Thread by @PulpLibrarian

Today in pulp I look back at a few forgotten '80s sci-fi movies and ask if it's time to reappraise them.

Spoilers: the answer will often be 'no'... #FridayThoughts

There were a huge number of low budget sci-fi movies released throughout the 1980s, many of which went straight to video. Today they lurk in the far corners of your video streaming service. Should you watch them? Well let me take you through a few you might be tempted by...

Battle Beyond The Stars (1980) was Roger Corman's retelling of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai in space. James Cameron did an impressive job on the SFX with a small budget and the film certainly has a distinctive look.

However most of the budget went on hiring Robert Vaughn and George Peppard, the former as a bounty hunter and the latter as a "Space Cowboy." Sybil Danning provided the glamour as space valkyrie Saint-Exmin. A rumoured appearence by John Wayne was an early PR hoax for the movie.

But the thing Battle Beyond The Stars is mostly remembered for is Nell, the sentient spaceship which had either big boobs or a massive scrotum depending on how you looked at it. Is it a classic movie? No. Should you watch it? Obviously.

Speaking of westerns, Outland (1981) is basically High Noon in space. Sean Connery is the sherrif and the titanium mines of Io are the Wild West. It's grim, dark and deadly - and often compared to Alien in the way it makes life in space seem claustrophobic and terrifying.

Director Peter Hyams had previously made Capricorn One and would go on to make Timecop. Outland certainly crackles with atmosphere and has some genuinely scary/gruesome scenes, but by the end it slows to a plodding pace and even Connery looks like he's given up.

Outland didn't do good box office, but Jim Steranko did a great comic book adaption for Heavy Metal that you should check out. This is one film that certainly works better as a graphic novel.

Saturn 3 (1980) really doesn't work. Martin Amis may have done the screenplay, but Kirk Douglas as a space botanist and Farrah Fawcett as a naïve love interest is not a great set-up for a tense thriller. Plus they have a pet dog in space.

Harvey Keitel plays the psychopathic intruder on the couple's idyllic love, bringing a super-intelligent megarobot with him that can read his thoughts. What could possibly go wrong?

Well if you've seen the Blake's 7 episode Head then you know the plot of Saturn 3. The film won three Razzies, which is one achievement at least. You don't need, or want, to stream this one.

Speaking of mindjacking, Brainstorm (1983) features Christopher Walken as a scientist who creates the ultimate brain-computer interface that allows thoughts and memories to be recorded - only for the military to try and hijack it. Sounds neat...

Tragically co-star Natalie Woods passed away partway through filming, leading to a long and ugly spat between the production company and its insurers that resulted in a delayed and low-key release for the movie. It is actually an OK film with an interesting premise.

Which can't be said of Inseminoid (1981). Is it a cheap rip-off of Alien? Well yes, but it's also lurid, rushed and depending on your mood either unintentionally hilarious or deeply stupid.

Judy Geeson plays space archaeologist Sandy, who is artificially inseminated by an alien just after her crewmates harpoon each other and cut their legs off. Cue many murders with scissors and chainsaws before the infant aliens emerge and start eating people.

Inseminoid is one of those video nasties that really doesn't need rewatching: it's all gore, cheap SFX and wild-eyed overacting. Yes, Stephanie Beecham's in it. No, that's not an endorsement.

Timerider (1982) is the story of a dirt bike rider who travels back in time to the Wild West. It was written by Michael Nesmith of the Monkees and contains every possible time travel paradox you can think of. Dull doesn't begin to describe it.

Which can't be said of Altered States (1980). Directed by Ken Russell and based on sensory deprivation pioneer John C. Lilly (who also took LSD with dolphins) it stars William Hurt and Drew Barrymore in a cryptic tale of epic insanity.

Using only a flotation tank and powerful psychedelic drugs scientist Edward Jessup slowly de-evolves into a mass of conscious, primordial matter, terrorising his family and colleagues as his visions of the far past of humanity are made real in his own flesh.

This is a fast-paced, trippy and intellectually bold movie that sadly did poorly at the box office. But it's well worth rewatching, especially for Hurt's performance and the frankly outlandish SFX.

Let's finish our review of forgotten '80s sci-fi gems with Runaway (1984), Michael Crichton's fast, fun and fierce tech-noir about killer robots and futuristic cops.

Tom Selleck and Cynthia Rhodes are cops who hunt down 'runaways' - robots that go AWOL. However Gene Simmons is an evil genius who is reprogramming them to commit homicide. The race is on to track him down.

Runaway kinda got lost amongst all the other sci-fi films of 1984, but this one is definitely worth streaming - not least for the cool heat seeking bullets Simmons let's fly with! I wouldn't mind seeing a modern reboot of this one.

So if you do decide to poke around Amazon Prime looking for old sci-fi films to watch take a tip from me: if it ever featured in Starlog Magazine it's probably worth a look. If it didn't... well you pays your money and takes your chances!

More pulp cinema another time...