THE BEST (AND WORST) SLASHERS OF 1981!! (Part 2 of 2)

BLOODY BIRTHDAY (1981) d. Ed Hunt (USA)
BLOODY MOON (1981) d. Jess Franco (Spain/Germany)
DEADLY BLESSING (1981) d. Wes Craven (USA)
DON'T GO IN THE WOODS (1981) d. James Bryan (USA)
EYES OF A STRANGER (1981) d. Ken Wiederhorn (USA)
FINAL EXAM (1981) d. Jimmy Huston (USA)
GRADUATION DAY (1981) d. Herb Freed (USA)
NIGHT SCHOOL (1981) d. Ken Hughes (USA)
STRANGE BEHAVIOR (1981) d. Michael Laughlin (New Zealand)
STUDENT BODIES (1981) d. Mickey Rose (USA)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE**

A few months back, we took a deep dive into the slashers of 1981, and now we're back to finish the job! If our first installment focused on future classics and franchise cornerstones, this week's episode explores the stranger, sleazier, and more offbeat corners of the slasher boom.

October Horror Movie Challenge 10/29 – 10/30

CRAVIN’ SOME CRAVEN



Scre4m (aka Scream 4) (2011) (1st viewing) d. Craven, Wes (USA) 111min
15 years have passed since screenwriter Kevin Williamson and Craven teamed up to revitalize the horror genre and spawned an entire subgenre of knockoff slashers, but what once was clever now feels quaint and more than a little artificially hip. Series stalwarts Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette are all back, with new blood Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Marley Shelton and Rory Culkin dropping like flies under Ghostface’s latest reign of terror in Woodsboro. While there are a few bright spots in Williamson’s dialogue (the stream of horror remake titles in response to a telephonic pop quiz had me smiling) and Craven still knows how to tell a screen story, there’s very little inspiration on display. (A franchise reboot commenting on franchise reboot? No thanks, guys.) I’d say it’s a dead heat between Scream 3 and this “was anyone really clamoring for another Scream movie” installment.