Josh Spiegel
There was just something special about the ’80s when you’re talking about movies, and even more so when you’re talking about 'genre' pictures. It’s arguably the most important era for horror and sci-fi, with a large chunk of the output of the decade helping to define where their futures would lead. Sure, the ’30s were essentially the birthplace of horror, what with the Universal monsters rearing their heads. Sure, the ’50s would explode the sci-fi boom with the fear of technological advances and growing interest in space exploration. Sure, the ’70s would legitimize horror by allowing auteurs to dare to infuse a level of high art into their narratives and explore deeper themes. But, none of those could touch the ’80s.The ’80s Project is my effort to relive the experience of the timeframe in which the films that shaped my infatuation with horror and sci-fi flourished. I decided to make an effort to watch all of the horror and sci-fi films released in the decade, in order of when they were released. Now, for the sake of brevity, and let’s face it, my sanity, i can’t watch EVERYTHING. So I had to create some ground rules for how this would all work. First off, i eliminated short films. To get on the Project, it would have to be a feature length film. Secondly, i cast aside the vast majority of TV movies, although I chose to include some. Third, i had to get rid of some of the international entries, mainly due to just being irrelevant through an American perspective, but also due to availability. In order to watch them and include them here, I had to be able to find them, and let’s face it, some of the more obscure Indonesian horror films aren’t exactly at our fingertips. That being said, I didn’t want to only stick to US theatrical releases, since that would eliminate a large number of important films. So I developed a fool proof system. I included them if I felt like it. I mainly stuck to things that I felt were either important to horror/sci-fi cinema in general, or just to my own personal experiences of nostalgia. This volume encompasses the releases of 1980 that fall under the category of horror. Each film entry will give you some detailed information about the film itself and the basic plot setup, although I’ve tried to keep spoilers or major plot twists out of it in order to preserve some mystery should you choose to seek these out for yourselves. I’ll also give you my personal rating on each one, based on a five star system. I feel like I’m a bit stingy with my ratings, and reserve 5 stars for films that I consider the best of the best. They’re pretty few, and far between. I will also rate the film based on a Cultural Significance, which I realize is a bit of an arbitrary rating, but I’ll evaluate each film on how much of an impact it had on its specific genre. The interesting thing about that consideration is that it generally doesn’t reflect my personal opinion on it. It may have had a massive impact on the film world, and yet not been a great film, or vice versa. The final rating each film will get is a simple recommendation. Sort of a 'too long, didn’t read' and will sum up each one with a suggestion to watch it, don’t watch it, or maybe watch it. There’s definitely films out there that I believe SHOULD be watched, even if they don’t sound exactly like something that would be up one’s alley, and also ones that I’m pretty confident that most people will not enjoy whatsoever. But there’s a certain contingency offilms that I know that some people will like, and others will not, so those will be the ones given the 'maybes.'
