So, I’ve just spent the last three hours trying to convince myself that watching a marathon of 80s horror movies is a valid excuse for not tidying the pile of laundry on my armchair. It’s the weekend, it’s raining outside—very proper British weather—and if there’s anything more soothing than the other, it’s a satisfyingly gooey explosion or a masked slasher and a group of teenagers who make questionable life choices in the woods.
I honestly think my obsession with these older films is rooted in some deep-seated need for comfort. There’s something about the practical effects—the squelch of a fake monster, the really high-pitched screams—that feels more ‘real’ than the modern digital stuff now. I spent half the evening watching a grainy VHS aesthetic film and just marvelling at how someone could create such a masterpiece with practically no budget, just some slime and a dream.
The art of the jump scare
But then there is the sheer, beautiful stupidity of it all. There’s an entire sub-culture here, and I find myself endlessly re-watching these scenes where characters are to enter into a room with a heavy door, they just have to turn on the light first, why do they never even think about that? It’s my favourite type of irony. They go in, it’s dark, they hear a feeling ‘thump’, and suddenly there are many eyes watching them from the silence. I find myself shouting at the screen at 10:30 PM every single time.
I’ve decided that for the next few weekends, my goal is to watch as many ’80s horror specialities
content_html_2> (Wait, did I even finish a sentence? Sorry. My brain is currently melting and it’s likely caused by some very old, slightly terrifying monster from a fan-fiction piece.)
I’m talking about the specific niche of slasher films that actually have personality. Not just a single jump scare, but a feel for a bit of atmosphere. I love those movies where the music is always just a little bit too loud and try to find some balance between being truly terrifying and slightly ridiculous. It’s as much as part of my weekend ritual-the night they were released when these films were felt like real revolutionary pieces of cinema.
In the other hand, I’m trying to give a lucky few modern horror hits to a chance. They are good, but they is not quite the same. Modern horror often feels like it’s designed to be loud and quick, while my old-slicers are some sort of real enduring legacy. I’m going for ’80s vibe_thought-fire
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