Best Female Lead movies of 1980s

Actors : Linda Griffiths, Jo Henderson, Jane Hallaren, Jon DeVries,
Directors : John Sayles,

A happily married woman comes to realize herself of being a repressed lesbian after she has an affair with a female college professor, and then tries to come to terms with her newfound lifestyle.

Actors : Mike Marshall, Carina Barone, Françoise Blanchard, Marina Pierro,
Directors : Jean Rollin,

A toxic spill revives a beautiful, dead heiress who, with the help of her childhood friend, must quench her insatiable thirst for blood.

Actors : Jacques Spiesser, Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Isabelle Huppert,
Directors : Joseph Losey,

Frederique (Huppert) leaves her family's small-town trout farm to embark on an journey taking her to Japan and into the arms of a man. Irritations concerning her actions and present state ...

Actors : Rüdiger Vogler, Jutta Lampe, Doris Schade, Barbara Sukowa,
Directors : Margarethe von Trotta,

Two sisters both fight for women's rights. Juliane is a journalist and Marianne a terrorist. When Marianne is jailed, Juliane feels obligated to help her despite their differing views on how to live.

Actors : Richard Lynch, Leonard Mann, Willie Aames, Lisa Blount,
Directors : Ruggero Deodato,

A reporter and her cameraman connect a surviving Jonestown leader and a TV exec's missing son to a drug war where jungle installations are being massacred by an army of natives and a skilled white assassin.

Actors : Christian Ruché, Miou-Miou, Sylvie Laporte, Michel Raskine,
Directors : Michel Deville,

A multi-faceted film based on Raymond Jean's novel "La Lectrice". Constance (Miou-Miou) reads the novel aloud in bed to her lover. Inspired by the story of Marie, a woman who advertises her...

Actors : Natalie O'Connell, Teresa Farley, Lance Lewman, Frances Raines,
Directors : Tim Kincaid,

The Manhattan General Hospital has admitted a string of young women who have been raped by something otherworldly. The perpetrator only attacks women who are virgins. Dr. Pace and Detective...

Actors : Johannes Brost, Reine Brynolfsson, Helena Bergström, Ing-Marie Carlsson,
Directors : Colin Nutley,

Kaj, Lennart and Robert are 30-somethings who goes out to dance every weekend. At one dance they meet Inger, whom Kaj falls in love with. Kaj has some friends who are playing in a band. The...

Actors : Yilmaz Zafer, Macit Koper, Füsun Demirel, Müjde Ar,
Directors : Atif Yilmaz,

After Serap, the theatre actress, acts in an advertisement, she loses her identity and become a housewife with two children. The movie is about dilemma of Serap and Naciye.

Actors : Christina Whitaker, Tammara Souza, Nick Cassavetes, Elizabeth Kaitan,
Directors : Anita Rosenberg,

Two go-go dancers, Lulu and Peaches, are framed for the murder of their employer by the real killer, sleazy gangster Vinnie. Picking up waitress Darlene along the way, the three are ...

Actors : Katherine Bean, Grace Phillips, Stephen Lack, Emmanuelle Chaulet,
Directors : Jon Jost,

Anna, a French actress, is approached by financial broker Gordon in the Vermeer room of a New York gallery. However, romance does not ensue...

Actors : Jill Clayburgh, Joe Pesci, Dianne Wiest, Nicol Williamson,
Directors : Jack Hofsiss,

A true story about Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Gordon's Valium addiction and her desperate attempts to kick the habit.

Actors : Jessica Forde, Mr. Housseau, Joëlle Miquel, Mme. Housseau,
Directors : Éric Rohmer,

Reinette and Mirabelle are two young girls. Reinette lives in the countryside, Mirabelle in Paris. They meet during a holiday of Mirabelle in the country, when Reinette helps her to repair ...

Actors : Tsunehiko Watase, Eiji Okada, Masako Natsume, Ken Takakura,
Directors : Koreyoshi Kurahara,

Two Japanese scientists, Ushioda and Ochi, develop a bond with their sled dogs while on an expedition in Antarctica. Ushioda and Ochi eventually leave Antarctica, only to return to search ...

Actors : Lambert Wilson, Horst Buchholz, Brooke Shields, John Rhys-Davies,
Directors : Andrew V. McLaglen,

After her father dies, young Dale takes his place in a trans-African auto race, but ends up being abducted by a desert sheik.

Actors : Victor Wong, Laureen Chew, Kim Chew, Ida F.O. Chung,
Directors : Wayne Wang,

In San Francisco, an immigrant Chinese widow welcomes the new year with some unhappiness: she's 62 now, she wants to make a trip to China to pay last respects to her ancestors, a fortune ...

Actors : Christina Orbakaite, Yuriy Nikulin, Elena Sanaeva, Dmitri Yegorov,
Directors : Rolan Bykov,

Unpopular girl being bullied in her class.

Actors : Nicholas Kilbertus, Meredith Salenger, Mimi Kuzyk, Joanna Pacula,
Directors : Pen Densham,

When Felice and Hillary were children, they were separated to live with other people. Felice went off with a relative who possessed an unusual bloodline which was passed on to Felice via a ...

Actors : Plácido Domingo, Julia Migenes, Faith Esham, Ruggero Raimondi,
Directors : Francesco Rosi,

A film version of the famous Bizet opera, where a soldier (Don Jose) falls in love with a beautiful factory worker (Carmen), but she does not reciprocate his feelings.

Actors : Pamela Holland, Stephen Sachs, David Snow, Laurie Lapinski,

Four college students are stalked by an unknown assailant while staying on campus over the Christmas holidays to help clear out a dormitory which is to be demolished.