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Posted on July 2, 2020

In Search of Darkness: A Nostalgic Celebration of 80s Horror Cinema

Guest Post

Coinciding with the current renaissance of American horror cinema, we’ve seen more interest in horror documentaries. Within the last two years alone, Eli Roth’s History of Horror (2018) and Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019; see the Horror Homeroom review here) both released to critical acclaim, and now we have the collector’s documentary In Search of Darkness: A Journey into Iconic ‘80s Horror (2019), written and directed by David A. Weiner, to add to the mix.

Posted on July 14, 2019

Stranger Things Season 3 Provides More Gore, More Queer, and More Female Fierceness

Guest Post

Season three of the Duffer brothers’ mega-hit Stranger Things has the fizzy pop feel of a high school rom-com seasoned with heavy dashes of cold war paranoia and splatter-gore grossness of 80s era films. Bowl cuts, bi-levels, and rainbow bright attire are set amidst a sinister Russian operation housed beneath Hawkins’ flashy new Starcourt mall. Extending the series’ admixture of horror and sci-fi elements, the new season regales viewers with exploding rats, human bodies turned into melted piles of blood-tinged gloop, and a gigantic excrement-hued monster.

The season, like the previous two, nods extensively towards iconic horror and sci-fi films. This intertextual aspect of the series, which includes enough Easter Eggs to make even the most avid egg-hunter happy, is most extensively informed by works from Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, and James Cameron. Yes, that’s right, all dudes.

Posted on November 10, 2017

Eighties Nostalgia in Stranger Things

Guest Post

In recent horror, eighties nostalgia has seemingly reached a fever pitch. The cinematic remake of the 90’s television miniseries based on the Steven King novel It (2017) noticeably shifts the timeframe of the original story from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. In fact, the film goes out of its way to remind viewers of 80’s sights and sounds, particularly the decade’s movies. In one scene, the camera passes over the lone movie theatre of the small town whose marquee promotes: Lethal Weapon 2, Batman, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. However, the binge-worthy Netflix series, Stranger Things, takes its love of 80’s film even further. A poster for the decade’s remake of The Thing (1982) appears on a wall in a character’s home, and in the second season, the boys all dress up as characters from the Ghostbusters movies. But more than that, the series employs elements of 80’s movies so much so that they become crucial to the series’ plot. Is this just lazy script writing or is something else at work here?

Posted on October 14, 2015

How To Survive The 80’s: Horror Edition

Gwen

For those of you who know me, you know that I LOVE 80s horror. It was a time when horror comedies, slashers, final girls, gore, and monster make-up dominated the screen. Arguably this decade provided us with some of the most memorable and formidable monsters. Please enjoy the following infographic which documents some great monsters of 80s horror / sci-fi as well as useful tips on how to survive their attacks. However, even though he scared the bejeezus out of me as a child I cannot condone bagging E.T. and turning him over to the Feds. It would be like selling Gizmo on the illegal animal trade circuit and that’s just cruel.

The fine folks over at Predator Helmets Direct whipped up this helpful infographic for all you would be survivors. Be sure to hit them up on Twitter and Facebook!