One of the common theories used to explain the horror paradox is that people watch horror movies as a way of coping with actual fears or violence. Since one source of our fears in undoubtedly the world in which we live, I thought it would be interesting to look at the popular horror movies of different decades to see how they reflect the general fears and uncertainties of the times.
The 1980s
Like everything else in the 1980s, too much was never enough. This was the decade in which horror was no longer left to the imagination and special effects became the star. As influential as Halloween was at the end of the 1970s, it was virtually gore-free. But the same cannot be said for the slasher movies it spawned as they became more and more graphic. It has been said that horror movies have always dealt with the taboos surrounding death; well, in the 80s, they began to deal with literally pulling apart the human body and turning it inside out.
The success of Halloween paved the way for slasher movies throughout the 80s, including He Knows You're Alone, Maniac!, Eyes of a Stranger, The Prowler, The New York Ripper, The Slumber Party Massacre, The House on Sorority Row, Killer Party and Sorority House Massacre, to name only a few. However, it also started a trend of horror movies named after a special day or holiday, such as Christmas Evil, Bloody Birthday, Graduation Day, April Fool's Day, My Bloody Valentine, Bloody New Year, and a little movie called Friday the 13th.
Slasher movies of the 80s: He Knows You're Alone, The Slumber Party Massacre, The House on Sorority Row and My Bloody Valentine.
The victims of most 80s slasher movies were young women in either high school or college. Friday the 13th added a new locale, summer camp, and was as influential as Halloween in spawning knock-offs like Sleepaway Camp, Cheerleader Camp and The Burning. But Friday the 13th was perhaps more influential in popularizing the phenomenon of sequels. In the 80s alone, there were seven sequels to Friday the 13th. Other horror franchises of the decade included: Halloween, The Omen, Piranha, The Amityville Horror, Jaws, The Hills Have Eyes, The Howling, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Creepshow, Evil Dead, Prom Night, It's Alive and even (gulp) Psycho. Believe me, the list goes on and on.
Influential horror movies of the 80s: Friday the 13th, The Howling, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Evil Dead 2.
You can see in these lists a new graduating class of horror icons. Noticeably absent are Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the Mummy. Instead, we have Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface and Pinhead. It would be these characters who returned in movie after movie, well past the 80s.
Another horror icon became a man who was onscreen only in brief cameos in the movies made from his novels: Stephen King. Sixteen of his stories were made as theatrical motion pictures in the 80s, not including the short films and television movies and shows. Some of these movies were good, even gathering critical acclaim (The Shining, Christine, The Dead Zone and Pet Sematary); some were not so good (Silver Bullet, The Lawnmower Man and Maximum Overdrive).
In the 80s, horror was viewed as big box office, and that resulted in some big-budget horror movies becoming blockbusters. The Shining, Poltergeist, The Thing, Gremlins, Aliens, The Fly, The Lost Boys and Ghostbusters were all hits, some of which saw sequels in the same decade. While the primary demographic for horror remained males age 15-24 (the crowd that studios assumed were attracted to violence, action and sex), you can see that an attempt was made to include some family-friendly PG and PG13-rated fare.
Blockbusters of the 80s: The Shining, Poltergeist, Gremlins, and Aliens.
The final 80s trend I want to mention is home video. Direct-to-video horror movies became the drive-in movies for a new generation. And while the living room replaced the family station wagon, the VCR made movie watching an activity that could be enjoyed by individuals as well as groups. Horror movies were released on VHS without the restrictions of a MPAA rating and their biggest advertising was the colorful and gory boxes in which they were displayed in video stores.
By the end of the 80s, horror movies were more accessible than ever. Not only was a lot of the content excessive, but so was the sheer quantity of movies available. That fits perfectly with everything else in the decade, the era of Dallas and Dynasty, where the only thing better than having it all was the appearance of having it all. How long would this attitude prevail? Check back tomorrow to find out...
Other 1980s milestones:
1980. Election of Ronald Reagan as President of the United States
1980. Assassination of John Lennon
1980. Eruption of Mount St. Helens
1980. Introduction of the Sony Walkman
1981. Shooting of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley
1982. The computer named "Machine of the Year" by Time Magazine
1982. Arcade games and video games became a major industry
1986. Explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger
1986. Large-scale nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl
1989. Oil spill of tanker Exxon Valdez
Sources:
Horror Film History: Horror Films in the 1980s
No comments:
Post a Comment