80sfilms

Cujo (1983) is one of those films that was terrifying when I was a child, but now seems rather tame. Of course, watching it when I was in my early teens while at a slumber party with a bunch of screaming friends probably made it a whole lot scarier.

In re-watching it as an adult, the claustrophobia aspect is much more disturbing to me than the dog.

The story, based on the novel by chill-master Stephen King, is simple in premise. Dog gets bit by a rabid bat, turns rabid, and starts tearing people up. A woman and her son get caught in the dog’s wake, and end up trapped in their inoperable car in the hot summer sun while the dog stalks them.

Cujo starred Dee Wallace-Stone, who played the mother, Donna Trenton, and Danny Pintauro, who played her son, Tad Trenton. It was directed by Lewis Teague, who also helmed The Jewel of the Nile (1985) and Cat’s Eye (1985).

Wallace-Stone also starred in Secret Admirer (1985), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and The Howling (1981).

Maybe it’s because I love dogs, or maybe it’s because I think, in Cujo,the owner of Cujo was to blame for the horrific turn of events (in other words, don’t let your dog run wild, keep your dog properly vaccinated, etc.), but to me, Cujo is more of a public service announcement about pet vaccinations than a horror flick. 

Chalk it up to being an adult, but to me Cujo is all bark and no bite. 

Not exactly a horror film, but not exactly a drama either, The Hitcher (1986) is one of those grey-area films that is more chiller/thriller than gory flick. 

The film stars C. Thomas Howell as Jim, a young man taking a drive-away car across the country from Chicago to San Diego.

When he sees a hitchhiker on the side of the road during a rain storm, he stops. That hitchhiker, John (played by the creepily sinister Rutger Hauer) admits to being a murdering psychopath, and Jim cuts him loose as soon as possible, but not without consequences.

When Jim meets a girl, Nash (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) along the way, she ends up in harm’s way as John and Jim battle it out on the deserted desert highway.

The Hitcher, which brought surprisingly tense action to the big screen, was directed by Robert Harmon and written by Eric Red.

Although there are a few peripheral characters in the film, Howell, Hauer and Leigh are its major stars. Howell, who was a bit of a heartthrob back then, also starred in Soul Man (1986), Secret Admirer (1985), Red Dawn (1984), Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), Tank (1984), The Outsiders (1983) and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

Hauer could also be seen in Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987), Flesh+Blood (1985), Ladyhawke (1985) and Blade Runner (1982).

Leigh also starred in Flesh+Blood (1985), Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), Easy Money (1983) and, most notably, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).

Fans of Hauer, Howell or Leigh should enjoy The Hitcher, as all three turn out great performances in the film. For fans of psychological thrillers, be sure to watch this 80s version…and skip the remake.

In 1987, a cautionary tale of cheating on one’s spouse hit the theaters.

The film, Fatal Attraction, starred Michael Douglas as Dan Gallagher, a big shot New York City attorney with a loving wife (Anne Archer) and cute-as-a-button daughter. 

Dan has the job, the home life and, apparently, a wandering eye. When he meets Alex Forrest (played by Glenn Close), he decides to throw it all away for some sex.

Dan thinks one night is enough, but Alex wants him all to herself, and she does anything to get what she wants.

Director Adrian Lyne continued the same theme with Unfaithful (2002), and also directed Indecent Proposal (1993), Jacob’s Ladder (1990), Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986), Flashdance (1983), and Foxes (1980).

Beyond Fatal Attraction, Douglas enjoyed a string of successful 80s roles in films such as Romancing the Stone (1984), The War of the Roses (1989), Black Rain (1989), Wall Street (1987), A Chorus Line (1985) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985).
   
Close reprised this role of unhinged, evil incarnate in the cable television drama “Damages.” Archer has enjoyed a successful television career with guest parts on shows such as “Ghost Whisperer”, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, “The L Word”, and “Boston Public”.

Be sure to keep your eye out for Jane Krakowski of television’s “30 Rock”, who plays the babysitter in Fatal Attraction.

While I question the attraction of Alex and Dan (on both parts, as I find neither one that appealing), on the whole, Fatal Attraction is a suspenseful, roller coaster ride of emotion that proves that sometimes the grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s just plain crazy.

On Friday the 13th, there’s no other 80s film to blog about besides Friday The 13th, no? This film, which came out in 1980 and launched a bazillion iterations, has a relatively simple plot.

The back story, shown in a short prologue, is set in 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake, when two teen counselors sneak away from a camp fire sing along to have sex, but they end up murdered.

The film then forwards to present day (1980), when Annie (Robbi Morgan) enters a local diner and asks for directions to Camp Crystal Lake, which has apparently reopened and thus sets the townies atwitter. Ralph (Walt Gorney), an old local who remembers the old days at camp, warns Annie that they are “all doomed”. Then Annie gets a ride to camp from Enos (Rex Everhart), and along the way he tells the tale of a young boy who drowned in Crystal Lake in 1957, one year before the double murders occurred.

Annie is understandably freaked, so she gets out and hitches another ride and never makes it to camp, as that driver is the killer.

At camp, counselors Ned (Mark Nelson), Jack (Kevin Bacon–yes, THAT Kevin Bacon!), Bill (Harry Crosby), Marcie (Jeannine Taylor), Alice (Adrienne King), and Brenda (Laurie Bartram) are busy preparing to open camp with the help of camp owner, Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer).

People start getting picked off, and then Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) shows herself (she being the mother of the boy, Jason, who drowned in the lake in 1957).

This film sets the stage for nine sequels of sorts, not counting Freddy Vs. Jason, which is a melding of A Nightmare On Elm Street and Friday The 13th.

In 1980, one of the scariest films of all time hit the big screen. The Shining, which was based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, starred Jack Nicholson doing what he does best–acting crazy.

Stanley Kubrick, who adapted the novel for the big screen and directed the film, wrote and directed only two more films after The Shining (those being Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut) before he died in 1999 of natural causes.

The Shiningalso starred Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd (who was only six years old in this film, acted in one other film two years later, and then lost interest in acting altogether), and Scatman Crothers.

If you’ve never seen this movie, you’re in for a treat, as it masterfully blends horror and humor to create tension the likes of which not many scary films have today.

Although Nicholson went on to star in many more films after The Shining, I still think this is one of his best performances ever.

In 1982, a film came out that, frankly, scared the you-know-what out of me. That film, Poltergeist, also fueled the imaginations of many kids growing up in the 80s, turning closets and stuffed animals into the stuff that nightmares are made of.

Creepmaster Tobe Hooper directed the film, teaming up with writer Steven Spielberg to create this big-budget MGM motion picture about a haunted house and its inhabitants, the All-American Freeling family.

While Poltergeist will go down in history as one of the scariest supernatural films of all time, what happened off screen captured just as much recognition.

Dominique Dunne, who played the oldest daughter of the Freeling family (the main characters) in the film, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney, just 19 days before her 23rd birthday and the same year Poltergeist came out. And little Heather O’Rourke, who played the youngest Freeling sibling, died in 1988 of cardiopulmonary arrest and intestinal stenosis at the age of 12.

Poltergeist was one of the best, most suspenseful horror films of the 80s–luckily, it didn’t ruin television for me for very long.