Humanoids form the Deep (1980)

I was expecting pure schlock and cheesiness from a film titled "Humanoids from the Deep" that happened to have Roger Corman as an executive producer, but I was happily surprised that it was also actually somewhat entertaining to watch. The film has it's violent moments with some decent make-up work that really felt ahead of their time. The acting is tolerable although some of the dialogue is down right laughable. The explanation on the evolution of the Humanoids makes more sense than many others films when trying to find explain their monsters. It's an outright updated monster flick like those from the 50's and 60's.


In a quiet Californian coastal town, the local fisherman are being attacked from something hiding under the water. First a boat is attacked and a child is pulled from the edge and killed. Then the fishermen dogs are all killed over the night. As the creatures become more daring, they begin killing the men of the town and raping the women when the chance arises. When a few of the locals realize what's going on, they, with the help of a doctor who is working for the company responsible for the creatures development, try to save the other residents just as the creatures attack in mass.

Prom Night (1980)

The original "Prom Night" is one of those stalker/slasher style films that felt like a cheap carbon copy of all of the other similar movies that came out around this time. It has the unknown killer, an escaped convict that "must" be the one responsible for the current series of killings, teenagers having sex and smoking pot, and the needed surprising twist ending. This film also includes a disco dance scene involving Jamie Lee Curtis that is just painful to watch. Like many others, I was not impressed with this film and only begrudgingly watched it again just so I could review it for this project. It has not aged well over time and I can only wonder if the remake made any improvements when it was produced in 2008.


Four young kids are responsible for the accidental death of a younger neighbor and make a vow to never tell anyone, unknown to them that someone witnessed the accident and failure to admit it. A local rapist is convicted of the "murder" and the kids grow up without a care in the world. Flash forward to six years later when the four teens are getting ready to go to their high school prom, as well as the brother and sister of the young girl. The night of the prom falls on the anniversary of the accident, and the conspirators  begin to receive spooky phone calls from a stranger. During the day and throughout the dance, they are slowly killed off one by one until the "dramatic" climax finally reveals who the real killer is. (yawn)

Friday the 13th (1980)

"Friday the 13th" is one of the major influences for the sub-genre of slasher/stalker movies of the 1980's. It set the standard for killing people in unique ways, included plenty of sex and drugs, and had a twist ending. It wasn't the first to do any of these but it solidified the chemistry of these elements and applied it to each sequel that followed . As a horror film, it is inferior to "Halloween" with it's cast of actors and general sense of suspense. Where "Friday the 13th" really delivers is with the twist that it's Jason's mother that is the killer at the end. This was a surprising twist at the time and became the basis for an interesting mythos in the "13th" series.

Favorite death scene - Of course the best is the showdown between Alice and Jason's crazy mother. Why? Because this is really the only characters you care about in this movie.

The Fog (1980)

How many movies begin with a creepy ghost story being told around a campfire on a dark beach? Not enough! But John Carpenter’s “The Fog” is such a movie and I know people who think that this is the best part of the film; I disagree with that but it’s still pretty damn awesome. I love ghost stories and this is one of my favorites. It’s eerie, fog is an awesome weather element in its own right, the story takes place on the West Coast, and the ghosts are barely seen. It’s a wonderful tale of revenge that is justified and the conclusion is pretty powerful. I suggest watching the DVD with John’s commentary because he reveals plenty of interesting tidbits about the film itself.

Simple synopsis

One hundred years ago, the founder of the town of Antonio Bay made a deal to allow a colony of lepers to settle near-by. Six conspirators decided that they didn’t want the lepers there so they purposely sank the ship that the lepers were sailing on. They then took the payment they had received and built the town and a church. Now the ghost of the Captain and his crew has returned to Antonio Bay to extract their revenge on the descendants of the conspirators.

Favorite moment – As I already said, I love the beginning and how it sets the mood!

The Shining (1980)

I was nine when I first caught a glimpse of “The Shining”. It was the moment when Shelly Duval was staring at the elevator as it opened and a wave of blood came spilling out of it. Having witnessed one of the most graphic parts of the movie at a young age, I had an iron will and was prepared for anything when I sat down to watch it from beginning to end many years later. The film was slower than I had expected, wasn’t as graphic as I had imagined, wasn’t nearly as eventful as I thought it would be, and was easily one of the best movies I had ever seen. This is what a ghost story is meant to be like!

The atmosphere is perfect for a ghost story; the visuals of the hotel and the grounds are gorgeous, and the background sounds, especially the sounds from Danny’s Big Wheel as he is racing through the hallways over the rugs then on to the hard wood floor and on to rugs again, is in itself haunting. Casting Jack Nicholson in the role of Jack Torrance might at first seem unwise since he already looked so disheveled and manic but as the movies progresses and he slowly succumbs to cabin fever and his own inner demons, you see exactly how fantastic of an actor he really is. Shelly Duvall is impressive in her own right, looking absolutely terrified and helpless during the last quarter of the film.

Famed director Stanley Kubrick had claimed that “The Shining” was going to be the scariest movie of all time. Not everyone may agree with this but I think most people would give this some serious thought. Stephen King would be the first to disagree since he has always been very vocal about how this movie doesn’t follow the book precisely, and I’m thrilled that it doesn’t. I have only read the first few chapters of the book but I did see the made-for-TV series that came out in the late 90’s and I feel that Kubrick made the right choice in slimming down the importance of the ghosts and their roles from the book.

Favorite moment – Every moment.

Ghastly visions

Mr. Torrance at the bar