#10. Poltergeist - I don't really remember seeing this movie for the first time. It didn't haunt me for years like many of the others on this list. I mostly remember it for the imagery. Toy clowns scared me for years after this. The guy ripping his face off in the mirror freaked me out, every time I looked in the mirror, that came to mind. The maggots on the chicken grossed me out, I couldn't eat chicken without checking it first. A TV with static on it... yikes! Actually, that one still kind of gets me, almost nothing creepier than a dark room, lit up by nothing but TV static.


This movie holds up incredibly well, even the effects still look good. American ghost movies have never scared me, this is still easily my favorite one and the only one I ever remember having any effect on me.

During June, IFC was running Grindhouse nights, featuring old horror and exploitation flicks. Most of the films I had seen, or already own on DVD. But they showed three films from the late 70's and early 80's that I had never seen, or in the case of The Howling, hadn't seen in so long that I didn't really remember it.

Even more amazing was the slasher flick, The Burning, how this film escaped my attention for so long, I'll never know. Released one year after the original Friday the 13th, this film is so much better than most of the other slasher films of the decade, that I can't understand why it doesn't have a better reputation. The plot is nowhere near original, a dim-witted summer camp custodian is accidentally burned alive, when a practical joke by some campers goes awry. Years later he returns to take his revenge on some unsuspecting teenagers. Typical stuff.

But there are a couple of things that sets this film apart from the deluge of other films of this genre. The film-making is very well done for a low-budget, early 80's, slasher flick. They're able to build tension, through some deft editing and good cinematography. This was actually the very first film made by Miramax, long before it became a powerhouse on the independent filmmaking scene, and a young Harvey Weinstein was one of the originators of the film. Special effects legend Tom Savini, created the gruesome murders, which are much gorier and more believable than most of the films from this era, definitely a high point of the film.

What truly sets this film apart, is that you actually care about these young campers. I've seen every Friday the 13th film multiple times, and I don't think the entire series created as many likable characters as The Burning did in one film. They had some extremely fortunate casting, with appearances by four notable actors. A very young, skinny and full-head-of-haired Jason Alexander, shows his comedic chops as Dave, the camp's clown. Fisher Stevens, who's been a reliable sidekick for three decades, plays his friend Woodstock. Brian Backer, who went onto great success a year later in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, plays the third friend Alfred. You actually care about these guys, the screenplays helps to build some of that, by creating an obstacle in the form of a camp bully. Most everyone in this film comes across as real, even the councilors, more than just their stock nerd, jock, hottie, etc. stereotypes; so when they die, it actually hurts a bit. You'll also see Holly Hunter, show up in a brief role.

After seeing this, I immediately moved it to near the top of my 80's slasher flicks list. I'd place it below Halloween and Sleepaway Camp, but above the original Friday the 13th, and way above most of the other copycats. I'm extremely surprised that this film didn't find more success in its original release, or on video in the years since. I've never heard it mention as part of this genre, let alone as one of the best. Where's the love for The Burning? If you're a fan of horror films, do yourself a favor and see it. - Grade: B+ (Seen on 6/21/08)

The film moves along very slowly for an exploitation flick, featuring a homicidal hotel owner, a man-eating-croc and very young Robert Englund visiting a brothel. There is no tension built, each murder is telegraphed minutes in advance. Instead of suggesting the violence, like in he did in TCM, they try to make the film gory. But it's so fake looking, thick, syrupy, way-too-red blood, that you can't take it seriously. And this is a film that wants to be taken seriously. It doesn't have much humor too it; except for some of the lines that hotel owner Judd throws out. There's an extended chase scene through the woods, featuring TCM actress Marylin Burns, that feels way too familiar. Almost half the film takes place on the front porch of the hotel, where there's a neon-red sign, so most the film is bathed in a red glow, which grows tiresome.

The film's not a total waste. Robert Englund, in one of his very first roles, plays a red-neck who really enjoys the company of young women, it's fun to see him stretch those early actor muscles. The man-eating crocodile is fun for a couple scenes, they do the smart thing, and keep it mostly hidden under the water, only suggesting at it's ferocity. But ultimately there's too much of Judd, wandering around his hotel, muttering to himself, every so often lashing out at his guests with a sickle. There's a fairly lame subplot about a father and daughter looking for sister, who got killed in the first scene, the two characters are boring and drag down every scene they're in. If you're into ultra-low-budget 70's horror films, you could do worse, otherwise don't bother. - Grade: C- (Seen on 6/15/08)

I watched Howling II not too long ago, but I don't think I've seen the original Howling since I was a kid, and it didn't leave much of an impact on me. My favorite werewolf film has always been An American Werewolf in London. But I'm surprised that I didn't remember The Howling more fondly. It turned out to be the 2nd best werewolf film I've ever seen. Which isn't saying a whole lot, since Hollywood has a hard-on for vampires instead, and we're lucky if we see a werewolf movie every 10 years.

The film has a great pedigree; it's directed by Joe Dante, who's made some great B-movies in his time, Gremlins, being the best of them. The screenplay was written by John Sayles, who is a very well respected filmmaker in his own right. The great Dee Wallace, who seemed to pop up as the innocent woman in half of the 80's horror flicks. And it's chalk full of great character actors, including Slim Pickens, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine and Robert Picardo, among others. So all the right ingredients are there to make a great film. They manage to cook it up just about right, and create a pretty great horror film, with just the right amount of humor, to make this ridiculous idea go down a bit smoother.

At the beginning of the film, Karen White (Dee Wallace) an investigative reporter, has a run in with a killer at an old-school Times Square sex shop. Afterwards, she can't remember exactly what happened, but is having horrible dreams, and is struggling to get through every day life. A well respected psychologist, sends her and her husband out to one of his remote retreats, to get away from it all, where she can focus more on herself. Unknown to her, is that she's being sent to werewolf haven, and soon her husband is bitten on the arm, and before you know it he's mating with another werewolf and howling at the moon. Soon she's running for her life, as the whole camp is overrun by werewolves.

The changes these werewolves go through are the most impressive I've seen this side of American Werewolf, and it's no surprise, as the creator of those effects, Rick Baker, along with Rob Bottin, had a hand in these as well. In the clip I posted below, you'll see possibly the longest and most detailed transformation ever created. It gives a true depth to these monster. That, along with the strong acting, direction and screenplay, The Howling makes you believe that werewolves can exist. There are a couple cheesy moments, and the film drags slightly at times, but overall it is top-of-the-line when it comes to 80's horror films. They really don't put this much care into making them anymore. - Grade: B (Seen on 6/6/08)

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On looking for information about this film, I learned that is a remake, the original doesn't look much better, see the trailer for it below.

I watched it because Tobe Hooper directed it. He hasn't made a good film since the 80's, at least that I've seen, I've skipped a lot of them, but I keep hoping something will pop up. His best film is my all-time favorite horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which freaks me out for it's grittiness. His 2nd best film is Poltergeist, which has been rumored to have been mostly directed by Spielberg, who produced it. Lifeforce and Invaders from Mars are both fun in a cheesy 80's kind-of-way. Since then it's been a lot of cable TV shows and straight-to-video shlock, nothing of note. With Toolbox Murders, the streak continues.

The film is about a couple moving into a "famous" old apartment building in Hollywood. The place is full of wanna-be actors; which leads to a ridiculous scene, while the lead girl is walking down the hall she hears what she thinks is somebody getting killed; there's a couple guys reading a script one of them starts screaming like he's getting killed, the girl runs away from the door and before anybody makes a move suddenly the cops bust in; and then call the girl an idiot for the false alarm. Yet there was no call made! I went back and watched the scene twice just to make sure I didn't miss something, but nobody touched a phone in any shot, and the cops literally show up about 10 seconds after the girl runs from the door. Sloppy filmmaking!

The whole movie is pretty worthless; the acting is poor, the script and editing are horrible; worst of all, the directing is lazy. There are a couple of decent kills and once the killer shows up, his make-up is fairly cool; so at least the make-up guys were on the ball. That seems to be a common theme with these low-budget horror films. Don't bother with it, even if you're a horror fan, it's a waste of time.