Spheeris established her reputation as the producer, director and screenwriter of "The Decline of Western Civilization" (1981), a knowing, humorous but clear-eyed record of the late 70s L.A. punk rock scene. The film was well received critically and commercially. Serving as just the director, she followed up with "The Decline of Western Civilization Part II, The Metal Years" (1988), a quasi-sequel which documented the mid-80s heavy metal phenomenon. In between these two nonfiction works, Spheeris wrote and/or directed a series of youth-oriented narrative films which, despite cultish appeal, were generally poorly received critically and did little business.
Spheeris' first fiction film, "Suburbia/The Wild Side" (1983), a drama about alienated suburban teens, was dismissed by "Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 1995" as a "poorly staged, perfectly awful drama" whose message was lost amid "gratuitous violence". In sharp contrast, Geoff Andrew of London's TIME OUT praises the film for its "manifest sincerity" and how it "combines intelligent social comment with the conventions of the teens-in-revolt exploiter." Spheeris revisited similar territory for her next feature directing assignment, "The Boys Next Door" (1985), starring Maxwell Caulfield and Charlie Sheen as a pair of hopeless and desperate high schoolers who go on a motiveless murder spree. She lightened up with two comedies, "Hollywood Vice Squad" (1986) and "Dudes" (1987), and made some inroads into TV as the story editor for much of the second season of the hit sitcom "Roseanne" (ABC, 1989-90).
Spheeris joined Hollywood's big leagues helming the surprise comedy blockbuster "Wayne's World" (1992) based on "Saturday Night Live" sketches featuring Michael Myers and Dana Carvey as nerds with their own public access cable show. A considerably more benign variation on the filmmaker's typical milieu, the film grossed over $120 million domestically. Spheeris wandered a bit further afield to produce and direct "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1993), a popular if critically derided adaptation of the 60s sitcom. She provided the story and screenplay as well as directed "The Little Rascals" (1994), an update of the beloved comedy shorts of yore, which fared well at the box office. Spheeris also directed the comedy "Black Sheep" (1996) starring Chris Farley as the brother of a political candidate (Tim Matheson).