THE EVIL DEAD (1981)

One of the goriest movies you’ll ever see, made on a very skinny shoestring by a bunch of friends, which seems to ask “what would be most disturbing at this moment?” and then do that.

FEHÉRLÓFIA (1981)

A completely unexpected, elemental masterpiece, it somehow feels straight out of prehistory. This may be the best animated movie most people have never heard of.

EXCALIBUR (1981)

With King Arthur back in theaters, we revisit this tonally wild epic 1980s masterpiece (??) for the Arthurian completist.

CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981)

Maybe the most British sports movie ever made, it uses track & field in the 1920s to deal with complicated issues of personal conviction, racism, and classism, and also some guys run on a beach.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

The first Indiana Jones movie defined its genre for more than one generation of moviegoers.