Do you remember the days of being a kid and waiting for it to get dark on Friday or Saturday nights, snacks ready and in your pajamas, anticipating a night of horror. All week watching the trailers of movies that would make us turn out the lights and pull the blankets tightly.
When I was around 11 or 12 there was a show on MTV called "This is Horror", this show was like a TV version of "Terror in the Isle"(1984). "This is Horror" would show clips of different classic, current and up and coming horror flicks. Well me and my older cousin (also a horror nut) tuned in one night and our poor little minds were corrupted for life as we were exposed to Brian Yuzna's "Society"!
"Society" gives a new meaning to the phrase the rich living off the poor. This is one of those movies that is so hard to write about because you have to see it for yourself. This movie won the Silver Raven award for "Best Make-Up" at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film.Anyone who can come up with a head morphing through an ass into a true to life butt-head deserves a award.
Anyways so the movie is about a well off young man named Bill (Billy Warlock) who lives the good rich life with his parents in Beverly Hills. Even though he has the money, the cars and the popularity something just ain't right. It turns out his rich parents and all their swanky friends are not what they seem.
Below I have posted the trailer to this over the top freak fest and also the full movie links on Youtube. Sit back, enjoy and prepare to be like "What in the hell am I watching"!
We have all heard the stories of hidden messages in some of our favorite songs when played backwards, like Led Zepplin's Stair Way to Heaven.
This brings us to he 1987 movie "The Gate", this is the story of kids who's parents leave them alone for a weekend unleash more than a wild party, they let loose demons from hell. It all starts when the younger brother, Glen (Stephen Dorff) finds a weird rock in a hole left over from a fallen down tree in his backyard. He gets his friend, Terry (Louis Tripp) who is a bit weird and in to the occult to look at the hole. After hearing some crazy noises down the whole the neighbor kid thinks it is a way to hell.
Then things start to get a little weird. After seeing weird symbols show up on a writing toy and a levitation ceremony the first signs of a demonic presence appear. The result is the family dog dies. Since obviously this wasn't enough this damn kid Terry plays a satanic heavy metal record with demonic magic chanting and some dumb ass throws the dead dog in the hole and lets just say it all goes to hell from there. All these events opens the gate to hell releasing demons to terrorize the kids.
The rest of the movie is filled with all sorts of crazy shit. Hands with eyeballs, little demons running around the house, a dead construction worker comes back to life that was sealed in the walls of the house, crazy parents and the biggest damn demon you will ever see right in their own living room.
Besides Gill (Stephen Dorff) being so damn annoying this is a kick ass movie. If your a horror movie collector this is a must have. Please check out the trailer below!
As a kid in the 80's there was this video store by my grandparents house. My grandpa was friends with the owner and every weekend we would stock up on movies. The owner gave us a catalog with tons of movie box art and synopsis to take home.. I would flip through the horror sections and try to find the scariest box art and that's how I would select what to get next weekend.
This is when I discovered "Tourist Trap" I remember flipping through the pages and being stopped in my tracks and frozen in terror at the box art of this movie. This was the first WTF moment of my life. Sad to say I never built up enough courage to get this movie until I was in my early teens. All I can say this is still one of my favorite horror movies to this day.
The great Chuck Connors plays the owner at a roadside museum fool of mannequins and other creepy items.
A group of kids break down and decided to check out the roadside attraction, but they do not know that this may be the last attraction they over see. Chuck Connors claims to have a crazy brother that roams the area but is harmless. Through out the movie the kids are slaughtered in different ways by a unknown force controlling the freaky looking mannequins.
This is a must for a Friday night horror movie lineup!!!!
For my first review I would like to look at 2 horror shorts that were shown on cable and "Saturday Nightmares".
First is a short called "Living Dolls"(1979), this is about a janitor that works in a bridal shop and is treated like dirt by all the women employees. His only escape is on the 3rd floor where he assaults the mannequins. What happens on the the 3rd floor will twist your mind. Please view the whole movie below.
Next is another short horror film that was shown on USA "Saturday Nightmares" called the dummy. Its about a ventriloquist doll that wants revenge. Please view full film below. 1982 The Dummy
Brief Review,Living Dolls (1979)
This short film packs quite a punch for being under 10 minutes long. The lighting and the graininess of the film gives it own touch of creepiness. Gore - 2/5 I give the gore a low score since this movie depends more on the shock factor than gory effects. Fear - 4/5 The ending packs a punch, especially the final visual. Quality - 3/5 For a older film the quality of the film is a bit outdated but has that great old-school horror movie feel. Re-watch Value - 3/5 Since it is such a short film it lost some points, but it also has that great nostalgic feel that you could replay it a few times. Overall - 4/5 Being a short film that was shown between horror movies/shows it takes you back in the day and makes the whole experience. We need more stuff like this today.
Brief Review,The Dummy (1982)
We have seen a variation of killer dolls in one form or another, but this short film did very well in installing a victim, a plot and killer doll in under 7 minutes. Gore - 3/5 some slashing, some cuts and blood covered dummy. Not overkill but just enough to be like "that sucks to be you" Fear - 3/5 If dolls/ventriloquist freak you out then this would do the trick. For me I liked the feel of the film with the different camera angles that provide some scary moments, but I have seen scarier (Magic,1978). Quality - 3/5 Pretty good quality for 1982, not as grainy and well done for a old short film. Re-Watch Value - 2/5 Decent short film, but straight to the point. I think you would more likely view this again showing your friends rather for self enjoyment. Overall - 3/5 Good little flick but more like a watch every couple months for nostalgia or to show your friends.
I would like to start with my favorite show of all time. The USA network had in the 80's and early 90's a series called "Saturday Nightmares". The show would start at 8:00 PM and show mostly B horror movies with plenty of gore and lots cheese factor! One of my favorite parts was the intro to the show (posted below). There was nothing better than sitting in front of the TV waiting to begin a night of good horror viewing. After each movie they would show a episode of "The Hitcher the series" and the "New Alfred Hitchcock".
Do you remember the days of being a kid and waiting for it to get dark on Friday or Saturday nights, snacks ready and in your pajamas, anticipating a night of horror. All week watching the trailers of movies that would make us turn out the lights and pull the blankets tightly.
The nights of "Saturday Nightmares", "Friday the 13th the series", "Mtv's This is Horror" or going to the VHS rental store and looking at shelves and shelves of box art in the horror movie section, looking for the bloodiest, scariest and demented videos you could find.
This is how it was being a kid in the 80's and early 90's. Horror movies were a huge part of my childhood, it all started watching TV shows like "Night Gallery", "Tales from the Darkside" and " Alfred Hitchcock Presents with my grandmother. Also watching the more shocking sci-fi episodes of "Twilight Zone" and "Outer Limits" with my mom.
I started this blog to achieve 3 things. To bring back the memories of not just these treasured horror movies but also recreate the environment and nostalgia from back then. To review movies/TV shows, a majority of them will be from the 80's and 90's but I will not discriminate newer movies. Finally I want you to have a place to comment and leave your memories and create a like minded horror movie community.
