Retro Slashers

You are browsing the archives of 1987.

I’m the kind of horror fan who goes the extra mile to find something I haven’t seen yet. I love the obscure, the rare and the unreleased. To say I collect horror films would be putting it lightly. More accurately speaking, I stop at NOTHING to get what I’m after. Money, travel and uncertainty can’t [...]

A theater troupe working on a musical suddenly find themselves the target of  escaped lunatic Irving Wallace (Clain Parker).  When the seamstress  is murdered by the killer during rehearsals, the director (David Brandon) sees an opportunity to cash in on the free publicity and orders the actors to work all night so the musical can open early.  After the [...]

Movie: Liberal nudity, blood drenched murder shots and a menagerie of quirky characters contribute to this 1987 parcel of fun. It’s what made Cheerleader Camp the Cinemax staple that primarily exposed it to its many praisers. But the standout element is the central character of Alison Wentworth (Betsy Russell). Alison is not only frigid but [...]

I don’t know why when horror fanatics hear the word “obscure” they think they have to see that movie! I mean, maybe it’s obscure for a reason! It’s kind of a sickness we have, to hunt down the rarest of horror, especially slashers. Goes to prove that we are a passionate bunch. But are we also [...]

It would be really easy to sit here and talk about the things in Night Screams that went wrong. So much of it isn’t very good technically. But it was 1987 and slashers were drifting away from the theater and were popping up more and more as direct-to-video efforts. It was an interesting time in [...]

Silent Night, Deadly Night was a mean spirited little entry in the slasher canon that carried more notoriety on its shoulders than it was worth. Not to say it’s a bad slasher – it does manage some moments that get under your skin – like the suddenly non-comatose grandfather and the nighttime family assault that [...]

I have two claims to fame when it comes to this 1986 Texas lensed horror film. I have met the lead girl, Andra St. Ivani. She used to come into retail establishment I worked in. I finally asked her if she was the girl from The Outing and she was pleased as punch to tell [...]

Lisa (Linda Blair) and Kathy (Donna Wilkes) travel into the mountains to attend the Krueger family reunion. During the witching hour the Krueger house is invaded by a vicious gang of punks searching for drugs, jewels, and cash. After torturing and killing the Kruegers the gang discovers the terrible family secret locked away in a [...]

A group of film fans head to the old Lance Hayward estate before the landmark is torn down. A phantom haunting the mansion dispatches the victims while dressed as Hayward’s most famous screen characters. Bloody Movie began life as Terror Night back in the late 80′s but wasn’t released in the US until 2004. One [...]

Six friends travel to Rainbow Valley for a week of camping. Turns out Rainbow Valley was settled by Vikings and one of their savage descendants still roams the woods looking for fresh flesh to rend and gnaw. Besides running from a slasher in a bear mask the teens also have to stay one step ahead [...]