Your Favourite Horror Film from 1980
 

1980 was a year for some brilliant horror films, but which one is your favourite? What makes it special to you? When did you first see it? Would you recommend it to the uninitiated?

Sometimes it's a hard decision to just pick one film (even when you're limiting it to a single year!), - impossible in this case! ;) but my favourite film(s) of 1980 is(are!)...


Tied with:


I honestly can't decide between them, as they are completely different horror films, and I love them for completely differing reasons.

Maybe some people will think me mad, but I absolutely love City of the Living Dead, hence it being up there with the highly acclaimed Shining.

Runners Up:
Altered States
Antropophagus
Cannibal Holocaust
The Changeling
The Fog
Friday the 13th
The House on the Edge of the Park
Inferno
Maniac
Zombie Holocaust

Plus so many more that almost made the Runners Up list (in fact, I could of done with a Runners Up Runners Up list...).

So many to choose from, but I'd say my favourite of 1980 is The Fog. Definately up there as one of Carpenters creepiest films.


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Brilliant mate-You're the NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL FILMS of Cult Labs!:cool:

1980-What a year!

THE SHINING-Best King adaptation ever?
As Empire once put it....

'Late at night,after a few drinks,THE SHINING is simply terrifying.Every time.'

THE FOG-Carpenter's second best film.Dean Cundey's cinematography for this was ASTOUNDING.
Has Hal Holbrook,Janet Leigh,Jamie Lee,Tom Atkins,Adrienne Barbeau-what more could you ask for?

THE CHANGELING-IMO the best ghost film ever made.George C Scott turning in a powerhouse performance as always!

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST-Shocking.Nuff said.
I don't think anything else will ever come close.

CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD-Still my favourite Fulci zombie movie and has one of the best poster designs EVER!

I still get shivers thinking about The Changeling, and I've not even seen it in 25 years!


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Stephen you need to remedy that immediately!
The Optimum transfer is superb!

Others worthy of mention include;

Alligator with Robert Forster and Frankie Five Angels from The Godfather Part II.

Ken Russell's demented(Aren't they all?) sci-fi/horror hybrid ALTERED STATES with William Hurt and some pretty stunning images.

Ulli Lommel's best film by far,THE BOGEY MAN which rips off a few films,but is still daftly enjoyable.

Cannibal Apocalypse directed by Antonio Margheriti with genre faves John Saxon and Giovani Lombardo Radice who develops a taste for flesh after captivity in Vietnam!

Alvin Rakoff's DEATH SHIP.Starry cast come to inventive ends on a Nazi ghost ship.The love boat this ain't!
Excellent disc from Marc Morris's Nucleus label.

Arthur Jeffrey's DEMENTED-The title says it all in this one,a rape flick which needs a dvd release!
It was,by the way,written by Alex Rebar-director of the '77 classic THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN.

DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE!-Directed by Robert Hammer,this really needs to be seen uncut to appreciate how sleazy it is!

HE KNOW'S YOU'RE ALONE with a fleeting debut by a very young Tom Hanks,another one which 'acknowledges' HALLOWEEN.

One of my all time favourites-HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP released here on video as MONSTER.
This one has it ALL!
Boobs,bums violence monsters,Doug McClure,Vic Morrow-what more could you ask for?!
And all directed by a female,Barbara Peeters,although the rumour goes that old man Corman had some input.....
Now released uncut-EVERY fan of horror needs to get this!

INFERNO-Argento's 2nd in the 'Madre' trilogy.Nuff said.

MACABRE-Bava Jnr's best film IMO.Cool,cool,cool.;)

Legendary Brit horror director Roy Ward Baker gave us the cracking anthology THE MONSTER CLUB with an all star cast.There's a nice disc out,but this could be doing with the SE treatment.:nod:

Now,if you want a comic variation on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,then MOTEL HELL is worth seeking out!
Rory Calhoun stars as farmer Vincent-fine purveyour of smoked meat fritters....the end duel in this one is worth the price alone.
Directed by Kevin Connor,who also directed that other '80's favourite THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS with the delectable Ms Susan George.

MOTHER'S DAY gave us anther rape 'n' revenge flick which upped the sales of DRANO as a self defence weapon.....;)

Now here's one of those films which should be spoken in the same journals of Bergman,Passollini and their ilk.
I am of course referring to James C Wasson's NIGHT OF THE DEMON-The best bigfoot film ever made bar none,and DESPERATELY needing a UK release......listening anyone?:eyebrows:

PROM NIGHT Gave us Jamie Lee again and Leslie Nielson disco dancing.....:dance:

David Paulsen's SCHIZOID gave us psychotherapy with not much of a surprise ending-another though that needs dredging up on dvd.:nod:

WATCHER IN THE WOODS starred the legendary Bette Davis,was directed by John Hough and produced by Walt Disney.
I'm not a fan of this one,but I thought I'd mention it.
Brian Clemens who also wrote CAPTAIN KRONOS VAMPIRE HUNTER and DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE,along with The Professionals and The Avengers,has a writing credit.

This was one of the greatest years for horror films ever. There are numerous exceptional films, most of which have been listed above by bizarre_eye and Reaper. However, I'd have to go with the OP and have The Shining as my favourite from this year. It has a career-defining performance by Jack Nicholson, quite brilliant and groundbreaking Steadicam work by John Abbott and a script, by Kubrick and Diane Johnson, that's probably better than that in Stephen King's original novel.

City of the Living Dead for me.Along with the previous year's Zombie Flesh Eaters, it's Fulci's best horror film imo.

One of my favourite years in horror for sure,so hard to choose...There's Cannibal Holocaust and City of the Living Dead,Maniac and The Shining,and let's not forget Porno Holocaust (just kidding).I'd say this one goes to Lustig and Spinelli for giving us Maniac,a movie so unrelentingly brutal you have to take a cold shower to get it off your head.Jay Chattaway's score is beautifully haunting.

As per my original post, there were so many I could have listed in respect to 1980.

Reaps has done a nice breakdown of some of the other great ones, but I'd also like to add:

Contamination
Don't Go in the House
Eaten Alive!
Mother's Day
Nightmare City
Patrick Still Lives
The Silent Scream
Zombie Creeping Flesh

1980 was certainly a great year for horror!

Maniac is a favourite of mine too. Fantastically deranged, Spinell plays the psycho role to a t. I agree on the score too, it fits the gritty mood of the film perfectly.

Dammit! There's another six films to investigate and ultimately buy -- I haven't seen either of the Patrick movies but saw the first one in the Not Quite Hollywood documentary and really want to see that.

I really can't decide between an absolute all time favourite - The fog and a rediscovered gem thanks to Shout Factory - Humanoids from the Deep

I will have to narrow it down by the time i complete my 80's list.

Hi all,these "Favourite films,from years"are getting harder!
So many to choose from,but off the top of my head id say "Maniac".
What a great head shot scene!
Still thinking of getting the 2 disc version.

Nice choice with Humanoids -I still need to pick up the Shout Factory Blu.

Maniac is a favourite of mine too, but the relationship between Joe Spinell's character and Caroline Munro remains silly & unbelievable imo.Spinell's performance is great though, and, of course, there's the Tom Savini splatter FX. :cool:

For me it's a dead heat between Anthropophagus and Friday the 13th.

What a year!

Whilst Inferno, Maniac, Cannibal Holocaust, The Fog and City of the Living Dead could easily win this race, they get pipped to the post by the genre-changing Friday the 13th and the frankly sublime The Shining.

City for me. One of the first films I had as an "Uncut, don't show this version to anyone" bootleg VHS.

Seeing the drill scene for the first time was something special. :shocked: Not to mention the vomit. Remember the old print used to jump horribly.

Took this film to work during one of our weekend night shifts (very quiet, get time to watch a film or two) whilst one of the young 'uns was working with me. Poor lad said it wasn't that scary, but still followed me around for the rest of the night. Wouldn't be alone for a moment. :lol:

Still love the soundtrack. It really helps the film along, and despite the ending, it's still one of my favourite zombie flicks.

Make a point of watching it every "All Hallows Eve". Even managed to work out that if you start the film at 22:44, you get to hear Maccoll say "It's passed midnight. It's now All Saints Day" at exactly midnight. Just to add that extra but of spookyness. I've not managed to open the Gates of Hell yet.

Lots of great horror from '80 but I think I liked Friday the 13th the best. Just something fun about teenagers getting stalked in the forest.

My favorite of 1980 also happens to be my all-time favorite horror film. That film is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

1- Friday The 13th
2- The Fog
3- Mother's Day
4- Prom Night
5- Terror Train
6- Maniac
7- Schizoid
8- He Knows You're Alone
9- Dressed To Kill
10- The Shining

City of the Living Dead
Zombie Holocaust
Friday the 13th

Got to be City of the Living Dead for me, which is my favorite zombie movie ever, and Fulcis best film IMO. 2nds got to be The Changling, one hell of a creepy ghost story.

Too many to choose from.....so il pick Inferno as it is just one of the strangest films ive ever seen.

God-damn! Its hard to decide! What with Cannibal Holocaust, Friday the 13th, Terror Train, House on the Edge of the Park and City of the Living Dead as choices... But for me, its the Fog! In fact I consider it equal to Halloween. It has many of what I like to call the "John Carpenter Family" in it- Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins, Jamie Lee Curtis, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Keyes and Hal Holbrook... As well as JANET LEIGH! Its also genuinely creepy and beautifully directed.

Great choice with The Fog. :clap:

My favourite Carpenter film.

Nooooo ;)

The Fog

Extremely creepy atmosphere beautiful location great performances and an amazing soundtrack.

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/...420/thefog.gif

Would still like to see the print they originally made of The Fog. Ho hum.

Spot on Nord.:nod:

My favourite Carpenter as well.

Anyone watched the location doc on the SF disc?

I still have to buy the Scream Factory disc might order it this weekend.

Anyone know what the best BD edition of The Fog is for those of us who don't have region free BD players? I've heard the UK Blu is a pretty shoddy release. For the record, my favourite horror film of 1980 is Fulci's classic gorefest City of the Living Dead.

I heard the same that's why I still only have the DVD not gotten a chance to pick up the scream factory since I went region free.

I still have the Momentum special edition DVD. I'd be interested to know whether there's a good Euro Blu release of Carpenter's classic.

hi guys, changed my mind, my fave from 1980 is F13TH.

Unquestionably Maniac (1980)

The shining
City of the living dead
The fog

I recently watched the location bit on the Scream Factory disc and the one on the Halloween 3 disc really enjoyed them great seeing how some of the places have not changed much. Its a great little series is it on all of the John Carpenter Scream Factory discs?

The Fog is excellent.