Recommend a lesser-known horror film from the 1970s/1980s.

Those Joan Collins ones from the early '70s are quite good.

Thank you, r1! Watching Fear in the Night

Good - I think that's the best of them.

The British omnibus films from the early '70s are good, like Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, and Asylum - and a 4th one (From Beyond the Grave) I haven't seen.

Haunted House of Horror Haunted House of Horror 1969

The Baby (1973)

I love a British horror called "Rawhead Rex".

My best friend and I saw it in the theatre years ago (we were the only 2 people) and have watched it every year since.

It's adapted from a story by Clive Barker and involves a fertility cult, golden showers and a cool monster.

Great recommendation. Thanks r3!

Fun thriller with a better-than-average cast: Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, and Lara Parker.

“Count Yorga, Vampire” and its sequel “The Return of Count Yorga”. Early 70s horror at its finest.

This one will hold your attention.

Kicks

Troll 👿 (starring Shelley Hack) 1985

The Stepfather (starring Shelley Hack) 1987

"What's the matter with Helen"

Debby Reynolds, Shelly Winters and Agnes Moorehead

The Monster, also known as I Don't Want To Be Born.

Joan Collins plays a stripper who is cursed by a dwarf after she spurns his sexual advances. The dwarf curses her with the words "You will have a baby...a monster! An evil monster conceived inside your womb! As big as I am small and possessed by the devil himself!"

The Keep with Ian McKellan.

The Entity.

R6 - thank you! Never heard of that before but I'm going to get it as soon as I can!

r13 just started The Stepfather

That flick, is awesome op

It looks campy enough r20

I still quote the Stepfather! (Well, to myself at least)

Lucille Ball in MAIM.

I like that era, the more low budget the better. Here are some off the top of my head: (If you can further refine your genre, I can give you more):

I like Unseen with Barbara Bach. Stephen Furst (from Animal House) was a very good actor. Just watched it for the first time. Very early 1980s. Not a slasher, more of a whodunnit (a ghost or a serial killer?)

I love Eyes of a Stranger with Lauren Tewes and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Super violent but very scary.

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things. Campy but very scary moments.

My favorite is Grave of the Vampire, written by a long-before-Sopranos. David Chase but filled with his themes of family. Starring the uber hot and prolific William Smith. It is over the top.

Thanks r24.

I am enjoying The Stepfather r20

The Stepfather was much better than I'd expected

another good one- 'Empire of the ants' with Joan Collins. Joan Collins in her pre Alexis days

R26 you’re welcome. Feel free to consult me anytime on Shelley Hack film recommendations.

"Paperhouse" (1988) - so good, I went to see it again at the theater.

Kramer vs. Kramer

Burnt Offerings...Betty Davis' final movies (one of)...with Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Burgess Meridith too.

Have you watched The Changeling (1980) yet, OP?

Just Before Dawn (1981)

Troll

Homebodies

r26 r26 I worked in retail in the 1980s. This very handsome guy was hired for temporary Christmas help and then kept on permanently in January. He was a man of few words and no one knew whether he was straight or gay. He was very soft spoken and calm but something was off about him.

We had a stock room in the back of the store with bags and tissue paper and gift boxes. One quiet day in January or February I went into the stockroom and saw him red-faced and enraged and pounding a giant roll of tissue paper (!) with his fists. I froze in my tracks. As soon as he realized he had an audience his expression fell back into placidness and he smiled and said—"Hi Mark." It was so fucking creepy. He quit not long after.

When I saw The Stepfather it reminded me of him!

Here are some low-budget options. They were never going to win an Oscar but I still remember them fondly. They tend to be unintentionally campy.

"Frogs" starring a young Sam Elliot and pre-plastic surgery/pre Val Ewing, Joan Van Ark

"Night of the Lepus" starring well-beyond her prime Janet Leigh

"Shock Waves" starring a young Brooke Adams and an elderly Peter Cushing, with Adams and friends being chased around a desolate tropical island by Nazi zombies.

Trailer for "Frogs"

Trailer for "Night of the Lepus"

Trailer for "Shock Waves"

I think it is lesser known but They Live is pretty good with a sexy Roddy Piper and Meg Foster with the dazzling eyes.

In the wake of ROSEMARY'S BABY, Mia Farrow made several horror/thriller pics. SEE NO EVIL is one of the better ones. Set in the English countryside, Mia stars as a recently blinded woman who is stalked by a psychopath while staying at her family's estate.

I’m watching KICKS

BLACULA

^I’m a moron

Speaking of William Smith, who was in fact uber hot, does anyone know anything about him? Gay? Not? Google doesn't provide any details of his private life.

William Smith was a lifelong drunk/drug addict who died from complications caused by his demons.

Very straight, but he was a competitive body builder so who knows.

Road company Clint Walker.

The Mad Room with Stella Stevens and Shelley Winters

THE NIGHT OF THE LEPUS.

Starring Janet Leigh, the mother of DL fave Jamie Lee Curtis…

Dead and Buried from 1981, starring Dr. Nicholas Toscanini from “Dynasty.” It has a very shocking, brutal opening.

Also, there’s Motel Hell starring Rory Calhoun. He takes his motel guests, cuts their vocal cords, and buries them alive neck deep so that their heads are arranged like a cabbage patch.

Some extremely good suggestions in this thread.

OP, I’m glad you loved The Stepfather. It is indeed a wonderful thriller and very funny at times, as well as being a bit of a nail biter.

Lesser-known horror/thrillers from the 70s are pretty much my bread and butter as a home video collector. They make up the bulk of my Blu-ray collection.

I must recommend Dark Places (1974) starring Robert Hardy, Joan Collins, Christopher Lee, and Herbert Lom. Small roles for Jane Birkin and the always fun Jean Marsh as well. The new restoration of it is playing on Tubi, or you can rent it for 2 bucks on YouTube. If you watch it, be sure it’s the newly restored version (90-91 minutes) and not one of the horrid old VHS rips (~85 mins). Don’t read any synopses of it.

I could recommend at least two dozen other gems.

Can't Stop the Music

Some others:

The Night Digger.

The Haunting Of Julia (AKA Full Circle).

Martin (1977).

The Victim (Elizabeth Montgomery).

Scream Pretty Peggy.

(Those last two are TV movies that recently got restorations and Blu-rays from Kino Lorber.)

Daughters Of Darkness (1971, free on Tubi).

Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) really is astoundingly great. The vampire is played by homosexual actor Robert Quarry. You will not be disappointed.

My Blu-ray collection is mostly still in boxes from my last move so I’m going just by memory.

The Sentinel- very Rosemary's Baby in its tone as far as the building and its denizens- the building has the gates of hell in it.

Cat People- with the gorgeous Nastassja Kinski and weird casting of Malcolm McDowell.

Frankenstein: The True Story with Michael Sarrazin- you probably can watch it on YT- I think it's a more faithful adaptation of Frankenstein in its tone

These are more sci fi thrillers from the late 70's/early 80's:

Coma, with Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas- also a bit prescient regarding coma victims and organs being harvested

Demon Seed- unbelievable premise of a computer impregnating Julie Christie

Lifeforce- Tobe Hooper directed vampires in space

The Sentinel loses it at the end but it’s a fun ride for most of its run.

Coma is spectacular!

Let's Scare Jessica to Death

The Haunting of Julia

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

If you have never seen The Entity it is worth it. Barbara Hershey gets raped repeatedly by a ghost.

The Nesting

Ahhhh that's what I was thinking about Demon Seed- I was going to say BH, but had to look it up, and was surprised it was Julie Christie.

Encounter With the Unknown

The Legend of Hell House with Roddy McDowall, Gayle Hunnicutt, and Pamela Franklin.

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter with Wanda Ventham.

Vault of Horror

Asylum

Tales That Witness Madness

The Evictors

R66 I do have to recommend that one. I’d love to see it again.

The Asphyx (1972)

I liked The Asphyx

"Theater of Blood" --- purportedly Vincent Price's favorite movie that he made.

Nothing But the Night

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark 1973

Alice, Sweet Alice 1976

Mansion of the Doomed

The Asphyx can be found here in its entirety.

Use to see some of these type flicks on a local Friday late night TV movie, Shock Theater! I'd have friends to spend the night and we would plan to stay up and watch but usually fell asleep. We had also heard unsubstantiated rumors that if you stayed up late enough they played nekkid movies.

The Spell with Lee Grant and Helen Hunt.

A biker gang, occult shenanigans, and George Sanders (in his last movie) collide in the fun Psychomania.

Threads like this is why I still come to Datalounge after all these years.

Phobia

Images, directed by Robert Altman

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐞? (1974)

Based on the reviews I've read, it seems that a lot of people don't like it, but "The Pyx" (1973) starring Karen Black and Christopher Plummer is an obscure gem IMO. It follows Black, playing a heroin-addicted prostitute in Montreal who becomes entangled with a group of Satanists who aim to use her in an occult ritual. She dies in the opening sequence by falling from a window, and the events leading up to that moment are told in flashbacks. Plummer plays a police officer investigating her death. It's a very weird and moody film with a solemn and foreboding atmosphere. Black is featured on the soundtrack singing a number of VERY '70s-style folk songs which are shaky but quite haunting. There are versions of it available online, but the quality is utter shit. I think it's a wonderful movie.

Another Canadian gem in a similar vein is "American Nightmare" (1983), a gritty slasher about a pianist who is attempting to solve his sister's disappearance ("Baywatch" alumna Alexandra Paul appears as the sister in her film debut, baring her tits in the opening sequence before she gets killed in a slummy hotel room). It also focuses on the seedy urban underworld of strippers and prostitutes, and features a hilarious transsexual character named Dolly. Like "The Pyx", it is also very dour and off-putting, but more giallo-esque. Lenore Zann and Michael Ironside appear in supporting parts. There is a nasty twist ending that is truly revolting. Worth watching.

"American Nightmare" is on YouTube in watchable quality.

Arnold, starring Roddy McDowell and Stella Stevens.

The Killing Kind

Found a good copy of "The Pyx" for those interested

Thank you, R87. I’ve been wanting to see The Pyx for a while. ANYTHING from the 70s with Karen Black in it is a must-see.

I have a soft spot for those 1970's and 80's Made For T.V movies. Especially the scary ones. One of my favorites is "Don't Go To Sleep" starring Dennis Weaver, Valerie Harper and Ruth Gordon.

[quote]Those Joan Collins ones from the early '70s are quite good.

A great one is "Inn of the Frightened People" (aka "Revenge"). It's more "terror" than "horror", but really good. It was a "Weekend horror movie show" staple in the 70s.

The full movie is on Youtube

Tom Hanks' first movie titled He knows you're alone.

Don't

Fun fact about The Pyx: Curtis Harrington originally planned to direct it, with James Mason playing Plummer's role. Ursula Andress and Catherine Deneuve were considered for the role Black ultimately played. After several years, Harrington eventually abandonded the project, after which Harvey Hart directed with Plummer and Black starring.

Chopping Mall

Soultaker

Blacula

“Grindhouse” is from 2007, I thought this was supposed to be 70s/80s only. Those really were the best decades for horror, though there were also a LOT of stone cold classics (including many lesser-knowns) made in the 60s as well.

I’m so glad someone recommended ‘The Mad Room’. Shelley Winters is hilarious in the early “massage scene”… and then things get fabulously grim.

Some mid-70s sci-fi/horror:

Rabid. Blue Sunshine. God Told Me To.

Did someone say Let’s Scare Jessica To Death yet, or is that one too famous at this point?

Another recommendation for Don't Go To Sleep

The Possession Of Joel Delaney, 1972.

Shirley MacLaine and the gorgeous Perry King.

The People Across the Lake with Valerie Harper and Gerald McRaney.

[quote]“Grindhouse” is from 2007, I thought this was supposed to be 70s/80s only. Those really were the best decades for horror, though there were also a LOT of stone cold classics (including many lesser-knowns) made in the 60s as well.

I know Grindhouse was in the 00s; I was just being silly, and "Don't" was supposed to look like it was from the 70s.

I do, however, highly recommend the 70s cult classic Messiah of Evil

Ghost Story from 1981 is one of my favorites. The plot is a little clunky but it's downright creepy at moments. I love the mystery of the story and the gory practical effects contrasted with the elegance of the set pieces. The setting and costumes are top notch as are the actors, leading men of years' gone by (most of them in their last film role) like Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Fred Astaire and especially the wonderful Alice Krige whose out-of-this-world beauty and unhinged brand of seductiveness make the movie for me.

Crowhaven Farm (1970) with Hope Lange

Adamn scary TV movie.

From 1973 The Devil's daughter

'Alice doesn't live anymore"

There's only one thing wrong with the Davis baby...

The Entity. Barbara Hershey gets repeatedly raped by a ghost.

"Satan's school for girls" with a pre 'Charlies' Angels' Kate Jackson. You can watch the whole thing on youtube right now.

I Dismember Mama - bring your Up Chuck Cup!

𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 (1972).

Not the 1986 film with Klaus Kinski, but rather an ABC Movie of the Week starring Arthur Kennedy, about an elderly couple who retire to a small house in the country, only to discover that a teenager (more like a young adult) lives in crawlspace under the house. They warm to him and try to adopt him, despite warnings from local law enforcement that he's mentally unstable. The situation ends in violence.

Bad Ronald

'𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝' (1974) is similar to 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, R109. Since it has had an actual home video release, though, there aren't any links to view it for free.

1972. a British horror sexploitation film Ann Michelle Christine (as Anne Michelle) Vicki Michelle Vicki Michelle ... Betty Keith Buckley Keith Buckley ... Johnny Patricia Haines Patricia Haines ... Sybil Waite (Michael Caine's first wife)

The music in this movie is good and the song "You Go Your Way" (performed by the character Abby Darke), is literally beautiful. A lot of nudity to the point where you kind of wish they'd put it back on. Would've been a better movie. But it's an interesting one.

Meant to say 'To go your way'.

I really love this song.

The creepy gothic thriller "The Other" (not to be confused with the Nicole Kidman gothic thriller, "The Others"). Fox Movie Network airs it often, most recently this morning. It's airing again, in fact, this morning at 3:40am EDT. set your dvr's.

r113 I think I once read the novel that film was based on.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 (1971)

Blackula

The Blood on Satan's Claw

1971 Vampire movie, The Red Lips, or in the US, The Daughters of Darkness, with a very Marlene Dietrich lesbian vampire:

I’m a year early but At Midnigt Ill take your soul

The Changeling (1980) and Tourist Trap (1979)

This was really scary 😦

Audrey Rose

Not a horror film, but still worth watching as a time capsule. Original title “Some of my best friends are” also released as “The Bar’ starring a young Rue McLanahan, Gil Gerard, That guy from WKRP and others. . All abpout the goings-on gay bar 1971. You can catch it in pieces on youtube

Someone mentioned it upthread but God Told Me To is interesting

If you like foreign films... House/Hausu is interesting

You may enjoy Frightmare, which some has helpfully uploaded to youtube.

House is exquisitely, almost sublimely campy. 10/10 recommended by me.

R54 Lifeforce! You just reminded me about this one. I for whatever reason remembered it as a zombie movie, but it indeed actually Space Vampires.

The Video Dead (1987). Made by people who obviously loved Videodrome. It also anticipates The Grudge a little.

It schlocky, but the way they trap the zombies in the TV is interesting and creative. It has a lot of camp humor.

And Soon The Darkness (1970)

Who Can Kill A Child (1976)

Spellbinder, starring an often shirtless Tim Daly at his peak. Plus a pre-Travolta Kelly Preston and a post-Top Gun Rick Rossovich.

The Amusement Park, a forgotten George A. Romero film that is very dated.

Nothing spookier than a circus or a carnival, and since he's calling back to an even older generation it really ends up being kind of a time capsule. It's more wistful and eerie than scary.

Shelly Winters is a creepy 1971 horror film- with great title: "Who slew Auntie Roo?"

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? is fun

Just started Eyes of a Stranger r24!

Snapshot . Neat little Australian horror/thriller that is very obscure but not crap at all.

The only thing scary about "Blood Feast" is the acting, R121.

LOL r138!

R132 you are forgetting the BEST PART - Audra Lindley!

Eyes of a Stranger is scary!!!

No one has mentioned 1988’s Lady in White starring DL fave Katharine Helmond.

R136 I recall Siskel & Ebert eviscerated it when it first came out…however I find my way back to it every few years…taut direction, interesting Miami locations, Jennifer Jason Leigh, a truly intimidating bad guy…even Lauren Tewes give her best shot.

R132 I watched this when I was home sick from work about ten years ago. I was very impressed by the creepy atmosphere and the twists and turn. And yes, being the center of a Tim Daly and Rick Rossovich sandwich was once my idea of heaven: Tim for the face, hair, and sensitivity and Rick for the body and Neanderthal Pollack charm. I still find them sexy.

John DiSanti is so wonderfully creepy in Eyes of a Stranger

Thanks for recommending Eyes of a Stranger, r24! It was well made for a slasher film.

I didn’t recommend Eyes Of A Stranger but I’m glad you enjoyed it. I bought the Warner VHS decades ago and was glad when it FINALLY got a great Blu-ray release from Shout Factory a couple years ago. I love all the locations, love a film set in a high-rise. Always.

I just realized Stepfather has a sequel!

There's a third one too.

"Nightkill" (1980), starring Jaclyn Smith and Robert Mitchum. It follows a bored Phoenix housewife whose tycoon husband is murdered by her lover. She reluctantly helps cover up the crime, but things naturally get messy. It is a bit reminiscent of "Diabolique" plot-wise, and there is a strong late '70s vibe about it that adds a bit of flair. Very 1970s "desert chic". There are several scenes that take place in the Sky Harbor Airport which are a real throwback. Aside from a slightly limp ending, it is shifty and reasonably suspenseful—lots of fun, and it has a decent twist ending.

[R140] Audra Lindley gave a scene stealing performance in the office. [R140] I also found it atmospheric and I liked how it captured the vibe of late 1980s Los Angeles. Tim and Rick had good chemistry.

Has anyone mentioned Night Terror starring Valerie Harper? It’s a TV movie similar to Duel (1971), except instead of Dennis Weaver, it’s Harper, and it mostly takes place at night. It’s really, really good, and very suspenseful.

It’s available on Blu-ray so there’s probably a high quality upload of it somewhere online.

Also features DL fave Quinn Cummings as an annoying kid in the first reel.

Night Terror scared the shit out of me as a kid! I haven’t watched it since but in hindsight the plot didn’t make a whole lot of sense. She should have easily been able to escape him and hide.

The Attic with Carrie Snodgress and Ray Milland is hard to find but worth seeking out. It’s more of a psychological drama with some horror tropes but has that weird “only in the 70s” vibe that makes it watchable. The main characters were spun off from The Killing Kind, mentioned above, but played by different actors. That one is weird in a different way but they would make an interesting double feature.

The Killing Kind is GRIM, but I own it on Blu-ray anyway.

I also would like to recommend Mind Over Murder, a TV movie that only got a DVD release and looks pretty blurry in the online uploads of it. Worth watching. Horse-hung Andrew Prine (may he RIP) is in it.

"Mausoleum" (1983) starring one-time Playboy Bunny Bobbie Bresee is incredible camp trash, but the visuals in it are surreal and weird. It is worth watching for both of these reasons. I absolutely love it.

One of my favorite slasher flicks of all time. It deserves a higher rating on IMDb.

R157 I love "Curtains" too. If you research the production history, it was very troubled and the film was kind of patched together, which explains for some of the tonal and plot anomalies. I think it inadvertently gave the film a dreamy and strange atmosphere that makes it all the more appealing. Canada produced some real gold in terms of slasher flicks in the '80s ("Prom Night", "Curtains", "Ghostkeeper", "My Bloody Valentine") there is some crossover between them because they were all scored by Paul Zaza. There are musical cues in "Curtains", "Prom Night", and "Ghostkeeper" that are all nearly identical.

Speaking of, "Ghostkeeper" also gets my stamp of approval. It is a very downbeat, creepy movie about three snowmobilers who get trapped in an abandoned lodge on New Year's Eve, where an old woman and her son keep a Wendigo in the basement. Inspired by "The Shining", clearly, but a great low-budget horror movie.

BUTCHER, BAKER, NIGHTMARE MAKER (1981) aka NIGHT WARNING

Starring Jimmy McNichol (who spends half the movie half-naked) as Billy, who is being raised by his overly-possessive, deranged Aunt Cheryl (the gloriously over-the-top Susan Tyrrell). After a murder occurs, rabidly homophobic detective Bo Svenson suspects that Billy is the perpetrator - and gay. Things escalate from there. Also starring a pre-[italic]Newhart[/italic] Julia Duffy as Billy's girlfriend and Bill Paxton as a high school bully. Directed by (of all people) William Asher of [italic]Bewitched[/italic] and BEACH PARTY fame.

Silent Partner with Elliot Gould and Christopher Plummer. Bank teller Gould gets stalked by homicidal Santa Claus bank robber.

Not the 70s but the late 60s. Cool kid Hayley Mills and Bad Boy Christian Roberts star in The Twisted Nerve. Pure low budget camp. Also starring Hywel Bennet who later played the original Ricky Tarr in the original Tinker, Tailor,Soldier, Spy. Bizarre “rock music.”

Cleaver, cleaver, chop chop

First the mom and then the pop

Then we’ll get the pretty girl

We’ll get her right between the curl

R156 And Marjoe Gortner and Lawanda Page!

Private Parts (1972) - not the Howard Stern one but a Paul Bartel directed campfest about a weird hotel full of bizarre tenants and murder. I caught it on TCM a few years ago and it immediately became a favorite. Would make a good double feature with the equally strange The Baby or Alice, Sweet Alice. Not sure if it’s streaming anywhere but was just released on Bluray by Scream Factory. Avoid the spoiler-ish trailer

Thanks, r163! It's available on Prime. Watching now

What a campfest r163!!

Private Parts led me to Dear Dead Delilah

Great image from Private Parts

Private Parts is another one that has taken FOREVER to arrive on Blu-ray. Now that it has, I’m just waiting for it to come down a bit in price on either Amazon or Shout!’s own site before I buy it.

Hard to track down a version with English subtitles, but the Italian movie "A Whisper in the Dark" is an elegant ghost story.

Race With The Devil. Excellent film that has a creepy cultish quality.

The Devil's Rain (1975) Another creepy one with William Shatner, Ida Lupino, Tom Skerritt, Ernest Borgnine, and John Travolta small role.

The Devil's Rain (1975)

Star studded cast, but John Travolta have a small role.

What about THE BLOB remake from 1988? It kind of fizzled at the box office upon its initial release, but has something of a cult following now.

r171 The Devil's Rain was one of the many movies my mom took me to in the 1970s when I was 8 or 9, after which she swore never to go to the movies again because it was so bad, haha. I think she expected that it was going to be some kind of classic because of the 1940s/1950s cast. Other movies of that era that I made her take me to included Empire of the Ants and Food of the Gods. My father, meanwhile, took me to more sexy / campy horror like Dr. Phibes, Blacula, Tales from the Crypt, Vampire Circus, and Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde. Horror movies became more polished a few years later and I went to see Alien, The Shining, Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th, and The Amityville Horror all in about 1979 or 1980.

Ha r173, my first theatrical movie was, "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", which was double billed with, "The Diary of a Mad Housewife". I was 6 at the time, and wondered why anyone would want to see a movie about a crazy lady. I remember only one scene from Phibes (pretty much the ending), and when I saw this movie about 5 years ago, did realize how insane the movie was- a Grand Guignol Grandpappy of SAW.

I begged my parents to see all sorts of unsuitable movies, Tommy, The Exorcist (denied), Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (midnight showing no less), Blacula, and a pretty awful movie, "Raw Meat" (AKA Red Line) cannibals who live in the underground metro.

I love genre movies so much, that I work in film/tv now.

R174 I wanted to see the double feature of Andy Warhol’s Dracula and Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein but no dice. I had to settle for a “monkey madness” day of all five Planet of the Apes movies at the local theater. I remember the poster for Raw Meat (I think it was a different Poster than in the YouTube link) but I was denied that too. The Exorcist I managed to see when it was re-released in 1980.

R174 I LOVE "Raw Meat" (aka "Death Line") and actually think that film is a bit underrated. It features a pre-"Halloween" Donald Pleasance, and was directed by the American "Dead & Buried" and "Poltergeist III" director Gary Sherman. Definitely not a great film, but it really has its moments. The London Underground setting is the real star.

When I say "awful", it not that it was a bad movie, but it was entirely unsuitable for a 7 year old kid. I still remember the birth scene, and the ultimate good guy vanquishing the bad guy scene with his platform shoes.

This one is interesting, especially for 1980.

A middle-aged woman, traumatized from the death of her adulterous lover, moves into a room at a New Orleans boarding house where the blind landlord becomes suspicious to her activities of continuing her affair with her dead lover.

Well that's just gross, R178. It's Lamberto Bava though!

Speaking of Lamberto Bava, you may enjoy Stage Fright, which is on youtube in HD. I accidentally watched this while on ecstasy one night and it was a terrifying experience that took days to get over.

The Exorcist.

Carrie.

Jaws.

I don’t remember much underground horror from the 1980s. That decade was most focused on teen sex comedy.

Thank you to those who recommended Spellbinder! I watched it on Tubi last night and it was quite good. Audra Lindley was absolutely fantastic.

From what I read online, the Co$ tried to suppress its exposure after Kelly Preston became a star — I think a storyline about a cult was too on the nose for them.

There's a neat twist ending — I figured it out but if you weren't looking for a twist it would be a surprise.

I've always enjoyed "The Evil" . A Roger Corman film starring Richard Crenna and Joanna Pettit, with Victor Buono as the devil. Really enjoyable.

"You'll Like My Mother" starring Richard Thomas. 1972.

[italics] "Francesca Kinsolving, a very pregnant widow whose husband was recently killed in action in Vietnam, travels to visit her late husband's mother in a snowy Minnesota town and gets snowed in with her during a fierce blizzard. Forced to wait it out, she slowly uncovers some terrible dark secrets that her mother-in-law has been hiding, such as her psychotic other son, who has recently escaped from the asylum and is shacked up in the basement." [/italics]

"The Silent Partner" . An underrated 1978 Canadian film starring an evil Christopher Plummer playing cat and mouse games with Elliott Gould. Suspense mixed with a gory scene that I still think about years later. Screenplay by Curtis Hanson who did "LA Confidential".

I linked to an online video of the movie that is working.

"The Silent Partner" is fantastic. I imagine those who grew up in Toronto will have major nostalgia pangs at all the buildings, places, etc.

The Silent Partner is a horror film? I think not.

The Devil’s Rain, mentioned above, is really rather bad. Race With the Devil, mentioned in the same post, is much, much better.

I first became aware of the latter when the ‘sacrifice’ clip was used in The ‘Burbs. It was DECADES before I found out what the film was and got a chance to view it in its entirety.

I think "Sleepaway Camp" is only lesser-known if you've never seen it; it has quite the cult reputation (and for good reason) for a great twist ending. Don't read a thing about it if you plan to watch it.

Usually these types of horror movies have lots of cleavage and bare breasts, but SC is the opposite — the girls are mostly covered up and the boys are running around shirtless in incredibly short shorts. Just one of the weird things about it.

R185, see R160.

Also 185 why are you planting Russian websites on DL?

"Beyond the Door" (1974) starring Juliet Mills, a blatant "Exorcist" ripoff made by an Italian director/crew in San Francisco. It straddles the line between high-brow art movie and pure, unadulterated gutter trash with glorious outcomes. There are a number of great surreal sequences/shots in it and Mills gives a decent performance, but the film overall is laugh-out-loud bad. The director followed it with "Madhouse" (1981), which is significantly better and actually rather effective. Both are worth watching for different reasons.

Also adding "The Prowler" to this list, which features Farley Granger in a fairly substantial role. It was directed by Joseph Zito, who did "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" a few years later. The special effects in it by Tom Savini are visceral and jawdroppingly effective, even today. Plot-wise, it follows a group of teenagers holding a graduation party in a small coastal California town (Cape May, NJ serves as the stand-in) where a jilted soldier murdered his girlfriend 35 years prior. Naturally, someone starts killing the partygoers off. Overall, it is an effective slasher flick with a hazy and dreamlike atmosphere that makes the whole thing feel (appropriately) like a nightmare. Underrated.

"Blood Rage" was filmed in 1983 but not released until 1987. It's a crazy tale of twins — one homicidal, one innocent — but the reason to watch is Louise Lasser, long past Mary Hartman and probably making $1.98 for this.

It's clear she refused to be directed and seems to be performing in a movie completely separate from the other actors. Dressed as a middle-aged baby doll, she performs Mary Hartman-isms like sitting on the kitchen floor eating Thanksgiving leftovers out of the fridge. She's batshit crazy. And the gore level is intense.

George A. Romero's Martin.

Psycho-sexual b grade vampire horror from the zombie master himself.

Creeped me the fuck out at 13, just as puberty was hitting. And it just got a 4k release

R190 - because he's a secret Putin agent here to turn you against your democracy and conquer the West, you fucking retard.

The Unseen (1980) is a lot of lurid fun

The Devil Within Her aka Sharon's Baby aka I Don't Want To Be Born starring Joan Collins has to be seen to be believed. A pervert dwarf (!) curses Joan Collins to give birth to a devil baby. Hilarious trash not to be missed!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Watching Stepfather 2 now

Stepfather 2 was a disappointment

I love you R195, come sit next to me.

R199 well, these films are obscure for a reason usually. How did it suck?

r200 not enough continuity with the original Stepfather. Not a very engaging story and I didn't care about any of the characters. I could forgive the more outlandish plot points in the original because it had other redeeming qualities.

Welcome to Arrow Beach. (Crazy) Larry Harvey, (“I was BFF with Sharon and was almost at the party on Cielo Drive”) Joanna Pettet, Meg Foster. Rich incestuous cannibals.

It's not really a horror movie so much as a social commentary with occult elements, but George Romero's "Season of the Witch" from 1972 is worth a watch. They had to market it as a softcore exploitation movie (under the title "Hungry Wives") in order to book theaters. It's the story of a bored Pittsburgh housewife who starts dabbling in witchcraft.

I just finished watching 'Abby' (Exorcist rip off) and Blacula on youtube. They are fun 'bad' movies and worth watching/speeding through

r204 looks intriguing. I may watch tomorrow. Thanks!

Omyygaaa how could I forget, "Sugar Hill", one of my favorite Blaxploitation movies- I want to wear all the costumes:

r191 The English dubbing is hysterical. The language coming out of those children’s mouths… the casual “fuck” and “shits.” Is this how Italians thought American 10 year olds spoke? Maybe they took The Bad News Bears as a linguistic reference.

TV movies:

Duel

Gargoyles

Movie:

Threads

R193 I just watched this. (I probably saw this on cable in the late 80s but barely remember it.) This is my favorite kind of early 1980s cheapo slasher. Had a lot of elements I liked:

A lead who can act (Mark Soper who was so good in The World According to Garp as Professor Mary Beth Hurt’s cocky college student fuck boy)

Slutty girls with blue eye shadow

Louise Lasser stress eating, stress drinking, stress cleaning, drunk dialing, and yes…as you mentioned she’s in her own world

A 10 year old girl wandering around at 1AM looking for her lost cat—why?

Slutty girl with blue eye shadow teaches good girl how to do Tequila shots with salt and…lemon? Why?

A few boys with 1983 tight polos, popped collars, snug jeans, and Nautilus bodies

Some magnificently bad local Jacksonville, Florida actors

Completely uninspired locations

Dark ending

Last girl running around with a —real—baby

Numerous continuity errors

The guy singing “She’s a Lunatic” to the tunes of “she’s a maniac”…good giveaway that it was shot in ‘83-and an even better way to get sued

High body count and very convincing gore

It looks like the director and one of the producers/actresses (Marianne Kanter) never worked in film or television again)

All of the good movies I know of from back in the day have been mentioned already so I’ll just add The Godsend. The 70’s version, not the remake.

And because I loved horror movies for a long time I do want to cast another vote for some of the films mentioned already because they genuinely scared me:

Ghost Story with Alice Krige is really really good imo. That it didn’t become a bit of a classic surprises me.

Coma is a must see. It’s not horror in the typical sense, but it’s creepy in a really cool way and well acted.

Dead and Buried. The opening scene as someone already mentioned is really good because of the weirdness. But yes, it’s brutal too.

The Changeling I remember as being scary and intense. Well acted.

The Other creeped me the fuck out as a kid.

Carnival of Lost Souls. Low budget but hang in there till the end. It’s atmospheric and the vibe is oppressively lonely. Really effective.

R187 Agree, not horror. The Silent Partner is 1970s film noir with all the noir archetypes…hero of questionable morality, sociopath bad guy, good girl, bad girl Gloria Grahame-type. Some magnificent set pieces….and Christopher Plummer in Bourgeoise grande dame drag.

Lucy’s Mame.

'I Spit on Your Grave' and 'Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things'

^^ Neither of those are very good and do not deserve their reputation.

For a better Bob Clark early/mid 70s horror (one that is not Black Christmas), watch Deathdream AKA Dead Of Night (1974).

Ghost Story, the novel, by Peter Straub, is one of my favorite horror novels. It's fantastic. The film adaptation is a different ball of wax, and I couldn't finish it.

In the right hands, that novel would make for a terrific single season of maybe 12 episodes, on HBO.

Lucio Fulci's "The Psychic" (1977) starring DL fave/hate object Jennifer O'Neill. She is actually very good in this movie. The whole thing has a surreal aura and the plot offers a couple of nice twists.

I started watching The Psychic last night on Amazon through some free trial for a different channel. I couldn’t make it 15 minutes into it because it was so inept in that way that Eurotrash productions of that era often were.

Strange Behavior aka Dead Kids is an interesting one. Co-written by Bill Condon years before Gods and Monsters it's sort of a 50s mad scientist picture dropped into an 80s slasher (or vice versa.) Louise Fletcher has a pretty thankless supporting role and Dan Shor has a gratuitous nude ass shot. (You've probably never heard of Dan Shor but you'll remember that ass!) Mark "Jimmy Olsen" McClure is one of the teen leads and there's a random choreographed dance sequence to Lou Christie's Lightning Strikes midway through the movie. It's an odd one that doesn't come together 100% successfully but it's definitely a fun watch. The 90s movie Disturbing Behavior with James Marsden and Katie Holmes steals a lot from this one

Looker

^^^ DL's favorite Susan Dey is in Looker

R204 Season of the Witch is interesting.

I recently came across The Hearse (1980) but haven’t seen it. Is it worth watching?

‘Children shouldn’t play with dead things’ wins best title award (non porno titles)

Any of the old classics with Vincent Price.

r224, The Hearse used to pop up on TV a lot in the 80s. I haven't seen it since then but I remember it being a decent haunted house movie with elements lifted from other horror films of the era. I also recall even back then it seemed a bit slow so in 2023 it might be excruciating.

Thanks R227!

Speaking of Vincent Price, he has a small part in a pretty sick anthology film from 1987 called From A Whisper To A Scream (aka The Offspring.) It was one of his final roles and apparently he was not happy with the film and regretted doing it. I'm sure anyone going into it expecting a typical Vincent Price horror flick was shocked by the content. I saw this in the theater back in '87 and was shocked because I was so used to 'safe' anthologies like The Twilight Zone, Creepshow and Tales From The Darkside. This one goes a lot darker and doesn't have the moments of humor to lighten the horror. I remember feeling like I needed a shower after watching it. I'm probably overselling it a bit. It's often ridiculous with rubbery effects and really bad acting (Susan Tyrrell anyone?) but it certainly left an impression.

R224 "The Hearse" is fucking weird, but it's a pretty creepy haunted house movie. Very off-kilter, similar to something like "Burnt Offerings". There are some spooky moments in it.

Another one I'd add to the list is Jean Rollin's lesbian "vampire" movie "Fascination" from 1979. I typically find a lot of the European lesbian vampire movies from this era quite boring (lots of tits and sapphic fantasy, which isn't the most titillating for a gay man), but this one is one of the rare exceptions for me. It's a vampire movie that's not really a vampire movie at all—it's about two bisexual high-society women living in a rural chateau who murder people to drink blood as a cure for anemia. Very surreal and atmospheric to the extreme. "Vampyres" (1974) is another one and the same vein that I actually find really enjoyable and creepy (I am assuming Rollin was inspired by it, as the plots are nearly the same).

"Vampyres" trailer:

r229 I've always thought Vincent Price threw a mean fuck.

R218 I would advise sticking "The Psychic" out a bit longer than 15 minutes. Some of the dialogue is clunky, but the film delivers IMO in the end. The twists are good and the ending is dour. I think it's a very creepy movie.

R219 "Strange Behavior" is great, and a nice retro take on the slasher formula with a good heaping of mind control sci-fi. Set in Illinois, but shot in New Zealand (and you frankly can't really tell the difference). Fiona Lewis is fantastic in it. And yes, Dan Shor's bare ass is worth the price of admission. You get to see it in its full glory in a bathroom scene where he's naked with his hot dad(!?)

Countess Dracula (1971) with Ingrid Pitt.

Basically Elizabeth Báthory but 1970s horror cheese. It’s divine.

"Sugar Cookies," a thriller-horror from 1973 starring Mary Woronov (who looks FABULOUS) and written/directed by her then-husband.

Mary plays a lesbian whose partner is acting in a psychosexual movie made by a sadistic director. When he kills her partner in a sex game gone bad, Mary is out for revenge using a woman who looks just like her dead partner.

Seventies fashion! Seventies interiors! Tons of nudity, as well as Mary making the lez-lez onscreen at every opportunity. Sort of a kinky, Euro-influenced update of "Vertigo."

[quote]You get to see it in its full glory in a bathroom scene where he's naked with his hot dad(!?)

Michael Murphy plays the dad and I agree he was hot! He seemed to be in everything in the 70s and 80s and I always had a little crush on him.

"Horror Rises from the Tomb" (1973) - a Paul Naschy Spanish horror film. I saw it as a little kid and remembered scenes from it for decades until I finally figured out what it was a few years ago.

r234 Ingrid Pitt was in Stutthof concentration camp for more than three years as a child. She was half Polish Jew. I just read her memoir. She had a very interesting life.

R221 "In?" I was the female lead.

[quote] Michael Murphy plays the dad and I agree he was hot!

Which film was this now?

Oh, never mind. Strange Behavior.

Is Michael Murphy nude in it (or anything else)? He was a GORGEOUS STUD back in the 70s. Starting with the first Count Yorga movie, continuing with Phase IV.

Nobody but nobody can riot like the French.

^^ wrong thread, obviously

Thanks for the recommendations for "Looker"! I watched it on Tubi (thank God for Tubi) last night and it holds up. Some of the plot was quite prescient, and Susan Dey never looked lovelier. Always fun to see James Coburn be evil, and Albert Finney sported quite the collection of terrible 1980s steel-wool toupees.

It explored some of the same themes as the "Joan is Awful" episode of Black Mirror, just with 40-year-old technology.

More recommendations, please!

Bumpita for more recommendations.

Svengoolie was showing 1977's The Car last night and I enjoyed it. It's a ridiculous Jaws ripoff (!) about a car terrorizing a small community but it's well-made with a good cast and nice cinematography. Plus two - count 'em - two future Real Housewives: Kim and Kyle Richards as James Brolin's daughters.

Also from 1977 Kingdom of the Spiders. The ending is weak and it stars William Shatner but those spider attack scenes are creepy!

Don't watch if you take offense to actual spiders being killed on screen. No CGI or rubber imitations used here

The Sentinel (1977)

Apologies if already mentioned but Chopping Mall is one of my guilty pleasures. If you ever miss the 80s just put this one on and revel in the best/worst of the decade. Plenty of hot guys (Tony O'Dell, Russell Todd, and my favorite, John Terlesky - woof!) Sadly only the women get naked but Terlesky does walk around with his shirt off and jeans hanging open after a sex scene. Kelli Maroney, who played a valley girl cheerleader in Night of the Comet two years prior, looks like a middle-age sitcom mom here and has to attempt romantic chemistry with gay Tony O'Dell.

Full of fun genre cameos (Dick Miller, Mel Welles, Gerrit Graham, and Mary Woronov & Paul Bartel playing the same characters from Eating Raoul) and a tongue-in-cheek sensibility make it a very fun watch. I'm in Los Angeles and in recent years I've seen several shopping centers with robotic security not unlike the Killbots in the movie. Creepy!

R249 I’m watching this now on your recommendation. It’s truly awful. And I love it.

Night of the Demon (1980)—not to be confused with Kevin Tenney's Night of the Demons (1988), which is also great—it is about a group of university students who go on a camping excursion in search of a killer bigfoot. It is replete with audacious gore (including a castration scene where you see full penis), a Satanic cult, hilarious dialogue, and a slow-motion massacre in the finale. The film overall is very weird and almost surreal.

"The Prey" (1983). It is a pretty formulaic backwoods slasher, but the locations are stunning (they shot it in Idyllwild, California) and the movie reaches a manic fever pitch in the last 20 minutes that is quite thrilling. The buildup to it is tedious to some (there is a lot of nature footage that feels like filler to pad out the runtime) but I have always found it very entertaining. Jackie Coogan (famous for starring in "The Kid" with Charlie Chaplin) plays a forest ranger in it, and Carel Struycken, best known as Lurch in "The Addams Family" film adaptations, is the killer. It is honestly one of my favorite slashers from that era.

[quote]I’m watching this now on your recommendation. It’s truly awful. And I love it.

Thank you! Have a nice day!

"Peopletoys" (1974) is a really obscure one.

A small bus carrying kids is in a wreck in snowy hill country, but the kids are being transported to an asylum for psychopaths. They're rescued by some adults who've come to spend the weekend at a lodge, which proves to be a fatal mistake.

Shelley Morrison and Sorrell Booke are the "stars," but Leif Garrett and his real-life sister DL fave Dawn Lyn are two of the kids. Their real-life mother also plays their onscreen mother, and Leif and Dawn kill her by pouring a bucket of piranha into her bath. Of course, she's nude and it's a very unsettling scene for lots of reasons.

The Believers (1987) was a major studio release with a great cast and director but seems forgotten today. It was part of a trend of voodoo/cult-type thrillers in the late 80s (see also Angel Heart and The Serpent and the Rainbow.) I also found some similarities to Spellbinder, mentioned above. It stays pretty dark with some very disturbing scenes. Next time you get a painful zit you won't be able to help but think of this one!

Free to watch on Tubi

Unhinged, a 1982 no-budget schlockfest filmed in my hometown. It follows three young women who get in a car accident en route to a music festival, and wind up in the sprawling mansion of an eccentric old bat and her emotionally-repressed daughter. It is pure trash in virtually every way—the pacing is off and the acting is abysmal and very "local theater"-esque. The elderly, whinging matriarch in it would definitely be a DLer. But despite all of its flaws, the ending is unforgettable and brutal. It is worth seeing for the shocking final ten minutes. A young Gus Van Sant served as a location scout on the film.

Unhinged, in full (didn't realize it was on YouTube):

A reel of the matriarch from Unhinged, which someone on YouTube was savvy enough to put together.

The Sentinel (1977)

The Changeling (1980)

R254, that one is perhaps better known by the name The Devil Times Five. It’s been on streaming services like Tubi lately.

Bump for Halloween season

"He Knows You're Alone" (1980) is one of my favorite second-tier slashers—it's a "Halloween" clone, but it's got a lot of character and was shot in Staten Island in the dead of winter, which gives it a unique ambiance. It is quite creepy at times and has a suspenseful finale. Very atmospheric. I started a thread on it recently but it didn't pique any interest.

Any of a dozen ABC movies of the week. Pick ‘em

R263 as far as ABC Movies of the Week go, I'm a fan of "Dying Room Only" (1973) starring Cloris Leachman and Ross Martin. It's an engrossing suspense flick based on a Richard Matheson story, where a woman and her husband stop at a dusty cafe/motel in the desert. The husband disappears mysteriously in the restaurant, and Leachman finds herself stranded there to unravel the mystery. I have a MOD-DVD-R that the Warner Archive put out years ago. It doesn't appear to be on YouTube. Also, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (also 1973) is a classic.

Dying Room Only is a good suspense film. The Kurt Russell thriller Breakdown seemed like it took parts of Dying Room Only and Duel and mashed them up into feature film.

"Girls Nite Out" from 1982, a slasher set on a college campus during a scavenger hunt. A killer dressed in the school bear mascot costume (with knives shoved through the bear paws to create makeshift claws) is slashing up coeds left and right. The soundtrack is full of '50s golden oldies, while Hal Holbrook and Rutanya Alda are the "name" actors in it and have fairly substantial roles. The killer's getup is what makes it really unique, plus the fact that the murderer hurls misogynistic slurs (in a creepy, gruff voice) at the victims while butchering them. The ending is bizarre and unforgettable.

Don't know if it was already mentioned but I just watched The Nesting (1981) on Tubi. It's a haunted house story with some similarities to The Hearse discussed above. It's not a lost classic but it held my interest with some interesting ideas and one gory slasher-like scene (spoiled in the linked trailer.) The lead actress is pretty bland but the supporting cast is interesting with Gloria Grahame in her final film role and John Carradine in one of his many 'write me a check and I'll show up' performances. Apparently this was the director's only film that wasn't hardcore porn. Sadly that didn't translate into any interesting sex scenes.

Bump

I haven’t had chance to read this thread yet, but has anyone mentioned Someone’s Watching Me? It is a 1978 made for TV horror film directed by John Carpenter and starring Lauren Hutton.

I watched it in about 1979 and thought it was great, I would love to watch it again.

After Dark film = '87?

The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane.

Never tire of Tales from the Crypt (1972).

Quest For Fire

Equinox (1970)

R274 here. Sorry to post without comment. Equinox scared the crap out of me and my brother many years ago at the drive-in.

Happy Birthday To Me is my favorite. I love the final party scene. Pretty great performance by Melissa Sue Anderson.

The Entity used to scare the shit out of me

The Haunting of Julia-- scary Mia Farrow ghost film set in London during her long horror phase in the late 60s and 70s

Let's Scare Jessica to Death -- the title makes no sense but the film is very scary, and stars the all-but-forgotten Zohra Lampert

[quote] House is exquisitely, almost sublimely campy. 10/10 recommended by me.

House (1977) is the most bizarre film I've ever seen and I can't say that I recommend it. Very silly, not scary and the first half is kind of boring.

The Boogens from 1981, A collapsed mine is reopened years after a deadly accident, unleashing deadly turtle/octopus creatures.