The House Next Door

By Matt Zoller Seitz and Aaron Aradillas

This is the second installment in a five-part series about the evolution of the modern summer blockbuster, edited by yours truly, written by Aaron Aradillas and narrated by Dave Bunting, Jr. It covers Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, Red Dawn, Dreamscape and the rise of the PG-13 rating. The series, which will continue throughout the week on The L Magazine's website, re-examines summer movies released in 1984 (Parts 1 and 2) and 1989 (Parts 3, 4 and 5), puts them in context of the politics and popular culture that surrounded their release and tries to show how they eventually led to the entertainment that dominates today. To watch the videos on The L's website, click here.