Listed
below, I will show how each year of the illustrious decade brought us a gem.
1980
As far as
slasher flicks go, 1980 brought us the immortal Jason Voorhees in the very first
Friday the 13th;
a film that created an icon (though not until the final scene). Not many felt
like canoeing on a still lake after that.
On a more
psychological note, it also truly delved into the mouth of madness in Stephen
King's The Shining. While Stanley Kubrick and Jack Nicholson definitely got all
the credit, this was only King's second novel. It was a start of a beautiful
relationship with one of the original Masters of Horror. Remember, all work and
no play makes Jack a dull boy.
This
year definitely continues the trend of madness but throws in a dash of demonic
possession. Then-unknown director Sam Raimi brings us one the most emulated and
loveable yet gory and horrifying films in the classic The Evil Dead; the film
that launched the awesome B-rated career of Bruce Campbell.
Another
'81 flick that brought back a genre that wasn't really spoken of since the days
of Lon Chaney Jr. was An American Werewolf in London. Jonathan Landis gave us a
tale so memorable while the incomparable Rick Baker's make-up work earned him
another Oscar. 1981 also gave us Carpenter's classic The Thing and finally put the hockey mask on Jason in Friday the 13th Part 3.
Tobe
Hooper floored us all in 1974 with the Texas Chain Saw. But he never really got
the notoriety he deserved until Steven Spielberg took him under his wing and
they put out Poltergeist. And while arguably Hooper's true vision was hindered
by Spielberg's power and editing, it still ended up being one of my favorite
films of the decade.
1983
While
many a sequel (Jaws 3/Amityville 2) and Stephen King flick (Cujo/Christine)
graced the screen this year, for me the film of the year was easily Sleepaway
Camp. Cheesy campfire tale mixed with slasher flick the likes of Friday the 13th. One of the first films
of the genre to incorporate a massive plot twist for its ending. Great fun.
While I
always enjoyed Children of the Corn (creepy kids always kicked ass in movies)
this year was very much dominated by two juggernaut titles:
Gremlins.
Another film directed by a previous horror chief named Joe Dante, who brought
us The Howling at one point, then fell victim to the Spielberg editing like
Hooper in Poltergeist. However, yet again a popular (still to this day) film. I
think everyone loves this movie.
But (for
me), the film of the year, and I think of the decade - Wes Craven's immortal
classic A Nightmare on Elm Street. The most popular slasher flick villain,
unforgettable story and downright creepy movie-kills. Made you think twice about falling asleep
every night.
1985
Yet
again, sequels dominated the genre (Nightmare on Elm Street 2 / Hills Have Eyes
2, and much more) there were a couple of fun flicks that came out.
Fright
Night was a fun look at “what if my neighbour was a…” made famous by
Hitchcock’s Rear Window. This time the
neighbour is allegedly a vampire and it’s up to the teenaged accuser to team up
with a reluctant television vampire hunter to save the day. Chris Sarandon shined and it ended up earning
him the villainous role in The Princess Bride and the protagonist police
officer in the original Child’s Play movie.
Another
one, that really didn’t qualify as scary but still had vampires was Jim
Carrey’s first starring role Once Bitten.
Unlike the standard tale, this one focused on a female vampire (Laura
Hutton) who is in search of a male virgin to be by her side. It was cheesy and rather funny, but still
good times had by all.
1986
While ’86
brought us many a B-rated classic (House, April Fool’s Day, Little Shop of
Horrors, Maximum Overdrive) and some sequels to some big names (Texas Chainsaw
2, Psycho 3) this was when the big boys started to come out.
Action
guru James Cameron followed up his success found a couple years earlier in The
Terminator, and took over a series made popular by Ridley Scott and brought us
the sequel to Alien in the (not-so-creatively titled) film, Aliens. While Scott may have started the vision,
Cameron perfected it – making this arguably the most popular of the series and
possibly even the Sci-Fi/Horror genre.
Another
flick that has stood the test of time was David Croonenberg’s take on the
classic The Fly. Jeff Goldblum’s creepy
demeanour made him the perfect candidate for a tale about a man who, while
experimenting with teleportation, accidentally transforms himself onto a fly…in
one of the most grotesque transformations in film. I think the arm wrestling scene stands out
for me the most.
Probably,
to this day, the best year for movies and music ever; 1987 brought two of my
favourite movies of all time.
The
Monster Squad was a staple watch for me every Halloween and any other day I
felt the urge. While again, not
frightening, its classic tongue-in-cheek tribute to the classic Universal
Studios monsters (though different enough to not upset the studio that refused
to fund this film) and quotable lines make this a must watch. Little known fact, Alberta-native Duncan
Regehr (who played Dracula) won this role after beating out some unknown Irish
actor named Liam Neeson. This movie has
a lot of neat trivia that I highly recommend you look up.
Finally,
my favourite film of the vampire genre (sorry Legosi) was Joel Schumacher’s
popular 80’s pop culture-filled romp, The Lost Boys. Not only great for the likes of Kiefer
Sutherland and Jason Patric, and the then-inseparable pair in Corey Haim and
Corey Feldmen but for the underrated role of the recently deceased Edward
Herrmann as the (spoiler alert) head vampire Max. I rarely find a flaw with this film. The makeup was way ahead of its time, the
acting was actually good and the story was phenomenal. While I may be looking at this with
rose-colored glasses, this is my favourite vampire film ever made.
Also, a
huge nod must be given to Clive Barker’s immortal classic Hellraiser that made
its way to our screens and our hearts that very same year and Sam Raimi’s
sequel to his popular Evil Dead film that has been voted as the number one
B-rated film of all time.
Not an
incredibly exciting year, it still brought us a couple of classics we still all
remember. Chris Sarandon gets back in
the horror saddle and co-stars with everyone’s favourite Good Guy doll in
Child’s Play. Chucky is still around on
the screen and at your local Spencer’s store to this day. While the series has plummeted greatly, the
original film is still revered by most horror fans.
And while
parts threes generally don’t get much notice, Poltergeist III was one of the
spookiest films I’ve seen in a long time and definitely made you scared to look
in a mirror again. While the movie was
OK, it had some fairly iconic scenes (the braces scene and the water puddle
scene), and it also was the last movie the face of the franchise would grace us
with her presence. Heather O’Rourke was
barely over 12 years old when she collapsed at the breakfast table one morning
and died on the way to the hospital. It
was a loss with much controversy and even more sadness.
Rounding
off the decade was 1989. Yet again,
there were many sequels to the usual franchises (Nightmare, Halloween, and
Friday) but a few others that I really enjoyed.
Stephen
King’s Pet Semetary graced screens with a somewhat unoriginal plot but with new
twists. Sadness blended seamlessly with
fright, this film was a must watch for Gage the baby and Munster Fred
Gwynne. This film is still spooky to
this day.
But it
also brought us a cheesy yet scary flick as only Wes Craven can. Gone are the days are his downright scary ones
of Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes and even A Nightmare in Elm
Street, here to stay were his popcorn flicks that he was known for. Shocker was an interesting take on a subject
that was sort of talked about, but never out loud. What if you could transfer your soul to
someone else? What if a killer found a
way? Quite fun and starring X-Files own
Mitch Pileggi, this one is more of a guilty pleasure than a good movie…but I
enjoy it.
That is
my list for the infamous decade that is not soon to be forgotten, especially to
those that lived it. I highly recommend
checking out every film on this list but also to check out others that were
unlisted that made this time period great.
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