Saturday, October 9, 2010

Halloween Blog #1: 80's Horror Movie Posters

October is my favorite time of year. Not only is Halloween my favorite holiday, it also happens to be my birthday. I am pretty hardcore Halloween (I have a bat tattooed on my foot in honor of the day) and I am writing a series of Halloween-related blogs.
I have always enjoyed 1980s horror movies. The 80s were the heyday for slasher and horror movies. I think many fans would agree that the best horror movies were made between 1980-1989. Humans have always enjoyed violence and horror and it wasn't until this time that Hollywood really caught on to this and decided to cash in. If it wasn't for Psycho 20 years before we wouldn't have Freddy, Jason, or Michael Myers. So thank you, Hitchcock for killing Janet Leigh in the shower!
Many of my peers have a special place in our hearts for these movies. Not because we saw them when they originally released but because we remember going to the now almost-extinct video stores with our families and friends and wandering over into the horror section knowing we weren't supposed to and looking at these VHS box covers in both fascination and terror. We wanted to watch these seemingly terrifying movies but were too afraid too. During my three year stint at Blockbuster I remember seeing kids and preteens do this as well with the same posters I did as well as the newer ones. When I got old enough to see these movies I was not disappointed although these 80s horror films are not going to win an Academy Award (some are just plain awful) but they are fun and symbolic of Halloween itself and a by-gone era in cinema.
I did some searching for some of my favorite 80s horror movie posters. They just don't make 'em like they used to!


*The Spookies poster is on the wall collage of posters at Showplace Cinemas in Somerset,KY*













*The Horror High is my favorite*







3 comments:

  1. Awesome post Emily. Very cool. And Happy upcoming Birthday. You're the first person I know whose birthday falls on Halloween.

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  2. Just going over the posters again and was wondering where was An American Werewolf in London? That's a pretty cool poster.

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  3. I forgot that one. And yes it is a cool poster.

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