Nightmares (1983)

This four-part horror anthology with a Stephen King flavor isn’t as good as 7-11 blueberry donuts, but it’s better than getting kicked in the head in the Wal-Mart checkout line. It’s the mundane things in life that try to kill you in this movie. The easy highlight, mostly because it’s primo 1980s time capsule stuff, is the episode in which Emilio Estevez plays a teenage video game whiz in an era when that meant hitting the mall arcade with pockets full of quarters. He’s obsessed with an outer space laser shoot-’em-up game that gets very strange in its elusive final level. The second best episode (and the most King-like) is the one about the dysfunctional family with a rat the size of a Chevy Nova in their house—and it’s good mostly for its firm dedication to making no sense whatsoever. Directed by Joseph Sargent, whose top 80s statement is Jaws: The Revenge.