Home Featured Content

Top Ten 80s Horror Movies

With Conan the Barbarian and Fright Night remakes in theaters now, and a slew of reboots in the works, it seems like Hollywood is looking backward instead of forward for film ideas. The ’80s offers a cinematic smorgasbord of nostalgia-laced movies to remake, reboot and re-imagine. And it looks like filmmakers will sink their fangs into any sacrosanct iconic 80s pic to drain it of all life and heart. This has me considering what makes ‘80s pics such tempting cinema for modern filmmakers/studios. Is it just the nostalgia, or is it that some filmmakers in the ‘80s weren’t afraid to take risks? Maybe it’s that sometimes silly innocence that reflects the “let’s break out into dance right now” spirit of the decade. Since there are so many seminal ‘80s films out there, I’m going to start a Top Ten series highlighting the best ’80s movies in each genre, from horror to fantasy/adventure to everything in between. So at the risk of giving exploitative filmmakers any ideas, or leaving out some rabid fan’s favorite pic, here’s my list of the Top Ten ‘80s Movies: Horror (and yes, many of these have already been given soulless remakes):

[h2]4. Poltergeist[/h2]

Recommended Videos

1982 saw a little blonde girl and a TV set make horror movie history. They’re heeeere in a big way with this horror pic penned by Steven Spielberg and directed by Tobe Hooper. Not only are the special effects a feat given the technology of the time, but the script is crisp and well-developed and the ensemble cast including Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams and young Heather O’Rourke made the characters memorable.

Poltergeist has a simple set-up with all the right trimmings. It’s a haunted house story centering around an innocent little girl and an evil spirit that pulls her away from the world of the living. It’s a film that spawned two mediocre sequels, and made a TV screen of “snow” strangely sinister.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11