The Lady That Caught My Eye: Lea Thompson

 My Lady of the 80’s

The 1980’s were a time for change, certainly in the film industry, but also for ‘yours truly’. It was in that wacky 10 years that the whole Puberty thing decided to spring itself on lil ole me. Girls ceased to be ‘Eeeeeeewwww!’ and went on to become ‘Hellloooooo!..!’ (I remember the exact moment THAT hit me…but that’s another story).

Being the Movie Nerd that I was…er…am, I, of course, took keen notice of good-looking women-folk parading through my cinematic entertainment. The following Lady REALLY had an effect on young, impressionable Me, nearly causing a (probably) fatal hormonal disturbance from her Sexy-Chick-Next-Door qualities. It was a crazy time. There are select roles, in select movies, that just ‘worked’ for young me.  The following actress caught my eye…and never quite let go.

1) THE LADY: Lea Thompson as Beverly Switzler

THE MOVIE: Howard The Duck (1986)

Yeah, I know.

Awful flick.

But as a kid…I friggin loved this interesting George Lucas failure. It was SO bizarre and out-of-left field that it just…worked. Then again, my young mind may have had the consistency of warm Play-Doh, with all the spark of a luke-warm glass of water. I recently broke down and ordered a copy online (damn you, Amazon!). On arrival, I flung that expectedly awesome piece of ‘sure-to-be-amazing all over again’ nostalgia into the player. Yea…it wasn’t. This flick is now a ‘curiosity’ and lesson to film-makers to not let their egos take over and assume that their NAME attached to ANY title will draw in The Riches. This is a lesson George Lucas learned the hard way.

But regardless of how shitty the movie now is…Lea Thompson was SUPER fine as Beverly, the down-on-her-luck lead singer/bass player for the Grrl Group, Cherry Bomb. SOMETHING about the look and the character turned me on like a damn light switch. Let’s see why:

It’s because of her that ‘crimped’ hair on a woman is STILL kinda sorta acceptable. Lea/Beverly burned that one into my pubescent brain…and there it stayed.

The first time we see her, right after Howard crashes into downtown Cleveland, she’s rockin out with the band. And looking like pure 80’s awesome!

Of course, after Howard saves Beverly from a bout of ‘alley rape’ (um…kids movie?) from a pair of punk douchebags (using his Quack-Fu…no bullshit), Sexy Human and Freaky Duck embark on a series of wacky, comic book-like adventures (go figure), that result in these choice shots:

 

Then there’s THIS scene. This is one of those that got the uppity hormones just a rage’n! Any idea on why that may have been?

I’m sure that you can imagine the effect that some of those shots would’ve had on a young, red-blooded male (Or an older red-blooded male…looking at these again). But looking back…it’s extra-terrestrial bestiality!! Once again…kids movie, anyone? But damn…did Lea make that particular perversion look…enticing!

And after the soft-core bestiality porn wraps up, comically of course, it’s back to bizarre alien hi-jinks! Beverly looks hot petrified with fear. Is that wrong?

At the end of the day, after the Evil Overlords have been blasted back to their own world and the SpectroScope was blown to smithereens…Beverly and Howard rock out!!

Through ALL that weirdness…she still looks 80’s great!

A Random Gallery of Lea Thompson Goodness…