Comin at Ya: The Eighties 3-D Movie Craze (circa 1981 – 1983)

In 2009, 3-D movies roared back to the pop culture forefront with expensive sci-fi epics like Avatar and Star Trek, as well as horror movies such as the remake, My Bloody Valentine.

3-D movie-making is probably here to stay (especially if it is summer-time…), but the 1980s actually saw a similar “burst” of 3-D movie-making, even though the format tends to be associated with the 1950s first and foremost.

Some of these eighties films were in popular franchises (Amityville, Jaws, and Friday the 13^th), but almost all were downright terrible.

The low quality of the films (and the poor 3-D effects) may be one reason the form went back into hibernation for another quarter century.

But for those who are nostalgic, here’s a trailer-by-trailer remembrance of the 3-D movies of the early eighties

 

Comin at Ya (1981)

 

Friday the 13^th Part III in 3-D (1982)

 

Parasite (1982)

 

Amityville 3-D (1983)

 

Jaws 3-D (1983)

 

Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983)

 

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983)

 

Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983)