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PLEASE NOTE: If you need an item quick, don't order from us; amazon is your best bet. We do appreciate you ordering from us directly (the author and the publisher make more from the sale this way), but due to the increased number of orders and covid-related shipping changes, our shipping takes considerably longer than it used to. Please be patient, as it can take 2 to 3 weeks to process and ship orders. Please email us about an order only if it's absolutely necessary. We REALLY appreciate your patience for this, and appreciate your business! THANK YOU!
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Neon Nightmares - L.A. Thrillers of the 1980s (hardback)
BearManor Media

Neon Nightmares - L.A. Thrillers of the 1980s (hardback)

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Neon Nightmares - L.A. Thrillers of the 1980s

by Brad Sykes

 

6x9 size

408 pages

ISBN 9798887712031

 

Between 1980 and 1989, Los Angeles was the world’s most popular location for thriller movies, providing the perfect setting for gritty neo-noirs, buddy cop actioners, cautionary tales, vigilante flicks and apocalyptic science fiction.  During this ten-year period, over two hundred L.A. Thrillers were produced and released, including Hollywood blockbusters like Die Hard and The Terminator, crime dramas like To Live and Die in L.A. and 52 Pick-Up and exploitation epics like Vice Squad and Savage Streets.  

Brad Sykes’ Neon Nightmares: L.A. Thrillers of the 1980s is the first comprehensive study of the City of Angels’ most outrageous cinematic decade.  Hundreds of films, from studio megahits to cult obscurities, receive in-depth reviews.  The book also examines the L.A. Thriller’s origins and development while focusing on key production companies, actors and filmmakers.  Written with insight gleaned over twenty-five years living and working in Hollywood and filled with rare stills, Neon Nightmares sheds new light on some of the most popular and controversial movies ever made.

 

BRAD SYKES BIO

Brad Sykes is the award-winning screenwriter and director of more than 20 feature films, including Plaguers, Goth and Camp Blood.  He is the author of Terror in the Desert: Dark Cinema of the American Southwest and has penned articles for Fangoria, Midnight, Route and Indie Slate.  Sykes lives with his wife/producing partner Josephina in Los Angeles, California, where they own and operate Nightfall Pictures.    
 

LIBRARY JOURNAL BOOK REVIEW
https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/neon-nightmares-la-thrillers-of-the-1980s-2195171


 RUE MORGUE re "NEON NIGHTMARES"

 

BRAD SYKES Interview:
https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2023/12/06/exclusive-interview-with-brad-sykes-director-of-scream-queen/

 BOOK REVIEW in "Flick Attacks":
https://flickattack.com/2024/03/reading-material-short-ends-3-18-24/

https://retreatsfromoblivion.com/2025/03/31/welcome-to-la-introduction-to-neon-nightmares-la-thrillers-of-the-1980s-by-brad-sykes-bearmanor-media/

SHOCK CINEMA BOOK REVIEW

NEON NIGHTMARES: L.A. Thrillers of the 1980s by Brad Sykes (BearManor Media;
bearmanormedia.com; paperback: $32.00).
The 1980s unleashed a barrage of Los Angeles based cinematic thrillers, steeped in that city’s unique mixture of glamour and grime, and author Brad Sykes has collected and scrutinized all of these varied efforts for this insightful and entertaining 408-page book. Smart, informed and enthusiastic, you can sense Sykes’ love and appreciation of these films, whether they were major-studio releases starring Sly Stallone or Bronson, or direct-to-video sludge. Following a brief history of hard-boiled LA films which laid the
groundwork for this ‘80s boom, he breaks the material into sub-genre chapters — rogue cops (COBRA, MURPHY’S LAW, DEAD-BANG), buddy cops (LETHAL WEAPON, TANGO & CASH), horror (NOMADS, PRINCE OF DARKNESS), sci-fi/fantasy (ALIEN NATION, THE HIDDEN, TRANCERS), comedies (REPO MAN, EATING RAOUL), as well as vigilantes, serial killers and prostitution. High-profile features like TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A., AGAINST ALL ODDS, BODY DOUBLE, and TEQUILA SUNRISE are judged alongside lower-budgeted, more exploitative titles such as VICE SQUAD, RUNNING HOT, the ANGEL trilogy, SAVAGE STREETS, SCARRED, WALKING THE EDGE, RELENTLESS, and THE BOYS NEXT DOOR. In addition to intelligently critiquing these films — giving even the schlockiest items equal consideration — Sykes offers his opinions on why each film succeeded or failed, details about their creation, plus the specific LA neighborhoods where each production was shot. It’s a unique and absorbing look at the City of Angels and its eclectic cinematic progeny.