In 1973, William Friedkin’s THE EXORCIST elevated the horror film. As the first film of its genre to be nominated for Best Picture, the scary movie became a legit form of cinema. This cut the way for what was to come in the Eighties…an era that many consider to be one of the best decades in all of horror. There is a lot to choose from with many great titles, so now lurks Reel Speak’s Top 10 Best Horror Films of the Eighties; 1980 – 1989.
Horror films in the 1980’s were defined by three names: Freddy, Jason, and Michael. They were the kings of the slashers; wielding knives and blades and transcending the genre by becoming cultural icons that have lasted over 30 years. While the faces and masks of those creeps may have dominated their era, the Eighties still managed to turn out some excellent entries that had little or nothing to do with sharp objects. Directors such as Clive Barker, John Carpenter, and Wes Craven became household names, and the works of Stephen King were adapted for the big and small screen to varying degrees of success. Horror-comedy had a large share of entries, with Sam Rami’s EVIL DEAD series becoming cult classics…not to mention GHOSTBUSTERS (1984), GREMLINS (1984), MONSTER SQUAD (1987), and Tim Burton’s BEETLEJUICE (1988). Monster movies also did well, with ALIENS (1986) and PUMPKINHEAD (1988) two of the standouts. Anthologies had a good run, with solid entries such as CREEPSHOW (1982), TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983), and CAT’S EYE (1985), earning screams in the theatres. Reel Speak’s Top 10 are the films that have made a lasting cultural impact, and of course…gave us something scary.
So let’s tear some souls apart….
10. HELLRAISER (1987)
Clive Barker is one of the biggest names in horror, and he got his start with this bizarre yet disturbing look at marriage and infidelity. Clare Higgins plays a cheating wife who finds a way to bring her lover back from the dead, and to keep him rejuvenating, has to lure men to him so he can feast on their blood. Revolting and scary, HELLRAISER was a film that was received with mixed results on release but since then has earned legendary status…with Doug Bradley’s “pinhead” character becoming a horror icon.
9. CHILD’S PLAY (1988)
The hardest thing about horror is selling a far-out and even ridiculous concept to your audience, and CHILD’S PLAY, which had a kid’s doll coming to life and going on a killing spree…had its work cut out for it. But somehow, we were able to take the film seriously, and got the pants scared off us in the process. Don Mancini created this little fucker which has also become an icon…as Chucky the doll, voiced by the great Brad Dourif, made for an intense and terrifying villain.
8. WITCHBOARD (1986)
This Kevin Tenney-directed chiller about a woman (Tawney Kitaen of Whitesnake fame), who becomes obsessed with a spirit on the other side of an Ouija board has fallen into relative obscurity, but it still stands as one of the scariest films of the decade. Often taking a first-person perspective of the spirit (who isn’t very nice), the film takes a unique vantage point when scaring us without seeing the ghost…and when it finally does creep out of the shadows it’s a great payoff. This Blogger’s personal favorite of Eighties horror.
7. AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)
Werewolves had a bit of a renaissance in 1981, with hairy films such as WOLFEN and THE HOWLING taking a bite out of audiences…but it was John Landis’ horror/comedy about two backpacking Americans who encounter one of those hairy bastards in England that everyone seems to remember the most. David Naughton plays the surviving yank of the two, and he spends the film conversing with his dead friend and wondering if he himself will become a werewolf. He does, of course…and what follows is one of the most terrifying and realistic transformations from man to wolf ever put to screen. Perfectly acted by Naughton and brought to its gruesome life by special effects legend Rick Baker…the film rightfully won an Oscar for Best Makeup and inspired Michael Jackson to make his Thriller video.
6. THE FLY (1986)
Most horror remakes deserve to be swatted, but this second flight of the 1958 film is the rare exception where the remake was miles better. Jeff Goldblum plays a scientist whose experiments lead to his body being merged with that of a fly, and what follows is a revolting and nearly disgusting transformation. A leader in the body-horror genre, this David Cronenberg-directed flick also took home an Oscar for Best Makeup…and the visual effects surpass much of what is being done today.
5. FRIDAY THE 13th (1980)
The arrival of horror icon Jason Vorhees, who with his skull-white hockey mask and machete terrorizes campers. Sean S. Cunningham helmed this first entry in what would become a long-running franchise that would be known for its creative kills. The franchise was cheap to make and it showed, but people showed up in droves to see them…and to this day any 13th of the month that falls on a Friday is celebrated with at least one of these films. Jason, along with his cinematic cousin Michael Myers from HALLOWEEN (1978), dominated the slasher genre with a combined 12 films in the Eighties.
4. POLTERGEIST (1982)
Debate rages to this day over who actually directed this; was it Steven Spielberg or TEXAS CHAINSAW director Tobe Hooper? The world may never know, but who really cares when there’s such a good time to be had getting scared? Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams play the parents in the Freeling family, who see their dream home turned into a nightmare. Toys come to life, faces are melted, strange lights are everywhere, and their darling little daughter Carol Anne (played by the late Heather O’Rourke), talks to the TV and vanishes. Packed with scares and visual effects that look great for their age, POLTERGEIST never loses focus on family and it pulls the heartstrings just as much as it terrifies.
3. THE THING (1982)
Horror seems to draw more remakes than any other genre, with many of them swinging and missing badly…but this is one of the grand slams. Kurt Russell leads the way with a team of researchers in Antarctica who encounter an alien that can assume the identity of anyone…or anything. It’s a psychological mind-twister that still has fans debating who was an imposter and who wasn’t at any given point of the film…and the special effects of mutilated bodies and creatures are still startling. Although this Blogger will always prefer the simplicity of the 1951 version, this John Carpenter thriller and gore-fest has made its mark on the genre, showing that horror can be made for the thinkers, too.
2. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
He wore a dirty brown hat, a torn sweater, had a blade-fixed glove, was disfigured from burns, and if he killed you in your dreams…you were dead. He was Freddy Krueger and his name became next-door neighbors to legends such as Dracula and the Frankenstein monster. Wes Craven created the character that became a household name for non-fans; a type of wide-reach that is rare for horror characters. The character was so popular with a rich mythology that the film inspired a TV series and six sequels, along with one spinoff (FREDDY VS. JASON in 2003), making for one of the best horror franchises in history. Even if we discount the sequels, his debut in 1984 is still scary as hell. Robert Englund played Freddy over the course of eight films and was a marvel; striking a perfect balance between horrifying and funny.
1. THE SHINING (1980)
Stanley Kubrick's masterful adaptation of the Stephen King novel. It may seem like low-hanging fruit to pick one of the best films of all time as the best in an era or genre…but it hangs low for all the right reasons. Jack Nicholson plays a recovering alcoholic who takes his family to an isolated hotel to act as caretakers during a Colorado winter…only to be tormented by cabin fever and a host of ghosts. Deeply layered and somewhat ambiguous, THE SHINING reveals more and more with each viewing, and fans and scholars today still debate the meaning behind one thing or another. The scares are excellent and the creep-factor is high, and scenes involving spectral twin children, a ghostly bartender, and a mad swinging of an axe still delivers the chills. Never mind the fact that King has been grumbling about the adaptation of his book for the last 40 years, because this is a masterpiece of horror that has yet to be topped in any era.
REEL SPEAK'S TOP 10 BEST HORROR FILMS OF THE EIGHTIES
- THE SHINING
- A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
- THE THING
- POLTERGEIST
- FRIDAY THE 13TH
- THE FLY
- AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON
- WITCHBOARD
- CHILD'S PLAY
- HELLRAISER
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