Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1985 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.
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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 1985 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 1984 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 Aug. 2, 1985, and we’re off to see Follow That Bird, Fright Night, and Weird Science.
Follow That Bird
What if you took a Muppet movie style formula and applied it to Sesame Street? You would get Follow That Bird and it’s just as charming as you might expect.
The Feathered Friends’ Board of Birds has determined that Big Bird needs to move in with a family of birds, and that means he must leave Sesame Street. When he finds himself unhappy with his new family, he decides to head back to the only home he is known, while his friends begin a bird hunt to track him down and bring him back to his nest.
Follow That Bird is truly timeless and can be enjoyed as easily today as it would have been in 1985. As with all of these types of productions, there is humor for all ages and anyone who views i is going to find something that entertains them.
And, honestly, seeing the expanded Sesame Street set alone is fun as it adds more locations to the layout.
Good fun for everyone, and an easy watch no matter what year it is.
Fright Night
The 1980s definitely had one thing going for them: Unique takes on vampire films.
Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) is a 17-year-old fan of the Fright Night horror show, and finds himself puzzled one night when he thinks he sees a vampire moving in next door. He pays a visit to Fright Night host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) in hopes he will help him prove he isn’t imagining things. What follows is a fight to save their own lives and that of Charley’s girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse).
Fright Night suffer from a few small logic issues – namely the fate of Evil – but it is still such a fun watch. I’ve been a fan since I rented it on VHS back in the day, and watched it multiple times. Before this viewing, however, it had been a good 25 to 30 years since I watched it.
The good news is it holds up, and is still just as enjoyable as it was back in the day.
Weird Science
Once again, I have some questions about the works of John Hughes.
Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) are two teenage losers who harness the power of technology to make themselves the ultimate woman to hopefully raise their social currency. They end up with Lisa (Kelly LeBrock) who goes to great lengths to make the two popular with their peers, and teach them how to act more their age.
I have such conflicted feelings over this movie. I remember enjoying it, and it’s not necessarily bad, but the fact Lisa is supposed to be 23 (despite having just been created), she is making out with a 15 and 16-year old. Never mind all of the discussions of ownership by the two boys, and… yeah. There are a lot of issues with the entire concept.
Sadly I have to recommend it for its importance in 80s pop culture, but that is where the recommendation comes to an end.
1985 Movie Reviews will return on Aug. 9, 2025, with Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Pray for Death, Real Genius, and Summer Rental.
