I'm just curious as to what you horror fans think was the best time period of horror films. In visiting this and other sites, as well as my horror loving friends, it seems there is more excitement for films from the early 80's getting rereleased. My choice would be from the mid 70's to early 80's. It just seems the films were more 'raw' and intense and there was none of this pc crap. Alot of these films could never be made today. Stories were more original and makeup and special effects were becoming more and more realistic (Anyone remember GOREZONE and FANGORIA getting pulled from certain stores due to the covers being too graphic?). No need to mention an era you dislike, I was just wanting to know when and why you thought it was or is the best.....thanks
Where's the voting-thingamajigger? That's a tough call. I love 60's horror movies because of the atmosphere in films like Children of the Damned, Carnival of Souls, Night of the Living Dead. But the 70's had some of the most intense and original horror films like TCM, Phantasm, Exorcist, Sisters. Not to mention the Italian horror films from Fulci and Argento. I think the 80's had the biggest and most memorible horror films. Especially since the 80's were the horror franchise decade. Psycho finally had a sequel. Friday, Halloween, Freddy, Pinhead, Chucky and a whole slew of other franchises were born. The 90's are the decade that impressed me the least. There were some classics, but after the 80's boom, the 90's didn't have much of a chance. Each decade offered something, but I guess I'll go with the 70's. Since it's in between the 60's and 80's. Not to mention I think the quality of the scripts were a little better. As for the current horror wave. I think it has a lot of potential. The only thing that bothers me is all of the remakes: TCM, Dawn of the Dead, Forbidden Planet, 13 Ghosts, The Ring and the possibility of the Suspiria remake.
Totally 80s! I'm a child of the 80s, so I'm mostly a big fan of the 80s slasher kind of movies, though some are from the late 70s (Halloween) or early 90s. As for the best, as my horizons in horror broaden, mostly thanks to this site, I find myself gravitating towards some more 70s horror, especially in the Euro vein, though again some of that goes into the 80s. I'm not well-versed in Hammer or the true "Classics" of the older decades, I'm afraid. Except for NOTLD. So I'm voting 80s. Well, not voting, since there's not a voting thingy. But you know what I mean.
I am in the same bet as Ace. I grew up on 80's slashers, so they will always have more nostalgic value to me, but I have to say that the period from about 1969 to 1982 was the best. This was a time where new films with new ideas and chilling realism were coming out on pretty much a yearly basis. There were no sequels with more of the same stuff as their predecessors. With NotLD, Halloween, TCM, Exorcist, Carrie, The Evil Dead, Alien, The Omen, F13th, Suspiria, The Howling, Cronenberg Gore Fests, and Black Christmas, to name a few, there is no other decade that has films with the followings that the films listed above have. And plus, films from 69 to 82 lacked the horrible clothing and hairstyles that pretty much marred most of the mid to late 80's films. The 70's themes and styles seem to hold up much better than anything that came after it. So my vote is for the 70's, stretching it just a bit by including NotLD and Evil Dead.
no question the 80's just count all the great horror films and compare to the 60's, 70's and 90's the 80's should be crowned the decade of horror i know cause i was there!!!!!
I'd have to say '73-'83. We got the Exorcist, TCM, The Omen, Suspiria, Deep Red, Phantasm, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, The Shining, The Evil Dead, Friday the 13th, umm other stuff too, but this is it. None for nostalgic reasons, but those are my fave years.
Maybe it's my age, but.... Definately The 80's.... Friday the 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street, Howling, Halloween sequals, Evil Dead, Fright Night and many others I can't think of off the top of my head make the 80s ALL that in the horror genre!
If you start at '63 you skip Bava's Black Sunday(Maschera del Demonio), and Corman's House of Usher and Pit and the Pendulum. I say '60 to '81.
Well if you are going to be like that, 61 skips the likes of Dracula: Prince of Darkness, White Zombie, Vampyr, Nosferatu, The Golem, Fall of the House of Usher (Bunuel collaberation) among others. I'd say from 1919-89 I loved those SOV slashers too, so I went through more of the eighties as well.
I think the true age-old question is, which is better? The 70's or the 80's? The system I've devised here pits each of the higher ranking films from each year of the 70's that I've seen against the highest of the 80's in most-to-least order. I think it'll be pretty self-explanatory. At the end, I just count the number of times each decade won vs. the other decade to see which decade had the highest number of better films. IMO, naturally. I've used colors to mark which film I've voted superior. The 'winner' is in green, the 'loser' is in red. 1970: Bava's Hatchet for the Honeymoon vs. 1980: The Fog 1970: Bava's 5 Dolls for an August Moon vs. 1980: The Shining 1970: Valerie and Her Week of Wonders vs. 1980: Argento's Inferno 1970: The Dunwich Horror vs. 1980: The Changeling So... I'd go with 1980 > 1970. 1971: Bava's A Bay of Blood vs. 1981: The Evil Dead 1971: Who Slew Auntie Roo? vs. 1981: The Howling 1971: The House That Dripped Blood vs. 1981: An American Werewolf in London 1971: What's the Matter with Helen? vs. 1981: Just Before Dawn 1971: Let's Scare Jessica to Death vs. 1981: Dead & Buried So... there, I'd go with 1981 > 1971. 1972: The Last House on the Left vs. 1982: Poltergeist 1972: Blacula vs. 1982: Tenebre 1972: Frogs vs. 1982: Creepshow 1972: Bava's Baron Blood vs. 1982: Q the Winged Serpent 1972: Tombs of the Blind Dead vs. 1982: Basket Case So... again, there I'd go with 1982 > 1972. 1973: Don't Look Now vs. 1983: Videodrome 1973: The Wicker Man vs. 1983: Sleepaway Camp 1973: The Exorcist vs. 1983: The Hunger 1973: Scream Blacula Scream vs. 1983: Psycho II 1973: The Crazies vs. 1983: Curtains So, here... for the first, I'd go with 1973 > 1983. 1974: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre vs. 1984: Gremlins 1974: Deathdream vs. 1984: A Nightmare on Elm Street 1974: Black Christmas vs. 1984: Night of the Comet 1974: Deranged vs. 1984: The Company of Wolves 1974: It's Alive vs. 1984: C.H.U.D. So, again, here I'd go with 1974 > 1984. 1975: Deep Red vs. 1985: The Return of the Living Dead 1975: The Stepford Wives vs. 1985: Fright Night 1975: Shivers/They Came from Within vs. 1985: Argento's Phenomena 1975: Bava's The House of Exorcism vs. 1985: Cat's Eye This year, I'd have to go with 1985 > 1975. 1976: Carrie vs. 1986: Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer 1976: Alice, Sweet Alice vs. 1986: The Fly 1976: Squirm vs. 1986: From Beyond 1976: God Told Me To vs. 1986: The Hitcher 1976: The Town That Dreaded Sundown vs. 1986: House This year, I'd go with 1976 > 1986, but by quite the narrow hair. 1977: Suspiria vs. 1987: Opera 1977: House (Hausu) vs. 1987: Bad Taste 1977: Rabid vs. 1987: Hellraiser 1977: The Hills Have Eyes vs. 1987: Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 1977: Bava's Shock vs. 1987: The Video Dead Again, switching over, I'd go with 1987 > 1977, but by another hair. 1978: Dawn of the Dead vs. 1988: Killer Klowns from Outer Space 1978: Halloween vs. 1988: Dead Dudes in the House 1978: Piranha vs. 1988: The Lair of the White Worm 1978: Invasion of the Body Snatchers vs. 1988: Brain Damage 1978: Blue Sunshine vs. 1988: Lady in White Switching over, yet again. This year, I'll go with 1978 > 1988. 1979: Alien vs. 1989: Clownhouse 1979: Phantasm vs. 1989: I, Madman 1979: Fulci's Zombie vs. 1989: Warlock 1979: The Brood vs. 1989: Friday the 13th Part VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan 1979: The Evictors vs. 1989: Pet Sematary This year, I'm not voting on the 4th pairing because I really need to rewatch both films. But, still that's 3 out of 5 in favor of 1979 > 1989. 1980 (4) > 1970 1981 (5) > 1971 1982 (4) > 1972 (1) 1973 (5) > 1983 1974 (5) > 1984 1985 (3) > 1975 (1) 1976 (3) > 1986 (2) 1987 (3) > 1977 (2) 1978 (4) > 1988 (1) 1979 (3) > 1989 (1) For a grand total of: 1970's = 24 1980's = 23 Which... probably doesn't answer any question even close to definitively... Uh... I guess they're about even. Very different.
Using my collection as a barometer, for me it's the 80's by total number of films alone. The 70's did have more classics however (Halloween, TCM, Exorcist, Dawn of the Dead, etc). Growing up in the 80's certainly affects my decision as well. Had I grown up in the 70's, I would have probably leaned towards that era.
Oh, pretty quick actually. (Thanks.) I already have lists ranking each year (the 80's) / decade (70's) individually. The colors took the time. (And, damn it... I wanted pictures too. I probably should have done it. I was gonna make them tiny. But I deleted my movie collection on my computer to make space because I'm paranoid that having 65-90 horror movies on my computer at about 4GB a piece will make it crash or something. I had a clear idea that "oh, the 70's will be better inherently" before starting. But I guess I really need to polish up my watches. Though I feel like I've gone over most of the "must see" movies. Just have to finally watch Messiah of Evil. Now that I have a copy of the only watchable version. (It should get released again, would be an excellent companion / double feature with The Witch Who Came from the Sea.)
