Filmmakers in the mid-to-late 80s brought us just as many horror icons as the beginning of the decade did. In addition to numerous sequels to Jason’s Friday the 13th movies and Freddy’s nightmares, we were introduced to the creepy red-headed Chuckie in the 1988 horror Child’s Play. Though later Chuckie movies became almost comedic in nature, the first Chuckie was intended to terrify audiences and it worked. What’s creepier than an ugly, animated doll wielding a knife?
Child’s Play (the first Chuckie movie)
Andy, a little 6-year-old boy gets a new doll, Chuckie, for his birthday. No one has the slightest idea that anything is different about Chuckie, so when Andy’s babysitter is pushed out a window and killed, no one will believe Andy that his doll did it. Much to their own misfortune, Chuckie gets away with that one and strikes again, and again.
A police detective is investigating all of these particularly gruesome murders and the trail leads him back to Chuckie, much to his disbelief. He discovers that Chuckie really IS deranged and evil and that he has bad plans for poor little Andy.
Stephen King’s Pet Sematary
We have all wondered what happens to our pets after they die. This 1989 horror classic explores that curiosity, but you may not like what becomes of Fido if you bury him in this graveyard.
The Creed family moves into a new house and promptly discovers two problems. One is that a busy street with dangerously speedy traffic runs right next to their new home and second, a cemetery stands not far from their yard and all the friendly neighbors are reluctant to talk about it.
It isn’t long before the Creeds find out why. The family cat wanders out onto the busy street and is hit by a car. A seemingly nice old neighbor shows Mr. Creed where to bury the car in the nearby cemetery and only a short time later, the family cat re-appears at home. Only, something is different about him. He seems more angry and vicious, not at all like the sweet, docile cat he once was. It is easy to think perhaps he was just traumatized by the accident and burial, but the family will soon find out, that’s not the case.
When their son is also killed tragically, the distraught father knows there is only one way he can get his son back alive- he must take him to the same cemetery and bury him there. So he goes out to the cemetery in the hopes of reviving his son. It works, but not the way Mr. Creed would have hoped. Something is wrong with his sweet little boy- he’s been brought back to life as a murderer. Now it’s up to his father to take away his son’s life for good. Can he do it?
The Lost Boys
After a divorce, a mother moves her two teenage sons, Mike and Sam, to Santa Clara, a small coast town in California, to live with her elderly father. The two find out that the town is plagued by some mysterious deaths. Sam’s new friends (one of which is played by Corey Feldman) tell him all the deaths are caused by vampires that haunt the town after dark. The town’s gang of tough guys, lead by Keifer Sutherland’s character, is thought to be the head vampire.
Sam (played by Corey Haim) doesn’t take this gossip seriously at first. But then he notices his brother, Mike, starts exhibiting vampire-like behavior such as sleeping though the day and staying up all night. His new friends tell him that he has to either kill his brother or kill the head vampire. So Sam and friends make it their mission to take out the head vampire.
This movie is really part comedy, part thriller, but any 80s movie starring Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and Keifer Sutherland is worth a watch.
