Ahh, Horror films. The fave genre. Been watching them since I was five. Not so much these days, though. I tend to stay away from the newfangled scaries as they're nothing but a rehash vehicle for pretty actors and updated "hey-look-how flashy-THIS-is" special FX.
Not like back in the day (namely the 1970's-80's when I was growing up), when even the cheesiest (how I'm beginning to hate that term), lowest-budget fare were honest efforts that generally gave emphasis to acting and creating a dark, foreboding atmosphere.
The following are but a tiny fraction of the latter years of old guard Horror. Again, they may look like crap to you younger folk, but they were fun viewing:
PUMPKINHEAD (1988) - As a child, Ed Harley saw a demon kill a man. Many years later, Harley (Lance Henriksen) and his young son are running a grocery stand in Nevada that is visited by 6 city youths on their way to a cabin. While Harley is away on an errand, one of the boys accidentally kills Harley's son with a motorcycle. Remembering what he had seen that night years ago, and what he had heard, Harley pays a visit to a reclusive witch who helps him invoke that demon....known as Pumpkinhead....to avenge his son's death.
As he sees the youths being killed, one at a time, through the eyes of the demon, Harley discovers that a horrific price must be paid. Haunting and atmospheric.
YouTube - Pumpkinhead Trailer
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973) - A young couple inherit an old mansion from her deceased, demon-worshipping grandfather. Years before, the grandfather summoned demons to our world in the basement, and unable to control them he imprisoned them in the fireplace down there, at the cost of his own life. In the present day, the granddaughter unknowingly sets the creatures free, and now they stalk and terrorize her nightly through the house, unseen, looking to make her pay severely for the grandad's deeds. No one believes her, of course.
A chilling little tale, with a very downbeat ending.
YouTube - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973) - Intro Clip
LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971) - A young married woman just released from a mental institution moves with hubby to a house in the country, where they encounter a strange teenage girl who has been squatting in the formerly empty house.
Weird happenings occur in and around the house, as well as in town, that only the wife is privy to, causing her to think that perhaps she is having another nervous breakdown. It turns out that the strange girl that is now living with them is an unusual (ghost/vampire) supernatural being......
YouTube - Let's scare Jessica to death/ Trailer (1971)
DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981) - A mentally-challenged young man is accused of the murder of a little girl which he did not commit.
He attempts to hide from his accusers by dressing up as a scarecrow and propping himself up in a cornfield.
A search posse is organized and they eventually hunt him down and shoot him in the cornfield.
Afterwards....the members of the search party are hunted and killed one by one by a mysterious scarecrow. I won't spoil the rest of it for ya.
This movie may sound like your standard cheesy horror fare, but this is in fact a well done production. And the ending of this movie will leave you thinking for a long while.
YouTube - Dark Night of the Scarecrow made-for-TV horror movie scenes
FROM BEYOND (1986) - Loosely based on the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name, this story involves two scientists, Doctors Crawford Tillinghast and Edward Pretorious, who invent a device called the Resonator.
The device is supposed to stimulate the pineal gland, believed to be the center of the much-theorized "sixth sense" in humans.
However, the device turns out to be more powerful than expected. It is capable of opening a door to a strange new dimension of perception....one inhabited by weird and dangerous creatures that co-exist in our reality, but that we are unable to see under normal circumstances. The Resonator meshes the two realities, making us aware of these creatures around us, but it also makes THEM aware of US, unfortunately.
This movie is from the same film makers that brought us the cult horror hit "
The Re-Animator". It's an underrated gem.
YouTube - From Beyond Vestron Video Trailer
YouTube - FROM BEYOND (Opening Scene and Titles) Jeffrey Combs
THE CHANGELING (1980) - A man whose family is killed (played by the always-excellent George C. Scott) in a road accident retires to a lonely mansion and begins to experience supernatural occurrences linked to the house's mysterious past and its previous owners.
YouTube - The Changeling 1980
EVILSPEAK (1981) - The clumsy military cadet Stanley Coopersmith (Clint Howard) is a complete outcast at the West Andover Academy.
He is frequently abused and humiliated by four despicable mates, and is badly treated by his teachers, the coach, the colonel and even the local reverend.
When Coopersmith finds a book of black mass that belonged to the evil medieval priest Father Esteban, he uses a computer to conjure Satan and take vengeance on his harassers.
YouTube - trailer
More to come........
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