list of Cute Brunette Friends in 80s Movies.

Or you might enjoy the abbreviated video version of this list of Rad '80s Movies Only Cool Kids Remember.

Main image: A publicity shot of Robert Carradine, Courtney Thorne Smith and Timothy Busfield in Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise. 20th Century Fox