A Look Back on Horror Films of the ‘80s

A complaint heard quite often around Halloween is that they don’t make horror movies like they used to. Translation: Horror movies in the last decade or so are too graphic and grisly.

Styles indeed have changed. Some of the horror classics, like “Frankenstein, “ “Dracula” and “The Wolf Man,” now seem very dated, partly because the special effects were comparatively crude and there wasn’t much gore.

What happened in the ‘70s is that gore took over, a trend that continued into the ‘80s as filmmakers tried to appeal to the teen audience, which regarded splatter movies as very hip. Many of that decade’s best horror movies are extremely bloody and also have a high schlock quotient.

Here are some of the best horror movies of the ‘80s--all easily available on video:

* “The Fog” (Nelson Entertainment, 1980). Though more arty than gory, director John Carpenter’s movie is hailed by some fright-flick connoisseurs as possibly the scariest movie of the ‘80s. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Adrienne Barbeau, it’s about the ghosts of an 1800s’ shipwreck haunting a California town, which is fog-enshrouded, of course. If this one doesn’t give you chills, you’re immune to chillers.

* “Child’s Play” (MGM/UA, 1988). After seeing this, you’ll never trust a doll again. Six-year-old Andy (Alex Vincent) is given a doll, named Chucky, who’s possessed by the soul of a killer. As the bodies pile up, only Andy knows that cute little Chucky is secretly a homicidal maniac.

* “The Nightmare on Elm Street” (Media, 1984). Freddie Krueger has become such a cult figure--and such a ham in the string of sequels--that you tend to forget that he once was a genuinely scary and ingenious character. This disfigured maniac invades the nightmares of high school kids, killing the dreamers. The sequels, which focus too much on Freddie the cult hero and overdo the campy humor, aren’t as scary.

* “Aliens” (CBS-Fox, 1986). Directed by James Cameron, this is one of the few sequels that surpasses the original. The first one (1979) features a monster that wipes out a space-ship crew. In the sequel, a squadron headed by the lone survivor of the first movie (Sigourney Weaver, a best-actress Oscar nominee) finds a planet crawling with the slimy creatures. The shock-filled second half will keep you on the edge of your seat.

* “The Fly”(CBS-Fox, 1986). A version of the beauty and the beast tale that’s both horrifying and touching. Jeff Goldblum, a best-actor Oscar nominee for his portrayal, plays a scientist who winds up part man, part fly when an experiment goes awry. As the fly genes slowly take over, the scientist turns into a pathetic monster, with only his girlfriend (Geena Davis) to console him. If you can’t find this one at your video store, don’t settle for the awful sequel, “The Fly II.” The original (CBS-Fox, 1958), which seemed scary in the ‘50s, looks tame now.

* “The Hitcher” (HBO, 1986). A young student (C. Thomas Howell) is stalked by a vicious hitchhiker (Rutger Hauer), who’s been hacking up his victims. You never know what’s eating away at this cold-blooded murderer but that makes him an every more horrifying figure.

* “Re-Animator” (Vestron, 1985). In this nifty B-movie, based on an H. P. Lovecraft tale, a medical student discovers a potion to revive the dead. Zombies run wild. So do severed body parts. The black--and blue--humor adds spice to director Stuart Gordon’s gorefest.

* “Scanners” (Nelson Entertainment, 1981). Bringing new meaning to the phrase, “using your head,” director David Cronenberg’s often terrifying movie is about a group of supernatural beings, called scanners, with brainpower so potent that they can make people’s heads explode. You can imagine the fun the special-effects crew had with this movie.