Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

I hadn't seen SKoW before, but it felt very familiar. It turns out it's a retelling of Pretty in Pink (1986) with some gender roles reversed. (Thanks, Wiki.).
In this version the love-struck youth is Keith (Eric Stoltz), an eighteen-year-old working class student who falls for Amanda (Lea Thompson), a high-schooler with a self-important attitude that's encouraged by her middle class friends.
It wears its 80s heart on its sleeve, but has weak leads and a final third that's some kind of boring. The only memorable youths were Keith's tomboy friend Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson), who resides on the sidelines, overlooked and underappreciated, and the bullying skinhead played by Elias Koteas.

2½ drumsticks out of 5

Fire in the Sky (1993)

Based on the book The Travis Walton Experience, a supposedly true account of alien abduction, the story surrounds the mysterious disappearance of Walton (D.B. Sweeney), the subsequent investigation and controversy. Whether you are a skeptic or a believer of the incident, the film's key players are portrayed rather convincingly by skilled character actors Robert Patrick, James Garner and Noble Willingham. Straying from the book, the horrific abduction and probing sequences are pure nightmare fuel. The movie is a forgotten gem dismissed by skeptics of the account. While the abduction claims are fascinating, if taken as entertainment it is a worthy horror film elevated by impressive acting.

3½ Grand Illusions out of 5

NIGHTBREED:THE DIRECTOR'S CUT [2014]

Nearly 25 years after the cut of the original film, Clive Barker's dark fantasy/love story, Nightbreed is finally given the proper edit it's always deserved.
What we have here is a love story that takes place within the underground world of Midian which is inhabited by a gaggle of beautiful monsters, who would prefer to go unnoticed by the human eye.
The original suffered from 40 minutes of character development cut out of it and then replaced with 20 minutes of standard studio slasher flick crap which broke Barker's heart in the process.  This new cut shows us what the film was meant to be and it really fleshes out the relationships making the film's purpose clearer and more endearing.  There are a few jarring edits but I figure it's because there were never any establishing shots to make a smooth transition between scenes.
Small problems aside, the film is finally the wonderfully woven story it was always meant to be and I can't wait to revisit it again.

4 bad trips out of 5

Nightbreed (1990)

Viewing this with a fresh set of eyes, I now appreciate it for what it is: a vessel to showcase a variety of neat and gnarly creature make-up effects. I'm swept away by the classic Elfman score and the vast, expansive Gothic sets, but those elements alone do not a good film make. The problem is that the story, which was obviously intended to be the set-up for something larger, doesn't fully materialize and was not enough to hold my attention in and of itself. I know it's become somewhat of a cult film in the years following its release, but I for one find it a mess.

2.5 Hellraiser rejects out of 5

Note: I watched the theatrical cut that the director himself was unhappy with. Uncut versions have not yet been made widely available as of this posting.