Category: Slasher Age

  • Class Reunion (1982)

    Class Reunion (1982)

    Welcome back to another month of “April Fools!” After unintentionally launching a month-long theme last year at this time, I’ve located four more horror spoofs that came in the wake of the Slasher phenomenon of the 1980s. Student Bodies (1981) set the high bar, but we’ll see if any of the films this month come…

  • Cave In! (1983)

    Cave In! (1983)

    Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts If When Time Ran Out… was a whimpering last hurrah for theatrical disaster films of the 1970s, then that’s the purpose Cave In! serves for television. It’s a watered-down version of earlier “hits” like Flood, Fire, and Hanging by a Thread, and concludes the third part of a thematic trilogy with…

  • When Time Ran Out… (1980)

    When Time Ran Out… (1980)

    Disaster Film Checklist All-Star Cast (Oscar Winners): All-Star Cast (Oscar Nominees): All-Star Cast (Others): Multiple Lives in Danger: Warnings Ignored: Difference in Opinion about How to Proceed, Leading to a Dramatic Confrontation between Two Characters: Death of Someone Who Deserves It: Survival of Children: Daring Rescue: Characters & Relationships: Physical Handicaps: Themes: Thoughts Reputation and…

  • The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1980)

    The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1980)

    Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts One thing I’ve noticed during this series is that the longer the disaster movie subgenre ran, the more unlikable its characters became. I failed to mention it twice now, but it’s unavoidable with The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1980.) Instead of cheering for heroes to survive, we’re cheering for villains…

  • Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)

    Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)

    Disaster Film Checklist All-Star Cast (Oscar Winners): All-Star Cast (Oscar Nominees): All-Star Cast (Emmy Winner): All-Star Cast (Others): Multiple Lives in Danger: Characters & Relationships: Handicaps: Themes: Thoughts One of two things may be the deciding factor for why Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) sinks. One may be that the further it comes from the…

  • Hanging by a Thread (1979)

    Hanging by a Thread (1979)

    Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts There’s no reason on God’s green Earth that Hanging by a Thread (1979) should be over three hours long. It would be hard to hang in there with it (pun intended) if not for the flashbacks the characters experience while trapped in a cable-car that’s been struck by lightning and is…

  • Howl of the Devil (1988)

    Howl of the Devil (1988)

    It wouldn’t be precisely correct to say I was disappointed by Howl of the Devil (1988); however, it was not what I hoped it would be. This is not based on any preconceived notions of the film coming from word of mouth (or internet.) This is based on the movie itself’s opening dedication to Boris…

  • Panic Beats (1983)

    Panic Beats (1983)

    Although it’s a sequel to Horror Rises from the Tomb (1972), Paul Naschy moves the story into a new age of classic horror with Panic Beats (1983,) Nowhere is it more clear than during it’s opening scene when a pre-beheaded Alaric de Marnac (Naschy) pursues a naked women through the woods on horseback. The music…

  • Q: The Winged Serpent (1982)

    Q: The Winged Serpent (1982)

    October 29, 1982 Because there were so many unintentional connections and pairings in the #countdowntohalloween this year, I may have to write a summary post at the end. For example, I watched two Larry Cohen films simply because they were released on dates that fit within my theme. In and of itself, that’s nothing more…

  • Tenebrae (1982)

    Tenebrae (1982)

    October 27, 1982 Except perhaps for Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971), because I have yet to watch it, I’m quite fond of Dario Argento’s other gialli, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971), and Deep Red (1975.) After a departure to make two supernatural films, Suspiria (1977) and…