Heist / Crime Comedy / Black Comedy
1988
A Fish Called Wanda
Manners, mendacity and a key hidden in fish food — a very English heist with teeth.
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The year was
1988
1988 balanced enormous mainstream hits with cult horror, comedy and action. It was a year of unlikely heroes, memorable villains and films that would influence their genres long after the decade ended.
Die Hard, Beetlejuice, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Rain Man, They Live, Bloodsport and Child's Play sit alongside comedies, slashers, fantasy adventures and crime movies in another remarkably deep year.
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Essential movies from 1988
66 movies so far
Movies from 1988
Horror / Teen / Slasher
1988
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master: parents protecting their children and friendship, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Action / Martial Arts / Crime
1988
Above the Law
Above the Law: freedom, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Action / Blaxploitation / Comedy
1988
Action Jackson
Action Jackson: heroism and courage, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Comedy Horror / Fantasy / Ghost / Gothic / Dark Fantasy
1988
Beetlejuice
A haunted house, a rules-bound afterlife and one gloriously unhelpful bio‑exorcist.
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Romantic Comedy / Coming-of-age / Fantasy / Drama
1988
Big
Big: our relationship with technology and friendship, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Action / Thriller / Spy / Martial Arts / Drama
1988
Black Eagle
Black Eagle: courage and parents protecting their children, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Action / Martial Arts / Biographical
1988
Bloodsport
Kumite, loyalty and a very particular kind of 80s machismo.
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Drama
1988
Bright Lights, Big City
Bright Lights, Big City: family and mortality and lifespan, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Romantic Comedy / Sport / Drama
1988
Bull Durham
Mentorship, rites of passage and a catcher called Crash — Bull Durham still teaches a lesson.
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Horror / Mystery / Psychological Horror Fiction / Slasher
1988
Child's Play
Child's Play: family and freedom, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Coming-of-age / Drama
1988
Cinema Paradiso
A love letter to mentorship, the little reels that keep memory alive, and the reason we go to the pictures.
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Romance / Buddy / Drama / Romantic Comedy
1988
Cocktail
Cocktail: family and greed, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Buddy / Drama / Crime / Action / Hood
1988
Colors
Colors: authority and loss, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Romantic Comedy
1988
Coming to America
A prince in disguise, a fast-food job and a fairy-tale that prefers laughs to pomp.
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Horror / Science Fiction / Adventure / Comedy Horror
1988
Critters 2: The Main Course
Critters 2: The Main Course: fear and mortality, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Comedy / Action / Adventure
1988
Crocodile Dundee II
Crocodile Dundee II: friendship and parents protecting their children, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Romance / Drama / Erotic
1988
Dangerous Liaisons
Dangerous Liaisons: love and mortality and lifespan, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Drama / Horror / Psychological Thriller / Mystery / Psychological Horror / Body Horror / Thriller / Psychological Drama / Suspense
1988
Dead Ringers
Revisiting Dead Ringers and the reasons it still deserves to be watched.
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Action
1988
Die Hard
One cop, a Christmas party gone wrong and a marriage he can't ignore.
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Comedy / Buddy / Crime
1988
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: greed and consumerism, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Sport / Drama
1988
Eight Men Out
Eight Men Out: loss and greed, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Crime / Action / Thriller / Mystery
1988
Frantic
Frantic: our relationship with technology and mortality and lifespan, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Horror / Slasher
1988
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood: the safety of home and fear, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Comedy Horror / Vampire / Horror / Thriller / Comedy
1988
Fright Night Part 2
Fright Night Part 2: friendship and fear, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Comedy
1988
Funny Farm
Funny Farm: family and the safety of home, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Biographical / Historical Drama / Drama
1988
Gorillas in the Mist
Gorillas in the Mist: mortality and love, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Romantic Comedy / Musical / Teen / Drama
1988
Hairspray
Hairspray: family and parents protecting their children, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Horror / Slasher
1988
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers: the safety of home and freedom, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Comedy / Teen / Coming-of-age / Mystery
1988
Heathers
Heathers: peer pressure and the safety of home, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Horror / Fantasy
1988
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Hellbound: Hellraiser II: freedom and family, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Science Fiction / Alien Invasion / Comedy Horror / Horror / Comedy
1988
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Teenagers spot a circus in the woods, everyone else shrugs — then the popcorn guns start firing.
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Buddy / Romantic Comedy
1988
License to Drive
License to Drive: family and the safety of home, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Crime Comedy / Buddy / Road Movie / Action Comedy
1988
Midnight Run
A cross-country manhunt that’s really about two very different men learning how to care — and how to argue for money.
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Drama / Crime
1988
Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning: family and the safety of home, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Romantic Comedy / Female Buddy / Comedy Drama / Coming-of-age / Drama
1988
Mystic Pizza
Mystic Pizza: family and love, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Comedy Horror / Horror
1988
Night of the Demons
Night of the Demons: the safety of home and freedom, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Buddy / Musical / Children's / Comedy Drama / Family / Adventure
1988
Oliver & Company
Oliver & Company: family and greed, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Horror / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Action
1988
Phantasm II
Phantasm II: freedom and mortality, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Comedy / Crime
1988
Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach
Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach: authority and mortality and lifespan, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Horror / Monster / Fantasy
1988
Pumpkinhead
Pumpkinhead: family and parents protecting their children, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Drama / Comedy Drama / Buddy
1988
Rain Man
A road trip about brothers, cash and an extraordinary memory.
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Action / Thriller / War
1988
Rambo III
Rambo III: courage and heroism, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Buddy Cop / Action
1988
Red Heat
Red Heat: authority, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Science Fiction / Comedy Horror / Zombie Comedy / Comedy
1988
Return of the Living Dead Part II
Return of the Living Dead Part II: freedom and family, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Romantic Comedy / Fantasy / Christmas / Ghost / Comedy
1988
Scrooged
Scrooged: fear and belief in the supernatural, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Action / Adventure / Buddy Cop / Crime / Thriller
1988
Shoot to Kill
Shoot to Kill: family and the safety of home, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Action / Crime / Romance / Thriller
1988
Tequila Sunrise
Tequila Sunrise: love and the safety of home, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Drama / Trial / Crime
1988
The Accused
The Accused: fear, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Fantasy / Comedy / Adventure
1988
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen: loss and mortality, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Horror / Science Fiction / Monster
1988
The Blob
Teenagers, a creeping alien goo and a whole town that won't listen — welcome back to The Blob.
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Comedy
1988
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors: family and greed, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Horror / Comedy / Folk horror
1988
The Lair of the White Worm
Is it a vampire movie? Folk horror? Monster movie? Black comedy? A wildly sexual Gothic nightmare involving an ancient snake g
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Family / Coming-of-age / Adventure / Buddy / Drama
1988
The Land Before Time
A small longneck, a fierce loss and a journey that still finds you where you live.
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Drama / Historical / Historical Drama / Thriller
1988
The Last Temptation of Christ
A fierce, searching film about a man who can’t stop being human — and the choices that make him more than that.
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Comedy
1988
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
A straight-faced detective, a ridiculous assassination plot and enough sight gags to make you snort tea through your nose.
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Horror / Zombie / Supernatural / Supernatural Horror / Fantasy / Adventure / Suspense / Thriller / Folk Horror / Mystery
1988
The Serpent and the Rainbow
The Serpent and the Rainbow: mortality and lifespan and corporate power, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Thriller
1988
The Vanishing
The Vanishing: family and parents protecting their children, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Action / Science Fiction / Action Thriller / Dystopian / Thriller / Science Fiction Action / Horror / Science Fiction Horror / Black Comedy / Adventure / Suspense
1988
They Live
Sunglasses, slogans and a man who will not let you look away.
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Buddy / Science Fiction / Comedy
1988
Twins
A mismatched pair, a lab experiment and a very 1980s idea of family.
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Horror
1988
Vampires Kiss
There are vampire movies that creep quietly through the shadows, and then there is Vampire’s Kiss.
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Zombie Comedy / Comedy Horror / Crossover Fiction / Vampire / Horror
1988
Waxwork
Waxwork: family and parents protecting their children, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Neo-noir / Buddy / Crossover Fiction / Fantasy / Live-action/animated / Comedy
1988
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
A private eye, a jittery rabbit and a very British fondness for messing about with genre.
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Fantasy / Sword And Sorcery
1988
Willow
Willow: family and freedom, and why this 1988 movie still matters.
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Romantic Comedy / Comedy Drama
1988
Working Girl
One woman's Staten Island ferry commute to the boardroom.
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Comedy / Western / Action / Buddy / Drama
1988
Young Guns
Young men, a murdered mentor and a young Billy the Kid riding herd on revenge and loyalty.
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