The Golden Age of Horror Movies: Late-70s to Early-80's

I was at an impressionable age when this popular boom hit the US market for horror/slasher movies. It was short-lived, only about 4 years, but left a huge impression and a great set of genre films.

The era was in a way bookended by "Halloween" in late 1978 and "Halloween II" in late 1981. Very appropriate if you ask me.

What are some of your favorite movies of this period, and some of your favorite experiences as a theater-goer during this time?

 

Halloween, Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th Part II, Maniac, Eyes of a Stranger, Humanoids from the Deep, The Howling, Creepshow, An American Werewolf in London, Amityville Horror.

 

The American slasher film was influenced by the Italian Giallo films which came first, late sixties and onward into the seventies, and they were influenced by Hitchcock, largely. I found the Slasher films inferior to the Giallo.

There were a lot of good horror films in the 70's and 80's- some of my favorites:

The thing
The Shining
Susperia
The Beyond (I have tons of Fulci)
Rosemary's Baby
The Changeling
Phantasm
The Exorcist

 

DePalma's heyday was in this period. I guess Sisters or Dressed To Kill would be the purest horror film.
I wouldn't call Carrie or Obsession horror

 

I would extend the golden age of horror from the release of the first Night of the Living Dead in 1968, to the 3rd installment of that series, Day of the Dead in 1985. In between those two films were all my favorite horror films, whether American or European.

But I agree with the OP that things kind of reached a fever pitch between about 1978 and 1982. In '78 came Dawn of the Dead, my favorite of the trilogy. Late 70s/early 80s is when all the best Fulci films came out...Zombi 2, City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, and New York Ripper. Argento had Suspiria, Inferno, and Tenebre. Cannibal films by Deodato and Umberto Lenzi. Slasher franchises like Halloween and Friday the 13th got their start. Some good Stephen King adaptations like The Shining, Salem's Lot and Cujo. One of my favorite sub-genres, what I call "animals gone wild" (Jaws, Piranha, Grizzly) was winding down by the end of the '70s, but we still got the underrated Prophecy.

Not to mention Amityville Horror, Alien (a mix of horror and sci-fi), I Spit On Your Grave, and Cat People. The early '80s were also good for some anthology movies like Creepshow and Twilight Zone: The Movie. What's puzzling is why the quality of horror really seemed to go downhill after about 1985. This would have been when the home video market was really expanding.

 

Why isn't Carrie horror?

 

I always found this movie very unsettling and strange, mostly due to the final act:

 

This era coincided with my late teens/early 20's and I hold these films in high regard. They were at times cheap and tawdry but ultimately memorable. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this era of horror movies. Here is a list of some of my favorites:
Halloween
Halloween II
Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (over the years this has grown in stature but it was ridiculed at the time, I for one LOVED it from the first!!)
Terror Train
Motel Hell
Mother's Day
My Bloody Valentine (the version with the restored scenes is a MUST see)
Happy Birthday To Me
April Fools Day
Friday The 13th
Friday The 13th: Part II
Friday The 13th: Part 3 in 3D (the 3D effects in the theater were GREAT!)
The Burning
Sleepaway Camp
The Boogeyman
The Fog
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Prom Night
An American Werewolf In London
Evil Dead
The Funhouse
The Howling
Creepshow
Basket Case
The Keep
Psycho II
The Return Of The Living Dead
Scanners
Videodrome.........I could list many more. I have most of these on DVD. It is possible I may have a sickness.

 

Great list. Only 2 movies I would remove if it were my list: Mother's Day" and "Sleepaway Camp." I vehemently detest those two movies in fact. "The Keep" is the only one I've never seen. I'll have to check it out.

 

I'd be interested to hear why you detested "Sleepaway Camp" and "Mother's Day?"

 

Three things/people are a huge focus for me.

1) The Video Nasties. For a brief window we got to see all kinds of gore and horrors, much to the chagrin of puritanical, political, forces.

2) Argento & Fulci. Both made amazing films, both made really bad films. Both were amazing. When I saw Tenebrae for the first time, I knew I would love Argento forever. Fulci's The Beyond is incredible. Their filmographies just rule.

3) Cronenberg. This was his era. Videodrome is a stunning piece of work, but the reality is he was firing on all cylinders at this time.

 

PS: "The Keep" was THE Nazi Horror movie. Sounds cheesy I know but it worked. I found this movie pretty spooky for its time.

 

"Tourist Trap" from 1979 is one not mentioned yet that I think is one of the very best of the genre. Has a similar vibe to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" imo.

 

recently I revisited a few more obscure movies from that time, horror and slasher, these are pretty enjoyable

Burnt Offerings (1976)
The Legacy (1978)
Night School (1981)
Ghost Story (1981)
Dead & Buried (1981)
The Funhouse (1981)
Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
Christmas Evil (1981)

I also watched The Swamp Thing (1982).... somehow I remember it being scary watching it as a kid, but now it's more of a science fiction mixed with love story. I still liked Adrienne Barbeau in it. And of course I went that extra step and re-watched the cheesy sequel with Heather Locklear, it's bad but good. Swamp Thing needs a remake

 

I love horror films from the 70's and 80's. They just seem to have a certain charm you don't find these days.

Black Christmas
Beyond the Door
Shockwaves
Phantasm
Zombie
City of the Living Dead
Maniac
Nightmare (in a Damaged Brain)
The Thing
My Bloody Valentine
Happy Birthday to me

 

I'm too young to have seen the films of this era in a theater at the time, but I did watch many of them on cable television as a kid (often multiple times). I have seen some of them in recent years in a theater, thanks to the Alamo Drafthouse's wonderful Terror Tuesdays series. My favorite experience there was a screening of My Bloody Valentine with a surprise q&a session with director George Mihalka afterward (he acknowledged the band that named themselves after the movie, which was fun - I'm a huge fan of both film and group).

I'll add a few favorites that haven't been mentioned already:

The House on Sorority Row (great score by Richard Band and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well)
Just Before Dawn
Full Circle (aka The Haunting of Julia)
When a Stranger Calls
Amityville II: The Possession (I don't care much for the first film, but this sequel is very disturbing and creepy for many reasons)
Eaten Alive (Tobe Hooper's film between The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Salem's Lot for television)
Don't Go in the House
The Prowler
The Hunger
One Dark Night

Of the ones already mentioned, Halloween, The Funhouse, Inferno, Suspiria, The Beyond, The Howling, Rabid, The Fog and The Evil Dead are favorites of mine.

 

From 1978 - 1981 you have so many to choose, although 1978 was kind of a light year, other than Halloween and Dawn of the Dead. In 1981 alone there was around 18 slasher movies, not to mention 2 of the best werewolf movies amongst other classics. Easily my favorite year for horror.

Piranha
Phantasm
When a Stranger Calls
Alien
Terror Train
Tourist Trap
Zombi 2
Silent Scream
The Changeling
Alligator
Christmas Evil
Funeral Home
Motel Hell
Inferno
The Fog
Evil Dead
Dark Night of the Scarecrow
The Howling
An American Werewolf in London
Happy Birthday to Me
The Funhouse
Hell Night
My Bloody Valentine

 

I would say the golden age of horror goes from 1972 to 1992 with at least one popular classic for each year.

Last House on the Left
The Exorcist/Don't Look Now
TCM
Jaws/Deep Red
Carrie
Suspiria
Halloween/Dawn of the Dead
Alien/Phantasm
The Shining
Evil Dead/An American Werewolf in London
The Thing/Poltergeist
Thriller (cheating a little)
A Nightmare on Elm Street/Gremlins
Fright Night
The Fly
Hellraiser/The Lost Boys
Child's Play/Pumpkinhead
Pet Sematary
Jacob's Ladder/It
Silence of the Lambs/Cape Fear
Candyman

Then 1993 fell flat on its face.

 

the 80's were the killer for Horror! ; )

 

I see it's mentioned a few times already but to me, John Carpenter's The Thing still holds up as one one best horror films ever. It was way ahead of it's time IMHO.
Oh and Alien rocks too.

 

Nice list!!! Anything on there I haven't seen, based on the strength of this list, I'm gonna watch!

I haven't seen "Deep Red" or "Pumpkinhead"!

 

I never thought Carrie has horror more psychological all except the blood scene... I thought any other carries after that just weren't the same. but then the movies after never are.

 

What about Firestarter with Drew Barrymore horror or sci-fi psychological 1984 I think.

 

Great list!

 

Eraser Head 1977 weird movie