The
Horror Movies of 80's
Information on the book
The book is structured in 3 parts.
The first part is an excursus in the films produced in the decade with the analysis of the principal thematic treated.
Example
Narration and Visual Style of The Horror Movie
Many critics feel horror movies lack any artistic quality what so ever; but, in reality concrete evidence shows us otherwise. Anything goes, style wise in horror.
Video art and “The New Wave” from the French term - Nouvelle Vague are two such styles. In the Seventies, a strong chromatic experimentation was in full swing
Scene from Suspiria by Dario
Argento
On one artistic level we have Dario Argento and his film Suspiria. A special kind of Kodak film was used and this heightened colors enormously; and, from another level there were film makers who resiliently relied on black and white takes.
David Lynch does it with his debut film, Eraserhead, George Romero planned his "misunderstood" masterpiece Martin, 1977, in black and white.
This emphasized the urban decadence of the scenes. It was filmed eventually in colour; the use of black and white film was not a tribute to the past horror phenomenon, at least, not always.
Often, this is used as a style characteristic to create gloomy or claustrophobic tones which highlight certain styles which are fundamental for the story.
Undoubtedly, colour is an essential requisite. In particular, the colour red, which heightens special effects and blood make-up which keeps scenes extremely realistic.
The colour red through blood has presented itself in many film scenes: in Carrie, Sissy Spacek is the victim of a terrible School Prom night joke with the use of pigs blood.
The entire film is based on symbolic references to blood, virginity and lost innocence.
Carrie has no idea what her menstrual cycle is. Scenes during the film see her in the school changing room, classmates mocking her, afraid she will bleed to death. Carrie is the daughter of a madwoman, who lives in a world full of Christian symbols, always trying to protect her.
The worst moment for Carrie, during the Prom Queen scene, is when a bucket full of blood pours over her. The blood remains as a visual close up in the scene and becomes the negative element - the start of an unforeseeable vendetta.
If Brian De Palma indicates blood as a metaphor for a catastrophic and fantastic adolescence then Romero and Cronenberg have always used blood, or in other words, the colour red to underline the power of infection and contamination.
Rabid, Shivers, realized by Cronenberg and Zombie by Romero are shinning examples of blood, source of infection, metaphor of illness and sexual transmission.
Therefore, blood and the colour red are always tied together as a symbolic bond. The first as a fundamental element and the second as an extremely strong visual effect. But horror doesn't terminate here.
Sam Raimi will always be remembered for his debut film, The Evil Dead. Apart from the irony and formidable pace of the film, which does incidentally, transform itself into a strong impact film, the most important thing was the incredible use of the camera and steadicam.
The famous beginning and ending scenes were, in fact, created with the use of a steadicam, capable of capturing very fast and unforeseeable movements. Raimi dared do what no person had ever thought of before.
From a narrative point of view, there is a certain decline in quality. While during the Seventies, story content was stronger, with excellent storyboards, the Eighties showed a slow decline.
Less films started to offer valid and well structured storylines. Some examples are Bram Stoker's Dracula by Coppola and The silence of the Lambs by Demme.
Many films opted for a less interesting narrative. This can happen with successful films. Raimi then presented us with The Evil Dead and The Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, where the sequel was much weaker than the first film.
This also happened with Hellraiser by Clive Barker. This kind of visual impact is also seen in films today even though this film was based on a poor and unlikely plot.
Finally, during the last five years, the cult-movie, Scream by Wes Craven appeared on the film scene. Not one single film but three, to be precise! It seems that Craven had a profound reflection regarding film and used horror as a mirror that reflects itself to infinity.
If we like, we can observe a certain visual style, an absolute quality and mystique through the masterpiece Shining. Probably the greatest film by Kubrick. (But which Kubrick films can we define bad?).
Leaving controversy behind, the very thing that came between King and Kubrick was the incompatibility issues between the story and the screenplay. Anyway, it is still obvious that Kubrick's films continue to be pure entertainment.
The well structured screenplay, mainly during the first and last parts, was also poised in the central part of the film. This doesn't mean that the film becomes incomprehensible. Kubrick manages to deal with the narrative element and the visual part of the film separately thus creating a rhythm and atmosphere that are able to rotate in complete harmony together.
Horror, in this case, distances itself from the story; no explanation is given for Jack's madness neither why The Overlook Hotel is a spiral into pure madness.
The imagery doesn't let us question this - everything works to perfection. Probably, during the central part of the film, when horror seems to wrap itself around the plot, it misses every fundamental logic, as the hotel, populated by souls which turn the keeper towards insanity are without logic or rationality. We are the spectators of Jack's decline into madness and the strange incidents concerning his son and wife, especially during the final scenes. An exceptional film.
In the second part the book analyze the films through the critiques of the Cinema Catholic Center.
Example
Cat's
Eye
Directed by Lewis Teague Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, Martha Schumacher Written by Stephen King Starring Drew Barrymore, Alan King, Robert Hays, Kenneth McMillan, Candy Clark, James Naughton, James Rebhorn, Charles S. Dutton, Mike Starr Music by Alan Silvestri Cinematography Jack Cardiff Editing by Scott Conrad Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, US De Laurentiis Entertainment Group world wide Release date(s) April 12, 1985 Running time 94 min. Country United States Language English Budget $7,000,000 Box office $13,086,298 (US)
The Story - There are three episodes and in each one there is a cat. The cat is the actual protagonist in the last episode. In the first episode, we see a young man who goes to a clinic to see someone so he can stop smoking. The therapy is very hard to follow and he is threatened to keep doing it or else his family will suffer. The last scenes show his wife walking barefoot on a large grid and receiving real electric shocks. The young man is made to watch the scene through a transparent wall. In the second episode, Cressner, a rich old man is addicted to betting and one day brings home a young male tennis player who just happens to be his younger wife's lover. He tells the man, if he can go right around the ledge of the skyscraper in which he lives, he can have his wife and all the money he desires. While he goes around the skyscraper, he sees the old man kill his wife and understands it is his turn to die...the end scenes see the old man who has to step onto the ledge to kill the man but, for the first time in his life, he loses a bet and falls 100 metres to his death. Episode number three is based in a small house in the countryside where Amanda, a small girl lives with her parents. Every night a horrible monster comes "out" of the wall where all her teddy bears and dolls are and jumps on her bed and steals her breath. The protagonist cat, straight from New York arrives on the scene. Amanda wants the cat to stay in her room but her parents have other ideas. They want him to be put down and take him to the vets. The crafty cat escapes and comes face to face with the perverse troll, the very thing Amanda's parents have no idea exists. The cat saves the day by guiding the troll into a ventilator and all of its remains are strewn across the floor. Upon finding all this, Amanda's parents are very happy to keep the cat.
Pastoral Assessment - The director, Lewis Teague made this an enjoyable film about a funny and unique cat. The first episode is hilarious, the second makes you have dizzy chills from the skyscraper ledge and the third episode is an incredible adventure where little Amanda (Drew Barrymore) is surrounded by her furry teddy bears and dolls but is terrorized by a tiny jester who just happens to remove her breath. A "softer" type of horror with the help of irony and there are many good special effects especially the creature troll realized by Carlo Rambaldi. Even the cat is well trained! A good interpretation by the "millionaire" Kenneth McMillan.
Judgement/Feedback: Acceptable/simple.
In the third part of the book they are brought over 9000 Horror Movies from 1980 to 1989 linked to external resources for Cast, Posters, Images and Reviews.
Example:
Horror Movies List of Year 1986
Clik on the Title, Name Director and Reviews for external links
The Fly - Director: David Cronenberg – Reviews
Aliens – Director: James Cameron – Reviews
Little Shop of Horrors - Director: Frank Oz – Reviews
The Wraith - Director: Mike Marvin – Reviews
Maximum Overdrive - Director: Stephen King – Reviews
Troll - Director: John Carl Buechler – Reviews
House - Director: Steve Miner – Reviews
Poltergeist II: The Other Side - Director: Brian Gibson – Reviews
Critters - Director: Stephen Herek – Reviews
Twisted - Director: Adam Holender – Reviews
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - Director: John McNaughton – Reviews
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - Director: Tobe Hooper – Reviews
From Beyond - Director: Stuart Gordon - Reviews
Night of the Creeps - Director: Fred Dekker – Reviews
April Fool's Day - Director: Fred Walton – Reviews
Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI - Director: Tom McLoughlin – Reviews
Gothic - Director: Ken Russell – Reviews
Vamp - Director: Richard Wenk – Reviews
Psycho III - Director: Anthony Perkins – Reviews
Trick or Treat - Director: Charles Martin Smith – Reviews
Invaders - Director: Tobe Hooper – Reviews
Deadly Friend - Director: Wes Craven – Reviews
Class of Nuke 'Em High - Director: Richard W. Haines, Michael Herz – Reviews
Supermarket horror - Director: Jim Wynorski – Reviews
Dèmoni 2: L'incubo ritorna - (Demons 2: The Nightmare Is Back) - Director: Lamberto Bava – Reviews
Haunted Honeymoon - Director: Gene Wilder – Reviews
Monster in the Closet - Director: Bob Dahlin – Reviews
Ghostbusters (Video Game) - Director: David Crane – Reviews
King Kong 2 - Director: John Guillermin – Reviews
Nomads - Director: John McTiernan – Reviews
TerrorVision - Director: Ted Nicolaou – Reviews
Fortress (TV Movie) - Director: Arch Nicholson
Spiritika - Director: Kevin Tenney – Reviews
Jolly Killer - Director: George Dugdale, Mark Ezra – Reviews
Breeders - Director: Tim Kincaid – Reviews
Link - Director: Richard Franklin – Reviews
Rawhead Rex - Director: George Pavlou – Reviews
Fair Game - Director: Mario Andreacchio – Reviews
Remember Time - Director: David Schmoeller – Reviews
Mr. Boogedy (TV Movie) - Director: Oz Scott
Zombie Nightmare - Director: Jack Bravman – Reviews
The Supernaturals - Director: Armand Mastroianni – Reviews
The Abomination - Director: Max Raven – Reviews
Combat Shock - Director: Buddy Giovinazzo – Reviews
Shojo no harawata - (Entrails of a Virgin) - Director: Gaira – Reviews
Deadtime Stories - Director: Jeffrey Delman – Reviews
Dead-End Drive In - Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith – Reviews
Hunter's Blood - Director: Robert C. Hughes
Ginî piggu 3: Senritsu! Shinanai otoko - (Guinea Pig 3) (Video) - Director: Masayuki Kusumi – Reviews
The Murders in the Rue Morgue - (TV Movie) - Director: Jeannot Szwarc
The Tomb - Director: Fred Olen Ray – Reviews
Shadows Run Black - Director: Howard Heard – Reviews
Bijo no harawata - Director: Gaira – Reviews
Spookies - Director: Eugenie Joseph, Thomas Doran – Reviews
Killer Party - Director: William Fruet – Reviews
Screamtime - Director: Al Beresford, Al Beresford – Reviews
The Vindicator - Director: Jean-Claude Lord – Reviews
Blood Hook - Director: Jim Mallon – Reviews
Ginî piggu 4: Pîtâ no akuma no joi-san - (Guinea Pig 4) (Video) - Director: Hajime Tabe – Reviews
The Zero Boys - Director: Nico Mastorakis – Reviews
Sorority House Massacre - Director: Carol Frank – Reviews
Truth or Dare?: A Critical Madness - Director: Tim Ritter – Reviews
Neon Maniacs - Director: Joseph Mangine – Reviews
In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro - Director: Raju Patel – Reviews
Raiders of the Living Dead - Director: Samuel M. Sherman – Reviews
Lucker - Director: Johan Vandewoestijne – Reviews
Krysar - Director: Jirí Barta
Star Crystal - Director: Lance Lindsay – Reviews
Ghostkeeper - Director: James Makichuk
Zombiethon (Documentary) - Director: Ken Dixon
Cassandra - Director: Colin Eggleston – Reviews
Mark of Cain - Director: Bruce Pittman – Reviews
Dreamaniac - Director: David DeCoteau
Midnight Killer - Director: John Old Jr.
Yuan Zhen-Xia yu Wei Si-Li - Director: Ngai Kai Lam – Reviews
Mountaintop Motel Massacre - Director: Jim McCullough Sr. – Reviews
Girls School Screamers - Director: John P. Finegan – Reviews
Bridge to Nowhere - Director: Ian Mune – Reviews
Ryôjoku mesu ichiba - kankin - Director: Yasuro Uegaki
Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie (Short Film) - Director: Buddy Giovinazzo
Ga, Ga - Chwala bohaterom - Director: Piotr Szulkin
Tahkhana - Director: Shyam Ramsay, Tulsi Ramsay – Reviews
Something in the Basement (Short Film) - Director: Victor Salva
Jiang shi xian sheng xu ji - Director: Ricky Lau – Reviews
Play Dead - Director: Peter Wittman
Nightmare Weekend - Director: Henry Sala
Mr Wrong - Director: Gaylene Preston – Reviews
L'assassino è ancora tra noi - Director: Camillo Teti
A Judgment in Stone - Director: Ousama Rawi – Reviews
Night Flight (TV Series) - Director: Stuart S. Shapiro
Gui meng jiao - Director: Sammo Hung Kam-Bo, Wei Don Lo
Pi li da la ba - Director: Philip Chan, Ricky Lau
Demon Queen - Director: Donald Farmer
Mort un dimanche de pluie - Director: Joël Santoni
The Dead Father (Short Film) - Director: Guy Maddin
Desu pawuda - (Death Powder) - Director: Shigeru Izumiya
Alice to Nowhere (Mini-Series) - Director: John Power
Hell Hunters - Director: Ernst R. von Theumer
Halimaw - Director: Christopher Strauss De Leon, Mario O'Hara
Las Vegas Serial Killer - Director: Ray Dennis Steckler – Reviews
Spine (Video) - Director: John Howard, Justin Simmonds – Reviews
Il mostro di Firenze - (The Monster of Florence) - Director: Cesare Ferrario
Zombie Brigade - Director: Carmelo Musca, Barrie Pattison – Reviews
Ect, ect……………
Preface
A journey into the numerous Horror Films of the 80's analyzed under a "religious" profile which is purely Catholic.
The diversification of the analysis is, of course, an issue that interests us. In fact, of all the films taken into consideration, this journey not only gives a brief opinion of the film, but it also shows the depth and thoughts shared and prepared by the Catholic Cinematographic Center.
This Centre analyzes the plot and also evaluates the film under an ethical, moral and religious aspect in order to indicate if Catholics are able to watch it.
The result is a really interesting insight and sometimes it has a fun perspective. We must acknowledge, however, that the critical Catholic knows how to diversify religious opinion from the technical-creative aspects.
This means that a film can be recognized as a masterpiece but not get the clearance for visibility.
The Italian Poster of Monster Squad
Year of the edition of the movie
We note that the convention of a film dating coincides with the year of publication, that is, the first public film market in the country in which it was produced. In preparing this volume we have stuck to this policy.
For the comprehension of this book and also for a greater understanding, it is has been enriched with posters of the films and the some memorable scenes. The poster of the film often reflects the topic and the choice of the scenes. These are used so the reader can make more sense of the theme of the film.
The Italian Poster for Shocker
Summary and
Reference Horror Movies
65 deepened critical articles of the most important films of the decade. Over 9000 Horror Movies from 1980 to 1989 linked to external resources for Cast, Posters, Images and Reviews.
The electronic version of this book is designed in Kindle, PDF and Epub format. This is an interactive book. An Internet connection is not essential although it is recommended so the reader can take advantage of the many external links that are present in the work.
The Italian Poster for The Bride
The Author
Matteo Tortora was born in Livorno, 26 June 1975 and has a degree in literature - graduating in cinema - at the University of Pisa. After university he paid special attention to the semiotics of cinema and audiovisual media while obtaining a master's degree in "marketing and communications for luxury goods."
For over six years he has worked for luxury goods companies such as Geox SpA, Marella, Salvatore Ferragamo - Italy, Monnalisa SpA, iBlues, Tryme Florence and Prato Clotild.
He has a great passion for video and graphics, which in 2009 became the main activity in his work. He has always been fond of horror, fantasy and auteur cinema. He has written, apart from this book: The horror film from its origins to the 60's, Horror Cinema during the nineties, Horror Cinema during the years of 2000 and The Italian Horror Cinema.
The Italian Poster for The Company of Wolves
Introduction
The horror phenomenon, during the Eighties, evolved itself in many ways. One of these directions was represented by the work of three great artists. These three artists completely changed the face of cinema. Let’s find out about these artists: John Carpenter, David Cronenberg and Wes Craven.
The Eighties panorama is quite vast. Quality and originality weren’t exactly the forte of this period. Without a doubt, there were many lacklustre blockbusters, not very original in content with hardly any originality.
Noted original works from the Seventies included Night of the Living Dead, The Exorcist, Halloween and Profondo Rosso (English Title: Deep Red).
Scene from
Profondo Rosso by Dario Argento
Unfortunately, the Eighties only touched a small part of the superiority of the Seventies. That said, there must be around ten greats movies that define this period such as: The Thing, Alien, The Howling, Friday the 13th, The Evil Dead, Videodrome, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist and Hellraiser.
In my opinion, apart from the fact they really are fantastic films, I must add that the prototype was studied, copied and stated in numerous films from this period. These films carved the way for other horror productions.
I will briefly try to analyze these reflections of cinema, trying to find their faults and virtues.
Horror then discovered the television, a vehicle that transmits only bad experiences. Videodrome and Poltergeist are excellent examples of this. Creativity is not at its best in this period. You only have to think of all the Sequels, the clone like films that repeat themselves and never open up new, original roads.
If I had to use a sentence to sum up the Eighties, I would most certainly borrow the History of Art term “The cinematic workshop of Mannerism”.
Intellectual sophistication embraces the eclectic combination of stories (and titles!) of any type of film: low, medium or high quality level.
The main content of films in this period is dedicated to gruelling blood thirsty bodies, from Stephen King to psychotic assassins and killers.
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