Think of the possibilities. Nastassja Kinski leaving small-town Wisconsin for Paris, where she ends up a supermodel ensnared in a terrorist plot in 1983’s Exposed. Mickey Rourke slurring, “a drink for all my friends” before heading to a dive-bar alley to fistight Frank Stallone in Barfly. Maury Chaykin playing the world’s most batshit-crazy tow truck driver in the Canuck psychodrama Cold Comfort. Norman Bates returning home in Psycho II, one of the rare examples where a sequel to a landmark kind of holds its own.

If all of the above have something in common (besides being fantastic), it’s that they were released in the ’80s. And, instead of the big screen, you’ve likely only seen them on betamax, VHS, LaserDisc, or your fifth-favourite streaming service. 

The Vancouver International Film Festival is giving you the chance to change that with its VIFF Back to the 80s summer film series, which now includes a Fan Choice contest.

As previously reported by the Straight, the series runs the entire month of July, and features 60 films from the decade that gave us Ronald Reagan, first-wave American hardcore, and The Terminator. 

The Fan Choice contest gives Vancouver film buffs the chance to nominate up to three films that failed to make the Back to the 80s list. 

Step one is to go here and submit your wish list for the films that weren’t picked for the series, but which you’d love to see on the big screen. Any US film from 1980 to 1989 is eligible, and one chosen entrant will get a pair VIFF Centre tickets. 

Once submissions close on July 31, the top five most-requested films will be tallied, after which cinephiles can vote for their favourite in round two. The Fan Choice winner will then screen at the VIFF Centre on August 30.

So, go. And please let the winner be Barfly. Or Cold Comfort, Psycho II, or Exposed.