THE BEST (AND WORST) SLASHERS OF 1981!! (Part 1 of 2)

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (1981) d. Steve Miner (USA)
HALLOWEEN II (1981) d. Rick Rosenthal (USA)
THE BURNING (1981) d. Tony Maylam (USA)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1981) d. J. Lee Thompson (Canada)
MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) d. George Mihalka (Canada)
THE FUNHOUSE (1981) d. Tobe Hooper (USA)
HELL NIGHT (1981) d. Tom DeSimone (USA)
THE PROWLER (1981) d. Joseph Zito (USA)
NIGHTMARE (1981) d. Romano Scavolini (USA)
JUST BEFORE DAWN (1981) d. Jeff Lieberman (USA)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE**

The early 1980s were a golden age for horror, and by 1981, the slasher subgenre had already exploded into a full-blown phenomenon, with producers and filmmakers eager to capitalize on the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th.

Fool's Views (5/16 - 5/31)

"Butch knows best..."

Back again! And just in time before the madness of Cinepocalypse 2019 begins!

The latter half of May was highlighted by three horror icons – Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, and Christopher Lee – all of whom share a birthday within a day of one another (PC on May 26, VP and CL on the 27th). With Severin Films releasing the feline-centric anthology The Uncanny on Blu-ray and The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (which I had never seen) as part of their Hemisphere Box of Horrors box set, the time seemed right to celebrate the trio in style. (It also occurred to me that I hadn’t watched Uncle Vincent in Theater of Blood in far too long, and had never given it a proper review. Consider that box checked.)

I also took a deeper dive into director Richard Lester’s filmography, as well as knocking out what may be the last of De Palma’s output for the foreseeable future, shared the mike (and snacks) with Kicking the Seat maestro Ian Simmons for another round of Argento, and then wrapped things up with Shout! Factory’s trio of Pride 2019 releases.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

HELL NIGHT (1981) Blu-ray review

Hell Night (1981) d. Tom DeSimone (USA) (101 min)

As a fraternity/sorority initiation rite, pledges Marti (Linda Blair), Jeff (Peter Barton), Denise (Suki Goodwin), and Seth (Vincent Van Patten) must spend a night in Garth Manor, twelve years to the day after madman Raymond Garth supposedly murdered his entire family. As the legend goes, the body of the youngest child, Andrew Garth, was never recovered and still haunts the now-deserted mansion… at least that’s the story spun by frat ringleader Peter (Kevin Brophy), who has designs on scaring the rushing quartet out of their wits. But amidst the projected pranks and skeletons-in-boxes, a real menace lurks in the corners, picking off the interlopers one by one, piece by piece.