I do follow a number of YouTube channels, many of which are comedic movie review shows. Some of those focus on “bad” or cult movies, and like a good episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, not only riff on these movies but also do so out of a place of affection. However, a couple of them, I noticed, started advertising for a crowdfunded documentary on 80s horror called In Search of Darkness. Me, I don’t care for nostalgia, so I didn’t think much of the project. Then I saw the final product on Shudder and it turned out to be a pretty good documentary. That movie has since spawned two crowd-funded documentary sequels, but then came another, a documentary on 80s sci-fi movies titled In Search of Tomorrow. That I wouldn’t mind donating to, and I put in enough to get a blu-ray copy of the new documentary as well as a few other goodies that included a DVD of In Search of Darkness.
That was back in 2020 when the pandemic allowed the filmmakers to spend more time putting the thing together, getting a few more interviews, and the like. I was pleasantly surprised last week to find the blu-ray finally on my front step when I came home from work one day, and this week, I finally got to see it.
The In Search of movies follow a certain pattern. They go through the different years chronologically, showcasing the different movies that came out from 1980 to 1989. When possible, there are interviews with surviving cast members, directors, writers, and other people who worked on these movies as well as critics and fans with some sort of insight into the films. Between years, there’s usually a short break to follow one particular concept, such as sci-fi heroes and villains, the music, the way 80s culture influenced and was influenced by these movies, and even marketing. Personally, I like the insights offered by the people who made these movies, and both Darkness and Tomorrow has a good assortment of people that worked in front of and behind the camera there to talk about their experiences, or in some cases to gush like fans themselves over other works they weren’t in but also loved.
To be clear, this is a crowdfunded documentary, so it’s not like these are huge stars on display. Many times the actors they get are character actors, colorful in their own way, but they are generally not the big stars of the 80s. There’s no talk with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, or Sigourney Weaver. Billy Dee Williams (and his son Corey) pretty much represents the entire cast of the Star Wars trilogy. Same with Walter Koenig for the original cast of Star Trek with an assist from Adam Nimoy. But the movie makes up for that with character actors anyway. Folks like Clancy Brown, Catherine Mary Stewart, and Jesse Ventura made a lot of movies like that, and they all have something to say however briefly.
Besides, as much as the actors are for the most part recognizable, the filmmakers also spoke to a lot of directors, writers, special effects folks, and even a few composers. Some movies get more attention than others, whether they were big hits or not, and that does sometimes lead to more people to talk about it. As far as the film with the most representation, that was probably Robocop since the documentary snared interviews with actors Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Kurtwood Smith, and Ronny Cox, plus director Paul Verhoeven and special effects guy Phil Tippett. Yeah, they may not have gotten Steven Spielberg, but I’m generally glad to see John Carpenter opine on his work at any time, even if he had more to say on Darkness.
Worth noting: the final product here is five hours long (the last twenty minutes are the credits, made as long as they are by listing all the kickstarter backers alphabetically with my own name coming in the “T” section). It’s a thorough movie, and while I doubt it covers every 80s sci-fi movie, it does cover a lot of them, even one or two I’d never heard of like Cherry 2000. Heck, the movie actually had a segment on, of all things, Mac and Me. And I am sure there are perhaps other documentaries that cover the same material, perhaps in a better way, but one thing is obvious here: the people who made this really love the subject matter in the form of both the genre and the time period. That counts for a lot for someone like me.
Grade: A-
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