For fans of films that trade in the surreal and the absurd, the 1980s gave viewers numerous classichorrortitles. From the comedically strangeRepo ManandAfter Hours, to the'80s cult horror movieVideodrome, to the stylish and tragicBrazil, the decade is chock-full of pictures across a variety of genres that defy conventional logic, gravitating instead toward illogical narratives, dreamlike imagery, and offbeat, sometimes dark senses of humor.
Beyond the major titles, there are several lesser-known but equally asengrossing horror moviesfrom the 1980s that deserve to be more widely seen and discussed. While some do have their fanbases, their popularity isn’t as fervent as other midnight movies and cult favorites. These films range from arcane horror comedies to intentionally incoherent cinematic experiments, terrifying psychological explorations, and biting satires, all of them steeped in the weird.
Blood Diner
Cast
Blood Diner, released in 1987, follows the story of two cannibalistic brothers who operate a run-down restaurant. They engage in murder to craft dishes from human flesh while attempting to perform blood sacrifices aimed at resurrecting an ancient Egyptian goddess.
Originally conceived as a sequel to the seminal gore flickBlood Feastfrom filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis,Blood Dinerwas eventually reworked to stand on its own, but the DNA shared between the two projects is evident. The film follows two brothers who are tasked with resurrecting the goddess Sheetar. Under the tutelage of their uncle, who is a brain with eyeballs stuck inside a bubbling jar, the brothers kill and cut up unsuspecting women to create the perfect body for Sheetar to inhabit.
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Horror movies are known to test the boundaries of what is considered normal. While some films are subtle in their oddity, others are downright wild.
This intentionally campy horror comedy, one of the few 1980s Hollywood horror movies directed by a woman, features numerous surreal moments. In particular, there’s a character inexplicably “played” by an unconvincing dummy with a high-pitched voice. No explanation is ever given for this, and nothing in particular ever happens with this character. He’s just sort of there.The character is but one piece of a larger tapestry of weirdness that is sustained throughout the picture.
Permanent Midnightauthor Jerry Stahl and director Stephen Sayadian craft a semi-sequel toThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but instead of an expressionistic horror film,Dr. Caligariis a psychosexual fever dream. The plot follows the granddaughter of the original Dr. Caligari as she performs experimental mind-swapping procedures on her unwitting patients. Fox Harris, perhaps best known to cult movie fans for playing the man driving the coveted and dangerous Chevy Malibu inRepo Man, here appears as a cross-dressing nymphomaniac in one of the actor’s wildest performances.
Dr. Caligarifeatures some truly unforgettable imagery, including extensive scenes of walls that sprout lips and tongues and lick lasciviously at one of the film’s main characters, Mrs. Van Houten. There’s also a cake that spills out moving intestines, a razor-wielding man in a baby doll mask, a human roasting on a spit, and a talking scarecrow with the power to burn flesh, among countless other oddities.Dr. Caligariis a wild trip through the most depraved recesses of the human brainand definitely one of the most singular moviegoing experiences ever.
A euphoria-seeking alien observes a group of New Wave artists in New York City, eventually forming a symbiotic relationship with a coke-addicted model named Margaret. The alien begins killing off Margaret’s sexual attackers by slurping up their post-coital endorphins. Anne Carlisle plays both Margaret and her model rival, Jimmy, seemingly for no other reason than to add to the already surreal nature of the film. The film also stars Paula E. Shepherd, best known by cult horror fans for her only other screen appearance in theforgotten 1970s horror movieAlice, Sweet Alice, playing a nihilistic drug dealer.
The premise ofLiquid Skyalone makes the film an oddball gem, but its execution further alienates it from conventional means of filmmaking and storytelling. The frenetic intercutting of scenes juxtaposed with deadpan line deliveries and a persistent synth score forms a hypnotic dissonance that captivates the viewer. Aided by Yuri Neyman’s sumptuous cinematography, which captures the beautiful splendor of early 1980s New York,Liquid Skyoffers a truly unique cinematic vision of unabashed weirdness.
The Peanut Butter Solutionis a surrealist movie for kids, though adults can appreciate its charming penchant for defying all logic as well. The film centers on Michael, a boy who loses his hair following a fright in a haunted house but subsequently grows a long, flowing mane after the ghosts of transients give him the titular antidote to baldness, which involves copious amounts of peanut butter. The antagonist is a nefarious art teacher opposed to the use of imagination, who eventually kidnaps Michael to manufacture magic paint brushes from his hair.
The film plays out exactly like a weird dream concocted by the mind in childhood, the kind gleefully told to friends at lunch the next day at school.The Peanut Butter Solutionis infinitely endearing while at the same time featuring some truly creative imagery and set pieces. It celebrates the imagination in the most imaginative ways possible, and it features moments that are both funny and heartwarming.
Born from the twisted and absurd stage show of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo — from which Danny Elfman’s band Oingo Boingo would emerge —Forbidden Zonefeatures broadly offensive jokes and completely preposterous scenarios. Partially animated,the film plays out like a live-action satire of cartoons and fantasy films, with a distinctly adult sense of humor.It’s consistently out-there and crude, and for those reasons, wickedly entertaining.
There is a loose plot involving a woman lost in the Sixth Dimension, but for the most part,Forbidden Zoneis a series of sketches, often featuring an infectious music number. Fans ofMonty Pythonor the underrated sketch comedy seriesMr. Showwill no doubt appreciate the film’s unfettered sense of humor and off-the-wall style. The film is a veritable treat for the senses and a hilarious journey for anyone who appreciates idiosyncratic art.
An unsung horror satire from the late 1980s,Societylambastes America’s class system through high-concept special effects from the master of surrealist gore, Screaming Mad George.Society’s infamous ending, known as the “shunting” scene, involves a shapeshifting race of wealthy humans using a hapless young man as their personal, orgiastic buffet.The scene is quintessential gooey ‘80s effects work and remains Screaming Mad George’s disgusting masterpiece.Words can’t really do it justice; it simply must be seen to be believed.
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Not every great horror movie of the 1980s was given its just desserts, with many incredible scary movies falling by the wayside in the decade.
While the shunting scene is the film’s most memorable, it is far from the only thingSocietyhas to offer. Most of the narrative is a study in paranoia, with protagonist Billy unsure if his family and their friends are actually members of the elite cult or not. Director Brian Yuzna takes his audience on an increasingly nightmarish, yet always subversively funny, rollercoaster ride that culminates in one of the most unforgettable horror movie endings of all time.
A psychologically engrossing and bloody horror film from noted surrealist Alejandro Jodorowsky,Santa Sangreis one of the most spellbinding films ever made. It features a rich plot that spans several years and that is difficult to summarize, but it is one that immediately grabs the viewer’s attention and doesn’t let go until the final frame. The film explores childhood trauma, toxic masculinity, and the effects of religious zealotry with Jodorowsky’s signature bizarre imagery and flair.
Enhanced by Daniele Nannuzzi’s striking cinematography,Santa Sangrecontains incredible and disturbing visuals that leave a lasting impression on viewers. The increasingly strange and over-the-top kill scenes play out with a dreamlike atmosphere, and they also reveal a morbid sense of humor to the film, which Jodorowsky constantly undercuts with the serious subject matter.Santa Sangreis a complex, hard-to-define film from beginning to endand an infinitely rewarding viewing experience precisely because of its complexities.
Perhaps best known in horror circles for directingCandyman, filmmaker Bernard Rose’s earlier effort,Paperhouse,features some genuinely creepy imagery. The narrative centers on Anna and Marc, two sick children who discover they can visit each other in Anna’s dreams via a drawing of a house made by Anna. But as Anna’s struggles at home intensify, the fantasy world she shares with Marc increasingly becomes a place of nightmares come to life.The surreal terrors encountered by the children will haunt youlong after the film has ended.
Paperhousemarks the only acting appearance of the film’s star, Charlotte Burke, which is a shame because she delivers a truly outstanding performance. The same goes for Elliot Spiers as Marc, who had a few more credits before and afterPaperhousebut who sadly died in 1994. The scenes the children share are some of the film’s most poignant, particularly for protagonist Anna, who must confront her familial problems and mortality within the realm of her own dreams.Paperhouse, in this way, is a film about the horrors of growing up, one that should be more widely seen.
The feature film debut of Czech stop motion artist Jan Švankmajer,Aliceis a dark and surreal reworking of Lewis Carroll’sAlice in Wonderlandfeaturing a plethora of creatures that are pure nightmare fuel, all brought to life by Švankmajer’s amazing animation. The film is pretty far removed from the colorful and more fanciful Disney adaptation of Carroll’s tale. It features a more muted color palette, andthe world of Wonderland feels more like a dusty old attic full of oddities, all of them sentient and willing to harm the young heroine in various ways.
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Švankmajer has stated that hisAliceis a“realized dream” (viaElectric Sheep Magazine)precisely because it is not a fairy tale, which insists that good triumphs over evil. Dreams, by contrast, have no sense of morality because they are principally concerned with pleasure. Because the film is Alice’s dream, the constant threat of violence permeating every scene reflects the deepest recesses of her unconscious mind, representing both her external fears and her dark impulses.
Ken Russell’s telling of the famed night Mary Shelley conceived ofFrankensteinplays out like an increasingly mind-bending hallucination.Gothicasks the question: What if a person’s deepest fears manifested themselves as nightmare figures in the real world? The film examines the mental and emotional toll such a scenario would have on individuals. Mixing the atmosphere, dread, and scares of a haunted house film with philosophical and psychological concepts,Gothic is a thinking person’s horror movie through and through.
Gothic’s superb ensemble cast — including Natasha Richardson, Julian Sands, Gabriel Byrne, Myriam Cyr, and Timothy Spall — all deliver terrific performances in thishorrorfilm. As the fraught but resilient Mary, Richardson embodies all the necessary mania required of the role without ever going over the top. Byrne plays Lord Byron with a sinister flair, relishing his part as an unscrupulous foe to Mary’s more morally grounded perspective. Overall,Gothicweighs the ramifications of creativity, arguing that one cannot actually contain that which they bring into the world.
