Just watched Midnight Offerings (1981) and wow, what great movie. If it wasn't for the weak ending I would've given it five out of five stars. What is your favorite 1980s TV horror flick?
Dont Go to Sleep, Dark Night of the Scarecrow, Midnight Offerings, The Babysitter, This House Possessed, The Midnight Hour... and those are just a few of the awesome 80s made for TV movies I love. It is too hard to pick just one, damn you Billy!
Dark Night of the Scarecrow, although it is definitely in good company with the others listed. Made for TV in the 80's was great, a cut above the theatrical stuff we get these days too, I'd say.
Tough call, but Don't Go to Sleep edges out Dark Night of the Scarecrow. High Desert Kill deserves some love too, as it's cheesy fun ("10,000 volts!!!") with a tinge of eerie mood mixed in. The Intruder Within and Bay Coven are also favorites.
Other: The Demon Murder Case. Don't know if it holds up as well today, but I remember it being REALLY freaky...
Anyone know where to get a copy of This House Possessed? My girlfriend saw it back in the day and loved it, but I can't seem to get lucky anywhere. You know, preferably someplace I don't have to PAY for a cheap VHS bootleg, I mean. :/
Actually, ignore that... I just got lucky on a search somewhere else. I should vote for that one after I actually get around to watching it.
midnight hour edges out dark night of the scarecrow and trapped 1989 kathleen quinlan horror film that is still pretty cool
Don't Go To Sleep baby. I like Dark Night of the Scarecrow too, but Don't Go To Sleep really got to me as a kid.
Lots of great made for TV horror in the 80's, but I still think the previous decade was better for the small screen. Dark Night of the Scarecrow is my personal favorite. Don't Go to Sleep would be a close second. This House Possessed was also cool. The running shower turning into blood scared the hell out of me as a kid.
Other: Nightmares Yes, technically it got a limited theatrical release, but it was originally conceived and shot as a TV movie.
Scarecrow was good fun, and remains on my "wishing for a DVD release" list. Intruder Within was absolute crap. At that age I was accepting of nearly any (then) modern sci-fi tripe, especially if it had a creepy monster. Considering I was guilty then of the unforgivable sin of thinking Buck Rogers was good (well, not totally unforgivable, there was Erin Grey and Pamela Hensley), Intruder Within must have truly been the leavings of a dysentery infected goat for me to have hated it. I think I remember actually walking up to to TV with some toilet paper when the credits were rolling, and wiping off the screen in symbolic protest.
I watched that when it first aired back in '83. I was in grade school and it gave me a sleepless Sunday night. Never saw it again. I'm also wondering how it would hold up?
I havent thought of Dark Night of the Scarecrow in years...I have actually never seen it- but I listened to the whole movie through the wall because my parents wouldnt let me watch it (cuz I was too young). And even just listening to it scared the heck out of me!!! I wish it was on dvd so I could actually see this movie now that you all have jogged my memory on it! Kinda weird I even remember.....
I picked Dark Night of the Scarecrow as the best, although I have fun memories of This House Possessed... I also remember The Intruder Within, about that alien/sea monster/whatever it was that stalked the very "Alien-esque" crew members of an oil rig, "The Bermuda Depths" (although I don't think it was technically a made-for-tv movie, it had it's debut on tv in the states, and that damned Dark Secret of Harvest Home, with Bette Davis looking like that Old Navy Lady (FAAAAshion)...
Midnight Offerings. Just watched it off of a recommendation and really enjoyed seeing Melissa Sue Anderson as a real bitch witch. The ending felt slightly anticlimactic, but good stuff otherwise. I also liked the I Saw What You Did remake a lot more than the bland original.