September 19 th , 1986 marks the 30 th anniversary that the rather obscure gem Radioactive Dreams was released. This has to be considered a must see for true cult film fans. In what could be best described as a nuclear noir story, two kids named Phillip Hammer and Marlowe Chandler escape from a bunker after being locked in there for 15 years after the atomic war occurred. During that time they had grown up on various items from the 1940’s, including pulp novels and swing music. Upon leaving, they discover a world chock full of unusual characters, gangs, mutants, and cannibals. They meet a girl and end up with the two keys to last nuclear weapon, leading to every gang trying to kill them in order to obtain those keys.

It’s an unusual mix of various genres and subgenres; it has elements of sci-fi, apocalypse, action, a dystopian future, comedy, slapstick, music, and gangs that contains characters and wardrobes from every era from the 1940’s to the 1980’s. The story is told in the style of film noir movies but it contains a cast of characters that easily matches motion pictures like The Warriors, Flash Gordon, and even Star Wars. There is just an insane mix of groups that include a pair of kids in disco outfits, hippies, mutated freaks with pink wigs, punk rockers, greasers, a giant monster dog and so much more. There is music throughout the picture and it is mostly in the style of new wave rock, including an on screen performance by Sue Saad. It was written and directed by well known direct-to-video and cult director Albert Pyun, who also made Dollman, Cyborg, Alien from L.A., and Captain America (1990). It also co-stars Michael Dudikoff, who would go on to star in the American Ninja series.

This one has yet to receive a U.S. DVD or Blu-ray release and it was only ever released on DVD in a limited format in Germany. It is somewhat shocking that with all of the new companies such as Arrow Video releasing cult and obscure cinema that this hasn’t received any type of official DVD or Blu-ray release. Luckily it is currently available to view on YouTube. Check out the full movie below.

I'm so happy you made it to this post!





This may not necessarily appeal to all fans of cult cinema, but it definitely needs to be watched at least one time.









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-Raul Vantassle