Southern Movies: 1980s

A young boy named James comes of age in 1940s Louisiana and grapples with what it means to be black during a time of racism and poverty. James's mother accompanies her son to town to see about the boy's nagging toothache, and his journey soon becomes an eye-opening odyssey.

A small-town stud wants to go to Nashville to be a big country star. His ambitious kid sister works as his manager. Their dream hits jeopardy when they cross paths with a small-town sheriff.

Trouble ensues when a motorcycle gang stops in a small southern town while heading to the races at Daytona.

A young woman gets raped by a mysterious man-creature, and years later her son begins a horrific transformation into a similar beast.

During a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.

A race car driver is driving to a race in a motor home with his race car on a trailer. His car gets stripped of parts. He ends up with 6 orphan kids on his way to the race.

The title character, a popular NASCAR driver, clashes with the fried-chicken mogul that sponsors his racing team.

In the 1930s, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings moves to Florida's backwaters to write in peace. She feels bothered by affectionate men, editor and confused neighbors, but soon she connects and writes The Yearling, a classic of American literature.

A regular day in a Louisiana sugarcane plantation changes course when a local white farmer is shot in self defense. A group of old, black men takes a courageous step by coming forward en masse to take responsibility for the killing of a white racist, whom one of their members has shot. As the Sheriff confronts the suspects, the young plantation owner stands alone in her daring defense of this group of men, provoking racial tension that makes a compelling drama.

Sergeant Major Zack arrives at a new army base with his wife, son and Sherman tank. One night at a bar he "stops" a pimp/deputy from beating a girl. The corrupt sheriff uses Zack's son for revenge and Zack uses his tank.

After witnessing her evil stepmother and her three lecherous sons murder her father, Ellie plots to do them in with the only weapon she has: her body.

A tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.

Action film about organized crime in the deep south.

Two men are framed and sent to jail, where they meet a murderer who helps them escape and leave the state.

A wannabe blues-guitar virtuoso finds an old blues player and hopes he can teach him a long-lost song by legendary musician, Robert Johnson.

In 1955 New Orleans, small-time private investigator Harry Angel is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cypher to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite, but the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.

New York journalist visits her distant cousin for the first time to write an article about her hard life in the bayous of Louisiana. Journalist's wild drug addicted daughter just adds to tensions between two families' cultures.

A corrupt lieutenant in the homicide division is threatened by the righteous DA while trying to solve a string of mysterious murders.

A son longs to escape from his stifling home, where his genteel mother worries about the future prospects of his lame, shy sister.

A not so popular young man wants to pledge to a popular fraternity at his historically black college.

Two FBI agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of three civil rights activists.

Two women, black and white, in 1955 Montgomery Alabama, must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott led by Martin Luther King.

An old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.

Three stories are connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley.

A young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship, and welcome her into the fold.