The 12 Best Directorial Debuts of the 1980s
Scrappy, inventive debuts, many made on shoestrings, that launched major careers. Which is the best?
1Diner
Barry Levinson 1982 debut about a group of Baltimore friends reconvening around a late-night diner.
1000pts
2The Evil Dead
Sam Raimi 1981 $350,000 debut about five friends summoning demonic forces in a remote Tennessee cabin.
916pts
3Blue Velvet
David Lynch 1986 suburban noir debut uncovering a dark criminal underworld beneath small-town America.
916pts
4Blood Simple
Joel Coen 1984 neo-noir debut about a jealous bar owner who hires a private investigator to murder his wife.
825pts
5Repo Man
Alex Cox 1984 debut about a young punk who becomes a repo man tracking an alien-containing Chevy Malibu.
785pts
6D.C. Cab
Joel Schumacher 1983 debut comedy about a struggling Washington D.C. taxi service finding its mojo.
687pts
7Heathers
Michael Lehmann 1988 debut about a popular girl falling for a rebel who begins murdering her high school clique.
549pts
8Raising Arizona
Joel Coen 1987 screwball crime comedy about a childless couple kidnapping a quintuplet from a furniture magnate.
549pts
9Desperately Seeking Susan
Susan Seidelman 1985 debut about a bored housewife swapping lives with a free-spirited adventurer.
549pts
10River Edge
Tim Hunter 1986 debut based on a true case about teens who cover up a classmate murder.
343pts
11After Hours
Martin Scorsese 1985 dark comedy following a word processor through a nightmarish night in lower Manhattan.
0pts
12To Live and Die in L.A.
William Friedkin 1985 neo-noir thriller about a Secret Service agent pursuing a counterfeiter with reckless intensity.
0pts
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