In our ‘Forgotten’ series we look at horror movies from the past that don’t get the love they deserve or have just become lost in the unforgiving sands of time. We start with the late, great Eighties.
Every worthy horror fan has seen these gems from 1980…
…but here are some that have slipped through the cracks. Some have for good reason and some just haven’t gotten the credit they deserve.
The Awakening
A mummy movie without much of a mummy is the best way to describe The Awakening. Based on Bram Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars, The Awakening is yet another Egyptian curse, archaeological dig movie. You would think the phrase “Do Not Approach the Nameless One Lest Your Soul Be Withered” would be enough to warn off Charlton Heston and Susannah York but nope, they keep digging around finally disturbing an ancient evil. The story here is slightly different in the sense that it involves possession and the resurrection of a long-buried queen. There is a reason The Awakening has been left to rot like an Egyptian mummy. It is about as enthralling as shifting through grains of sand.
Where to Watch: Disk, digital or Darkside of the Internet.
Death Ship
Not to be confused with Ghost Ship, you might be tempted to write Death Ship off but if you did you would be missing a cinematic treat. Seventies stars Richard Crenna and George Kennedy are having a great time on a cruise ship until it gets rammed by an unknown vessel. The cruise ship sinks faster than The Marvels did at the box office. Survivors take refuge on the mysterious vessel as it is either that or drown. What they don’t realize is the vessel has a dark past and is actually possessed by evil forces. In scenes you have to see to believe, the ship begins knocking off the survivors in all sorts of cool ways. Although the premise sounds completely moronic the way the ship is portrayed is very clever especially if you think about how those set-pieces were shot. Death Ship may be a little dated but that only increases the respect for the filmmakers for bringing the Death Ship alive with such limited resources and technology back then.
Where to Watch: Tubi, Amazon Prime.
Encounters of the Spooky Kind
Released three years before Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead this beserko Chinese kung fu horror comedy is just as batty and bonkers. Framed for killing his wife’s lover sad sack Sammo Hung (Bold Cheung) is tormented by a witch who conjures all sorts of ghastly creatures to haunt him. Although the special effects at times are a bit primitive some of the grotesque gags work really well even by today’s standards. Spooky is a lot of fun if you look past the pesky dust and mold.
Where to watch: The Criterion Channel, Dark Side of the Internet.
Fade to Black
This one falls right between horror and thriller. Eric Binford (Dennis Christopher) is manically obsessed with movies to the point that he quotes dialogue, dresses up like characters and imitates them in casual conversation. Eric becomes smitten with Marilyn O’Connor (Linda Kerridge) a Marilyn Monroe lookalike. When she snubs him Eric snaps and begins dishing out revenge to anyone who has slighted him while dressed as movie characters like Dracula, The Mummy and others. It takes quite awhile for Eric to launch his reign of terror and not all of his attacks involve elements of horror either such as when he poses as Hopalong Cassidy to kills a nasty co-worker. Although it has an intriguing premise Fade to Black doesn’t have enough of horror elements to it. I don’t like many remakes but this might be a good candidate for one in the future.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime, Shudder, AMC +.
Macabre
A total creepfest starring a creepy mother, a creepy daughter and creepy landlord. A married women (Jane Baker) rents an apartment in a boarding house so she can carry on with her lover. Her daughter Lucy (Veronica Zinny) uncovers her mother’s secret and as some kind of bizarre punishment drowns her little brother while mom is away having a fling. If that wasn’t bad enough mom and her lover are involved in a car accident as they race to the family home when they hear the news. We fast forward to a year later. After spending some time in psyche ward mom is now divorced and living in the boarding house that’s now managed by a blind man, Stanko Molnar as Robert. Things get stranger and stranger especially when it comes to what mom is hiding in a fridge. Lamberto Bava, the son of Mario Bava, was the director or assistant director on such films as Hatchet for the Honeymoon, Cannibal Holocaust, Tenebre and Demons so it should be no surprise that Macabre is exactly that…very macabre.
Where to watch: Pluto TV, Amazon Prime, Tubi.
Motel Hell
This is one of those films that is better than it has any right to be. I am not a fan of Hillbilly Horror. There’s only a few films like The Hills Have Eyes that turn my crank. Most are as irritating to me as when some dope calls Doctor Frankenstein’s creation “Frankenstein”. They are just silly and stupid. Motel Hell is a little bit different probably because nobody takes things so far that it becomes a lame country bumpkin cringefest. Despite a couple of gags it is as serious and even ominous as Hills and Pumpkinhead. That’s mostly because of director Kevin Connor and restrained performances by Rory Calhoun and Nancy Parsons.
Farmer Vincent Smith (Calhoun) and his sister Ida (Parsons) own a farm that is reknown for its pork products. Little do their loyal customers know what actually goes into all of those smoked meats. Since Motel is a send-up of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre complete with a climatic chainsaw duel so you can probably guess what Smith’s “secret ingredient” is. Things get REAL complicated when a victim of one of Vincent’s staged road “accidents” (Nina Axelrod as Terry) survives. Vincent takes her in and she quickly becomes one of the family. Jealousy rears its ugly heads and lots of manure hits the fan. Quirky and often queasy. Those gasping, cracking voices will haunt you.
Where to watch: Pluto TV, Tubi, Prime Video.
Mother’s Day
Speaking of Hillbilly Horror…here’s an example of the other side of the spectrum. The cruddy side. Mother’s Day is such an uncomfortable watch because it tries to blend grotesque human horror with comedy. Three college friends go on a camping trip only to be captured, tortured and raped by two goofball hillbillies (Gary Pollard and Michael McCleery). They are instructed to do so by their psychotic, sadistic mom (Beatrice Pons) who delights in watching them commit atrocities. The juxtaposition of the cruelty committed by clown show cartoon characters who you cannot treat seriously in any way makes for very awkward and disturbing viewing. You would have more fun pounding your thumb flat with a meat tenderizer.
Where to watch: Shudder, Tubi, Prime Video.
Nightmare City
Made two years after Romero’s masterpiece, Dawn of the Dead, this little known Italian horror also known as City of the Walking Dead and City of Shadows deserves a respectable place in the pantheon of zombie apocalypse movies. That is if you can get over the fact that the zombies move like normal humans and can use and carry all sorts of weapons including knives, machetes, guns and automatic weapons. A military plane makes an emergency landing and when the doors are opened, crazed people with oatmeal covering their faces attack those who are there to investigate them. The zombie plague soon spreads throughout the city as a television crew and a few other survivors try to flee the mayhem which provides ample opportunity for lots of gore, blood and guts.
Where to watch: Prime Video and the Dark Side of the Internet.
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