Tuesday, May 14, 2013

MMM: Horror Nostalgia 1980s

In the 80s, there were only a few more shows on TV than in the 70s, but there was a huge upsurge in Horror movie-making.  Sequels and movie franchises took off, and there was plenty to choose from!

I promised you big '80s hair -- so here's the Queen of Horror and Big Hair: 


 Elvira’s Movie Macabre (1981-1986 and 2010-2011)
"Hello, darling. It`s little ol` me, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Your hostess with the mostess."
Host:  Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)
She joked about the B-horror movies she introduced, lampooning horror and developing a huge cult following.


Tales From the Darkside (1983-1988)
"Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality.  But... there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit... a darkside."
Created by:  George A. Romero
Stories by illustrious authors like:  Frederik Pohl,  Harlan Ellison,  Clive Barker,  Michael Bishop,  Robert Bloch,  John Cheever,  Michael McDowell and Fredric Brown.

 

Friday the 13th: The Series (1987-1990)
Starred:  John D. LeMay, who also starred in “Jason Goes to Hell.”  
Interesting Note:  The series had nothing to do with Jason.  It was about an old antique dealer who made a pact with the Devil to sell cursed antiques.  When he dies, his store is inherited by his niece Micki and her cousin Ryan.  They fight to retrieve the antiques from the people who bought them to stop them from causing harm.



Freddy’s Nightmares (1988-1990)
Created by:  Wes Craven
Host:  Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund)
The sinister killer of the "Nightmare On Elm Street" movies, Freddy Krueger, hosts this show and introduces tales of evil and death plaguing the people who live in Springwood.

 



Tales From the Crypt (1989-1996)
Narrator: The wisecracking Crypt Keeper, who was voiced by John Kassir and performed by puppeteer Van Snowden.
Interesting Note:  The stories were from EC comic “Tales From the Crypt” along with four other EC comics: “Haunt of Fear,” “Vault of Horror,” “Crime SuspenStories,” and “Shock SuspenStories.”



Horror Films of the 1980s:
(I’m not listing sequels, only originals. No reason to list every single Halloween or Friday the 13th installment. That could go on forever!)

Dressed to Kill (1980)
The Fog (1980)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Prom Night (1980)
The Shining (1980)*
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
The Evil Dead (1981)
Ghost Story (1981)
The Howling (1981)
Scanners (1981)
Wolfen (1981)
Basket Case (1982)
Creepshow (1982)*
Poltergeist (1982)
Sweeney Todd (1982)
The Thing (1982) (This one’s my 3rd favorite movie of all time!)
Christine (1983)*
Cujo (1983)*
The Dead Zone (1983)*

Children of the Corn (1984)*
Firestarter (1984)*
Gremlins (1984)
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Day of the Dead (1985)
Fright Night (1985)
Lifeforce (1985)
Re-Animator (1985)
Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Silver Bullet (1985)*
Aliens (1986) (And here’s my 2nd fav movie of all time!)
Critters (1986)

Maximum Overdrive (1986)*
Stand By Me (1986)*
The Fly (1986)
The Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Dead of Winter (1987)
Hellraiser (1987)
The Lost Boys (1987)

The Running Man (1987)*
Predator (1987)
The Stepfather (1987)
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
Child’s Play (1988)
Dead Calm (1988)
Pet Sematary (1988)*


 

How many Stephen King movies can you count in there?
(I guessed 7, but it's 12!  I've put asterisks after them, so you can check yourself.)

Join me tomorrow for the fabulous 90s, the hey-day of Horror!





Join the May Monster Madness Blog Hop. We're hopping for seven days, from May 11-17, in celebration of  monsters, mayhem, and all things Horror related!

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

So many great horror movies from the 80s... I grew up watching Nightmare on Elm Street, Lost Boys, The Howling, Gremlins and many others. One movie I watched a million times over was Night Breed based on Cabal by Clive Barker.

mooderino said...

I have to say I have a soft spot for 80s horror. Not all that scary now apart from the hairstyles.

mood
Moody Writing

The Funnily Enough

Tonja Drecker said...

Gosh that list is long! I'd forgotten all about Elvira. Nice to see her again :)

Shah Wharton said...

Wow - that's why Mr King kicks horror ass! :)

I loved so many of those listed and still do. My all time fave of the lot has to be The Lost Boys, though :) Classic. So dated now, I realise, yet it's still so damn entertaining and 'David', although not typically handsome in ANY way, was still sexy. :)

Shah X

shahwharton.com

Kate Larkindale said...

I have to admit to having seen all those Stephen King movies. Plus about 80% of the rest of the list.... I remember leaving a school maths exam after about half an hour because I couldn't do it, and sneaking off downtown to see Pet Sematary to kill time until the exam was supposed to be over.

N. R. Williams said...

Hi Lexa
I'm such a coward! I don't do Horror well but Elvira was hilarious and Tales from the Crypt awesome. The movies...didn't see many of them. I avoid it all if I can get away with it.
Nancy

Natalie Aguirre said...

I'm not much of a horror fan, but Elvira, I know. My daughter and husband have watched some of these so I recognize the titles.

Dani said...

Another great list! I love Elvira. She's so funny.

Ms Misantropia said...

Now we're talking! I'm totally tuning in for your 90's list.

Anonymous said...

Oh the 80's. A decade of pure embarrassment for all involved! Children of the Corn still gives me the jitters! Dead Calm in there too, a great Aussie film!

Anonymous said...

Just went through again cause I still questioned the number of King films... that is so many, wow! i guess it proves it was his decade!
Thanks for the cool post!
Here's my day IV MMM at Design du Jour.

Mark Means said...

I'm not a big horror movie fan,but there were a ton of them in the 80s. Fun movies for a simpler time :)

I also remember The Thing because it was a remake...much scarier than the original, though.

Michelle Wallace said...

Hey, some of those ring a bell... though I wouldn't remember seeing much because I ALWAYS watched scary movies (never by choice...) with a pillow in front of my eyes! He! He!

Writer In Transit

Cherie Reich said...

I love horror movies! And there were a few King ones in there that I didn't know he did either.

stephen Hayes said...

I've only seen four of the movies on your list. I guess I'm not much of a fan of this genre.

Meradeth Houston said...

Oh my gosh, so many films I hid under the blanket while watching! (I'm a total wimp, I'll admit it!)

Kim (YA Asylum) said...

I loved the Tales from the Crypt TV show. I liked The Shinning, Friday the 13th (even though the series got dumber and dumber as it went on, I still enjoy watching these movies), The Thing (this original one really disturbed me, in a good way), Nightmare on Elm Street, Day of the Dead, and Predator.

The Alien movies just freak me out too much! Nothing -- and I mean nothing -- scares me out more than something getting inside and person, growing, then popping out. That just is nightmare material for ages. The first time I watched an Alien related movie, I had no idea that happened … so when it did I swear I almost died of fright.

Unknown said...

The Nightmare on Elm Street movies terrified me to the point where I refused to go to sleep! I just knew Freddy was coming for me. Luckily, he didn't. :)

Unknown said...

Oh, and I got your message about Gretchen's book. Looks like I'll have to read it. :))

Melancholy and Menace said...

Such a great post!

I've watched and loved all the movies in your list except for one.

Nightmare on Elm Street.

I really don't know why, it seems like everyone else on the planet
had seen this except me and I still have no interest in watching it.

And my MMM post for today : Jekyl and Hyde

http://authormjpreston.blogspot.com/ said...

Hey Lexa,

I love how you've tackled each decade and it has stirred up some great memories for this old dinosaur. I must confess though, being the male of the species, it wasn't Elvira's Big Hair that caught my attention. :)

All the best
MJ Preston

Latest MMM: Building the Perfect Beast.

The Dark World of MJ Preston
MJ Preston: Author and Artist at Large
The Equinox by MJ Preston


mshatch said...

Those were some fun shows. I especially liked the Crypt Keeper and I think I've seen almost all those movies. And yeah, The Thing is one of the best movies ever, period, and it still holds up today.

shelly said...

All my favorite movies. Loved Elvira.

Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly

Stephen Tremp said...

Wow! Now this is a complete list! Thanks for posting. I enjoyed it very much. I'm going to read it again.

And who doesn't like Elvira? Coming home at 2:30 a.m. she is what I looked forward to. Okay, TMI. So I came home alone too many times. But in retrospect, that's probably a good thing.

Heather R. Holden said...

Elvira is awesome! I love listening to her songs every Halloween. It's a shame the revival of her show didn't last...

Suze said...

Hey, remember Saturday the 14th? :)

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