C.H.U.D. OK, it’s not a classic, but damn, it’s a perfect junk food monster movie. There was a time when this played on HBO and Cinemax constantly, so much that it became a punch line in stand-up comic acts. Bonus points for the hilarious group commentary track on the DVD.
A Nightmare on Elm Street: Aside from the disastrous, just-ignore-it stinger ending (I would actually buy a new DVD if they would just clip that off), this is arguably the greatest horror movie of the 1980s. Freddy became an icon, and the studio ground out sequels like sausages, becoming progressively more retarded as things went along. The exceptions were the two other chapters Wes Craven worked on and, surprisingly, the more recent Freddy vs. Jason.
Hilariously Bad: Devil Fish (typically awful Italian Jaws knock-off; featured on MST3K); Monster Dog (if you ever wanted to see an Italian weredog movie starring Alice Cooper, well, here ya go).
Others: Bloodbath at the House of Death (it starts as a pretty funny and gross parody horror movie, starring Vincent Price, but becomes less effective as it move to become a serious horror film…it’s fun, though, and a shame its not out on DVD); Children of the Corn (this inspired half a dozen sequels?! And hey, Linda Hamilton, how was that non-Terminator career going?); The Company of Wolves (neat, horror-oriented allegorical look at fairy tales); Mutant (decent Southern fried zombie flick); Razorback (an actually decent Jaws rip-off about an oversized Australian hog).
I Haven’t Seen: The Alchemist; The Black Room; Blind Date; Don’t Open Till Christmas (don’t worry, buddy…I still haven’t opened it); Fatal Games; Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter; Girls Nite Out; The Initiation; Night of the Zombies (Italian); Prey; Rocktober Blood; Silent Madness; Silent Night, Deadly Night; Splatter University.
