This is the city: Los Angeles, California. 465 square miles of constantly interfacing humanity representing every race, color, creed and persuasion. Like any other city, there are those who have it, and those who want it. Even in the City of Angels, from time to time, some haloes slip. That’s where I come in. I work here. I carry a badge.
– Sgt. Joe Friday, Dragnet
In the 1980s, Los Angeles became the primary location for thriller movies of all types, including detective stories, buddy cop flicks, urban slashers, cannibalism comedies and apocalyptic science fiction. Although the city had provided an edgy backdrop for crime and mystery flicks since the heyday of 1940s film noir (a genre that was born in Los Angeles), the eighties witnessed an explosion of Southern California cinematic craziness like nothing movie audiences had seen before. Over a ten-year period starting with American Gigolo and ending with Tango & Cash, more than two hundred thrillers set in and around L.A. were released theatrically, on cable, and on home video all across the world. During this time, the city hosted game-changing blockbusters like Beverly Hills Cop, The Terminator and Die Hard; cult classics like Repo Man and They Live; and controversial exploitation films like Vice Squad and Savage Streets. Altogether, this new breed of L.A. Thrillers created a neon-glazed wave of over-the-top action, unbridled sexuality, and outrageous humor that altered the cinematic landscape forever.
Like most people, I first experienced Los Angeles at the movies. I was ten years old and living in Herndon, Virginia when I saw my first L.A. thriller, Fletch. Though hardly able to articulate it then, I recognized that it was darker than previous Chevy Chase comedies I’d seen, and the movie made enough of an impression on me that I proceeded to scribble “Fletch” on my wallet before creating a series of phony driver’s licenses. Though none of those bogus IDs were good enough to get me into an R-rated movie, thanks to my parents I continued watching Los Angeles play itself on the big screen in Beverly Hills Cop II, The Hidden, Wanted: Dead or Alive, They Live, Die Hard, Alien Nation and Lethal Weapon 2. I rented Cobra and Dead Heat again and again and every other weekend I was treated to a “cable premiere” of even seedier flicks like 52 Pick-Up, Armed Response, and Stripped to Kill II. Many of these became my favorite movies, and my bedroom became a repository for paraphernalia including a theatrical standee for Dragnet (complete with flashing siren) and a Cobra video store display which read, “Crime is a disease. Meet the cure.”
There was no cure, however, for my growing obsession for L.A. thrillers. In the ‘90s, when my fellow BU film students flocked to the latest Tarantino or Rodriguez flick, I was happier trolling Boston video stores for California-filmed gems I had missed like To Live and Die in L.A., Star 80, and Body Double. A late-nineties move to Los Angeles and a subsequent career working in the motion picture business only increased my L.A. thriller love, as I was able to visit the locations from movies like Murphy’s Law and 8 Million Ways to Die and, in some cases, even work with some of the filmmakers and cast members. As the city’s video store culture died out, I discovered a host of even more obscure and bizarre L.A. thrillers through collector groups on social media, many of which had yet to make the leap from the analog area to our current digital domain. I soon realized that the dozens of Los Angeles-set rogue cop movies, vampire flicks and demonic potboilers made throughout the eighties constituted a genre of their own, the “L.A. Thriller”.
From Grauman’s Chinese to the grindhouses of Broadway, Neon Nightmares (BearManor Media Books) collects every L.A. thriller released between 1980 and 1989 in one comprehensive volume. The purpose of this book is to celebrate and critique these movies but also to examine the various social, political and economic factors that led to their creation and popularity. The highs and lows of the genre receive equal screen time, and the contradictions inherent in the era are discussed. Interconnective thematic threads between films are also pointed out, and I’ve gone to great lengths to leave no Hollywood star unturned, no matter how disreputable or obscure. In other words, rare gems like The Black Room and I, Madman receive as much attention as Against All Odds or Less Than Zero. The genre’s diversity, in fact, is one of its strongest points, as it expands into virtually every category, from feminist revenge to neo-noir revival to drug and gang dramas, during the decade. The budgetary scale is similarly vast, ranging from shot-on-video cheapies like Fresh Kill to multimillion dollar productions like Tequila Sunrise.
This new breed of L.A. Thrillers created a neon-glazed wave of over-the-top action, unbridled sexuality, and outrageous humor that altered the cinematic landscape forever….
Neon Nightmares is not only a compendium of the thrillers made in L.A., but a portrait of the city itself during the eighties. The films covered in this book span the nearly 5,000 square miles of L.A. County, from the grittiness of Hollywood to moneyed Beverly Hills enclaves, along with less-explored areas like the South Bay or the Inland Empire. Since specific locations (Union Station, City Hall, Grand Central Market) often inform the storylines and contribute to their unique atmosphere, I’ve tried to note specific details pertaining to various neighborhoods in my reviews, including whether certain landmarks appear in other L.A. thrillers or are still in existence today. I’ve also included a handful of films that take place a bit outside of L.A. County, such as Slow Burn (Palm Springs) or Laguna Heat (Laguna Beach) provided they include Los Angeles in their narratives and fit into the thriller genre. Lastly, I have chosen to omit ‘80s L.A. thrillers set in the distant past or future, like True Confessions, Blade Runner and The Running Man.
For a smoother reading experience, I have divided this book into a series of themed chapters. Chapter One, “From Double Indemnity to Hardcore”, covers L.A. thrillers from their birth in the 1940s through their diversification and growth in the 1970s that would lead to the ‘80s renaissance. The 1980s begin with Chapter Two, which covers Neo-Noirs, the most prominent and historically significant branch of L.A. thrillers. The forces of law and order are represented by Chapters Three (Rogue Cops) and Four (Buddy Cops). On the lighter side, comedic thrillers make up Chapter Five. A sixth chapter on Cautionary Tales focuses on naïve young transplants falling from grace in the city. Prostitution-themed films occupy Chapter Seven. Vigilantes and tales of urban justice get their due in Chapter Eight. Serial killers, many of whom have their roots in L.A. true crime cases like the Hillside Strangler and the Night Stalker, are the subject of Chapter Nine. Moving beyond reality, Chapter Ten explores supernatural chills and thrills while the eleventh chapter compiles science fiction and fantasy spins on the L.A. thriller. “Falling Down: An Afterword” explores how the L.A. thriller evolved in the early 1990s and why these ‘80s classics are still popular—and relevant—today.
So, prepare to take a trip back to a time and place of glamour and grit, when avenging angels and alien private eyes ruled the streets; lethal weapons and fatal beauties battled psycho pimps; and Hollywood cops left audiences breathless. Every movie had a catchy theme song (who can forget Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds” or Wang Chung’s “To Live and Die in L.A.”?), porn stars and A-listers shared the screen, and even the most modest production offered up downtown car chases, gratuitous nudity, and a tour of the Sunset Strip after dark. Before irony, CGI, runaway production and political correctness seized hold of the movie business, the ‘80s last great wave L.A. thrillers offered film fans an entire video store’s worth of entertainment that could terrify, titillate and infuriate—and still does, over forty years later. As you read these reviews, hopefully you’ll feel the same excitement I felt the first time I saw these films, back in the multiplexes and TV screens of my youth.
Welcome to the party, pal.
Neon Nightmares is available from BearManor Media Books.
Brad Sykes is the award-winning screenwriter and director of more than 20 feature films, including Plaguers, Goth and Camp Blood. He is the author of Terror in the Desert: Dark Cinema of the American Southwest and has penned articles for Fangoria, Midnight, Route, and Indie Slate. Sykes lives with his wife/producing partner Josephina in Los Angeles, California, where they own and operate Nightfall Pictures.
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