Fight those slasher remake blues with a Retro Slasher double or triple feature in the comfort of your own living room. Horror movie marathons were common back during the glory days of 42nd Street and southern drive-inns and the following suggestions are for fans looking for a nostalgic slasher fix. If any Retro Slasher readers have suggestions for a kick ass slasher combination feel free to write them in the response section. I’m interested in seeing your ideas.
Heavy Metal Maniacs Unleashed: Terror on Tour, Rocktober Blood
Silent but Violent: Silent Scream, Silent Madness
Enjoy an evening in the Theater of Blood: Stage Fright, The Flesh and Blood Show
Tom Savini’s Greatest Slits: The Prowler, Maniac, The Burning, Eyes of a Stranger
Tom Savini’s “I didn’t have a damn thing to do with that film”: The Ripper, Nightmare
Pledges in Peril: Hell Night, The Initiation, Killer Party
Don’t Watch this Triple Avalanche of Horror Alone: Don’t Go in the Woods, Don’t Go in the House, Don’t Answer the Phone. +++A word of WARNING, if you try to watch these three films back to back you’re going to lose some brain cells.
Killers on Campus: The Dorm that Dripped Blood, Final Exam, Graduation Day
William Castle’s early Slasher Entries: Homicidal, Strait-Jacket
A Buck Flower Bonanza: Camp Fear, Berserker. ++These two films belong together. One features a lost druid and his pet monster roaming the woods of California. The other stars a lost Viking and his pet bear roaming the woods of Utah.
Guilty Pleasure Slashers: Bloody Movie, Nail Gun Massacre, Satan’s Blade. ++All three are pretty bad but oooh so entertaining.
Scream all Night Long with Jamie Lee Curtis: Prom Night, Terror Train
It might be a little late in mentioning, but Lilyan Chauvin who played the incredibly terrifying Mother Superior in Silent Night, Deadly Night passed away on June 26th of this year.
Some things about Miss Chauvin you might not know:
She was quite beautiful (She was actually compared to Greta Garbo)
She was a DGA Director (how cool is that?!?) – The Guild actually gave her a memorial in their main theater on August 16th, 2008.
Her filmmography was intense. She had well over 100 film and movie credits to her name.
She taught acting and her students included such people as Raquel Welch and Suzanne Sommers
Apparently she knew she was very sick because she left this message behind:
To my Family, Friends, Students, Fellow Actors and my Industry as a whole, I have not left you… you made me who I am or who I was… I tried to guide and learn from you. If you look in the mirror, I will be there- because I have looked into your souls. I am eternally grateful for each and every one of you making my life here so complete. Merci – and be kind to each other… -Lilyan Chauvin
Of course, I know her best as the bible-thumping nun from hell but it’s obvious that she not only left an indelible mark on horror but was also a well respected and much loved woman who deserves some note.
The recent big deal DVD re-release of Child’s Play eschewed director Tom Holland in favor of franchise writing/producing Team Mancini. So the boys at Icons Of Fright independently set up a recording of a Tom Holland track moderated by Tim Sullivan, and the result is a nifty free downloadable commentary mp3. I love when guys do things like this because there’s nothing better than fans being pro-active and not just content to complain on message boards. Wake up and smell the cappuccino! If companies do a half-arsed job of something, there are always creative ways to take matters into our own hands (okay, now I sound a little militant, but it’s the thought that counts).
Anyone here remember White Sister? Well, I hope so because they were the band featured in the clever movie-within-a-music-video-within-a-movie at the beginning of Killer Party. That’s one band I always thought was created for a film. I mean, they just look too much of their time, you know? But I was wrong. This band was for real, and they rocked. According to their website White Sister opened up for many a bigger named act in the 80s and eventually signed with EMI America before suffering internal problems and breaking up.
One of the things I adore about Killer Party is that it holds a sense of real fun. You can see it in this opening scene with the band; you can also see it in the spirited performances, the pacing, the costume party… all of it! It’s a movie that has been on my mind lately because every year, like clockwork, when the leaves start to change I get a hankering for one of my all time favorite slashers.
Am I talking about Halloween, you ask?
No silly! Killer Party, which might not have any of the subtleties of that John Carpenter classic, is still a great entry into the sub-genre. The three lead girls are amazing. Why they never went on to bigger fame will always be a mystery to me. Each one adeptly captured the fun and confusion of being on your own for the first time. Well, there was no confusion on Phoebe’s part, she was just there to Par-tae!
Now that Killer Party hits its 20 year anniversary since its release in 1988 (man, has it really been that long?!?), I say it’s time to get the band back together! Well, White Sister has already beaten me to the punch, because they’ve been playing random gigs since at least 2006, based on their site.
I just picked up their CD Fashion by Passion which features the song April that we all know and love from the greatest movie to feature a beautiful – blonde – girl – who – gets – possessed – and – climbs – across – the – ceiling – of – an – old – abandoned – frat – house – where – some – guy – named – Alan – died – in – a – prank – gone – wrong! It’s available on Amazon, so what are you waiting for?
It’s a good time to remind that Code Red’s DVD of Beyond The Door is out this week. Picked up a nice little tidbit on their Blog that further enhances the company’s reputation as a collector’s service:
“BEYOND THE DOOR streets on September 16th and we thought we’d let you know its first pressing, which is only 2,500, will have a collector’s edition limited o-card. All future pressings of BEYOND THE DOOR will not have this collectible o-card, so grab them before they’re gone!”
For the uninitiated, an o-card is a type of card insert to the DVD sleeve. Anchor Bay used to produce similar items as a way to show off theatrical poster art – no idea if they still do that. Indeed, if they even release retro horror anymore.
What’s this!? Code Red selling out the slasher crowd to go upscale art house!? No, it’s just another case of the company taking chances in ways other genre companies simply do not. No, it’s not a slasher and heck, it ain’t even a horror, but looking at the spine it’s part of the numbered Code Red collection (I gotta get ’em all!). There’s something charming and admirable about these guys releasing a lost drama film not because the marketplace demanded it, but simply because lost films deserve to be available and seen. That’s my take at least. Code Red now and then dip outside the horror genre – only last month they released a double feature of drive-in titles Between The Covers & Swinging Wives – but don’t expect them to abandon USA horror titles anytime soon: the Director’s Cut of Sweet Sixteen is out on the 14th of next month.
Let’s face it, as far as slashers go the 90s was a big fat dud. It’s not like the late 80s were always something to write home about but at least there were some good attempts and honestly, the direct to video market, which was just beginning to take off, offered some potential to the genre.
When I decided to do a top ten list of great 90s slashers I could barely muster up enough titles. How depressing is that? Most of the movies I did consider, and ultimately ended up putting on this list, were the ones that twisted convention and brought something really fresh to the genre – even to the point where I kind of wondered if I actually considered some of them true slashers. I guess that just goes to show that you can’t go home again.
Popcorn (1991) – In a lot of ways Popcorn was a nifty precursor to Scream. It’s about smart film fanatics meeting a masked menace and not living to tell the tale. The fanatics in question are film students who put on a horror show at a local theater to raise funding for their department. They uncover a reel belonging to Lanyard Gates, a supposedly dead cult leader. Well, good old Lanyard might not be dead and might just want to wreak havoc on movie night! Excellent performances, great pacing and a good vibe make Popcorn tops. It also sadly marks the last film that Derek Rydall starred in. I love that guy!
Candyman (1992) – Simply fantastic. One of the scariest horror movies around, Candyman was full of just as much suspense as it was blood and guts. Taking the Bloody Mary legend and then making it even scarier, Candyman was also served by top notch performances from Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd. If only the 90s had stayed this scary!
Happy Hell Night (1992) – This may very well be my favorite movie on the list. It’s obvious this odd Yugoslavian/Canadian slasher had production troubles (one of the actors has a completely different haircut towards the end of the film!), but the overall sense of dread and the downbeat ending make it a movie to remember. Very underrated.
Mikey (1992) – This direct to video effort might not be the greatest slasher film ever made, but cute little tykes killing big old adults is just too good to pass up, especially when the terror in question once played Andrew on the hit sitcom Family Ties! He’s great here as the kid without a conscience. You will also spot a pretty Josie Bissett pre-Melrose Place and Ashley Laurence from Hellraiser.
Jason Goes to Hell (1993) – The Final Friday – In my travels, I’ve come to discover that most Friday fans truly dislike this sequel. I just don’t get it. Sure, it’s not typical of the Friday movies but it’s just so much damn fun. Maybe that was the problem. Admittedly, there were way more laughs than scares, but I still find it an infectious and raucous flick. And the chick that gets axed in half during sex?!? YIKES!
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – Absolutely captivating sequel to Wes Craven’s masterpiece, Freddy became less of a jokester and went back to being more of a monster, which stole my heart. The whole real vs. reel premise is divine, well thought out and, yeah, scary. It peters out a bit at the end, but there’s enough contemplative grue to keep you interested.
Scream (1996) – At the time, Scream was being touted as the film that would reignite the dead slasher sub-genre. To an extent, it did but it also killed it simultaneously. Most movies tried this new “self-aware” approach… and failed miserably. Scream was smart, cocky and fun and not an easy blueprint to copy. In some ways maybe it could be blamed for this new millennium’s version of the slasher, which is predominately filled with bitchy teens in remakes. At least Scream remains an effective romp and is now kind of retro! Geez, has that many years passed?!?
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) – This one barely made the list but was tons better than the dismal The Night Brings Charlie, so there you go. Actually, when I Know first came out it was a lot of fun to see on the big screen. Slashers had all but disappeared until the release of Scream, so I promised myself that I’d catch as many as I could while the getting was good (little did I know…). It’s a pedestrian effort in many ways but so were a lot of 80s slashers, and I still enjoyed those too. This movie is mostly saved by the decent murders and a wonderful Johnny Galecki who is always a treat. For the dudes, this movie might not have had any nudity but it was wonder-bra central and Jennifer Love Hewitt’s assets are certainly something to be admired.
Scream II (1997) – Personally, I like this sequel better than the original. Maybe it’s because Courtney Cox’s character was just SO much more interesting than Sidney (sorry Neve, but it’s the truth). This one took all the conventions of slasher sequels and made them feel fresh again. Do I agree with the death of Randy? No, but it goes to prove that no one is safe in these movies.
Halloween H20 (1998) – It’s not my favorite of the Halloween sequels (that’s reserved for Halloween 2), but reuniting Laurie Strode with her brother was a stroke of sheer genius. A low body count hampered the film but some great chance scenes made up for it. Halloween H20 also stayed true to the original, therefore doing itself more justice than some of the previous efforts.
If you haven’t been over to the delectable site Anchorwoman in Peril you should really check it out. Ross Horsley really gives some love to all things slasher, shark, anchorwoman or otherwise. He read my Slashers That Aren’t Slasher but are Still Slashers piece and came up with a great list of Slashers That Just Plain Ol’ Aren’t Really Slashers !
It’s an awesome list. Go check it out!
Also of note is a great list he’s got going called The Horror that Made Me, which is an unusual and amazing list. I mean, who thought Giant Spider Invasion would end up on ANY list!
