Blast from the Past: Classic Horror Movies of the 70s & 80s

Yes, there are a lot of Halloween-themed posts lately. Get used to it! We've got a week to go, and this is my holiday, dammit!  Anyway, I thought there was no better theme for Blast from the Past this week than something Halloween related. Some of my favorite movies of all time are horror films, and they don't even have to be good ones. Shoot, some of the bad ones are my favorites. I don't know how many I'll be able to exhume from the YouTubes, but let's give it a stab. . .








1. Friday the 13th (1980) - This series of films was never deep, never super-high quality, and really not all that good. Loved it anyway, especially the first one, with Betsy Palmer and Kevin Bacon.
2. Halloween (1978) - Without this one, Friday the 13th wouldn't ever have been made. This wasn't just the prototype for every slasher picture that would follow, it's a hell of a good movie. Scary too. And it put Jamie Lee Curtis on the map.
3. It's Alive (1974) - There's only one thing wrong with the Davis baby. . .It's Alive!
4. Phantasm (1979) - Bar none the creepiest, most surreal horror film to come out of the 70s.
5. Squirm (1976) - Did you know that worms can be scary? No, wait, they aren't.
6. Terror Train (1980) - After they ran out of creepy holidays, they started thinking they could make anything scary.
7. Happy Birthday to Me (1981) - Oh wait, one more holiday!
8. Truth or Dare? A Critical Madness (1986) - I had to throw in an obscure one, and they don't get much more obscure than this one. Terrible in every way, but mesmerizing in its ineptitude, this one is a classic of bad cinema. If you think the crazy see-sawing synthesizer music is bad, that's just a preview of the awesome awfulness of this picture.

Unpleasant dreams!