Kult-Zilla’s – 10 Best Horror Movies … of 1985!

1. // Fright Night

A stylishly quintessential 80s movie which pays homage to the gothic Hammer Horror films of the 60s and 70s, with just a splash of neon in its take on the Vampire mythology. Written and directed by Tom Holland (Child’s Play / Psycho II), teenager Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale – Mannequin:On The Move) becomes obsessed with Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon – The Nightmare Before Christmas) – his mysterious and apparently deadly new neighbour. An obsession which is heightened by his late night viewing of the Horror TV show Fright Night – hosted by the faux vampire hunter Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall – Planet Of The Apes). It turns out of course, that Charlie’s suspicion that his new neighbour is hiding his true nature as a vampire is not as far fetched as his friends and family believe – and the strange occurrences Charlie begins to witness next door soon mount up.

Charlie finds himself embroiled in a battle of survival, as his Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock – 1954) style spying is soon picked up on by Dandridge. The vampire here is played as a charismatic seducer of women. And Fright Night is darkly comic and wonderfully paced, often played over the top in a great way as it journeys through to the gruesome finale. Charlie enlists the help of the sceptical Tv Vampire slayer Vincent, and they use every cliché and trope going in order to gain the upper-hand on his neighbourly threat. A perfectly matched synth score adds to the suspense when needed, and the film also features plenty of memorable gruesome Horror. A sequel would follow in 1988, as well as a remake nearly 30 years later in 2013 starring Colin Farrell (Total Recall) – but this is certainly a case of the original being the best. KZ

2. // A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge

Following the success of A Nightmare On Elm Street in 1984, New Line Cinema were looking to quickly capitalise on their surprise hit by fast-tracking a movie without any involvement from the original creator and directer Wes Craven (Scream). The studio also only brought back Robert Englund to reprise his iconic role of Freddy Krueger at the eleventh hour, having previously resisted his significant pay demands while unsuccessfully screen-testing other actors. Freddy’s Revenge opens with the notorious school bus scene, where we meet timid teenager Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton) – the fresh object of Freddy’s desire as the razor-fingered killer seeks to possess him in order to escape into the real world.

Stylistically, Freddy’s Revenge is an intriguing movie with probably the darkest Freddy of the series, and a distinct sexual undertone which is accentuated far beyond the rest of the franchise. There are scenes of homo-eroticism throughout, as Jessie is taunted to the brink of madness by the sadistic dream-demon – and the movie generally tends to polarise hardcore fans of the series with its often bizarrely portrayed sub-text. Director Jack Sholder (The Hidden) provides plenty of grotesque Body-Horror throughout the movie, which culminates in a killer pool-party scene. A scene in which Freddy finally uses Jesse to transcend into the real world, delivering the classic line – “You are all my children now!” – as he starts slashing teenagers left right and centre. KZ

3. // Demons

Demons – or Demoni as the film is known in its native Italy – is one of the quintessential gory Horror flicks of the era. A true European B-Movie masterpiece jam-packed full of chilling scares and gruesome F/x. Directed by Lamberto Bava (Delirium / Body Puzzle), the movie was co-written by Bava and the legendary Giallo-Horror director Dario Argento (Susperia / Tenebrae) – who also produced the film. And it very much feels like a collaboration between the two, with Argento’s magic touch absolutely sprinkled throughout the tone and style with many examples of the film-makers Giallo-style on show. Demons’ soundtrack is highly representative of the era and another fine stylistic choice, blending a synth-based score from Claudio Simonetti, with a number of Hard Rock songs from the likes of Motley Crue, Scorpions, and Billy Idol.

The majority of Demons is set within a Berlin cinema complex, as a sinister and deformed man in a silver mask hands out invitations to random people in a subway – inviting them to the premiere of what turns out to be a mysterious Horror movie. We see part of the film within a film, as a group of young adults explore a graveyard said to be the resting place of Nostrodamas – who had made a chilling prediction on the coming of Demons on Earth – “They will make cemeteries their cathedrals, and tombs your cities.” Locked within the confines of the auditorium, the audience are forced to face a terror beyond their wildest imaginations, as the fiction of the film they are watching becomes a terrifying reality. The cinema becomes over-run with ravenous and blood-thirsty Demons, with a disease that spreads like a plague as it begins infecting the audience. KZ

4. // The Return Of The Living Dead

The zombie sub-genre of Horror as we know it today owes everything to George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead (1968), and the now classic movie was co-written by Romero and John Russo. Romero and Russo would part ways after the success of the film, and would ultimately find themselves in court fighting over the rights to continuing the movie’s legacy – with both wanting to separately press ahead with sequels. Russo won the legal right to create another movie with the words ‘Living Dead’ in the title, while Romero was able to move on with his own separate sequel – Dawn Of The Dead (1978). Russo would eventually work on the script for The Return Of The Living Dead with Alien (1979) writer Dan O’Bannon, and after original director Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist) moved on from the project, O’Bannon would find himself behind the camera in his directorial debut.

The cult Horror-flick name drops Night Of The Living Dead in the opening sequence, implying it was based on a true story as Frank and Freddy – two workers at a medical supply warehouse – discuss the movie and its links to a toxic gas called Trioxin. A gas which just so happens to be being stored in drums down in the warehouse basement. The Trioxin is unwittingly unleashed by the hapless workers who contaminate the air, sparking a series of unfortunate events which eventually re-animates the corpses in a local cemetery. A group of punks including Spider (Miguel A. Nunez Jr) and Trash (Linnea Quigley are partying in the graveyard at the time, and they form just a part of a whole host of memorable characters in what is an incredibly slick script with a cool soundtrack. All delivered at a fine pace with a comically grotesque new zombie design, and some pretty neat Body-Horror as we join them in their endless pursuit of Brains! KZ

5. // Re-Animator

In 1922, the legendary writer of Horror and Sci-Fi H.P Lovecraft published the serial-novella Herbert West – Reanimator, in the amateur publication Home Brew. The story revolves around West – a medical student who invents a serum that can re-animate the dead. Providing one of the first depictions of the zombie as we now think of them today. Writer and director Stuart Gordon (From Beyond) had developed his version of Lovecraft’s tale for the stage, but was encouraged to bring it to the screen with the help of producer Brian Yuzna (Society). With the two casting Jeffrey Combs (Necromonicon) in the role of West, with Bruce Abbott playing his classmate Dan, and career Horror scream-queen Barbara Crampton (Chopping Mall / Puppet Master) playing Dan’s fianceè Megan.

When the odd and somewhat unstable West joins the Miskatonic University in Arkham Massachusetts, he tests his regenerative serum on Dan’s dead cat, before moving onto a human corpse as he and Dan sneak into the local morgue to try and prove to their university professors the validity of West’s work. From here, his experiments begin to spiral out of control – and the body-count literally starts to rise one after another. Lovecraft wrote his story in homage to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), and Gordon provides a darkly twisted comedic version packed full of memorable and often infamous scenes of gross Horror. Most notably the encounter between Megan and the regenerated head of Dr Carl Hill (David Gale) – a character who would return to antagonise West in the subsequent sequel – Bride Of Re-Animator (1990). KZ

6. // Silver Bullet

By the mid-80s, Stephen King had established himself as the leading modern Horror writer, and his stories were transferring to the silver-screen with great success. From Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1975) and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980), to John Carpenter’s Christine (1983) and David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone (1983) – King’s tales were big business. Soon anything King wrote was being snapped up by Hollywood producers, and we started to see a period where the quality of the films being produced started to dip. Silver Bullet is a shining example of one of his lesser known works that might not be thought of in the same company as the greatest of the King adaptations – but certainly still comes with a charm of its own, in a schlocky B-movie kind of way.

Financed by King enthusiast and veteran genre-producer Dino De Laurentiis (Dune / Army Of Darkness), the renowned writer’s take on the lycanthrope-genre was based on his novella Cycle Of The Werewolf (1983). Silver Bullet was directed by renowned TV director Dan Attias (The Sopranos / The Wire) and based on a screenplay by King himself. The story focuses on a small rural Maine town that falls victim to the curse of a werewolf during the spring of 1976. Teenage paraplegic Marty (Corey Haim – The Lost Boys) survives an attack by the beast one night, and with the help of his sister Jane (Megan Follows) and alcoholic uncle Red (Gary Busey – Point Break) – sets about unravelling the mystery of the killings that have been afflicting his home-town. Silver Bullet might not live up to the heights of American Werewolf In London (1981) or The Howling (1981) – but it is undoubtedly an underrated gem in the sub-genre. KZ

7. // Day Of The Dead

While his former writing partner John Russo (Night Of The Living Dead) was creating and releasing his own sequel in the Dead series – Return Of The Living Dead – George A. Romero would release his second sequel of their classic 1968 zombie-flick. His first sequel – Dawn Of The Dead (1978) – had established Romero as one of the leading directors in Horror, and following his work with Stephen King on Creepshow (1982), he would return to the franchise he is unquestionably best known for. And the zombie-flick is a genre which had gained real traction throughout the 80s, as evidenced by many of the films on this list. Day Of The Dead drops you right into the middle of the story which picks up seven-years on from the events of Dawn Of The Dead – as a number of survivors navigate their way in a world now overrun with hordes of zombies.

Make-up and F/x wizard Tom Savini (Friday The 13th) returned to design the zombie characters in the movie, and two of his assistants Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger would go on to work on The Walking Dead (2010) – the wildly successful series which owes much to Romero’s earlier vision. As always, Romero provides a commentary on human nature within his narrative, focusing this time on the degradation of society and the breakdown in human relationships, as the chaotic new world takes over with more of a serious tone. And we join a rag-tag group of soldiers and scientists hunkered down together in an underground bunker, trying to make sense of the new reality while clashing over the way forward. And while Day Of The Dead never quite reached the heights that the first two films in Romero’s initial trilogy did, it certainly remains a key movie in the zombie sub-genre. KZ

8. // House

Having made his name in Horror by creating and directing the first Friday The 13th movie in 1980, Sean S. Cunningham would have a hand in producing this cult-classic five years later. House was directed by Steve Miner (Warlock / Halloween H20) and stars William Katt (Carrie) as Roger Cobb – a troubled writer who inherits the old Victorian home of his Aunt, after she is discovered hanging in the master-bedroom in the opening scene of the film. Cobb is experiencing a period of writers-block, as he juggles going through a divorce, with the mysterious disappearance of his son. And he decides to move into the house in order to seek some solitude and start writing a novel about his experiences in the Vietnam War – shown in flashback throughout the film.

It soon becomes apparent that the house harbours supernatural-secrets, bringing despair to those who inhabit it. Cobb must uncover the link between his sons disappearance and the apparent suicide of his aunt, all whilst trying to keep a lid on his sanity and the ghosts and ghouls of the seemingly cursed property at bay. Miner adds a good dollop of dark-humour into the mix, providing a Horror film with a little more of a light hearted tone than other classics of the haunted house sub-genre – such as The Amityville Horror (1979) or The Changeling (1980)). There are some pretty ridiculous and over-the-top practical monster F/x, while Cunningham would also bring along Friday The 13th composer Harry Manfredini to handle the accompanying eerie score. KZ

9. // Cat’s Eye

In 1982, Stephen King (The Shining / Salem’s Lot) would team up with his friend and director George A. Romero (Dawn Of The Dead) to create Creepshow – a Horror anthology-flick which took inspiration from the pulp-Horror comics of the 1950s that King grew up reading. The movie was a great success, and would inspire a sequel five years later, as well as the Tv show Tales From The Darkside – which would also spawn its own movie in 1990. But in amongst these classic anthologies, King would also write the screenplay for Cat’s Eye, a film with three tales – two of which were adapted from short-stories in his Night Shift (1978) collection, and another written specifically for this film.

Director Lewis Teague (Alligator / Wedlock) was chosen to direct Cat’s Eye, coming straight off of his adaptation of another King project Cujo in 1983. And he would put together a cast including James Woods (Videodrome), Robert Hays (Airplane!), and a young Drew Barrymore (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial). Kicking off with Quitters Inc – Woods plays Dick Morrison, a businessman who engages with a shady organisation who promise to cure his smoking habit … by any means necessary! In The Ledge, Johnny Norris (Hays) is tortured by a mob-boss for having an affair with his wife. He is coerced into gambling his life by taking a walk around the exterior ledge of a high-rise penthouse, with the promise that if he survives – he is welcome to continue his affair with the gangster’s wife. While finally in General – Barrymore plays a young-girl stalked by a malevolent troll in her home. KZ

10. // Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning

Following its continued financial success, it was inevitable that the Friday The 13th franchise would continue beyond Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984). But the creative minds did have somewhat of a problem on their hands having killed off their now iconic killer – Jason Vorhees – as his head was beaten to a pulp by the young Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman – The Goonies). Part V: A New Beginning would focus on the continuing story of Tommy, who is now a young adult (John Shepherd – Thunder Run) released into a halfway home for troubled teenagers, having been committed to a mental health institute following his traumatic childhood encounter with the masked killer. Still clearly suffering from PTSD, the movie asks whether Tommy himself has become a psychopath following his brutal self-defence killing of Jason … as a new murder spree occurs.

A New Beginning provides a fresh concept and setting for the series, and was directed by Danny Steinmann who had caught the attention of producers with his revenge exploitation-flick Savage Streets (1984) – starring Linda Blair (The Exorcist). But he was perhaps best known in the Adult-Film industry having written and directed 1973’s High Rise. And he certainly brings plenty of sex, nudity and a classic Grindhouse feel to Friday The 13th … even more so than fans had become accustomed to over the proceeding years. A New Beginning is not usually at the top of any Friday The 13th fans ranking of the movies, however it offers something different in its exploration of post-traumatic stress, while also developing and providing a twist for the character of Tommy in the final scene. KZ

Words by Mark Bates