Horror Films: 1981

Updated on December 11, 2008 By Ken Begg 10 Comments

In case I wasn’t clear last time, this list is obviously meant to be highly personal.

Wow, not a lot of horror flicks I liked in 1981. As the following shows, the slasher flick was really dominating the horror market by this point.

The Tops

The Howling Great flick, and a prime contender for best werewolf movie ever. Astounding Rob Bottin effects, and great direction by Joe Dante.

Scanners: Love this flick (and for me, it was despite the heads blowing up), especially the presence of the great Patrick McGoohan. People knock the weird performance by star Stephen Lack, but I always thought it worked for such a maladjusted character. A great introduction for Michael Ironside.

Wolfen: I still remember how annoyed I was when Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel labled this a werewolf movie—because it isn’t. Damn, you guys got paid to watch movies, at least actually watch them. Anyhoo, a nifty adaptation of Whitney Streiber’s novel.

Films others like: An American Werewolf in London – Even aside from his causing the death of three people on the set of Twilight Zone the Movie, this film sums up why I generally can’t stand director John Landis (Blue Brothers aside, I must confess). The stuff with Griffin Dunne is pretty good, but Landis just never knows when enough is enough. Amazing Rick Baker special effects, though, and Jenny Agutter was hot.

Others: The Grim Reaper (a.k.a. Anthropophagus)—very funny stupid but waaay too gross; Ghost Story—great cast, meh movie; Halloween II—lame and substituted gore for suspense; Happy Birthday To Me—typically retarded slasher flick; Looker—more sci-fi than horror, really;

Haven’t Seen: Blood Tide; Dead and Buried; Deadly Blessings; The Dorm That Dripped Blood; The Fan; The Final Conflict: Omen III; Final Exam; Friday the 13th Part II; Funhouse; Galaxy of Terror; Gates of Hell; Graduation Day; The Hand; The Monster Club; My Bloody Valentine; The Prowler; Scared to Death; Strange Behavior.

Haven’t Seen, but Respected: Fear No Evil; Ms. 45.

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  • David Fullam

    Absolutely love American Werewolf. One of my all time favorites. same with Wolfen. But you are so right. When will people quit labeling this film a werewolf movie? The Wolfen are not werwolves, the DVD even lumps this in with werewolve movies.

    After hearing about the infamous cut scenes in Anthropophagus for many years, I was dissapointed at how they played out in the uncut version. Well at least the fetus scene. My imagination made it far more graphic than it really was. It looked more like he was chowing down on a kidney or a stomach to me, and I was like “that was it?” The idea of the scene was more disturbing than what was presented.

  • The Rev. D.D.

    The Howling and American Werewolf in London–I haven’t seen the first one in a while, but I enjoy them both. I’d need to refresh myself on the former before I decided which I liked better.

    Scanners: Definitely a nifty film; was surprised when there was only one exploding head, and I found I wasn’t really missing them because the rest of the movie held up so well.

    Wolfen: I remember this creeping me out as a kid. Again, I haven’t seen it in ages.

    Funhouse, Scared to Death–not missing much, aside from some nice monster make-up from Rick Baker and whoever, respectively

    Blood Tide–missing even less. I’ve yet to slog through the entirety of this one, despite a couple of tries and the presence of a slumming James Earl Jones

    Dead and Buried–I really need to see this one; it’s supposed to be excellent.

  • You should be happy to hear that a SCANNERS remake is being developed as we speak. Why do I suspect it will be loaded with exploding heads?

    FYI: I have a soft sport the 1990s direct-to-video spin-off SCANNER COP. Terribly goofy, but fairly entertaining.

  • Not-So-Great Cthulhu

    /delurks/

    Ahh, horror movies. A topic near and ear to my heart… or maybe it’s my pancreas. Some internal organ. Your top three are dead on, and my thanks for reminding me of Wolfen. I haven’t seen it (or read the book) in way too long. I should remedy that.

    I’ll admit to having a soft spot in my heart (or maybe it’s my head) for “Scared to Death”, although I haven’t seen it in ages. The movie isn’t exactly good, but the monster is rather neat. My memory says that it’s worth seeing for the monster alone (and is better than the remake/sequel/whatever, “Syngenor”, that was made a few years later). What always stuck with me is that it was cold when the monster was around because its respitory system was also how it kept its body temperature up. It would take the heat out of the air it took in and exhale cold air. (Or my memory is worse than I realized and I’m remembering a far more interesting gimmick than is found in the movie).

    “Galaxy of Terror” (another I haven’t seen in probably 15 years now) is probably most… er… ‘famous’ for starring Joanie of “Happy Days”. Oh, and for having a woman… uh… raped (at least that’s what they seemed to be going for) to death by a giant worm. I recall finding this movie to be too ludicrous to actually be offended by it.

    I’ve always liked “An American Werewolf in London”, although maybe not as much as “The Howling”. Great effects if nothing else (unlike the sequel which, made 15 years later, had special effects that gave us what looked more like were-apes… ugh).

    /re-lurks/

  • fish eye no miko

    In case I wasn’t clear last time, this list is obviously meant to be highly personal.

    Oh, I kinda figured you were mentioning the ones you liked. No prob. I hope you don’t mind us mentioning the ones we like, too. ^_^

    Wow, it was quite the year for werewolf films, huh? I’ve never been into werewolves, personally, so I’ve actually not seen any of those films.
    Oh, wait, Wolfen was just about wolves. I think I saw some of it on television…

    Let’s see:
    Omen III: Ah, Sam Neil as the Antichrist… and baby killings galore. O_O

    Friday 13, Part II: Jason finally shows up, and Amy Steel plays Ginny, one of the best Final Girls the series ever had.

    The Hand: Man, is this movie LAME… I mean, really, how dangerous is such a small body part such as a hand? Plus, they tried to play up the “no, the guy’s really cray and HE committed the murders” thing, but then blow it at the end.

    Gates of Hell: I could have sworn I mentioned this one recently… Huh…

    The Monster Club: I saw this movie ages ago on tv. I really wanna see it again…

  • Gristle McThornbody

    “People knock the weird performance by star Stephen Lack, but I always thought it worked for such a maladjusted character”

    I read a story somewhere a while back in which it was said that Cronenberg wanted Lack to act as he did. The reasoning was that because his character had always heard other’s voices in his head, he’d never had the opportunity to develop a personality of his own. So once the voices stopped, he’s kind of a blank.

    I agree that the performance fits the character.

  • JoshG

    The Monster Club is one of my all time favorites. It managed to combine all the things I love in life horror, comedy, Vincent Price, and 80’s music.

  • R. Dittmar

    Dead and Buried–I really need to see this one; it’s supposed to be excellent.

    Dead and Buried is a very good movie – well worth going out of your way to see. It’s written by the same guy who wrote both Return of the Living Dead and Total Recall. The cast is excellent, it has a great twist ending and one of the best “jump” scenes ever done. It is definitely on the gory side though, so adult supervision is advised.

  • Trident

    The Howling/American Werewolf etc… : Howling is the better of the two, much more atmospheric and Rob Bottin’s transformation-fx just edge out Rick Baker’s. What i increasingly dislike about American Werewolf is its completely out of place hokeyness (all John Landis’ fault), such as David Naughton looking into and reaching out for the camera as he first turns into a werewolf, and the just awful decision to play a chirpy, cheerful version of “Blue Moon” over the credits, after a downbeat ending. It’s like he was punishing viewers for getting emotionally involved with the characters.

    Scanners: Don’t know if Stephen Lack was intended to act that way. I personally refuse to believe it. It was not just lack of personality, but delivery on lines and facial expressions. His performance was just putrid and it should ring a bell that nobody knows where he was/is before and after “Scanners”.

    Wolfen: Good flick. Infra-red type P.O.V. shots were innovative and copied years later by “Predator”.

    Ghost Story—great cast, meh movie; < Right on the money.

    Happy Birthday To Me: Thought is was okay (if it’s the one i recall anyway). Was this the one that ended with the shot of the photograph with the killer on it?

    Dead and Buried: Pretty damn good flick, with some fairly nasty murder-sequences (especially one involving acid). And James Farentino actually gives a pretty good performance.

    Deadly Blessings: Seen it when i was young. Don’t remember anything about it, so it couldn’t have been anything special.

    Funhouse: Actually underrated, and one of the few attempts where Tobe Hooper manages to succesfully evoke some of the intensity he also evoked in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. It’s certainly better than most of his other trash.

    Galaxy of Terror: A guilty pleasure for me. An Alien/Solaris ripoff/combo that is just so bad it just becomes fun.

    The Hand: One of those Michael Caine movies where the director starved him out before letting him loose on the scenery (although nothing beats the genius that is “The Swarm”). The movie itself is utterly boring.

    The Prowler: Run of the mill slasher with some brutal gore (including his trademark exploding head) by Tom Savini.

    Fear No Evil: Only thing i remember is a guy getting his ribs or stomach caved in by a basketball, so the rest couldn’t be very memorable.

  • Forgot one thing about Ghost Story. Much of the film is told in flashback by the young protagonist, and details at length his sexual fling with Alice Krige. My friend Andrew and I thus spent much of the proceedings doing our best worst John Houseman impressions: “Yes, young man, I’m sure we’re all enthralled by your endless tales of sexual conquest, but perhaps we could move along to the danger of supernatural death you supposedly wished to warn us of?”