Merry 80s Christmas at HOME
Tom Grieve, Cinema EditorHOME goes back to the 80s this Christmas with a film season that mixes comforting family fare with some much-loved thrills and chills. Selected for their quotability and (re)watchability, HOME’s Merry 80s Christmas selection starts with Bruce Willis saving the holidays with a machine gun in John McTiernan’s expertly put together Die Hard (Sat 11 Dec) and continues throughout the month, allowing audiences the chance to cosy up with some all time faves.
The season is a perfect respite from the packed shops and the chaos of the Christmas markets. Why not duck away for a showing of Joe Dante’s slyly satirical Gremlins (Thu 16 Dec), take the kids to see John Lithgow in 1985’s Santa Claus: The Movie (Sat 18 Dec), or relive the adventure of Richard Donner’s popular classic The Goonies (Sun 19 Dec)?
Or, if you’re looking for something a little darker, late night screenings of Joel Schumacher’s teen vampire sensation The Lost Boys (Fri 17 Dec) and iconic horror A Nightmare on Elm Street (Mon 20 Dec) retain the 80s nostalgia vibes with a little added, ahem, bite.
A Merry 80s Christmas is curated by Jen Hall, HOME Film Programme Producer, and Sorcha Ní Fhlainn, Senior Lecturer in English and Film at Manchester Metropolitan University. For those with a deeper interest in 1980s cinema, Ní Fhlainn will be running an eight week course looking at subjects such as the MTV/Dance Film, the teen film and the modern blockbuster at HOME in January.