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)

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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.

FROM BEYOND (1986) & DAGON (2001): Goo, Gore & Elder Gods (Stuart Gordon’s Wet and Weird Lovecraft Films)

FROM BEYOND (1986) d. Stuart Gordon (USA)
DAGON (2001) d. Stuart Gordon (Spain)

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Following the cult success of Re-Animator, director Stuart Gordon continued refining his visceral, darkly comic approach to H. P. Lovecraft the following year with 1986’s From Beyond and, 15 years later, Dagon (2001). Rather than adhering strictly to Lovecraft’s prose, Gordon and screenwriter Dennis Paoli emphasized sensory excess—transforming cosmic dread into something immediate, tactile, and perversely entertaining.

SESSION 9 (2001) at 25 - Dread, Danvers, and "Do it, Gordon."

SESSION 9 (2001) d. Brad Anderson (USA)

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Highest marks go to director/co-writer Brad Anderson for cultivating Session 9, an exceedingly tense tale of a five-man asbestos removal team tackling cleanup duty at an inactive mental asylum. When lawyer-in-training Steven Gevedon (who co-wrote the intelligent script) discovers a collection of audio recordings of patient sessions, a haunting dual storyline develops between the events on the abandoned reel-to-reel tapes and the blue-collar crew’s increasing stress with the job and with each other. In addition, the not-quite-dead building has a few secrets hidden within its dark corners.