As a kid growing up in the 70′s and 80′s, my family did not have cable television or a VCR. So the movies I did get to see were almost all from WKBD-50 out of Detroit which showed b-movies, often questionable sci-fi, or other oddballs that were likely not expensive to air.

I decided to compile a list of these movies, from memory, to see if anyone saw what I saw, or what I missed.

Without the internet, this list would be impossible. Because without IMDB or Google which allowed me to enter in keywords and plot points, I would have never found these films.

Phase IV (1974)

All I remember were the ants were very intelligent and made geometric structures. There are a lot of ant-invasion movies. After watching this one summer, I went outside and started burning ants with a magnifying glass. I was probably in 1st or 2nd grade.

The Savage Bees (1976)

There was one of those “bee attack” movies and I remember clearly a red VW Beetle and a football stadium. The bees attacked everyone then latched themselves onto a  VW Beetle, where some woman drove it into a football stadium where they lowered the temperate so the bees couldn’t survive. It took some digging, but it I found it.

Damnation Alley (1977)

The guy from the A-team and the guy from Airwolf. Post-nuclear. Desert. Giant stuff. Cool RV-type machines. Tornados. That’s what I remember quite well. It didn’t take long to find this one.

Demon Seed (1977)

A computer impregnates a woman and delivers the baby. It’s a miracle I turned out “normal” after being subjected to movies like this. The plot is absolutely insane. Computers rape people!

Empire of the Ants (1977)

I remember a giant ant in a glass box. And people were put into the box, and the ant sprayed them with something, and then they “followed” whatever the ants “told” them to do. This one took a very long time to find. And I didn’t know who Joan Collins was when I was a little kid.

White Dog (1982)

This was one of the first movies I ever saw with a “twist” ending that floored me. I remember it Paul Winfield being in it so a quick look up of his movie list revealed it. This movie is so sad, but so compelling.

The Ice Pirates (1984)

I remembered ice, future, space, and pirates. It took no time to find it. I watched again recently. It’s so campy. I was howling laughing at it this as an adult, because I missed all the sexual innuendo from when I was a little kid. If you like Spaceballs (1987) you’ll love this movie.

Electric Dreams (1984)

Computer falls in love with girl. That’s all I remember. This was the hardest one to find.