Companion to “Conversations in Horror” - “The Best in ‘80s Slasher Films”

Companion to “Conversations in Horror”

“The Best in ‘80s Slasher Films”

In the podcast “Conversations in Horror” hosts Ron McLellen and I look at different aspects of the horror genre in order to entertain and educate fans.  This article is a companion to the show as a means to touch upon things that the show doesn’t have time to.  Enjoy.

I have a deep love for ‘80s horror films.  The ‘80s were a great time for filmmakers to explore every sub-genre of horror film out there.  It also happened to be one of the biggest decades for the slasher genre so I’d like to take a few moments to look out at all of my favorite ‘80s slasher films.  Some you may have seen while others you may have only heard about in whispers but all (in my opinion) are worth taking a peek at.  Films are presented in alphabetical order rather than in a list leading to the best of the best.

BOOGEY MAN, THE (1980)

This is an indie little slow burn of a psychological film that has a lot of atmosphere and mood.  Not necessarily considered to be an excellent film but it has its charms and its one of director Ulli Lommel’s best films.   When I first saw it as a kid I was expecting a monster film but I ended up with a film that was so much more so now I fondly remember it as a film that wanted to be something more than a simple slasher horror film.

CHRISTMAS EVIL (1980)

Next to Black Christmas (1974) this is one of my favorite Christmas themed horror films.  Director Lewis Jackson’s blackly comic film about a crazed Santa Claus who decides who is naughty enough to be killed.  Unlike the similarly themed Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) this film doesn’t take itself too seriously and is a lot more fun.  I enjoy both films but this is the one I put in every Christmas (next to Black Christmas that is).

FRIDAY THE 13^TH (1980)

Everyone loves a great slasher and it doesn’t get any better than the original Friday the 13^th (even without Jason).  I’m still a fan of this film and prefer the mystery aspects of this film that was lost in the sequels (except for maybe Part V).  More modern audiences may scoff at this film since it doesn’t have Jason in it but it does contain the amazing special FX make up talents of Tom Savini which means this film never disappoints from beginning to end.

FRIDAY THE 13^th PART 3 (1982)

Jason is a force to be reckoned with and nothing makes that more true than this film which is in 3-D and Jason gets his signature hockey mask.  The 3-D effects may be dated (and don’t hold up so well in 2-D) but this film is one of the most fun of the sequels.  I’m not a huge fan of the franchise (sorry, but I’m a Michael Myers fan) but this is one of the most entertaining of the sequels and not one to be missed.

FUNHOUSE, THE (1981)

 I will say this for the Tobe Hooper directed film – it grows on you.  I was not a fan of this film when I first saw it.  I thought it was a badly done film with nothing interesting to say.  At the suggestion of my best friend (and co-host of the show) who loves the film, I decided to give the film a second chance.  This, like many of Hooper’s films, are better the second time around.  Hooper’s films generally lack a strong story but make up for it in visuals and flare which this film has abundance in.  Growing up I never took his films all that seriously so I never really cared for his style but that’s what makes his films so entertainingly good – Hooper has style and it permeates every one of his films, so, even if his films lack a good story they more than make up for it in different ways.

HALLOWEEN II (1981)

This is not my favorite of the Halloween sequels but it is one of my favorite sequels of the ‘80s.  Before the sequels post-Part IV came I watched this film (with the original) every Halloween as if they were one film.  For the longest time I couldn’t watch one without the other.  There are a lot of great things about this film that still resonate but I loved the fact that sacrifices had to be made to end pure evil at the end of the film and there were no true winners (at least until part IV reveals that neither Myers nor Loomis actually died at the end).  This was supposed to be the end of the Myers story and a start of something different for subsequent sequels but we all know how that ended.

HELL NIGHT (1981)

Whatever you have to say about this film “boring” isn’t one of them.  Linda Blair is fantastic in this by-the-numbers slasher.  Despite the film being pretty predictable it’s never boring and always entertaining from beginning to end.   My opinion of the film may be a little bit misplaced as I’ve always been a huge fan of Blair’s.  I had a crush on her from way back which still allows me to enjoy her films more than I probably should (hey, I’m someone who thinks that The Exorcist 2: The Heretic isn’t a bad film).

HUMONGOUS (1982)

This was one of the scariest movies I ever saw growing up.  This is probably because I remember seeing a dark and grainy version of the film so everything horrifying was amped up any more.  This was also one of my mother’s favorite horror films so I saw this plenty of times growing up and it still holds a special place for me.  Most of my friends had never heard of the film before I mentioned it to them and it seems to be one of those films that were quickly forgotten upon release but it is a film worth seeking out.

MANIAC (1980)

This is one of my favorite films that I don’t plan on watching a second time in a while.  This is part of the same list that includes Martyrs (2008), Cannibal Holocaust (1980), and The Human Centipede: First Sequence (2009) which are films I think are great but not films I’m going to stick in the DVD/BD player and re-watch when I want to be entertained.  This is a polarizing film with a gripping performance by Joe Spinell and beyond fantastic make up FX (again) by Tom Savini.

MOTEL HELL (1980)

A cult favorite and one of my favorite films of the ‘80s.  This is one of those rare ‘80s films that got the comedy and horror right without being an all-out spoof.   This may be a little dated but it is also one of the most entertaining films from the ‘80s that has been overlooked for far too long.  Check this film out if you never have.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981)

Next to Halloween this is one of the greatest films that depict the derailment of a holiday.  This is a great film from beginning to end and still holds up very well even to this day.  I love a good killer in a mask and this film has one of the truly very best.  This is probably one that everyone has seen.

SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, THE (1982)

Okay, this is a guilty pleasure film if there ever was one!  This may not be a great film but it is entertaining from beginning to end and one of the best of the ‘80s hands down.  These types of “throw-away” films may not be everyone’s cup of tea and it might be dated but it’s still one of my favorites to just put in the DVD/BD player with a beer in hand and just enjoy which you should as well.

Okay, so here is a small sampling of some of my favorite ‘80s slasher films.  There are MANY more that I never mentioned that are favorites but these should get you started.  Enjoy and if you want to hear more go to the actual “Conversations in Horror” podcast – “Talkin’ ‘80s Slasher Films” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wc9g-QrU6U or visit our Facebook Page at - https://www.facebook.com/conversationsinhorror?fref=ts

“Rants & Ravings About Horror” - Week 6: “A Weekend at Days of the Dead Horror Convention!”

Week 6: “A Weekend at Days of the Dead Horror Convention!”

The horror convention is a great place to meet and greet some of our most iconic stars who have influenced not only the genre of horror but also our enjoyment of the genre as well.  I was on hand this past weekend at the Atlanta, Georgia,  Days of the Dead event as a Vendor representing Dark Arts Props & Vintage Collectables (owner Ron McLellen, who is also an indie horror film maker).  This was my second year at the event as well as the second horror con that I’ve ever been to (I’ve ventured into the world of DragonCon briefly but never went back).  One of the main reasons I decided to come back for a second year is the fact that as a vendor I got to meet a lot of great people who were not only fans of horror but also created original horror art or had merchandise to sell.  It is the vendors that interest me the most at a horror con.

I’m an avid collector of art.  Be it horror related or the more mundane lighthouses (don’t judge me too much, my film company is called Broken Lighthouse Pictures), Asian culture, Egyptian artwork, and just about anything related to George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (my number one favorite film).  I also collect artwork from friends (but I never display any of my own artwork).  I’ve given away all of my own artwork because personally I don’t like looking at my own work.  I’d rather look at other peoples’ artwork.

At a horror con you get a taste of all different types and styles of artwork in all different media.  This year there were several mask makers on hand of which I picked up a new mask from Night Terror Productions (www.ntpfx.com).  Doomsday FX Studios (owned by Eric Molinaris) had a table to show off some of their stuff.  There were also more films being represented this year which included “Sorrow” represented by Slasher Marketing (www.slashermarketing.com) and the film makers behind “Attack of the Morningside Monster”, which screened at the event last year and can now be seen on DVD and various VOD services.  Monster Buster Entertainment (www.monsterbusterentertainment.com) was advertising the upcoming World Premiere of their film “Invasion of the Undead”, which took three years to make and has some amazing CGI and stop motion visual FX and director Byron Erwin was on hand to put awareness out there for his latest horror spectacle “Mr. Lockjaw”, a series pilot about a man, a Ventriloquist dummy, and murder.

Monsterama (www.monsterama.com) is just around the corner and they had a table again this year while representatives of the con Mad Monster Party (www.madmonster.com) were on site to make sure horror fans were aware of that upcoming event.  There were just a lot of great vendors and services at the event this year which was more diversified than last year.  Although I must say that Funko Pop! Toys were the entire rave as an overwhelming majority of store vendors had these fun toys in their booths.

If you are a fan of the stars then there was a great list of attendees this year from Tony Todd (Candyman), Angus Scrimm (Phantasm), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser) and a whole collection of stars that played Cenobites in the Clive Barker classic film, Corey Feldman (The Lost Boys), David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London), Sid Haig (Freaks, The Devil’s Rejects), Kane Hodder (Jason of various Friday the 13^th films), Bill Mosley (Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2), and many more than I can list here.  Just be assured that fans of Hellraiser, The Devil’s Rejects, Sleepaway Camp, and The Lost Boys, to name a few, all had a lot to be thankful for this weekend.  I didn’t happen to get any stars’ autographs this year but a highlight was meeting writer John Russo, who helped write Night of the Living Dead and Return of the Living Dead (not to mention a whole collection of other books and films) and getting my book Phantasm Exhumed: The Unauthorized Companion signed by author Dustin McNeill and photographer Kristen Deem.  My vendor table was just across from McNeill and Deem and so we talked a lot over the weekend.  Russo and I talked at great lengths on Friday before the event even started so that was a great treat.

This was another great year at Days of the Dead and even though I didn’t get to watch any of the films screened and didn’t go to any of the panel discussions or after parties, as a vendor I got to experience the event from a completely different aspect than a casual fan wondering through the aisles.  I got to meet a lot of great artists and film makers and people I can now call friends.  Whether you’re a patron or a guest or a vendor, Days of the Dead is a great event in which we can all come together and enjoy what we all enjoy most in life which is – HORROR!

Horror Films at the Gwinnett Center Int’l Film Festival

As a first year international film festival the Gwinnett Center Int’l Film Festival (held July 27-28) had a healthy dose of genre films (I should know since as Program Director I scheduled them).  Located in Duluth, Georgia right off of I-85 the Gwinnett Center houses three screening rooms and two panel and workshop rooms all within walking distance of each other.  This makes for an all encompassing event for the average indie film watcher.  As Program Director of the event I wanted to provide audiences not only with a healthy variety of international films but films of all genres which include sci-fi, comedy, drama, animation, and experimental including horror.

THE SHORTS

There were many shorts this year on display for the avid horror fans which include the Edgar Allen Poe inspired Her Heart Still Beats (which has great play in many film festivals thus far) Play House, which begs the question of how far would a father go to create the perfect family at any costs, and Root, a disturbing psychological look at a woman trapped between her fiancé and the man she’s having an affair with.  There were also a few interesting oddities such as the faux trailer Hell No, which demonstrates what would happen if all characters in horror films actually made intelligent choices (this was a personal favorite of mine) and the whimsical dance piece Dance Till You Drop.  There was also the Georgia Premiere of the second episode of the web series Ghost Trek: Goomba Bodysnatchers Mortuary Lockdown and the World Premiere of my own short film Primal (think infected mixed with zombie film) and the bad mothering of Wide Awake, where the dead children of a woman come back to haunt her.  Surprisingly, there was only a single student horror film which was Visitation Hours, which had a recently dead teenager return to make amends. 

Some of my personal favorites were Root, Play House, and Hell No as these films had something more to say about the human condition and the horror genre.  It’s always good when a horror film tries to say something more about the darker side of the human condition rather than simply be a gore film or a film that goes for the lowest common denominator.  More often than not many shorts have little to say other than be simply entertaining.  It should be noted that Root received the 2013 Audience Choice Award for Best Fiction Short.

THE FEATURES

There was a surprisingly large number of horror features on display this year and it seems that zombies were the monster of the year as they featured heavily in Ace the Zombie, a local production with the effects talents of 9 Cop FX behind it, and the Brazil film Beyond the Grave, a post apocalyptic world with zombies and all kinds of other manner of creatures and evil.  My feature House of Secrets is a suspense thriller that has a man buried alive to menace a group of women who wrongfully buried him and then there is the epic All Hallow’s Evil: Lord of the Harvest (with a running time of over 140 minutes) with every known type of monster thrown in; this film is for the hard core horror fan as Halloween is taken over by every type of monster in the book (zombies, werewolves, witches, goblins, ghouls, and even a killer clown, to name a few).

Each film presents its own challenges and offers a different perspective on the genre whether short or feature.  If you were unable to catch them at this year’s festival then I hope that you search them out online to see when they are playing at a film festival near you.

ON A FURTHER NOTE

The film festival also had a few other events lined up for horror fans!  9 Cop FX put together two workshops for our event which included “Special FX Makeup” where co-founders Ondie Daniel and Ace Talkingwolf applied make up FX to a couple audience members while also demonstrating how easy it is to create some of the amazing FX that they have achieved (they worked on Ace the Zombie).  Their second workshop on Sunday was “Distressed Accessories,” where they showed off some of their amazing props, costumes, and weapons created for the various films that they have worked on.  Another workshop was held by Ron McLellen (producer & writer of All Hallow’s Evil: Lord of the Harvest) called “Home Grown Special Effects” where he showed filmmakers and audience members how to use common household items to achieve low budget horror film effects.   These hands on workshops were a huge hit with the audiences and filmmakers.

We also had several panel discussions that interested our horror fans most prominently “Directing the Horror Film” with noted panelist Darla Rae (director of Brutal) and John Conkle (director of Zombeak!) and Christopher DiNunzio (director of Her Heart Still Beats) and Giles Shepherd (director of Ace the Zombie), to name a few.  There was also a panel discussion on “Fan Films” with Ron McLellen (who has directed fan films based on the Halloween, Friday the 13^th, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchises) and Ondie Daniel and Ace Talkingwolf (who have worked on numerous fan films through 9 Cop FX both horror and sci-fi).  For the “real” horror fan we presented a one-on-one interview between Russell Cherrington (producer of Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut) and Craig Sheffer (star of Nightbreed) that encompasses the actor’s huge history in film.  This was followed by the Georgia Premiere of Clive Barker’s Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut, which was our Saturday Late Night film screening, which started off with a Q&A of the film followed by the Director’s Cut of the film (which is approximately 145 minutes long).

All in all I believe this was a decent turn out for horror films and the horror fans as there was much for them to enjoy (and on occasion not so much to enjoy).  Next year I hope there is a bigger sampling of genre films especially from the student filmmakers and I hope to find another horror film worthy of the Saturday Late Night treatment.