Must-See Horror Films Part 4

Note: Starting with the 1980s, the number of horror movies started to really grow. There were more studios, direct-to-video became a thing, and so you'll see a lot more films on this list than in the previous decades. As a result, I may keep descriptions down and may not include photos for all of them, particularly sequels.

"Halloween 2"

While it was released 3 years after the original, "Halloween 2" literally picks up exactly where the previous film left off. Michael Myers disappeared at the end of that, but now the night of terror continues, and reaches a fiery conclusion. One of the great things about the film is it's the same key members of the cast, same director, writer, everything, so there are no awkward changes or omissions that sometimes plague other sequels. The quality is there, and the story of Michael Myers, as far as John Carpenter is concerned, effectively ends.

"Friday the 13th"

"Friday the 13th 2"

"Friday the 13th" set the mold for countless slasher films to come. Teens go to a summer camp, or they go camping, they misbehave, and they die. What's interesting about the first two films is that none of the signature hallmarks of the series are there at the beginning. Jason Voorhees isn't the killer in the first one. He doesn't even appear, except for a cameo. And while he appears in the second one, there's no hockey mask. He wears a burlap sack over his head to conceal his disfigured face, and he's more of a normal person, not an unstoppable force, or even an actual reanimated, worm-ridden killer, as he is in latter films. But the other things are there. Sex and death, T&A.

"Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2"

One of my top 3 favorite films of all time, I love this film even more than the original, and I really love the original. In this, Dennis Hopper plays the uncle of two of the victims of the original film. He has spent the past decade hunting down the cannibalistic killers who killed his niece and nephew, and he thinks he's close. So he arms himself, with chainsaws of course, to finally confront Leatherface and his family and avenge his loved ones. It's comedy, it's horror, it's uniquely awesome.

"Sleepaway Camp"

Following the same formula as "Friday the 13th," which came out just a few years earlier, "Sleepaway Camp" has a different killer and a different twist, but the same basic concept. The twist at the end of the first one is worth the wait. The four sequels after that have diminishing returns and may not qualify as "must-see."

"Nightmare on Elm Street"

"Nightmare on Elm Street 2"

Wes Craven's greatest creation, Freddy Krueger, took slasher horror to a new realm, because he was truly supernatural. At that point, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees were just people. Regular people. Freddy operated in the Dream Realm, but affected kids in real life. While I enjoy all of the films in the series, and the fact that every one attempts to dispose of Freddy a bit differently, there are only two that I say really stand out as being unique and must-see. The landmark first film, and the second one, in which Freddy is still dead, but he is trying to come back to our world by taking over a teen's body. Grisly and unique, it is truly horrifying.

"The Thing"

Another masterpiece from John Carpenter, this film seems to be as fresh today as it was four decades ago, with groundbreaking special effects that cost more than CGI, but are so much more satisfying. Kurt Russell stars as the leader of an Arctic research station who comes under attack by an alien life form that can pose as any living thing, human or animal. The only way to tell the difference is through a blood test, and the only way to destroy it is with fire. When every crew member and even the sled dogs can be the creature, paranoia is high, as is fear, and it continues to the very last scene.

"Dawn of the Dead"

This is a great horror movie by any means, the first official sequel to the landmark "Night of the Living Dead," but if you've ever worked in retail, you'll love this film so much more. When I was still working retail, I had a highlight reel of this playing in the back of my mind as my happy place to keep me calm every Black Friday and significant sale day. In this film, the dead continue to rise, and a group of people have taken refuge in a local mall. This alone is a cool fantasy sequence. It's an 80s mall - you can get anything there. Food, guns, weapons, clothes, anything. So they fortify themselves and lay in for the long haul, having all they need, while zombies come every day and mill about, because they still have the instinct to go to the mall. This leads our crew of survivors to pick them off at random, because what else is there to do? But eventually they need medical care, and the situation starts to get serious.

"Evil Dead "

"Evil Dead" combined the new staple of teenagers going off camping together (this time to a remote cabin in the woods) with a new kind of zombie - zombies whose individual parts may survive if cut off. This provided a new kind of terror, mixed with occasional slapstick humor. In addition to the debut of director Sam Raimi, this film also introduces us to the wonder of Bruce Campbell, playing Ash the star of the successive sequels and TV series.

"Twilight Zone: the Movie"

The pedigree of this film is outstanding. The original tv series haunted and inspired generations of viewers and future writers, and spawned multiple new "Twilight Zone" series, starting in the 1980s. Around the same time, the movie was released, featuring some of the stories from the original series, done with new actors, in color, with better effects. Each segment was directed by a different director, each by then a major name - Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and John Landis, with Spielberg and Landis also producing. At turns heartwarming and flat-out terrifying, the film must be seen.

"The Fly"

David Cronenberg's remake of the classic film takes things to a new level of horror. This time starring Jeff Goldblum as a scientist who tests a teleportation chamber of his own design, only to be unwittingly merged with a fly, the result this time isn't a fly who is part man and a man who is part fly, but a man who over the course of the film becomes more and more like a fly. Buzzing as he speaks. Sprouting odd hairs. Vomiting on his food to eat it. Also starring Gena Davis as his love interest, we experience the horror of his transformation through her eyes more than his.

"Puppet Master"

Breaking new ground again, we have a movie about killer puppets. You can't deny that they're kind of cute, yet they're deadly, and the film captures that well, with moments of actual fear or revulsion. The plot involves an old puppet maker using ancient magic in 1939 to animate inanimate objects, in this case the puppets he has made. He hides his puppets just as Nazis come to kill him. Decades later, the puppets are found, each with a power or weapon of its own, such as tiny blades, great strength, or a drill bit head, and the toys begin to kill, as others search for the old puppet master's secrets of reanimation.

"Basket Case"

"Basket Case 2"

One of the more original concepts to be addressed in a horror film, "Basket Case" is about a man who carries a basket around. We know it moves and makes sounds, we're not sure what's in it. We do know that what's in it likes to kill. We learn it's the man's conjoined twin brother, Belial (pictured above), and that the two are seeking on vengeance on those who separated them. "Basket Case 2" has the two brothers recuperating at a hospital where other people with birth defects and such are being treated. They may have found a home, but what they really want is to be together again.

"Child’s Play"

There have been enough films in the franchise now that the subject of the series, killer doll Chucky, has become an icon. But the first few films of the series were named "Child's Play," and in this, the original, we learn how Chucky came to be. A homicidal criminal with some occult knowledge is fatally shot while fleeing police. As he dies, he grabs a doll and recites a spell, binding his soul to it. The doll is then sold and given to a boy as a present. The doll is meant to talk, but not move, and not say the things it's been saying. The doll is now alive, and looking to do another spell to put Chucky's soul back into a human body. Later sequels also feature Jennifer Tilly as Chucky's girlfriend, who also becomes a doll. By that point, the films are a blend of comedy and horror, heavy on the comedy, but with this first film, we're largely dealing with horror.

"Fright Night"

A beloved classic, this film is about a teen who suspects his good-looking neighbor is a vampire. That's already a problem, but when the neighbor starts dating his mom, that's just unacceptable. For help, he turns to the local midnight horror movie host (played by Roddy McDowell), whose character is supposedly a vampire hunter. The host claims he's just playing a character, he has no real knowledge or ability, but then he begrudgingly agrees to help the teen, and the hunt is on.

"Lost Boys"

If there's a definitive 80s horror film, this may be it. The film that made Jason Patric and Keifer Sutherland household names is about a teen and his mother, who move in with his grandfather. New to the town, he meets a beautiful girl and her fun-loving friends, who invite him to join them. He does, only to learn they're vampires. He is seduced by their lifestyle and starts to transform, wanting to stay young forever and be truly free, but he's conflicted as he realizes he might have to kill people. Coming to the rescue are the Frog Brothers (Corey Haim and Corey Feldman), younger teens who are ready to combat the vampire plague in their small town.

"When a Stranger Calls"

Once again, the remake is okay, stick with the original. Commercials for this film had actual real-life babysitters so frightened, networks had to stop running them later at night. Carol Kane plays a babysitter who is plagued by mysterious calls from a stranger who simply says, "Have you checked the children?" When the calls won't stop, she calls the police, who tell her the calls are coming from in the house, run! Upstairs, the children are dead.

"Hellraiser"

Written and directed by horror master Clive Barker, who came to prominence in the 80s, the film is about Frank, a man who has traveled the globe seeking every thrill and pleasure imaginable. On his quest he hears of a puzzle box (pictured above), that when unlocked opens a portal to a dimension of pleasure unlike any other. He acquires the box and is taken to Hell. Years later, his brother, sister-in-law, and niece move in to the house where Frank disappeared and a splash of his brother's blood brings Frank back in a grisly manner. From that point, Frank tries to become a full man again, but Hell wants him back.

"Dead Ringers"

Another David Cronenberg film, this time playing off the instinctive reaction most people have that identical twins are kind of creepy. Jeremy Irons plays those twins, one of them a bit nicer than the other, but they're both creepy. Not only are they creepy, they're both brilliant gynecologists, and because one is a bit shyer than the other, they make an agreement that they'll share the same girlfriend. One will charm her, and when she is ready, the shyer one will make love to her. After that, things get really twisted.

"Videodrome"

A Cronenberg masterpiece, this film remains one of the most bizarre, visceral films I have ever seen. The 80s saw videotapes and cable TV become a reality for households across America, and with videotapes and camcorders, things like snuff films. People started to worry more about what all these movies were doing to one's mind. James Woods plays the director of a sleazy cable channel, looking for new material, when he discovers programming devoted to gratuitous violence and sadism. He tries to track it down, becoming obsessed, and ultimately insane. Is he really insane, or is he actually becoming physically warped by what he sees?

"The Shining"

Based on the bestselling novel by Stephen King, this is more accurately legendary director Stanley Kubrick's interpretation of the novel, as King says ne has never liked what Kubrick did with it. However, along with "Carrie," it's probably the best movie based on a King novel. Truly terrifying, with an increidible performance by Jack Nicholson, the movie works on many levels to keep the viewer unsettled. Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, a struggling writer who accepts a job as a caretaker at a historic hotel in Colorado over the course of the harsh Rocky Mountain winter. When he and his family are snowed in, seclusion, and perhaps spirits in the hotel, including of both the alcoholic and supernatural kind, take their toll on Torrance's mind, leading him to want to kill his family. At the same time, his son Danny's natural telepathic gifts are making him see terrible, terrible things.

"Creepshow"

A collaboration between horror masters Stephen King and George Romero, "Creepshow" is a tribute to the EC horror comics of the 1950s, such as "Tales From the Crypt," which didn't debut as a tv series until later. Featuring animated segments to introduce each story, the entire film is quite good. King himself appears in one of the stories, as a rural man who discovers a meteorite that contains some sort of glowing ooze. When he touches it, he begins to have skin issues that spread quickly and painfully, soon turning him into something horrible.

"An American Werewolf in London"

With this film, writer and director John Landis, who was known primarily for the blockbuster comedy, "Animal House," proved he could also do a groundbreaking horror film. While there were other good werewolf films before this, "American Werewolf in London" set a new standard for plots, concepts, and special effects. Effects for films such as "The Wolf Man" were typically just frame by frame clips of makeup being applied to the actor, or they were seen from a distance. This film showed that changing to a werewolf was painful and horrible, as hair sprouted, limbs were distended, teeth grew. Nothing like it had ever been seen. Further, it made the guilt a werewolf feels for killing victims visual, as the werewolf in this film continues to see his best friend appear to him, in different stages of decay, haunting him, yet still being his friend.

"The Fog"

Another classic from the period when John Carpenter could do no wrong. The film stars Adrienne Barbeau as a night time DJ in a small coastal town which is about to celebrate the anniversary of the town's founding. A dense fog rolls in that night, and with it comes death in the form of shambling figures killing everyone they can find.

"Tourist Trap"

My mistake, this film came out in 1979. Again, see it anyway, it's creepy as Hell. The film stars Chuck Connors as the caretaker of a roadside wax museum. A group of teens stop by to see the museum, and start to die, or disappear, or both. The final image of this film has haunted me for a long, long time.

"Alien"

My mistake again, it also came out in 1979, which I knew, but I forgot to include the film until the 1970s segment was already written. I'm human. Unlike the alien in the film, and one of the key crew members in this sci-fi/horror classic. Excellent effects, excellent performances, and incredible tension, this film is a masterpiece.

"The Believers"

This film provides the same kind of relentless, nowhere is safe terror as "The Omen," but from a difference source - the voodoo/Catholicism hybrid belief of Santeria. Martin Sheen plays a psychiatrist who often consults with police on serial killer cases, except this killer is using religious artifacts and ritualistic practices when he kills. A police detective (Jimmy Smits) is the suspect, but then he, too, dies under mysterious circumstances. Screenplay by Mark Frost of "Twin Peaks" fame, a few years before that legendary series, but with some of his hallmark twists and disturbing imagery.

"Phantasm"

The film that started the famed series, and the career of director Don Coscarelli, it really must be seen to be believed. Featuring mysterious hooded little people like the Jawas of "Star Wars", but more evil, the evil Tall Man, and the deadly floating, silver balls of death, plus plenty of violence, you'll start here, then want to watch them all.

"Monster Squad"

I recently saw this film for the first time, and really wanted to not like it, but I really did. I don't like cute monster movies. I hated "Goonies," even though I was the target age for that film when it came out. I like my scary movies scary. I don't like when a killer monster is defeated by giving it a teddy bear, and now it lives in your tree house, despite it killing 6 people. That doesn't happen in this movie, which features all 5 classic monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, mummy, werewolf, and an amphibious creature), awakening in 1980s suburban America, where they're confronted by teens, who are in real danger, and do things that only normal teens can do.

"Night of the Creeps"

Another film that I didn't expect to like, but I loved it. I really loved this film. With the complete plot involving aliens, a slasher killer, and zombies, the majority of the film involves a cop with a haunted past trying to stop zombies who are attacking the local college. You will forever remember and use the line, "Thrill me."

"Cat’s Eye"

Another anthology film based on short stories by Stephen King, the film has an early appearance by Drew Barrymore who stars in the segments linking the film together. Her cat wanders the city, and what the cat sees are the excellent stories that make up the film. But something is also haunting the girl who has the cat, and the cat must come to the rescue. The standout story for me has always been the segment with James Woods at a clinic that promises you'll quit smoking, guaranteed, no matter what.

"Re-Animator"

A cult classic, based on an obscure tale by H.P. Lovecraft, this film is about scientist Herbert West (Jeffrey Davies), who believes he has discovered a formula to reanimate the dead. He tests it out on a colleague, who isn't a willing participant, but is a successful subject.

"Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan"

The problem with the slasher franchise films is after a while, something has to be done to keep them fresh. 3D, a different killer, whatever, otherwise the film just becomes a showcase for more interesting kills and different T&A. In this case, Jason was taken away from the familiar locale of Camp Crystal Lake and brought to Manhattan, where he encounters criminals and normal citizens alike. Not only is the film noteworthy for that, but because it features two of my favorite kills of all time - one involving decapitation, the other a sleeping bag.

"Scanners"

This David Cronenberg film is less visceral than "The Fly," less trippy than "Videodrome," but still disturbing. The concept is, a small percentage of people in the world are "scanners" - essentially very powerful telepaths - and they are used as weapons against normal people. A man who finds out he's a scanner is enlisted to help defend against them. Since it's psychic combat this could be a bloodless battle, but it's a Cronenberg film, so count on brains exploding.

"Poltergeist"

Again, the remake is good, but stick with the original. It's so satisfying. Skeletons in the pool, killer clown dolls, children covered in ectoplasm, it's everything you want in a nightmare-inducing classic, co-written and produced by Steven Spielberg, but directed by "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" legend Tobe Hooper.

"The Serpent and the Rainbow"

Based on a true story, this Wes Craven film gives a realistic depiction of voodoo and zombies. A man goes to Haiti searching for substances that can be used for modern medicines. When he investigates the reality of zombies, he finds a man who is said to have been a zombie, and then nearly becomes a zombie himself. He recovers, and takes what he learned back to the U.S., but the trouble he found has followed him, and he learns there is real magic behind voodoo, more than science can explain.

"The Hunger"

A vampire film unlike any other, starring David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, and Catherine Deneuve. Sarandon plays a doctor specializing in aging, who is contacted by Bowie, a man who is aging rapidly. Bowie is actually more than 200 years old, the lover of Deneuve, a vampire much older than that. With Bowie near death, Deneuve decides Sarandon may be a fitting replacement in her long, bloody life.

"Bad Taste"

Before he became known for making films about wizards and hobbits, Peter Jackson did a number of horror films, including this sci-fi/comedy/horror mashup about a New Zealand Strike Force called in to investigate and dispose of an alien invasion. Co-starring Jackson himself, you'll see exposed brains, vomiting, eating of vomit, and more.

"Rabid Grannies"

I think this is the only Troma film on my list. If you're not familiar with Troma films, they are usually in questionable taste, with special effects that are not state of the art. They tend to be disgusting, sleazy, funny, and occasionally scary. This film is all of those things, and the plot says it all. Seniors who turn into rabid killers, intent on eating their grandchildren.

"The Church"

I'm a big Dario Argento fan, and while "Suspiria" and "Deep Red" are the ones most people consider classics, I really enjoyed this one. With music by Keith Emerson and Philip Glass, it's a more straightforward horror film than many of his others. The plot is always more complicated than can easily be said in an Argento film, but this one is about people trapped in an ancient cathedral that was the site of an ancient massacre. As they try to get out, a demon begins to awaken.

"Night of the Demons"

This one combines a lot of things seen in other 80s horror films - teens partying, demons, and a funeral parlor. In this case, teens go to party at an abandoned funeral parlor, when they become possessed by demons that transform them. A good mix of scary and fun, the film has been remade, but the original is better.

Next: the 1990s