C. M. Rosens

Ok now we’re playing on hard mode… mainly because I don’t think I’ve logged all my 80s films on Letterboxd, and I have no functioning memory for this, so let’s see how we go with what I’ve got logged.

I liked The Shining and The Howling and the million and one Halloween films, and Friday the 13th was fine, and Nightmare on Elm Street and all those little classics. So… this is a tough one. But this is what I thought was representative of me as a person/horror viewer, maybe. Gremlins (1984) dir. Joe Dante was going to be on here, but I’m not a big fan of it as an adult.

My picks are the ones I rewatch a lot and haven’t grown sick of yet, and the ones that really stick in my mind even if I don’t rewatch them loads.

Honorary mention is my first ever North Korean horror film, 불가사리 / Pulgasari (1985) dirs. Shin Sang-ok, Chong Gon Jo. I really get why it was banned, especially in the last part. Political allegory creature feature.

Top 10 Horror Picks

• The Monster Club (1981) dir. Roy Ward Baker – a star-studded anthology of horror shorts with a fun narrative frame, in which John Carradine, playing the real-life horror author R. Chetwynd-Hayes, is invited to the Monster Club (a nightclub exclusively for monsters, with a fantastic floorshow) by Vincent Price, who relates several monster stories to him.

• The Hitcher (1986) dir. Robert Harmon – Gay. I keep poking Johannes Evans to watch this, because I think his analysis would be so good to read. If you haven’t checked out his analysis of Nightmare on Elm Street 2, you need to do that. He also did a great talk on Crimson Peak for the Romancing the Gothic charity event, Goths for Breakfast 2024. He was also a fab guest on Eldritch Girl for Queer Monster Hour! I really need to do more Queer Monster Hours.

• A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) dir. Jack Sholder – The director throwing Mark Patton under the bus for the gay subtext in the film was horrendous, and there’s a good documentary about it all. This film remains such a good analogy of the AIDS crisis, much like The Hitcher, and again, Johannes T. Evans’s essay on Freddy’s Revenge (The Straight Male Gaze on Pretty Male Gays) is worth a read.

• Hellraiser (1987) dir. Clive Barker – I liked the change from the short story so that Kirsty is the daughter and not an old friend in love with Larry. That worked really well. But my goodness, Film Frank is the most vanilla sweetheart, with his little polaroid collection. I loved the visuals so much though, and Frank emerging from the floor had a bit of an influence on the avatar from Fairwood House.

• Videodrome (1983) dir. David Cronenberg – LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH!

• An American Werewolf in London (1981) dir. John Landis – I liked this more than The Howling, I think? Which was fine. But I have more nostalgia attached to this film than The Howling.

• Little Shop of Horrors (1986) dir. Frank Oz – I have this musical on repeat sometimes. It’s a comfort one.

• Society (1989) dir. Brian Yuzna – Oozy, icky, great film. Fuck the rich. Not in the good way.

• The Thing (1982) dir. John Carpenter – classic for a reason.

• The Lost Boys (1987) dir. Joel Schumacher – I had a lot of fun watching this with my mates during a very tough time, so this film stays on the list for sure.

Top 10 Horror Runners-Up

In no particular order:

• Rawhead Rex (1986) dir. George Pavlou – A great Clive Barker story, and I love Clive Barker stories. Plus, it’s so much fun.

• Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) dir. Stephen Chiodo – just. absolute. off the wall. chaos. I love it. It’s a comfort film for sure.

• Phenomena (1985) dir. Dario Argento – weird bugs and Jennifer Connolly. Love it.

• Prince of Darkness (1987) dir. John Carpenter – I really enjoyed this. It’s always the postgrads that get thrown under the bus, isn’t

• Possession (1981) dir. Andrzej Żuławski – An absolute ride of a film, and I have no idea how to explain/describe it. I don’t know why I like it. I can explain nothing. I know nothing. Some parts I can’t even watch. Some I watch on mute.

• Child’s Play (1988) dir. Tom Holland – another comfort watch. I have a lot of ’80s comfort films.

• La Chiesa/The Church (1989) dir. Michele Soavi – I liked this one a lot. I know it’s considered the unofficial third in the Demons films, but I watched this one first and preferred it to those, so I like it as a standalone film.

• Chopping Mall (1986) dir. Jim Wynorski – so many reasons not to trust robots. So many good, powerful reasons.

• Scanners (1981) dir. David Cronenberg – I always forget that this is more fun action than just the mind-exploding body horror, and I really enjoy the whole thing not just the famous bits.

• Poltergeist (1982) dir. Tobe Hooper – I liked all 3 films, so the first one is representing the trilogy.