Though I don’t want to repeat movies others have mentioned with Krueger, Myers and Voohrees, my immediate Halloween time movies are The Thing, The Shining , and all of the Evil Dead movies (1, 2, Army of Darkness, and 2013 film).
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Friday the 13th (1980)
Part of the reason I’m watching the movies the way I am is already being validated. You can tell Halloween is better in just about every respect; production, music, camera, you name it. BUT there was just something about this movie I enjoyed more.
There was one area I thought this film did better: the killer. I mentioned in my earlier review that I thought Michael was oddly adverse to direct confrontation or being at a numerical disadvantage and that it seemed like it was because he surprisingly inept against Laurie. Well, the killer in this movie was very much the same except with more blood and more variety to the kills. HOWEVER, the twist when the killer is revealed actually goes a long way to explaining that; this killer would NOT do well in direct fights or in handicap matches. And what a twist! I did not know Jason wasn’t the killer (don’t know how necessary the spoiler tag is). Also, I liked that the killer had a motive beyond just “pure evil”. Again, I know these are “mindless” slashers so I shouldn’t expect too much in the way of bona fide story, character development, or explanations but just the simple nature of the killer went a long way.
That said, there were still plenty of areas it fell short. First, the aforementioned “explanation” was probably unintentional, mainly being designed as a nice subversion. Second, was the killer so blinded that they couldn’t see the teens(?), while sinfully sexually active, were also quite productive and all of the ones who weren’t “drowning” sprang into action immediately in that scene? But my biggest gripe has to be how they treated Annie.
Annie is one of the first people we meet but she never even makes it to camp. It still sits weird with me because she is different from all the other counselors we meet both in demeanor and style but she isn’t the final girl. The final girl is Alice who, by contrast, is one of the last people we meet and, though, by no means as promiscuous as the others, is still morally deficient by the standards of the surprisingly Christian conservative horror monsters of the time. She (I think) has a boyfriend and is also in an affair with the head counselor (I’m also confused as to the ages of the six younger counselors; they seem to be young adults but it’s a bit unclear) who is skeevy as hell. I eventually warmed to Alice (likely because the movie eventually spent the most time on her) but she was kind of pretty similar to the victims and Annie didn’t even really get the chance to prove her “moral worth”. Maybe I’m reading too much into the tropes? Maybe the movie gave Annie too much of a character beyond a slavish devotion to sex? Maybe the filmmakers didn’t want to be a pure carbon copy of Halloween and were bigger into subversion than just the killer twist? Who knows? I guess my point is: #JusticeForAnnie.
Anyway, long story short, this was a lot more fun than Halloween. It’s one of those cases where one thing is clearer better but you like something else more. It’s almost like they didn’t take themselves too seriously and ended up somehow striking gold. The characters were mostly forgettable but that’s a far cry from actively rooting for their brutal destruction. The kills were more creative and they handled their killer better imo. However, I don’t know where they go from here but I’m sure they won’t screw anything up! 
I think my biggest and most lingering question is: Where was Annie coming from and why was she on a dozens of miles long hike carrying seemingly dozens of pounds of gear without a care in the world?
I have already seen Get Out (and really enjoyed it) but some of your other suggestions are either already on the list or will probably make it there.
Already on the list my friend!
Also, fun fact about this film in relation to the rest of the franchise: despite a large amount of films, relatively lax safety regulations in the 80s and 90s, and numerous close calls with the large amount of stunts and practical effects throughout the franchise, the only creature to have directly died in the process of filming these movies is a snake killed in one of the scenes of this film!
Doesn’t sound too surprising at first, but when you see some of the stuff that goes on in later movies, it is nice to know that nobody’s died from this stuff. I’ll probably try to give some little piece of trivia with every film discussed here to add a little behind the scenes flair.
Edit: upon further research of this fact, it actually gets sadder and more cruel, this wasn’t in fact a wild snake. It actually a pet snake and the handler did NOT give consent for it to be killed for the film, and they were absolutely devastated (and on set) when this actively happened.
That’s gross but hooray for the eighties, I guess…
Watch Cannibal Holocaust
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Oof, we don’t talk about that film
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Yeah actually, don’t watch Cannibal Holocaust
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Yeah, it would also probably benefit you to elaborate for those who haven’t heard of the film that the term “Holocaust” in the title isn’t in reference to you know, THAT Holocaust.
Also though, interestingly enough aside from the controversy and failures of this film, it is also TECHNICALLY the first found footage film.
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Evil dead movies are rad to watch, i love the 2nd one the best as it really shows a good origin of Ash without making it boring to sit through
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yeah, ed 2 is cracking. campbell’s performance when he goes insane is brilliant.
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Kill List
Kill List
Kill List
Kill List
Kill List
(Oh, and Saint Maud too)
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Coincidently, I watched the 2013 remake yesterday. Havent seen the originals so I’m not too biased towards it. Thought it was okay. Bit of a gore fest but I respect what it did using only practical effects. That’s always a +1 in my book.
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You’re Next (2013)
The Descent (2005)
Dracula (1992)
In The Mouth Of Madness (1994)
It Follows (2014)
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I’ve seen and love that movie!
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I’d say this movie only really works if you’re claustrophobic. Everyone seems hyped or traumatised from this flick but I’m not really feeling it tbh. Spoiler: The intro was really good. Up until the part where the first monster is introduced. After it is revealed that an entire flock of ghouls is living down in the pit the movie turns into a great prey vs predator clusterfuck. That turned me off sadly. The ending, however, I thought was pretty strong. So yeah, to everyone their own. 
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A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
First, I have a theory that like 75-80% of eighties movies are actually rape fantasies. The tongue-phone and the claw between the legs in the bathtub don’t exactly help this movie’s case…
That said, I loved this movie! It was creepy, visceral, unsettling, and surreal. I also really enjoyed how in your face and talkative Freddy was. It was a nice change of pace compared to how the other films I watched handled their killers. Don’t get me wrong, the silent, stealth approach worked for them but I appreciated Freddy differentiating himself from Michael and Mama Voorhees.
Another benefit of the approach I’m taking is seeing the difference in approaches to the protagonist/final girl. Laurie was good (though the other characters were generally unlikeable and not a high bar to clear) and Alice won me over by the end (but #JusticeForAnnie and more on that in a minute) but Nancy blew them both out of the water. This movie introduces another girl (Tina) first only to pivot to another, much like Friday. Unlike Friday, however, the second and true protagonist (Nancy) has a connection to the first and a smaller group to work with and starts standing out before the bodies start dropping. This was a false protagonist done right.
As for the kills, they were (jail hanging aside) incredible. Unless you’ve seen CinemaWins on YouTube, you won’t get this reference but when they offed Tina I thought to myself “Brutal!” Turns out I was naive, though, because when the killed Johnny Depp I was like “BRUTAL!!!”
I will say, I wish these movies could stick the landing. Halloween and Friday the 13th had mostly ridiculous final fights and just kind of ended. This movie had a pretty good fight but I’m still not sure what happened at the end. Was the whole thing a dream? Did everyone live? Or did they die? Only try to explain if you can avoid spoilers; I mostly just wanted to voice my confusion.
Minor complaint about the end aside, this was a fantastic movie! I’m simultaneously excited to see more but also concerned the sequels will not fail to live up to this one but also somehow drag this one down in hindsight.
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Yeah that’s probably because of how Freddy was initially going to be written. Originally he was written to be a child predator as well instead of a child murderer, however Wes Kraven (the writer and director) decided to change that fact as he didn’t want it to feel like it was child exploitation or capitalizing on similar kinds of incidents going on in California at the time. I think it works a lot better with that change since I don’t think it should or needs to be directly addressed, Freddy is already a despicable character, no need to possibly make things worse or possibly unwatchable.
What definitely sets Freddy apart is him having an actual personality instead of a voiceless/cold killer like the rest in the slasher genre. That, and his brilliant portrayal by Robert England throughout the series elevates it through his commitment to the character.
Yeah, I think that ending scene was something they did last minute, it’s not something that ever gets addressed in the future so I wouldn’t worry to much about it.
Here’s some interesting trivia:
This film effectively saved New Line Cinema from bankruptcy, which is why it’s sometimes referred to as “the house that Freddy built”
A revolving room was built for this movie for some of the kills, in which furniture was nailed down in order to express the idea of going against gravity.
The idea of Freddy being a “dream demon” was likely inspired from a set of incidents involving Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) that was afflicting a specific group of refugees that were coming to America at the time. These refugees came to America due to being branded traitors by their home country after assisting America in the vietnam war. They had suffered a lot and were often heavily traumatized by their role in the war and the treacherous journey.
It was likely from a combination of this trauma, the social isolation and fear of living in a new place disconnected from many of their originally communities, an increased frequency of a genetically weak heart that was more common in that population, and cultural perceptions of the power of dreams and spirits that likely collectively caused such cases to occur.
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Definitely works better but the original characterization seems to be a symptom of the time. It’s not really direct or extreme stuff like that though, more how they generally treat and deal with female characters during the decade.
Oh yeah! I forgot to mention Robert Englund directly; it looked like he was having the time of his life.
Yeah, it kind of reminded me of how Monty Python and the Holy Grail ran out of time, money, and ideas except it worked a little better there because of the genre.
That is pretty cool (and certainly more fun than killing someone’s pet snake coughfridaythe13thcough)
Child’s Play (1988)
As the film opens, you’d be forgiven if you though you were in the middle of a late eighties action movie as police pursue a serial killer through late night downtown. Then, the bad guy transfers his soul into a doll moments before being killed in a shootout. Then, it kind of continues to be an eighties action movie but with a homicidal doll and horror elements. Especially before Chucky gets outed, you get a lot of tense, dark, thriller-esque moments of things creeping in the shadows. While, particularly after he’s exposed, you get car chases and explosions. It’s pretty wild stuff.
Other than the kid, who I did not like, and Chucky, who I did, the characters were fine but forgettable. On the same note, other than the kid, who couldn’t act to save his life, and Chucky, who seemed to relish the role and elevated the material, the acting was on the whole pretty good. Speaking of Brad Dourif, I don’t think this is the same movie without him.
All in all, this was a pretty fun time that I’d rank slightly above Friday the 13th, itself narrowly above Halloween. I think this and Friday just have more fun and revel in their ridiculousness. I give this one the edge because of Chucky himself, general creativity (sans the kills), the genre mashup and because this film seems to take itself even less seriously than Friday. It’s not touching A Nightmare on Elm Street, though.
I’m curious to see how they bring Chucky back and if they can shake things up a little more.
Yeah this movie is kind of ruined by the retrospect of the cultural impact of the franchise, it’s main appeal for original audiences was the lack of clarity of it it was Chucky or Andy (the kid) doing the murders. The idea of a sentient doll being a killer is obviously now very familiar to us, but for older audiences it was a much fresher concept.
On another note the practical effects with the doll animatronic is really well done for its time. We take so much of this stuff for granted nowadays because of the convenience of CGI provides to modern audiences (and just how much cheaper most of this stuff has gotten).
Trivia fact: Charles Lee Ray (The bad guy who possesses chucky) name is derived from three influential killers who gave the writer nightmares: Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald, and James Earl Ray.
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