In Search of Darkness: Part III (2022) - full transcript

Horror movies.

Mutilation,
decapitation, torture.

Does that sound entertaining?

In the 80s, horror really
dove into this gritty,

grimy, gross, horrific,
psychotic exploration

of the chaotic maniac,

the questionably
motivated murderer,

the individual who
seemed to be after

nothing but a blood lust as
punishment for promiscuity.

Or materialism.

Telling stories without
really worrying too much



about justifying the
horror that these villains

were imposing upon their victims

was exploited in a
really wonderful way

by the filmmakers of the 80s.

I'm most interested in
fear, the emotion of fear.

People pay to be scared,
and when you think about it,

it's real ridiculous.

Underneath all of
it were these cracks

in the veneer.

This place has a
way of making us think

about the kind of future
our young people will have.

Nationwide,
we found that minor cases

of satanic activity
light up the map.

It's 10 p.m.



Do you know where
your children are?

It's very much, for me,
the decade in which America

tells stories about itself.

There were hundreds and
hundreds of horror films

produced in the 80s.

The essence of
sex and violence.

It is the explosion

of that video rental
market that fuels

the modern horror films.

There's something very
sexually attractive to horror.

It's almost like
you're attracted to
the forbidden fruit.

Kids get the movies

from the horror section
of the video store.

Most of the violent
movies are rated R,

and aren't supposed to be seen

unless you're 17 years old.

My mom would have died

if she knew some of the stuff

I was bringing
home and watching.

So many weird things
in the movies of the 80s.

I was genuinely scared.

Maybe my imagination
was too vivid.

It is a bit weird, isn't it?

Strange horror.

We just wanted to say
things really fast and loud.

You know?

Everything was
kind of over the top,

and we were at a party.

The 80s were a proving ground

for horror films to
be commercially viable

as movies that also were not
intellectually unrespectable.

We will not be showing
you extreme violence

in these movies.

We've picked scenes that
only suggest the violence.

We want to inform
you, not offend you.

It's just as well we're not
showing some of those scenes.

I think people would
turn their sets off.

Yes.

I could watch 80s horror
movies on a loop forever.

It's never enough.

Thrill me.

"Death Ship".

Your holiday in hell.

"Death Ship" is
about a bunch of people

on a cruise liner that sinks,

and the survivors get onto
this passing freighter

that turns out to be
haunted by Nazi ghosts.

It's like
it's running itself.

This old ship seems to
have a life of its own.

The movie stars Richard
Crenna and George Kennedy.

This is my ship,
and I am the captain.

It was directed
by Alvin Rakoff,

who primarily was a TV director.

And it was written by Jack Hill,

who was friends with
Francis Ford Coppola.

They actually went to
film school together.

And then afterwards,
they went and worked

for Roger Corman on a
movie called "The Terror".

"Death Ship" was a very early
example of Canuxploitation,

which was something created
by the Canadian government.

There was a tax break that
allowed it to be easier

for Canadian filmmakers
to make movies.

Thanks to Canuxploitation,

there were a lot more Canadian
horror films that were made,

as long as they included
Canadian actors and crew.

We commit her soul,

and we commit her body

to the deep!

No!

It's not a very bloody film,

but it's a very disgusting film.

It's blood!

It's blood!

Hold on!

There's moments in the film

where they discover
what the ship is.

They're going
through the bowels,

and they start opening drawers,

and they're finding gold teeth,

things that were leftover
from tortured prisoners.

Still running.

And it makes the
film a lot darker

than you would initially think.

Let's get the
hell out of here!

Go!

Watching it now, it doesn't
have as great an impact

as it would have back in 1980.

It hit harder back then.

Because that was so much
closer to the Holocaust.

Something
terrifying has happened

to the children.

Pray you never meet them.

So many of these movies
have these idyllic beginnings.

It's like, look at this town,

look at these beautiful little
white children on a bus.

They're singing.

They love their life,
it's great.

There's a toxic
plant, there's a leak,

and the leak is, like,
leaking into the ground.

This yellow mist is coming
off of this toxic stuff.

Then we cut to the kids.

♪ Jolly, we love everybody

And they all drive
through this yellow mist.

So we know something
bad is going to happen.

♪ Cheers to the bus
driver, the bus driver ♪

The kids never come
home from school.

They find the bus
abandoned by a cemetery.

Convenient.

I just found the school bus,

about 100 yards from
the Ghoul place.

Motor's still running,

but no Fred, no kids.

This idea of creepy
kids is very pervasive.

It's universally scary,
because you don't want

to fear your child.

Daddy!

You want to protect
your children.

These evil kids are different,
because they smile at you,

and they reach for you,

and it's very hard
to not go to them.

And when children will kill you,

it's just terrifying.

Particularly if they're,
like, void of a soul.

Evil kids are always
gonna be scary.

Whoa.

Whatever did this
Billy, got Harry too.

Then once it gets into the
suspense part of the film,

I'm like, I know this music.

Mommy!

This is kind of
the same exact score

as "Friday the 13th".

It had a lot of

without the ch-ch-ch, ah-ah-ah.

The score of this movie
is by Harry Manfredini.

Of course, "Friday the 13th"
came out in May of 1980,

and "The Children"
came out in June.

Oh my god!

Daddy!

Harry Manfredini's score
was more than the budget

for the actual
filming of the movie.

Well, you get some violins
and you make them scream.

I had more money to
spend.

So, consequently it opens
up way more choices.

There was a score by Jerry
Goldsmith called "Coma"

where all the violins go

like that, and I go
wow, that's cool.

That's effective.

And so I figured out
how I would do that.

I'd be running from
the kids, though.

I'll tell you that.

I'll tell you that
and three quarters.

I'd be like, nope.

Joni!

No!

Kathy, don't!

Don't get got

by your child with an
inexplicable manicure.

It is not your child.

Little Billy has
left the building.

He gone.

"Prom Night"

If you're not back by midnight,
you won't be coming home.

Slashers, a lot of times,

especially in 1980 as a
reaction to "Halloween",

they weren't necessarily
going very deep emotionally.

That real life
horror of prom night

is what kind of sets it
apart from a lot of different

slashers from that time.

Kill!

Kill!

The setup is so vicious that
you really felt the atrocity

of what happened.

Six years later,
it's prom night,

and somebody's gonna pay for
that little girl who died.

As we go through the
high school experience,

which everybody knows is
just a form of torture.

Certain people try to
rectify that experience.

All these people that had
been carrying this secret

for so long, you can't
hide stuff like that.

You just can't.

Not for long.

Not forever.

It's been a long time.

Tonight, it's my turn.

The suspense is great.

You know, the fact that
it's a backwards whodunit,

because you know, we're
trying to figure out

who's going to do
it, the whole time.

How about a muffin?

No, cookie.

Like me better now?

There's always red
herrings in the movie,

but then, of course, the
killer starts picking them off,

one by one, like at the prom.

Kelly!

You've got Jamie Lee
Curtis at her sassy best,

and I love her.

- I did it!
- Oh, shut up!

She has this little 80s
cut, this little flip thing,

which is everything that
I needed in my life.

She is not Laurie
Strode in this thing.

She's like a popular
girl this time.

It's reminiscent of so
many other influences.

"Carrie" is in there.

"Saturday Night
Fever" is in there.

♪ The feeling's right

It's sort of this last
bastion of disco culture.

♪ Tonight is the night

Jamie Lee Curtis was
dancing her little booty off

in this movie, and
I'm here for it.

One of the fun things
about "Prom Night'

is that at the end,
the song that's playing

is called "Love Me Til I Die".

♪ Love me til I die

♪ And keep me satisfied

Don't necessarily expect
prom to be the best night

of your lives, because a
lot of people could die.

- No!
- Now!

This one, along
with "Terror Train",

these were the movies
that really solidified

Jamie Lee Curtis
as a scream queen.

The big moment
for me is the end,

and the reaction from
Jamie Lee Curtis,

because she knows
who's behind it all,

and it's a real
traumatic moment.

♪ Imagine something
deep inside ♪

Watching severed heads
roll out on prom night

is pretty fun.

No!

He
knows you're alone

And it's going to be
for the very last time.

You know, sometimes
our dogs of the week

are laughably bad.

This one borders on being evil.

Staten Island slasher.

Love a regional slasher.

This one you have
Caitlin O'Heaney

playing a young bride-to-be

who's being stalked
by a serial killer

right before her wedding.

And I like when a
slasher just tells you

who the killer is
at the beginning.

Here's Ray.

Ray.

This is the killer.

"He Knows You're Alone"
is a 1980s slasher

directed by Armand Mastroianni.

He, of course, went on to
direct other 80s entries,

like "The Clairvoyant",
"The Supernaturals",

and "Cameron's Closet".

This one's a bit of an outlier

because it's actually a
studio produced slasher.

MGMUA did it.

So it's got a little
higher production value.

♪ It's the night again

It's got your garden variety
slasher effects in there,

but there's a memorable
head in a fish tank moment.

Tom Hanks' first movie.

America's favorite, Tom Hanks.

I stretched out an extra
foot to make sure I'd trip you.

Why'd you do that?

Well, it seemed the
best way to meet you.

Apparently, he was
supposed to die in the film,

but they cut it
because of how great

his performance was.

Horror movies and
the roller coasters,

and the House of Horror ride-

I wanna go on that next!

You can face death without
any real fear of dying.

Everyone loves Tom Hanks.

They're like, we
can't fucking kill

this lovable, likable man.

He's a darling.

We're not gonna
murder him.

It
came without warning,

and now it's coming for you.

"Without Warning" is from
the great Greydon Clark

and it doesn't get nearly the
amount of praise it deserves.

It's got an amazing
cast, with Jack Palance,

and Martin Landau, who at
the time was mostly known

for "Space: 1999" and
"Mission Impossible".

And he's playing this
wild-haired conspiracy nut,

who's the only one who
knows about the alien,

and no one believes him.

Look, I warned you!

When they start eating on you,

don't come to me for help,

because you ain't getting any.

You've got this gigantic alien

who's on earth to hunt humans.

It throws these little
parasitic alien frisbees

that latch onto people.

The movie was shot
by Dean Cundey,

who is the award-winning
cinematographer of "The Thing",

as well as numerous other
John Carpenter films.

In 1987 during a press
tour, Arnold Schwarzenegger

stated that the movie
"Without Warning"

was a direct influence
on the movie "Predator".

It's done really well, and it's
such a creepy-looking alien,

when I saw it when I was little,

it scared the hell out of me.

And who's in the costume?

Kevin Peter Hall, who was in
the costume of the Predator.

The movie made its way to
a company called Filmways,

who didn't want to release it.

They actually wanted
to bury the film

Greydon Clark had
to threaten to sue

in order to get
the film released.

Knowing this was the creative
spark for "Predator",

you should absolutely
check it out,

especially if you
love that film.

You can see the influence
coming from here.

By the
time they believe in him,

it will be too late.

"The Boogeyman".

Rated R.

In classic slasher tradition,

this movie starts with a
prologue with children,

who are being
traumatized in some way.

Its "Halloween"
DNA is very present

out of the gate.

With the music, and its POV,

and sort of a voyeuristic thing,

looking at folks engaged
in carnal frivolity.

What are you lookin' at?

They've walked in on their mom

making out with a fella

who then ties up the boy.

The boy's sister,
she cuts him loose.

The boy goes on to kill
the man who tied him up.

And he gets trapped
in this mirror.

He is suddenly a supernatural
presence in their lives.

I know he's here.

Who?

When I broke the
mirror, I released him.

Lacy, he's dead!

There's a guy
sitting in the car,

pricks him in the
neck with a knife.

His girlfriend comes in
through the passenger side

to, like, give him a kiss.

So they're skewered together,

and it's like a
double-death scene.

I never seen a kiss this long.

That was kind of
an amazing kill.

It gets very bizarre,
only because it's like

three different
things in one movie.

Like they were just kind of
throwing everything at it

to see what stuck.

Let's just do all of it.

Let's make it a weird
voyeuristic kinky slasher

supernatural exorcism
cyborg demon thing.

Get away!

There's some unique stuff
happening behind the scenes

on this one.

Susanna Love, and Nicholas Love,

actually brother and
sister in real life,

playing siblings in the film.

Moreover, Susanna is the
co-writer of the film,

and married to her
writing partner

and the director of
the film, Ulli Lommel.

An incredibly
underrated director.

He's imaginative,
he's different.

"Boogeyman" was
a low budget film

that was incredibly successful,

and that's what really
put Lommel over the edge.

The sequel is another
interesting one,

because the "Boogeyman 2"
predates the "Scream" franchise

in that in concerns a
Hollywood production

trying to make a film about
the events of the first film.

So it's very meta in that way,

and meta before there was a
whole lot of meta going on.

Boogeyman!

"Christmas Evil".

The night he dropped in.

I just love horror
set at Christmas.

And in the 80s,
there's tons of it.

Christmas is a time
when things are

supposed to be a certain way,

and horror films are
all about subverting

what it is supposed to be.

And so Christmas and horror
really go hand in hand.

Brandon Maggart plays
a middle-aged man,

doesn't have any friends,

doesn't have a girlfriend,
or anything like that.

Works at a toy factory,

and he likes Christmas
a little bit too much

to the point where he starts
to kill for Christmas.

I have superlative taste.

Merry Christmas!

"Christmas Evil" is a
movie that usually gets

classified as a horror film,

but it's really more of a
psychological character study

similar to "Taxi
Driver", or something,

where you're just
watching this lonely

socially isolated guy
just start to crack.

Lewis Jackson was
obsessed with Fassbender

and German expressionism
at the time of making it.

What are you saying?

I'm gonna play my tune now.

Everybody'll dance.

You'll see.

And adding that art side to it

I believe gives it the
more fantasy element,

and Christmas is based
around magic and fantasy.

The look of the film is great.

Every scene of this
movie glows of Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!

The holidays are hard
for a lot of people.

Even if you are
well-off, the holidays

are a very stressful period.

And "Christmas
Evil" captures that.

Harry?

Merry Christmas, Frank!

It's so nightmarish and weird.

You see him tug on his
beard and it doesn't move,

like it becomes a part of him,

like a horror version of Tim
Allen's "The Santa Claus".

Are we seeing him
become Santa Claus,

or is Harry seeing himself
become Santa Claus?

Merry Christmas!

It's a movie that
I think will surprise

a lot of people the
first time they watch it,

especially the ending,

because that comes out
of fucking nowhere.

Are we seeing
what we're seeing

onscreen actually happening?

Or is this how Harry
is dealing with it?

"Christmas Evil" was
the title of the movie

that the distributor
gave that Lewis Jackson

did not approve of, and
actually didn't know

that it was called
"Christmas Evil"

until he saw the trade when
it was being re-released.

But the film was called
"Better Watch Out".

That's what he filmed
it as, and that's what

he knew it as, and
he still to this day

does not like the
name "Christmas Evil".

♪ Merry Christmas

Fun fact.

Brandon Maggart
would later go on

to become singer Fiona
Apple's dad in real life,

proving once again
that the apple

never falls far from
the Christmas tree.

One of the big reasons
that horror films

have remained so
popular is that it is

a guaranteed way
to make some money.

If you don't spend a hell
of a lot of money on it,

there's gold in those hills.

There are people out
there who are willing

to take a chance on any
kind of horror movie.

And the video
revolution came along,

and it changed everything.

Now this is a video
tape recorder, or VTR,

actually sometimes
they're called

video cassette
recorders, or VCRs.

The ability to play
a movie, or a show,

an entertainment,
at whim, at will,

that did not exist prior to
this home video revolution.

That's the thing that
most people today,

where everything's
accessible and fast,

don't realize that
it was not like that.

Now, some of the best
movies on television

aren't on television.

They're on SelectaVision.

Well, now it was instant
gratification time.

400.

Set it today.

It was a whole world
opened up to people.

Movies in the 50s
and 60s, I mean,

you hoped that a Hammer
film was gonna play

in your neighborhood,
because if it didn't,

you weren't gonna
see it for five years

until it went on television.

You largely couldn't
see it at all,

or if you could, you had
to see it chopped to pieces

on the 4:30 movie.

So when video appeared, it
was like this dam broke.

There was this new
distribution outlet

for these films that were
able to be repackaged

and given a whole
new lease of life,

or films that had only come
out in their native country,

then all of a sudden,
they had an outlet

in other territories.

"The
Curse of the Devil".

The video tape revolution
brought a new appreciation

for some of my films,
especially "The Thing".

What really began video, like
with the internet, was porn.

What's
it like to become

one of football's cowgirls?

Debbie Does Dallas
has all the answers.

I think the first
VHS I ever bought

was a porn tape that cost,
like, $80 back in the 70s.

How a lot of us consumed
media at that time,

it impacted the way
people made movies.

Especially the
beginning of the VHS,

all the video
stores were private

they're just pop-ups.

They had to buy product.

So they would go out and buy
5000 VHS's for their store.

What did they buy?

Sex and horror.

We cater to their demands.

Whatever, they tell
us what they want,

and we try to get it.

And we have a large
horror section,

and of course with real
heavy nude releases.

We get a lot of films
called B movies.

There's distributors who
were feeding that pipeline,

and they needed somebody
to make the movies.

Those movies, they
became products.

They needed to fit
a certain mold.

"Halloween" and
"Friday the 13th".

These two films
dominated the box office,

and then they
dominated home video.

Once horror started
doing well on video,

that's when everybody
realized it very quickly.

The 80s began the
period of crapola movies

made straight for video,

only to satisfy the
insatiable VHS market.

It was just tons and
tons of new horror movies

being made all the time,

especially the super
low budget ones.

I think everybody with
a camera and 10 bucks

made their own horror
movies back then.

Companies, they were
also buying cheaper films

that were independently
made to put in stores.

And those were your
direct to video days.

Shot on video brought
the price of making a film

down to $50,000, $40,000,
$30,000, and even less.

You could make a movie on Monday

and have it in the video
store by Wednesday.

You didn't need a big studio.

You didn't need to go begging
for someone to produce it.

You could just make your project

and put it out there on video,

which I did many,
many, many times.

Hello darling, and
welcome to another

fabulous Thriller Video.

Thriller Video.

We had a collection
of horror movies

that were kind of
old and tired and bad

that nobody wanted to see,

so I did my wraparound
thing on them,

and we released them to video,

and they sold like hotcakes.

Now this one's in kind
of a different vein,

jugular vein, that is.

There were more
distribution companies

than you could count.

Jack Valenti, the
head of the MPAA,

was whining that video cassettes

would destroy copyright law.

The studios wouldn't
license their stuff.

They saw video as
being a threat.

So there was open field
for anybody who wanted

to start a company.

Charlie Band took
advantage of it the most.

Charles Band was a
pioneer in this time,

creating multiple labels,
putting these films

in video stores.

This is a tough business,

but every business
is challenging.

It was rental that
made the thing explode

Come
to the warehouse,

and rent the hit movies you
want when you want them.

Around 1982 is
when the video stores

started doing way, way better.

By 1985 there was around
12,000 video stores

in the United States.

You can
now rent a video overnight,

and hire these great
movies from only 99 cents.

Close to the late 80s,
there was around 40,000 places

that were renting tapes,
so this was a huge impact

for the horror
genre, because people

were renting horror films.

Tapes around that
time weren't $5.

They weren't $2.

They were typically
49.95 up to $100.

So if you had 40,000 stores
buying at least one tape,

you were lining your
pockets full of money.

And this was a million
dollar industry.

And a lot of video
labels had either one

to maybe 20 titles
in their catalog,

but that's all they needed,

because it was
millions of dollars

that they were making.

And then they started
producing their own stuff,

giving filmmakers $50,000,

because they knew that they
were gonna make millions

selling to video stores,

so it just revolutionized
everything.

Troma became a staple
of the home video market,

because we had accumulated
about 60 movies.

We wanted to own our movies,

we wanted to own all the rights,

and we wanted to have a
collection, have a library.

The theory behind Troma
was to own your negatives.

Lloyd Kaufman, Charlie
Band, and Roger Corman,

they were businessmen,
but they were filmmakers.

Those core three are
definitely a huge, huge reason

why the direct to video horror
was so impactful and huge.

As the 80s started
winding down,

like every business,
it starts monopolizing.

By the 90s, you had
Blockbuster reading scripts

to give
so much shelf space.

Any time there's
a new technology,

the majors, the
oligopoly, the cartel,

throws a monkey wrench into
it, tries to screw it up,

and then they take it over,
which is what happened

with video cassette, Blockbuster
put all the independents

out of business.

♪ Wow what a difference

♪ Blockbuster video

I've never seen 10,000
tapes in one store.

We can really, really
thank the mom and pop stores

out there, because they
carried the really interesting

innovative films that were
out there during the 80s,

films that someone like
Blockbuster wouldn't touch

with a 10 foot pole.

And Blockbuster sure didn't
have that little room

with the fancy
movies back there.

Today you can go out and
make a movie for no money.

I mean, the world has
changed dramatically.

It's still in the story you
tell, if it's compelling,

I mean, whatever the medium is,

you need to be able
to tell a story,

and put it together in
a format that people,

whether they're gonna
rent or buy or download

or view for free,
find entertaining.

That part has not
changed at all.

"Fear No Evil".

It'll scare the
devil out of you.

"Fear No Evil" is
thematically in the vein

of a lot of these
films in the 1980s

where it's like a guy
who gets picked on

has been underestimated.

Be careful who you pick on,

because he might
be the Antichrist.

"Fear No Evil" is
a hormonal overload.

I mean, come on.

High school's hard enough
without the inconvenience

of demonic possession, right?

"Fear No Evil" is like
if Damien from "The Omen"

was in high school,
and was pretty gay.

"Fear No Evil" was really
my coming of age story

in a lot of ways, and
so all that angst,

all of that confusion is
reflected in the film.

There's this scene
in "Fear No Evil",

it's a locker room scene, which
it's definitely the source

of a lot of anxiety
for a lot of people.

This scene is like,
ooh, very cringey.

Only the most
uncomfortable high school

shower scene since "Carrie".

Plug it up!

Plug it up!

Tony goes in to kiss Andrew,

and then Andrew uses
his special devil powers

to make the kiss last longer.

Like, that's his big revenge.

It's like, make the bully gayer.

It's Andrew who's
compelling this,

but Tony's latent homosexuality,

I mean, he hates women, right?

This guy, this thug, Tony.

He's a bully, you know?

Lots of these
bullies are, right?

They can't face
their own sexuality,

and so they take it out
on others in this manner.

Look, if you don't keep your
mouth shut about this, right?

Guess where that was shot?

At my old junior high school.

First day of the
shoot, what I do.

We go in there, we shoot
this, the shower scene.

Get in there with all these
naked guys in the shower,

they're kissing.

They didn't know anything
about it, of course,

until the film was released.

Come on, come on!

I mean, it has a
nice gothic feel.

I wanted it to have
a Hammer Horror feel.

The iconography.

I mean it's so frightening.

All the iconography
surrounding Catholicism.

We raised, ultimately,
540,000 to make the picture.

We had no money to
finish the film,

and I was concerned
that if we got a bite

from a distributor,
that that would be it.

I'd lose control of the picture.

Damn you!

Avco Embassy.

They were the boutique
low budget horror
distribution house.

They had control, total
control, over the final cut,

but they made me make the edits

with an editor that was
assigned to the picture,

and it was horrendous,
because little by little

I saw it restructured,
reorganized, chopped up.

The picture that at best
works in fits and starts.

But what really kills me
is I've read some things

about it being
possibly homophobic.

It's anything but
that, in my estimation.

I mean, it's a coming
of age story, right?

The people that are
particularly inclined

to love "Fear No Evil" are gay.

They consider it campy
enough to have fun with,

or it genuinely moves
them as to their own

coming out struggles.

Unlike "Jaws", where
you're not safe in the water,

this one, you're not safe
if you're on the beach.

"Blood Beach".

The tagline says it all.

Just when you thought it was
safe to go back in the water,

you can't get to it.

It's great to see John Saxon

from "A Nightmare
on Elm Street",

and Burt Young, who's
Paulie from "Rocky",

trying to solve this mystery.

He was foolish
enough to lie down

on this particular beach.

Never would've
happened in Chicago.

Yeah, one more remark
like that out of your mouth,

Chicago's where you're gonna be.

It's a charming movie,
and it has a real moody,

beachy feel, from
the opening credits

with this lingering monster
POV vision under the pier.

A $2 million union movie.

Jeffrey Bloom wrote
and directed it.

The coolest guy of all time.

The way our monster that
traveled through the sand,

we did this movie 10
years before "Tremors".

Please help!

Oh god!

Oh god!

What is happening?

Help!

That's me, and the effects guy

yanking those people
under the sand.

We got a tractor out
there on the beach

by the Santa Monica Pier,

and we dug a big pit,
and we built a big

rubber membrane
with a slit in it,

and he and I, down in the pit,

and when they are acting,
and flailing around,

they are kicking like crazy.

And we are grabbing
onto them like crazy,

yanking them under.

Ah, it was so much fun.

The monster didn't
turn out that great.

The effects guy, bless
his heart, did his best.

I know the director
was not happy with it.

But, you know, like not
showing the shark in "Jaws",

it worked to an advantage.

We built all these sets
onstage at Culver City Studios,

where this monster lived, and
it was all supposed to look

like Santa Monica
Pier, and whatnot,

but I brought
seaweed in my trunk

and threw the seaweed
behind the stage.

Begins to take on the shape,

where it slept.

I think Smell-O-Vision is a
very important part of sets.

You don't want it to
smell like latex paint.

We want it to smell like
whatever it's supposed

to smell like.

It really helped.

I ended up with the
monster on my ranch,

where my nieces and nephews
played in it for years

until it slowly withered away.

I saved its head in
my monster collection.

But that's the sorry end of
the "Blood Beach" monster.

It's also one of
those lost movies.

It came out on VHS,
and then that's it.

It's legendary for
being caught in limbo,

rights-wise, and
residual payment-wise.

Jeffrey Bloom, the
director, told me,

I don't think he's ever made
any money off the picture,

and he wrote and directed it.

It's really a
mishmash of problems.

I'd love to see that reissued,

somehow, if somebody
could untangle the issues

surrounding poor
old "Blood Beach".

Oh, "The Hand".

Oh my god.

Michael
Caine in "The Hand".

It could have
been so not good,

because it's about an artist
whose hand gets cut off,

and the hand goes
around committing crimes

that he's trying not
to commit.

The hand goes and does it.

Oliver Stone, he had
gotten a lot of notice

with "Midnight Express".

And he thought "The Hand"
was gonna be a major movie.

Made and released
by a major studio,

but it had this really hopped up

kind of exploitation tone to it

that was very Corman.

It just was really
intense and outrageous.

I rented it as a kid
because I knew it dealt

with comic books, and
like a phantom appendage.

So there's this guy on the
verge of a nervous breakdown,

I guess, and he is
a comic book artist,

like a famous, established
comic book artist.

His marriage is on the rocks.

There's this scene,

as a kid, it was
really horrific.

It's Michael Caine, you know,
one of our greatest actors,

squirting blood
all over the place.

Anybody who messes
with Michael Caine

gets the hand.

Killing anybody that's
standing in the way

of his mission.

Or is it?

He doesn't know
if he's insane,

or there really is a
disembodied hand chasing him.

Michael Caine's
a terrific actor,

but he went through a
period where he never saw

a paycheck he didn't like.

They call it the Michael
Caine School of Acting,

you know, when you
get a role, take it.

Even if the material
isn't good, he delivered.

I think that at least you-

I think.

You should get out of here.

And it always elevated
every movie he was in.

It's from a book called
"The Lizard's Tail".

We struggled for
many, many months

playing with that idea of
what is the sound of the hand?

Does it breathe?

Is it just fingernail
sounds when it's crawling?

Because whenever
the hand approached,

we wanted to get into
that sound design moment

of the universe, the
sound universe changes.

And we brought in a
team of trained actors

who would do group
vocalizations,

but we had them do what
we called Fellini-esque

vocalizations, so we did
weird breathing patterns,

and freeform screaming.

It's really, really cool stuff.

For a disembodied hand movie,
it's quite well-written.

As I used to say in
marketing the movie,

it's one of the best
disembodied hand movies ever.

What
happened to the hand?

Oh, mommy went to look for it.

But it ran away.

"Bloody Birthday".

A terrifying journey
into the bizarre.

Will you get out alive?

Three kids are born at
the same time in a hospital

during an eclipse.

It's
a boy, Mrs. Taylor!

And for some reason,
this has astrologically

made them evil.

When they get to be 10, they
sort of go on killing spree.

It plays on the fear
of how scary kids can be,

especially if they
don't have the influence

of discipline, and adults.

Like that scene with the cake.

That's terrifying.

He's trying to make her think

that he's poisoning the cake.

The poison was just
sitting on the counter.

I was putting it away.

You were not, you little liar!

That scene is so messed up,

because he knows what
he's doing as a child,

and taking advantage of
his seemingly innocence

for his own benefit.

Debbie, she's a
horrible little child.

I just love her as a villain.

Can you and Timmy
come over to babysit?

Sure.

What time do you
want me to come over?

11 o'clock.

Okay.

My little sister
is selling tickets

to watch me, you
know, get naked.

I was very young, it was
one of my first years

as an actress.

So many actresses, especially
at that time in the 80s,

that they had some sort of film

where they had to be naked or
topless or something, right?

It wasn't that uncommon.

So I thought, okay.

I wasn't gonna, like, be
topless in the audition.

So they said, well, we
need to see your boobs.

And I'm like, why?

And they go, because
what if you have

a weird boob or something?

So I took my top
off in the room,

and I took a Polaroid.

And then they let the
director look at it,

and they gave it back to me.

I don't know how
other girls are cast

for topless things, but
that's what happened to me.

And there's a little hole
between the closet and her room,

and I look in there, and
then they hit me in the eye

with an arrow, and
that's how I die.

They're dragging
my dead body around

for a big portion of it.

And that's depressing.

And at first I
wouldn't talk about it,

but then I thought,
really, who cares?

Right?

Even though honestly my
son doesn't know about it,

and he's never seen it.

So.

Debbie?

What's wrong, Debbie?

"Bloody Birthday" wasn't
well-received at all

when it came out,
because of the fact that

these were evil kids.

People would get so offended

by all the sexual and violent
situations placed in it,

but the kids were actually
having a great time,

and they thought
it was playtime,

and that was comforting to know,

because we wouldn't want
them to be traumatized

at all by the experience.

Does anybody know what
the word murder means?

Pray
you're not invited.

If you get a great
image on the cover,

that's half the battle.

And when you see that
guy with his mouth open,

and the skewer, the
shish kabob is going in,

like, I'm in.

And Melissa Sue
Anderson, who is from

Little House on the Prairie.

This was gonna be her
big moment as an adult,

playing a high school
girl in a slasher flick.

This was more like the tail end

of the holiday murder movies,

so people were still
taking it seriously.

They were like okay, we're
gonna ride this wave.

This could be a massive hit,

so let's really, really
go for it, you know?

It's about this group of
kids at this elite school.

The killer is one of
them, because every time

someone gets killed,
it's like, oh it's you.

Virginia, who was kinda
new to this group,

we slowly learn that
she has these holes

in her memory.

And today I remembered.

Yes.

And tomorrow, you
will remember more.

Even the-

Even the accident.

Her friends are like,
they're disappearing

more than dying.

So she has all this trauma
around her birthday,

which should be a
moment of celebration.

Hi there.

Rudy!

Where have you been?

Who's doing the killing?

Is it her?

Because she's messed up?

Or is it not?

Lighten up!

You touch me again, I'm
gonna fucking kill you!

And that's a very
real, tangible,

real life fear, of having a
part of your whole memory gone.

What happened
before the accident?

You've got to try to remember.

The kills are great.

The gore is great.

There's some very good
tense moments in it.

One of the classic
kills from this movie.

We have Greg.

He's doing his weights,
he's very strong.

Okay, that's it.

Holds the weight above
his penis, and drops it.

Greg is dead.

From a weight to the peen.

Yup.

I panicked!

I came here, god I
thought you'd help me!

So the ending of
"Happy Birthday" to me

is what stuck with me

all my life, because it's crazy.

♪ Happy birthday to me

♪ Happy birthday to me

Pray for day.

"Hell Night".

One of my favorite
things about "Hell Night'

is just being able
to see Linda Blair

do something different.

Who's she?

Oh, that's one
of the new pledges.

They call her Marty.

And it feels almost like,

what if Regan survives
after "The Exorcist",

and she decides
to go to college?

She's gonna go and
be in a sorority,

and she's gonna have
this normal life,

and she ends up
stuck in this mansion

where it's like a
weird, mutant offspring.

It feels really unusual
compared to a lot

of the other sort of teen
and 20-something centric

horror movies that were
coming out in the early 1980s.

In 1850, Virgil Garth
built this mansion

with the gold that was
pouring out of his mines.

So they introduce
this whole backstory

about Garth Manor, and this
guy who kills his family,

like he kills his wife,
and he has mutated kids.

And then Raymond
Garth got a rope

and hung himself to death.

And then he hangs himself,

but two of the kids are missing.

It was like okay, we're gonna
throw a couple sorority girls

and a couple fraternity
brothers in a house overnight

and see what happens.

We'll see you four a dawn.

Just about six hours.

You have Peter
Barton and Linda Blair,

and they're sort of hanging out,

and then you've got
promiscuous gal,

and then the stoner surfer dude,

and they're gonna get
together and have fun.

Hey!

And then it evolves
into this whole

elaborate gothic
nightmare for them.

Peter Barton, he actually
did get hurt during the film,

so there's a lot of the
movie where you see him

limping around, but
that was very real.

That wasn't because of what
happened to his character.

No!

They couldn't stop filming,

so they just had
to push forward,

and he basically had to
work through an ankle injury

for like half the movie.

It's got some issues,
but I think ultimately,

"Hell Night" really stands out

in comparison to a lot
of other horror movies

that were coming out
around the same time.

A gem I discovered on
cable back in the 80s,

and that I push on
people as often as I can

is "The Unseen".

The
terror is unleashed.

No!

The
horror is unequal.

"The Unseen".

"The Unseen" is about
an all-woman news crew

who are covering a festival
in Solvang California.

They screwed up, someone didn't
make a hotel reservation.

They have nowhere to stay.

They hit up this
museum where they find

the great Sydney Lassick, who
offers them a place to stay.

It's, it's not the Ritz,

but it'll run a close
second.

Sure.

That's great.

The leader of this news
crew is Barbara Bach.

Of course, Mrs. Ringo Starr,

the Bond girl from
"The Spy Who Loved Me".

It's remarkable.

I'm impressed.

Scat.

Get off there, Ralph.

Sydney Lassick is one of
the great character actors

of the second half
of the 20th century.

He was in "One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

He was in "Alligator"
as the pet store owner.

He is off the chain.

He is just going
for it in this film.

Boo!

It's a delight to watch
him just chew the scenery.

Don't concern yourself
with that, Virginia.

Just get the room ready.

The secret sauce
of "The Unseen"

is that it's very,
very talented people

doing something
very, very unsavory.

Sydney Lassick's wife in
the film, Leila Goldoni,

and he have a couple
of very intense scenes

about a secret that they
have in their basement.

They could find out.

Don't worry, my dear.

No one will ever find out.

Junior in the film is this
developmentally disabled

grown man wearing a diaper
living in the basement.

I see you've met Junior.

Played by Flounder
from "Animal House",

the late great Stephen Furst.

And you come to find out

he's accidentally
killing these women

because he doesn't
know his own strength.

"The Unseen" is,
in a lot of ways,

not a defensible film.

Ingestion is not endorsement.

I enjoyed it despite
how wrong it is.

Boo!

"The Prowler" is a
stalk slasher plot

with a group of kids getting
ready for a graduation party

and they're stalked and killed

by a mysterious
killer in a GI outfit,

in Cape May, New Jersey.

There's a little
historical thrill

to seeing Farley
Granger from "Rope"

and "Strangers on a Train"

in an 80s slasher,
as like the sheriff

with a mysterious past.

Just some deodorant.

No sweat.

Get it?

That keeps you on
the edge of your seat.

You're just like, oh
god, he's right there.

Oh god, ugh, you know?

It's Savini at his best, man.

The kills are fucking
crazy, the gore is nuts.

Tom Savini did some of
his best work in the film.

That kill scene in
the swimming pool

goes on forever.

It's unbearable to watch.

Also one of the first
exploding heads.

I don't think it was the
first exploding head,

but it was one of them.

It was the first pairing
of Savini and Zito,

who then went on to do
"Friday the 13th" part four.

Zito, man, say what you want,

but he had a great eye for it.

Putting aside George Romero's
relationship with Savini,

no director films
Tom Savini's kills

better than Jo Zito.

And I think that that
is front and center

of "The Prowler".

Not only how Savini
has designed them,

but that the director
has listened to Savini

in terms of how to
present those things.

There's something so
perverse about riffing

on the "Psycho" shower scene,

but with a pitchfork.

It's bright lights,
nowhere to hide,

just in your face kills.

I was just following
what they needed to happen

in the film.

I wasn't concerned with
how they were shooting.

Joe Zito, we showed everything.

So there became an
appeal for that.

I rode that appeal in
the movies of the 80s.

For me, it's the guy with
the hand over the mouth

and he's getting the
bayonet in the head.

The way it's edited,
and the way it's timed,

and it's just
whites of the eyes.

It's grizzly, and it
really, really works.

It's a magic trick, which
Savini's always said

his effects are magic tricks,

but that one is like,
bang on.

Indonesia produced
an interesting horror
film in the 80s

called "Mystics in Bali".

I'm surprised that
a pretty girl like you

would be interested in
learning black magic.

Well, I'm just curious.

It seems like a
bit of a fever dream,

what happens in this film.

But essentially,
it's about a woman

who wants to learn more
about the mystical stuff

that happens in
Indonesian culture.

You'll never forget this face.

And they're looking
around for this mystic,

and what they see instead
is a 50 foot tongue

coming out of the forest,
which is incredible.

It's like a snake-like tongue.

And what happens is this
tongue imprints words,

the name of the
creatures, on her thigh,

and then things go
from bad to worse

from that point, where
this woman manifests

into this creature, but
it's absolutely batshit.

I'm very interested in the
mythology of this creature,

which is very much
like a manananggal,

because you see that across
all different Asian cultures.

So she has the ability to
split her body in half,

and the top half of her torso,

with all the entrails
hanging out, can fly around,

and jump on people and
kill them and eat them

while the bottom half kind
of scuttles around the floor.

One of the most
interesting scenes in this,

and kind of gross, is when
this disembodied torso

goes between the legs
of a pregnant woman,

and then basically
eats her unborn baby.

It is nuts.

Then it goes up a
level of nuttiness,

they call up the good
version of this mystic,

and they have this big battle
using magic and animation,

and it's very interesting.

The ultimate theme
of "Mystics in Bali"

really is curiosity
kills the cat,

because this woman wants
to know information

that she has no right knowing.

This supernatural stuff
is way too powerful

for a normal person, and I
don't know why she thought

that she could control
it, and harness it.

That particular
transgression ends up

in the consequences
that befalls them

and everyone around them.

Now police have been skeptical

of investigating these acts,

just as we are in
reporting them,

but there's no
question that something

is going on out there.

When we think about the 1980s,

we think about the Reagan era,

and a return to family values,

and there is
something in the air

about the way that
things should be.

There is sin and
evil in the world,

and we're enjoined by
scripture, and the lord Jesus

to oppose it with all our might.

Religious right somehow had
moved into the mainstream.

Demand those parties
and politicians

align themselves with the
eternal values in this book,

and America will be forever

the greatest nation
on this earth!

There was a lot of
stuff in the ether

as far as satanic cults
and the evangelicals.

Whether Satan exists
is a matter of belief,

but we are certain
that Satanism exists.

Their fears were sort
of in the zeitgeist.

Could it be?

Satan!

Growing up in the 80s under
the veil of the satanic panic,

you know, we were all
convinced by the far right

that there were these
cultists out there,

meddling with the dark arts
to try and abduct us kids

and suck us into their
covens to drink babies' blood

and perform witchcraft.

We were like, no, they're
just cool scary movies.

I'll do that when I grow up

and I have a house of my
own, thank you very much.

I dread going to
these kinds of movies.

It really has become
the most depressing part

of my job as a film critic.

And there we are,
in total agreement.

In the UK and here in the US,

the census definitely
clamped down

on what was allowed, what
was acceptable content.

Half of American households

now have video
cassette recorders,

and for many children,
they're a ticket

to R-rated gore that
the kids are too young

to see at the movies.

There were a lot of
city people running around

saying oh, we can't
have this stuff.

It's much too violent.

Well parents and psychologists
are very concerned.

I have very vivid memories
of the Video Nasty Panic.

I was probably nine
or 10 years old

when it started to hit the news

that this filth was
entering our homes,

and a lot of moral
do-gooders and church people

and politicians started to
talk about these movies,

saying that they were
dangerous for society,

because anyone seeing
them, it could cause them

to be scarred, and to go out
and inflict harm on society.

Even today, if one is
inclined to believe in Satanism,

it's a way to actually
see the devil,

and perhaps be inspired.

I think people
were really afraid

because they were told to be.

That was the beginning
off the cult of fear

in this country.

I don't believe in censorship.

But I do believe that
we parents and leaders

have a reason to be concerned.

It was such a simple
use of religious moralism

that they cracked
down on us in the 80s,

and in doing so,
really resurrected

a lot of these archaic ideas
about religious fundamentalism

that are so easy to
use when you're trying

to manipulate large
masses of people.

Sure, television should
present life the way it is.

You can't tell somebody
else they can't like it,

because you don't like it.

That kind of psychology
is so unhealthy.

We needed the movies
of 80s horror cinema

to release a little
of that pent up steam.

And finally, music.

Which is found here in the
neighborhood record store

under the category
of heavy metal music.

There's a link between
heavy metal and horror.

They're like some
strange cousins.

They always have been.

♪ We're the dream warriors

In the "Nightmare
on Elm Street" films,

the Dokken soundtrack
is a classic.

The satanic message is clear,

both in the album covers,
and in the lyrics,

which are reaching
impressionable young minds.

It's question of
content and values,

and parents need to tune in
to their children's world.

Anytime there's any kind
of a new wave of music,

there's always somebody who's
gonna have a problem with it.

And the fact that
you had Ozzy Osborne

supposedly biting off the heads
of bats onstage and stuff,

that certainly threw people
for a loop.

This is entertainment?

This is what our kids are
looking at for entertainment?

Yes.

So in the height
of satanic panic

as the most metal and
punk rock thing to do

from the film community,
is they did films

about rock and roll and Satan.

The times that
we were living in,

it was a perfect tapestry
for us to utilize

what was going on in the
world as far as politics

and us making movies.

♪ Get down tonight

I was in school in the 80s,

and there was a concern
among the whole caucus

of evangelicals that
Dungeons and Dragons

was a satanic sort of thing.

A lot of people hear
the phrase my sweet Satan.

♪ My sweet Satan

My sweet Satan.

The lyrics playing
backwards and all that stuff.

It was kind of a hysteria,

which doesn't feel all
that unfamiliar anymore.

It tells you how
to close the gate.

Parents just didn't know
it was the record companies

that were telling them that
if you spin records backwards,

you'll hear Satan.

Literally one of the best
ideas for record companies

to come up with in
the history of music

was getting stupid
people to believe that.

But they did conjure
up Sammi Curr.

All a
part of the plan.

All right.

In the 80s, we had
a big controversy

with the lyrics, and
parents being very concerned

about what their kids
were listening to

in heavy metal with
the pentagrams.

There were Senate hearings,
and Congressional hearings,

that kind of thing,
and a lot of the wives

of the politicians
took up this cause

against heavy metal music.

♪ Rock and roll

♪ Rocking

"Trick or Treat", there's
a scene where Sammi Curr

is testifying against what's
supposed to be the PMRC.

If you were a parent,

would you want your kid
growing up around rock music?

Rock musicians?

I mean, with that
kind of values?

And he basically tells
him to go get fucked.

You cannot legislate morality.

- The teenage daughter-
- We will bring you down!

And that's the way
I was with my heroes.

That's the way my
fans are with me

when I'm telling
the establishment

to go fuck themselves, you know?

There will always be
a need for a platform

to give people hope in
a sea of hopelessness.

I carried an M16 and you,

you carry that,
that, that guitar!

What they came up with
was a warning system

on the albums.

They wanted to rate
them, like rated R,

and things like that,
but they ended up

with just sort of
a warning label.

But the album sold
better when they had

the warning label on them.

♪ We're not gonna take it

To me, horror and the
discovery of horror,

you start finding these voices
outside of the mainstream,

who are willing to push
a lot of boundaries

and question a lot
of the establishment,

and scaring the crack
out of all the PTA moms

and school superintendents
and Cub Scout leaders

that were trying to
make sure we all fit

right into the mold
that they wanted us to.

God!

God is dead!

- Hail Satan!
- Satan lives!

It's an ever-perpetual cycle

that the entire human experience
centers itself around,

that events are out of control.

There has to be something
that can set it right.

And there are many people
who will seize on anything.

They want a solution.

They want deliverance.

We fall for everything.

I recall that being the most
ridiculous waste of time.

It's been heading in that
direction for a long time.

Now we're totally
divided as a country.

And it's crap like
that that does it.

"Butcher,
Baker, Nightmare Maker".

Rated R.

Starts Friday at a
theater near you.

"Butcher, Baker,
Nightmare Maker".

I mean, that's an
incredible title.

That movie should
have done really well.

"Butcher, Baker,
Nightmare Maker"

is another of the Video Nasties.

So this is the cover
that I saw on the shelf

when I saw it in around 1983.

And it is Susan Tyrrell
covered in blood.

The kind of thing that
I would have rented.

I'm gonna get that
scholarship if I can!

I'm going away to school,
and no one's gonna stop me!

Not even you!

"Butcher, Baker, Nightmare
Maker" is about a kid

who wants to go off to
college, and an aunt

who doesn't want him to.

And the murder that she goes to

to keep him there.

Everybody's so obsessed
with the sex life

of a 17-year-old.

I was thinking, um,

can I invite Julia over
for my birthday dinner?

Julia again?

Sounds serious.

That's probably the most
real life part of this movie,

is everybody trying to
figure out if this kid's gay.

Do you like
girls, Ms. Roberts?

God, you're a pig.

"Butcher, Baker,
Nightmare Maker"

is about people
trying to out you.

So tell me.

Are you two making love?

I am not going to answer that.

The kind of twisted
perversity of the movie

is like really
interesting, I think.

It's cheesy, but
it's also queasy.

You're just kinda like,
is she trying to fuck him?

This is making me uncomfortable.

Ooh.

You're so cute.

It dealt with incest.

It dealt with
repressed sexuality.

Homicidal tendencies.

I mean, this is like
Tennessee Williams pathos

that we're dealing with in
this really messed up film

where these people gave these

really disturbing performances.

Will Asher seemed like
an odd choice to me,

having come from being
creator of Bewitched,

and having directed I Love Lucy,

but he had a way with actors,

and he really brought in
some great performances

in that film.

♪ Billy's got a
girlfriend, Billy ♪

Billy, don't do that.

That's disgusting.

It's kind of a tour de force

mad over the top performance

by Susan Tyrrell.

The only thing that's wrong

is that you are in my house.

Now get out of here!

Get out!

I just-

Get out of here!

I just want-

Where is her Oscar
for "Butcher, Baker,
Nightmare Maker"?

Retroactively give it to her.

What do you
think you're doing?

This performance is
like the performance

of the 1980s.

A new girlfriend.

Susan Tyrrell is just
getting more and more crazy

as the movie goes on.

Just a pleasure to watch.

It also has Bill Paxton
in it, by the way,

who's kind of playing
a bully character,

very similar to the
character he plays

in "Weird Science".

He was supposed to be
the lead originally

but they ended up
going with someone

who was then more famous.

Some of us think we're
better than others.

Some of us are
better than others.

Paxton was so gung ho at
the beginning of his career

that he would come
to the cutting room.

He was the guy who
really wanted to learn

about the whole
movie making process,

and he went on to have
such a great career,

and was gone way too soon.

I believe that
you and Phil Brody

were having a lovers quarrel.

It has these queer themes,
it plays on gay panic,

but in 1983 when
it's re-released

as Night Warning, it's
released into a world

that sees gay characters
a little bit differently.

Keep it limp like

AIDS, by 1983,

it was referred to as Gay
Plague, and Gay Cancer.

And that's what people
were afraid of at the time.

Do you know that homosexuals

are very, very sick?

Do you know that, Billy?

Coach Flanders is not sick!

I don't know if I'll
ever watch it again

for the rest of my life,
but I'm glad I saw it

when I was a kid.

Probably made me into the
weirdo that I am today.

I don't know.

"Parasite".

The first futuristic
monster movie in 3D.

"Parasite 3D" was
a Charlie Band movie.

And Stan Winston created
the Parasite effects for us.

Low budget.

We gotta do something.

Notable for Demi Moore
making her film debut.

Tell me where it is!

Go to hell!

It was set in a
post nuclear world,

and there's this character
who develops this parasite.

When it reproduces,
it will cast millions

of microscopic
spores into the air.

It grows over the
course of the film,

and it gets into people,

and absorbs them from within,

and eventually it
turns into this

big toothy creature.

Stan Winston, Stan
did my very first movie

in the early 70s called
"Mansion of the Doom",

and later on did "Parasite".

And Stan became
super successful,

and I couldn't afford him,
even though we stayed close

til almost the end of his
life, which was way too soon.

"Parasite" was one of the
first 3D movies in 20 years.

It did really well,
relative to a small movie.

I was hooked with
the gimmickry of 3D.

Why was that cool for a while?

Well, 'cause it was
another dimension,

and it was something you
couldn't really see at home.

Unless there's trickery or
stuff that comes at you,

and you're having fun
with the three dimensions,

to me it's not worth it.

I remember it being
pretty schlocky,

but the parasite effects
were pretty cool,

and the 3D was pretty cool.

In terms of pantheon of
Stan Winston projects,

it's not the one he's
most proud of.

"Madman".

There is no escape.

I really love "Madman".

He was a farmer
with this family,

wife and two children.

He was an evil man.

I have a "Madman"
poster on my wall.

He walked into his bedroom

with an ax in his hand and
chopped his sleeping wife.

It was kind of a
"Sleepaway Camp" movie,

that I think fell under
the radar a little bit.

His name is Mars.

Madman Mars.

Oh no, Madman Mars
is coming upon us

at the campsite, but
it was just like,

you loved it for the
feel, the energy,

the New York vibe.

You know, Betsy.

I don't have many women friends,

and I think you're one of them.

Oh, I am.

Hey, give me your
number in the city.

It's like,
they're in the woods!

They're gonna get killed!

You just love that
the Madman was coming,

and you didn't know
who he was gonna kill.

We used to watch
it all the time.

My friends would laugh.

Most of them were
giggling, like ooh!

You know.

I couldn't even eat.

And the blood, and the effects.

It just all looked so
real to me, and scared me.

"Madman" always looked like
a big furry suit to me.

He was in a shadow, but
he looked kind of furry.

And I was like oh,
he's kinda cute.

I'm friends with Gary Sales.

He was really taken by surprise

with the success of the film.

With a lot of the 80s films,

there were no real boundaries.

They were just done, like
let's push the envelope.

Let's have fun, not to
intentionally hurt anyone,

but just because
we're batshit crazy,

and we're making a horror movie,

and I think movies like
"Madman" just went for it.

They were like,
let's just kind of,

you know, get a monster.

Have him running around
killing people, and woo-hoo!

And it's just simple,
but so fantastic.

It's like silly and
great, all tied into one.

Fans of gothic horror

will not be disappointed.

Jackie Karen inherits
this rural estate,

and on the rural estate
is a retirement home

full of elderly patients,

and there are mysterious
deaths happening.

Bit of a murder
mystery, because someone

is committing these crimes,

and you're not sure who

among these cast of
characters it is.

Are there ghosts?

Are there supernatural
elements at play?

Because it feels like
you're in this dream.

It's kind of that moment
between asleep and awake.

Jackie discovers her mother's
childhood diary in the film.

Lights going on and off,

taps left running.

It comes to pass that
the things in the diary

start to happen to her
within the plot of the film,

which is all leading
up to this revelation

that her late aunt
might not be as late

as she was led to believe.

What's that?

Didn't die.

There are some
horrific images in this.

It's a man drowned
in the bathtub.

And he's just like bloated.

It's tragic, but
it's also very scary.

Something that just like
sticks in your mind.

"Next of Kin" was
written and directed

by Tony Williams.

In this film, you can
see a lot of horror DNA.

You can see some Clouzot,

you see "Les
Diabolique" in there.

You can see some Fulci in there.

Any time somebody gets
it in the eyeballs.

Linda!

Oh, it's rest home horror,

which is very cool,
but it's very gothic,

and it's what we might call
today slow burn horror.

It's got that nice Australian
unhinged energy to it.

Australian horror from the 80s

doesn't get a lot of love,

but when there's a
nice example of it,

like "Next of Kin",
it's fun to revisit.

"Amityville Horror",
big boogeyman story

on the east coast in the 70s.

True crime, kid shotguns his
parents, and his siblings,

and he claims demonic
possession was part of it.

It gets turned into a book.

It eventually gets
made into a movie

with James Brolin
and Margot Kidder.

To this day you see those
windows, "Amityville Horror".

Three years later,
they're making

"Amityville 2: The Possession",

which is essentially
the true story

of the kid killing his family.

- "Amityville
-The Possession".

"Amityville: The Possession".

It has to do with possession,

but mainly it's about incest.

Take off your nightgown.

What?

This prequel is loosely
based on the DeFeo murders,

but the names have been changed.

Everything seems quite idyllic.

It's a nice little
lovely family,

until it's not.

The dad's a fucking asshole.

He's abusive to
everybody in the family.

- Think you're funny?
- What are you doing?

Huh?

You can't hit him-

Burt Young is maybe the
scuzziest dad in horror.

Please, don't hit that child.

Listen, this isn't your
business, you hear that?

We've got a teenage son
and a teenage daughter.

They've got a real weird
dynamic right off the get-go,

and it's one of those things
where you're questioning,

is it supposed to be like that?

Maybe the actors
were just having

a little too much chemistry

for brother and sister.

Until the brother
gets possessed,

and then gets it
on with his sister,

who is not possessed,
so I don't really know

what her excuse was.

Playing the young
daughter is Diane Franklin

from "Last American
Virgin", "Better Off Dead",

real apple pie, America's
sweetheart type stuff.

And if you wanna watch her
have sex with her brother,

"Amityville II" is
the film for you.

This skin-crawling incest
that happens in the film

was actually cut down from
what was in the original cut,

and it was apparently
a lot more graphic.

"Amityville II:
The Possession"

was directed by Italian
director, Damiano Damiani.

Written by Tommy Lee Wallace.

Best known for "Halloween
3: Season of the Witch".

And he co-wrote this
with Dardano Sacchetti

who often worked
with Lucio Fulci.

This one actually does have
really wonderful effects.

I mean, it's just
like 80s to the core.

Bladder effects,
like as the brother

is becoming more
and more possessed,

neck is just pulsing, or
his head will be pulsing.

My favorite moment in
"Amityville II: The Possession",

there's this part
where the camera

kind of goes overhead,
when he's like,

I guess the demon is
really going into his body.

"Amityville: The
Possession", and "Amityville"

the original first film are
two totally separate entities.

The tone is not the same.

The first one is just
straight up scary.

The second one has
kinds of all these weird

other tones in it.

You wanted it!

You feel very uncomfortable
for different reasons.

Look at them.

They're pathetic animals.

They'd be better off
if you killed them.

The second one is
just like fuck it,

let's go off the rails.

We're gonna loosely
use this title,

and then just go way off
into left field over here.

And it's for that extra
bit of sickening material,

and there's lots of
it in this picture,

that's the reason that
"Amityville II: The Possession"

makes my list as one of the
worst films of the year.

That no one
would ever forget the girls

in "The House On Sorority Row".

That mystical world of the
sorority fraternity culture,

in the 80s, all films
were pointing us

towards that's
where you're going.

If it's not "Revenge
of the Nerds",

it's "The House
on Sorority Row".

I wanna thank
you for helping me

become what I am today.

Wasted.

And then it's like,
what crazy debauchery

is gonna happen within the walls

of that sorority house?

And how will we be punished

for indulging in
that debauchery?

You filth!

Evil house mother.

The house mother to
end all house mothers.

Is killed accidentally

by sorority girls,

and revenge ensues.

I got my start "House
on Sorority Row".

I'd just come out
of theater school.

I think we got paid $50 a day.

We worked really hard, you know.

We shot night for
night for weeks.

So we were like
zombies during the day.

The director, he
kept a firm hand

without ever being an
asshole, to be honest.

Which is saying a lot
for a first endeavor.

Everyone else is
wearing a cute frock,

and I'm wearing these
ugly beige pants

and this sweater, and
I had to run around

in that stupid outfit,
and put it on everyday.

And I did not feel
like I looked terrific.

She's alive.

We put her back in the pool,

and she was still alive!

He also colored my hair brown,

because of course, smart
good girls have brown hair.

Me being the good girl, the
one who stays in the house

while her friends are being
murdered left and right.

That always makes me giggle.

Would you not run away?

Are you gonna go roaming
around in this house

looking for clues?

But I was drugged, so I
do have that to defend me.

Just a mild sedative.

It definitely had a style

that a lot of low budget
films really don't have.

"The House on Sorority
Row" ended up being

one of those movies that became

a bit of a cult fan favorite.

As much as I like to say it's
all because it's great film,

I think some of it
is, you know, fun

in that it's a little
bit over the top,

and when you think that's part
of the appeal of the genre.

I never thought I'd
be talking about it.

You know, I'm 63.

I was 23.

Wow.

But I have no
regrets whatsoever.

It was fun.

As an actor watching films,

I certainly dial
into performances.

I sort of learned
my craft by doing.

I had taken dance lessons,

and so I started
out doing theater.

♪ Lady Godiva

The first television
project I did was Maude.

And it was a four camera sitcom

that we filmed like a play.

So stop asking
who I was out with,

what we had for dinner,

and did we go all the way.

And then my next
real film education

came when I did
"Someone's Watching Me"

for John Carpenter.

I played, I believe,
the first lesbian woman

in a television film.

And he had written
a fantastic scene

in which her
sexuality is revealed.

Who's he?

She.

And we did it, and
John came up to me

and he said that was
great, that was perfect.

Do less.

Don't worry.

You're not my type.

I'm not worried.

And it was the proverbial
light bulb going off.

Oh, because it's film,

because it's not theater.

Do less.

Now, especially something
like "Creepshow",

which was George Romero,

which was such an
outrageous character,

which was George saying
no, you can be bigger!

You can be bigger,
you can be bigger.

That was like, wait a
minute, wait a minute.

I just spent the last three
years learning to do less.

I mean, where would you be
without me to take care of you?

The important thing about
approaching a character

like Billy in "Creepshow",
who everybody will watch

the movie and say oh,
she's just a bitch.

When was the last time
you got it up, Henry?

Huh?

When was the last time
you were a man in our bed?

She's the most horrible,
and she needed to be

so that everybody
would cheer when Henry

arranged for her demise.

Don't you ever touch me again!

As an actor, you
don't play I'm a bitch.

You explore whatever
it is that made her

the way she was.

She's incredibly disappointed

in the way her life turned out.

Henry, goddammit!

How many times have I told you

to lock the goddam door?

You have to
understand what it is

that drives the behavior.

At least Henry has
me to take care of him,

don't you, dear?

I didn't see a lot
of films growing up,

but I do remember something
called "Donovan's Brain".

I don't know that I had
ever seen a horror film

besides "Donovan's Brain",
until John invited me

to the screening of "Halloween".

I had just done The Tonight
Show earlier that day,

and announced on Johnny Carson

that John and I were engaged.

And then I went to the
screening of "Halloween".

By the end of that film,
I suspect that he was

black and blue, because
I kept going, oh my god!

Oh my god!

I was like, oh, oh!

Oh my, oh!

You know?

It's the first horror
film I'd ever seen.

It was at that point
that Tom Atkins,

who is also at the screening,

leaned over to me and said Addy,

I'm not sure you
should marry this guy.

We cannot let
Adrienne marry this guy.

There's something
wrong with him.

He makes this kind of movie.

But she married him,

and they had a lovely
child together, Cody.

Well, stay up with me.

And I'll figure out some
way to keep you occupied.

When John first had me read
the script for "The Fog",

I was pretty involved
in social issues.

"Coming Home" was a huge hit,

and "The China Syndrome"
was a huge hit.

And I read it, and it was like,

uh, this is a horror film.

This is not about
women's rights.

It's not about abortion.

But, I mean, I loved the
character and everything,

and of course, since,
it's one of the things

that I am most proud of doing.

The one piece of merchandise
that I really love,

"The Fog" action figure.

I think that's a marvelous
piece of merchandising.

None of us knew in the 80s

that the work we were doing,

"Escape From New York", or
"The Fog", or "Creepshow',

would be as viable today.

The career of an
actor, when it works,

is a wonderful career.

"Xtro".

Some extraterrestrials
aren't friendly.

From New Line Cinema.

Rated R.

Roger begins with a
horror film called "Xtro".

That's X-T-R-O.

Remember that spelling,
remember that name.

So, "Xtro" is about an
alien that kills people,

but it's also the cliche
of the disturbed kid

with the powers, and
evil clowns, too.

It's kind of everything.

I'd say it's very confusing

slightly surrealistic movie,

and I'm not really
sure what it's about.

So a father gets
abducted by aliens.

The wife thinks that he
ran off with another woman.

The alien impregnates somebody.

Then the woman gives
birth to a human child,

and it turns out
to be the father,

who's been abducted and reborn.

I'm told that it's
about abandonment.

Some very smart
critic told me that.

And I just hung onto that
word every since then.

I can't remember
a thing until today.

I saw Tony in the streets, so-

You want to come home.

Like it was.

I think what makes
marketable film

of any kind is being unusual.

Bob Shaye, who's the
head of New Line,

and who started New Line,

I think Bob Shaye wanted
to have his own "Phantasm".

We just wanted to shock people,

and make our little horror film,

and we wanted to have
good acting and so on,

so you've got this
rather uneasy business,

between all these little
Shakespearean actors,

and all this nonsense
that they've got to talk.

You'll be able to
do lots of things.

Don't be frightened.

Use it when you need it.

The best part in "Xtro",

there's this creepy alien effect

where it's a person
doing one of those

backwards spider walks.

The prosthetic is
put on backwards,

so it looks very unsettling.

He's walking backwards
with his back to the ground

on all fours, but with
his stomach sticking up

to the sky, and the head of
the creature on backwards,

which was absolute
misery for him,

because it was cold,
and we were having him

walking through swamps,
and things like that.

A civilization develops
enough intelligence

to come all the way to
Earth from another star,

and then they don't
have enough sense

to not stand in the
middle of the road

when a car is coming.

When it came to
this birth scene,

which, I think nobody understood

except me and the
special effects guys.

We had to have a thing
with the false floor,

and all this sort of thing,
and trap doors, and whatnot.

We did a lot of it in one take.

As much of it as we
could in one take.

All sorts of nasty kind
of afterbirth stuff.

And then we had
the umbilical cord,

that we made out of
spaghetti, actually.

And he had to bite through that.

We were astonished we got it.

No, I wasn't a bit worried
about it going too far.

I was worried about it
not going far enough.

Bob, god bless him, was
always more for having

more weird things going on.

He said hey, you gotta
have a panther in there,

jumping out at someone.

Something like that.

He wanted his panther.

And he got it.

It's as if they're
so pretentious

that they're trying
to make some kind of

a philosophical statement.

It was garbage.

It was offensive.

Garbage is the operative word.

With little films like these,

the audience knows
it's a low budget film.

They know right away.

They can sniff it
from the first frame.

And they tend to
be more forgiving.

That was just at the
start of home video.

And I remember the first
week that we came out,

we beat "Poltergeist",
if you can believe that,

in the VHS ratings.

It grew legs, and
it just ran off.

It absolutely killed in
the home video market.

Amazing.

"Curtains".

The ultimate nightmare.

Canadian horror movie.

When you come from Canada,
you don't really realize

that the movies are from Canada.

Like Rush.

You don't think of it
as Canada's best band.

They're just a great band.

And what's the difference?

I mean, they're more friendly?

It kind of just blends in
with the American ones.

"Curtains" is about
a bunch of actresses

who go to a director's mansion
to audition for a role.

Red flag.

And there is a
killer on the loose.

And they're all also
competing for a part.

It gets messy.

An actress named Samantha
commits herself to a psych ward.

She's trying to,
like, be the part.

And then the director
fucking leaves her there

and goes to a mansion to
hang out with five other

younger, hotter actresses,

while a killer in a hag
mask goes after them.

It has these "What Ever
Happened to Baby Jane?" vibes,

just because there is that
element in the beginning

of the older actress who
gets left in a psych ward,

and has to escape
to get revenge.

What are
you gonna do now?

What I love about the film

is it knows that Striker,
the director, is a creep.

Now seduce me.

No words.

You can make sounds if you like.

The horror in
"Curtains" for me

is the way that Jonathan
Striker treats the women.

He forces two women
to seduce each other,

and she's topless,
and you can just tell

the women are not into it,

but they just do it because
it's requested of them.

He preys on them, ends
up sleeping with them.

Almost like an allegory
on the industry.

And there's that great
scene in the frozen pond,

where the one actress is
skating away from the killer

with this doll in her hand,

and the killer's got the mask on

with this side, like
raises it,

Fucking insane, and
it's all in slow-mo,

and it's the weirdest
mask you've ever seen.

You don't know if
it's a woman or not.

It makes you
fear the daylight,

and the emptiness in what
can happen when you're alone

in a seemingly safe space.

Originally, they wanted to
create a banshee creature,

but they didn't move
forward with it.

"Curtains" has a very
interesting kind of tone.

That's because it
was actually directed

by two different people.

It feels almost very slow,
and very mood building,

and then in some scenes,
it's very slash 'em up,

and darkly lit, that it feels
like an art house slasher.

"Curtains" is for
people who like dolls

and ice skating,
and old witch masks.

That has me written all over it.

So I'm sold.

"Hell of the Living Dead".

Also known as "Night
of the Zombies",

originally titled "Virus".

But known in England as
"Zombie Creeping Flesh".

This is the VHS tape,
and a perfect example

of the lurid artwork
that I would see

on the shelves of a video shop

and think that movie is for me.

There's a lab in
Papua New Guinea

that has a chemical that
accidentally gets released

that turns pretty much
everybody into zombies.

And you follow this
group of people

that travel around the globe

trying to stop this
grand conspiracy.

Or maybe you just get eaten.

This is an Italian film
that was dubbed in English.

It was directed by Bruno Mattei,

under the pseudonym
Vincent Dawn.

If you're familiar
with his work,

you know the dubbing
is pretty terrible,

but that just adds to
the awesomeness of it.

And we liked each other.

We'd be in the sack
together by now.

That's your opinion.

Bruno Mattei was the
copycat of Lucio Fulci.

"Hell of the Living Dead"
came about in the wake

of the success of
Fulci's "Zombie",

so essentially he was making
an Italian zombie movie

which was shot in Spain,

but using the tropes that
Fulci had come up with

on the back of ripping
off George Romero.

Set to the scores of Goblin,

but none of the score was
actually scored for this movie.

They used the soundtrack
from "Contamination"

and "Dawn of the
Dead" by Goblin,

and scored this movie
with those scores.

Father.

Father.

What's wrong with you?

When the pandemic
hit really hard,

of course I couldn't
stop making movies.

The idea of "Corona Zombies"
was these ditzy girls,

they turn a movie on
that was the footage

from "Hell of the Living
Dead", with all this

very funny clever new dialogue.

We have
just received shocking video

of what is believed to be
ground zero of the virus.

It was much like
"What's Up Tiger Lily?"

Is that one of
the corona zombies?

Shh.

"Hell of the Living
Dead", it's very ahead

of its time, and it's
very much against

man infecting the
earth with pollution.

And that is what's
causing the outbreak.

But it's also full of
Fulci-esque rotting zombies

and gore and splatter,

and eyes being poked out,

and guts being poked out.

This movie is entirely enjoyable

from beginning to end.

It was the first
example where I realized

that the Video Nasties
panic was nonsense.

Father help me.

"Possession" is a
film about a couple

whose marriage is
deteriorating fast.

What do you expect of me?

Look what you're doing!

Mark and Anna, you
can see that they are

extremely unhappy
with each other.

They're screaming at each other.

Isabelle Adjani is incredible.

But especially in
the subway scene.

And it's so disturbing.

One of the most effective scenes

of showing somebody just
completely losing themselves.

Sam Neill as Mark in this film

is a very anxious character.

Cinematography
really communicates

his inner feelings.

He's also very
paranoid about Anna.

Their whole
relationship together

is extremely hard to watch.

You know what this is for?

The lies!

Then you have
to add much more.

They're very codependent,
and very bad for each other.

The dramatic elements are
really what drives the movie,

but then you have, it turns
into this creature feature.

My god.

He made love to me all night.

She actually in this movie
has sex with this monster,

which was created
by Carlo Rambaldi,

who most people
know is the person

who created E.T. for
Steven Spielberg.

I can't believe
that they talked her

into doing that entire scene.

And it looks so realistic.

"Possession" is the epitome
of relationship horror.

That feeling of how it
is to all out of love

with someone you care about.

Those moments of
desperation and loss

are so heartbreaking.

It's a lot to take in.

It's waiting to see
who will die first.

That is a movie that
deserved all the Oscar love,

because it really
took a lot of risks,

but it did a lot of
profound things as well.

"Devil Fetus" was made by a
bunch of first time filmmakers

that got a hold of themselves
some iconic actors.

And it's crazy.

The special effects are insane.

A woman buys a vase.

The vase has a demon.

He crawls out, and
he has sex with her

and impregnates her.

And that's the
devil fetus title.

Everybody dies around
her in miraculous ways.

That antique shop has
a lot to answer for.

Like, I hope she
kept the receipt.

It's a very weird movie.

What is cool about it is
these special effects,

and it has so much 80s charm.

You have this animated
thunder and lightning

coming out of people's hands,

you have them flying across
things, and floating heads.

The martial arts in this
is incredible, actually.

That's one of the
biggest selling points.

There's all kinds
of things happening

in this movie that's
hard to explain.

To us it might seem
like a fever dream,

but to the people who were
involved in the culture,

they may know all of these
things from childhood.

Very few category
three films were cut,

and this one was.

It has to deal with
gore and the assault

that happens in the film.

Cat three goes to 11.

You know?

It's a little bit higher
than 10 and NC-17,

but it's not quite X.

Which, X-rated films were
rated Cat three as well.

You think the film's
going this way,

and then it goes in a
different direction.

That's what's unique
about "Devil Fetus".

It has the most epic
last five minutes

of any movie you'll ever see.

"Eyes of Fire".

The secret is
sleeping in the trees.

"Eyes of Fire" is a weird one,

because it's set in the 1700s,

and it concerns a preacher
who is accused of adultery,

and is banished from town.

And he and his family
find themselves

in the woods beset by
spirits of Native Americans.

God damn them!

"Eyes of Fire" is an
American folk horror movie.

This valley is where
the lost blood gathers.

It's the home of the devil.

If you believe in it.

This film is entirely unique,

shot by a photographer
called Avery Crounse.

I don't believe he'd made
a feature film before this,

and he's only made
a couple since.

It is a very photogenic
folk horror movie

shot in the woods.

As opposed to the meat
and potato slasher stuff

of the 80s, there's a
lot of surreal imagery,

and surreal moments,
faces in trees,

just weird
hallucinogenic moments

that don't feel of a piece
with the 80s, necessarily,

which in itself
makes it exciting.

This is what makes it
really unique and stick out.

Folk horror is a
very broad subgenre,

but it had a real moment
in the 60s and 70s,

and was primarily
a British thing,

so the fact that you're
seeing a folk horror film,

A, in the 80s, and
B, set in America,

was a bit unusual.

It was independently
produced by Avery Crounse.

He basically moved on.

He didn't particularly connect
with the film industry.

We went to great
effort to find him

so that we could
include "Eyes of Fire"

in our All the Haunts Be
Ours folk horror box set.

He basically still
owned the movie.

He had the negative
in a storage unit,

and it had been sitting there
since the 80s, basically.

Had not been scanned since.

I can see again.

He sent it here so that
we could scan it here

at Severin office, and he
even had a previous version

called "Crying Blue
Sky", which was longer,

and we were able to scan that
and include that as well.

So the reason it had
been out of distribution

was just because he
was out of the business

and had not been
traceable since.

Don't worry, my child.

Luckily we were
able to get it.

"Boarding House".

Rated R.

"Boarding House".

It was a movie
that didn't do well

that has gained a cult
following through the years.

John Wintergate, and
his wife Kalassu,

I believe they're
a little drunk,

and they watched a
horror film at home,

and they both have the idea

of we can do that.

An interview John
Wintergate was watching

where George Lucas stated
that video is the future.

He got this idea it was easy
to make a movie on video.

You buy a video camera
for a few hundred dollars,

and you buy some blank
tapes, and you shoot a movie.

What is that?

It's apple juice.

Oh my god.

You didn't have to say that.

They decided to
make a horror comedy.

They made the first big
shot on video movie.

But Wintergate and Kalassu

wrote, directed,
starred in this film,

did the music for it as well.

They were both musicians.

The husband and wife,
making something different.

When people watch the
movie, it's like wow,

this movie's crazy.

It's doing all these
sorts of things

that don't relate
to one another.

I'm preparing the Thorazine

for Mr. Ratchet's shock therapy.

Well, that's 'cause
it's heavily cut,

and that horror
comedy ended up being

two hours and 30 minutes long.

The distributors
did not like that.

They told to recut the
movie into what we got

with "Boarding House",
which is an hour and a half

of a crazy, bizarre movie.

They cut out all the
comedy in the movie,

and tried to cut it as
a serious horror film.

I think that explains
a lot of the weirdness

in "Boarding House".

Watch.

This was the first,
and probably only,

wide release of a
shot on video movie

to screen and theaters,

because he blew up
35 millimeter prints,

which was very costly.

"Blood Cult" is
sometimes considered

the first shot on video
film, but it is not.

"Blood Cult" was the
first shot on video movie

made for the video
market on home video.

"Blood Cult".

The first movie made especially
for the home video market.

"Boarding House" paved
the way for shot on video.

Filmmakers took notice that
you could buy a video camera,

or borrow your parents',
because they probably have one,

and then start shooting
movies with your friends.

That kick started the
shot on video boom.

You are trespassing.

This is my house!

Throughout the
80s, Asia were making

all of these horror films
that didn't really get

much seen across the world,

but they were producing
some incredible stuff,

from interesting places.

I grew up in a half
Asian household.

My mum is from Philippines.

She made sure I was
aware that monsters

and ghosts and
creatures are real.

Asian horror just really
gets under your skin.

The first time I was exposed
to Asian horror movies

was when the whole boom came
with "The Ring", "Ju-on".

"The Grudge".

That opened a whole
new world for me.

I just thought, okay this is
the stuff of my nightmares.

I think that Japanese
people don't care as much

in the realism.

It's more deep symbolism,

and much more thought
out inner mental things,

rather than just the
coherent storytelling.

That is more important to me.

Their points of
reference for what's scary

are often very different.

A lot of western horror,
there's a Judeo-Christian

sort of root to it.

And their fears and
their preoccupations,

and their boogeymen come
from a different place.

And it's exciting to see
that cultural difference,

exciting to see
what scares people

in a culture that's
not your own.

I was very attracted
to the Asian flow

of movies coming in that
are about dream scapes,

that are about ghosts,
anything like that,

that gets me off in a
way that is both scary

and not as uncomfortable
as seeing a lot of blood.

My favorite Japanese
horror movie from the 80s

by far is "Sweet Home"
because it's so, so, so nuts.

At the same time, Capcom
released a game version,

which is almost better
than the actual film.

It's also the influence for
"Resident Evil" as well.

"Resident Evil".

So Kiyoshi Kurosawa, he's
the director of "Sweet Home".

And he went on to
do some of the best

Japanese horror
movies of the late 90s

and early 2000s.

If it wasn't for
him leading the way

making Japanese movies that
could potentially appeal

to a Western audience,
you wouldn't have had

this J-horror explosion.

When you mention
80s Asian horror,

a lot of people think
of "House" from Japan,

although that one's from 1977.

If you watch Japanese horror,

if you watch something
from Thailand,

if you watch something
from South Korea,

you're going to get a
different experience

from each of those.

South Korea's horror
movement that happened

just after J-horror explosion
has been incredible.

South Korea, Indonesia,
and the Philippines

kind of came into their
own regarding horror

a little bit later.

In terms of horror that's
commercially viable

in the Western world.

In the Philippines, there's
actually a lot of horror.

It's very sad that I can
not count on one hand

how many cross over to America.

One of the best
places for Asian horror,

especially out of
the 80s, was China.

A lot of it was based
on the mythology.

We see demons, vampires,
ghosts, poltergeists,

a lot of witches, a
lot of wizards as well.

Some movies you should
definitely check out

are "Kung Fu Zombie",
"Human Lanterns",

"Seeding of a Ghost",
and "Witch from Nepal"

with Chow Yun-Fat.

We know the Shaw
Brothers and Golden Harvest

as the purveyors of incredible
martial arts movies,

but they also dip their toe
in a lot of horror as well.

Asian horror cinema,

I like vampire movies for that.

Scary things that there is a
story of how they got scary.

The way they
present their monsters

is just so
fundamentally different

than how the Western
stereotype of a vampire

is just completely blown
up in an Asian film.

I'm completely obsessed
by the "Mr. Vampire" movies.

I'd never seen Jiangshi
vampires before.

I was mesmerized by
how comedic they were.

They hop.

When you watch "Mr. Vampire",

you see why people
are scared of them,

because they are relentless,

and you have to know
all of the tricks

in order to defeat them.

"The Jitters" is
an unusual film.

Plus "The Jitters" was
directed by John Fasano

and not a Chinese guy.

There's a little bit
lost in translation.

It played fast and loose
with Chinese mythology

quite a lot.

Someone thought that
since they're so popular

over there, we'd make
an American version

of these movies, and
see how that does.

I got him!

I'm uncomfortable
with the movie now,

because there's a lot of
racial stereotypes in there,

at the time, I didn't
really think was a big deal,

but it is.

Understanding horror
explored through the lens

of other cultures, it's
an important thing,

and it's a cool thing.

Different cultures have
all these different kinds

of mythologies to draw from,

and there's just this
endless well of stories

that we can build upon.

When you're talking
about Asian horror now,

people are looking at it
from a broader perspective

because they've been able
to watch these movies.

Whereas in the 80s, a lot
of them were available,

but they just never really made
it outside of their markets.

Asian horror was
somewhat inaccessible

to a lot of us in the 80s.

Video stores didn't
carry a lot of it,

and it's only after J-horror
came up after the fact

that then suddenly we're
retroactively going back

into these catalogs and
finding these titles

that were not on our
radar in the 80s.

In a way that's kind of cool,

because then that's a
bucket of 80s horror

that we can go back
and look for now.

School was
hell, but vacation was murder.

"The Mutilator".

"The Mutilator".

It was originally
titled "Fall Break",

but the filmmakers apparently
felt "The Mutilator"

was a much more
user friendly title.

Four days of R
and R at the beach.

I'm in.

Sounds good to me.

I got a bad
feeling about this.

College kids on
their fall break,

and they get picked
off one by one.

I'm coming to get you!

By different use
of power tools,

and home repair tools.

One of the friends,
his dad hates him

because he blames him for
the death of his mother.

Just like this angry
dad who hates his son

and is gonna take it out
on him and his friends.

"The Mutilator" is
one of those that tries

to present as a comedy,
but isn't sure it wants

to be a comedy,
and you're not sure

if you're supposed to be
laughing at a lot of it.

Looks like the party's
over for this joker.

Oh.

Yeah.

My dad ran over him
with a ski boat.

It's dancing to the
beat of its own drum.

What's wrong with the water?

It looks like it's been
loaded down with chlorine.

Will that hurt you?

No, in fact it
probably prevents herpes.

The art for "The
Mutilator" has this tagline

that says by sword, by
pick, by ax, bye-bye.

Catchy title, catchy tagline,

and some eye-grabbing art.

The more extreme the
exploitation level is,

the more likely a teen
is gonna rent that.

And that's the idea.

And that's why we
love these movies

so much to this day.

My first film in America,

which is absolutely adored
doing, was "Maniac",

and I got to work with my
lovely Joe Spinell again,

who I first met in "Star Crash".

People connect
with Joe Spinell.

He is a compelling
actor to watch.

I loved working with
Joe because he was

such a brilliant actor,
and a sweet, dear person.

"The Last Horror Film" is
about New York cab driver

who's obsessed with
Caroline Munroe,

and he follows her to
the Cannes Film Festival

where a serial killer
is on the loose.

It was called "The
Last Horror Film",

and then they called it
"Fanatic" after that.

This film was an unofficial
followup to "Maniac".

I got talent, ma!

I'm gonna be a great
director someday!

Don't
yell at your mother!

It's great to see Joe Spinell

and Caroline Munroe together,

and I think the
pairing is fantastic.

Who is it?

We were an odd couple.

We were, weren't we?

Jana Bates is going to
star in my next movie.

It's all set.

I'm producing and directing.

Vinny, are you sure
you're making a movie?

He was wonderful in that film.

Very quirky, very quirky.

And my character, she
was spooked by Joe,

because Joe had an obsession
for this actress, Jana Bates.

Who are you?

Get out.

I thought we'd
just have a drink

and talk about the film.

You'll be absolutely
perfect in it.

It was directed
by David Winters,

who was in "West Side Story",

and sure enough, they
just showed up in Cannes,

and started shooting this movie,

so there's a lot of
run and gun footage

of the Cannes Film Festival.

One of the first
guerrilla films

to be made there, for sure.

And I had to run along
the crasette in a towel.

They were all lined
up, real people,

to see Jack Nicholson,
Leslie Caron,

go on the red carpet.

They said Caroline, you're
just gonna have to run

along the red carpet.

I said what, I've
got a towel on.

They said that's okay,
just do your own thing.

Please!

Hot damn, that's Jana Bates!

"The Last Horror Film"
is not as gory as "Maniac"

but it does have a good
amount of kills in it.

There's a lot of meta elements.

There's one bit where
Joe Spinell's in a cinema

watching a new horror movie,

and he actually is
eating his popcorn,

and starts throwing up

because it's too
gross, too disgusting.

It's questioning horror movies

because "Maniac" got
a lot of backlash

because of how
misogynistic it was.

Now tell us why you're
such a failure, Vinny.

I'm a genius.

Jana Bates is going
to star in my movie.

She loves me!

It's a very bizarre film.

So I would think
the ultimate theme

for "The Last Horror
Film" or "The Fanatic"

would have to be obsession.

Obsessive love.

He loved her.

Or he loved what he
saw of her onscreen.

But he didn't know her.

Could you move your
head a little to the right

in this space?

Perfect, just perfect.

I always think it's
really interesting

when the protagonist
of a horror film,

especially in this
period, is a guy,

because usually we
associate the 80s

as the time where final
girls came into full force.

"Mutant".

"Mutant", originally released

as "Night Shadows" theatrically.

It turned up on VHS as "Mutant".

The two very capable
leads are Wings Hauser

and Lee Montgomery.

Our car broke down and we
just need a place to stay.

We'll be gone first thing
in the morning, I promise.

They end up in a dead end town

because their car messed up.

They go to the local bar,

and instantly these
locals beat them up,

rough them up.

Oh no!

They end up being patched
up by the local doctor.

And they start to get
their first inklings

that something is
wrong in this town,

that people are going missing.

This is toxic waste
infecting a small community

and turning them into zombies.

This
mutation somehow causes

an increasing need for blood.

Just so many zombies.

They're all over the place.

It was obviously
inspired by George Romero.

And you see this
in a lot of films,

like "Return of
the Living Dead",

and you see it in a
lot of the Troma films.

Toxic waste was a
big thing in the 80s.

I like my zombies
to be serious.

They definitely got
the vibe of what made

those movies so much fun.

No!

The effects are kind of hokey,

because when these
zombies approach you,

and they touch you, which
ultimately turns you

into a zombie, all this
steam comes off you,

almost like they're
pressing a shirt,

like a big life sized iron.

Jack?

But there's one
real cool sequence

where you just know
there's gonna be a zombie.

You just know it.

And then she slowly
goes over to him,

slowly pulls out the covers.

These locals just inherently
hate other people.

Some secrets should
remain secret,

and the way you do
that is by keeping

all the outsiders away.

"The New York Ripper"
is a very violent giallo

made by Lucio Fulci
after he'd already made

"Zombie Flesh
Eaters", "The Beyond",

and "House by the Cemetery".

Fulci was kind of riding
high at this point

in his career.

"Zombie" was a huge
success internationally

by the standards of Italian
exploitation movies.

He went on and decided
to make a thriller.

About a ripper in New York.

During this time, a lot
of Italian filmmakers

would come to the US and
shoot establishing footage,

and that's all tied into
how Italian filmmakers

were trying to make their
films seem American.

The killer in the
film has a Donald Duck

kind of quacking voice.

Said he called back.

Sounded just like a duck.

Like a duck?

Which adds to the
element of the bizarre

of this movie, and I
think it shows Fulci's

sense of humor as well.

There's a fair amount
of sleaze in the movie

as well, and nudity.

There's a very famous
sequence in the film

where an actress
is tied to a bed,

and essentially
gets razor bladed

in the eye and in the nipple,

and it's extremely
graphic and close up,

but it has that ocular violence

that Fulci had
become famous for,

and he was trying
to outdo, it seems,

in every movie that he did.

It definitely pushed
the boundaries

of what was acceptable.

This film made sure
that in England,

if you were found with a copy,

you were definitely
having it seized,

and you would
probably be arrested.

Like a duck?

Quack, quack, quack.

Just like that.

"The Initiation".

The ceremony that
will never die,

as long as new blood is pledged.

I rented that movie
the very first time,

because I loved Daphne
Zuniga in "Spaceballs",

and it was right when
Melrose Place was hitting.

And we've got a
girl in a sorority,

she's being hazed.

Her character, Kelly, is
having these nightmares,

so she actually goes
through a sleep study

trying to figure out the reason

behind her nightmares.

It's fairly common for
the subconscious mind

to fictionalize certain
emotional states.

There's a woman
committing adultery

with another guy.

A little girl comes
in and catches them,

starts stabbing the
crap out of somebody,

and then the guy goes on fire,

and she can't
remember what happens.

I was in a coma
for three months,

and they kept me in this
private hospital in Chicago.

When I came out of
it, I had no memory.

Her father, who's
played by Clu Gulager,

owns this big shopping building,

and she's tasked
with breaking in

and stealing a night
porter's outfits.

Course, a lot of
bad things happen.

It is a movie that
takes a little time

to get going, but once
they get into that mall,

there's some really fun kills.

You're finding bodies
all over the place

The security guard is
a bummer.

There's so many wacky out
there things in the 80s,

where I guess they
just tried things

more than we do now.

You know, it takes
some leaps and bounds.

Spoiler alert, there's
a twist at the end.

Peter!

And you're left
sitting there like,

wait, what is going on?

You have to rationalize
it to yourself

so that you can
move on and finish

the rest of the movie.

It's a total shock at the end.

I've never seen
anything like that

before in my life.

The more I think about
it, the more I think

they just wanted
to blow our minds.

Scared the shit out of them!

The only reason that they
would set horror movies

on holidays is that they
had no marketing budget.

So it was a way to get
attention from the press.

Most decisions made in the 80s

were strictly
financial decisions.

A
present from the people

who brought you
"Friday the 13th"

now comes "Don't
Open Till Christmas".

"Don't Open Till
Christmas" is a real curio,

a slasher film set in the UK

about a killer who goes around

killing people in Santa suits.

It's almost like
Fulci directed this.

It's so grimy and slimy,

and as soon as you step
foot into an alley,

you're dead meat.

The reason for the serial
killer killing Santa Claus

is obviously some trauma
from when he was a kid.

And you see this in a
flashback streaked dream,

and he's just been,
for all these years,

hellbent on getting
revenge on Santa.

The department store,
you have this big, fat,

Santa Claus guy,
who's going around

and leering at all the girls.

And as soon as he
gets to the toilets,

you know what's gonna happen.

And it's just blood
squirting everywhere.

He gets his apt punishment.

Caroline Munroe turns
up in this film as well,

which was a surprise.

She's like a dancer in a club.

Man, that woman is beautiful.

If you blink, you're
gonna miss me in it.

George Dugdale, my husband,

he did the effects on
"Don't Open Till Christmas".

They got the Piccadilly
Theater in London.

I went in for about two hours,

on the thing, and I
wiggled about the stage,

and kind of sang
"Warrior of Love".

Basically, that's my bit in it.

♪ I'm the warrior of love

♪ Yes I am

Father Christmas appears,
and the trapdoor,

just as I'm mid-sing,
and so I react to him,

the Father Christmas dead.

Maybe they just needed
a bit of a filler.

Maybe they thought, oh we've
got five minutes to spare.

Bang her in.

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah

A lot of Santas
die in this film,

so if you are into horror movies

for the festive body count,
then this is the one.

There's a party going on!

Look, there's
no party here, mate.

I wasn't allowed to
watch horror movies

or sci-fi movies when
I was little.

Because I was too sensitive.

I was older when I
saw "The Exorcist".

That was the most frightening
movie I've ever seen.

I felt it could really happen.

This study of the human psyche

has always been
prevalent in my work,

and in why I want to work.

My whole method
is the less I know

what's gonna happen, the more
alive in the moment I am.

The most memorable scene
in "The Hills Have Eyes"

with Wes was when I had to
work with the tarantula.

They assured me that
it couldn't hurt me.

Afterwards, I found out that
oh yeah, it could've.

And I said Wes, I'm scared.

And he said, will you trust me,

that I will make sure
that everything is handled

so that you're safe?

And that's just who Wes was.

You did.

To me, "The Howling" was
the battle of good and evil,

which goes on within all of us.

There was so much
in "The Howling"

that elevated that film,
because of Joe Dante.

Joe brings more of who
he is into his films,

because Joe is very funny.

And he always finds a way

to bring that humor,

even if it's dark humor,

into his projects.

"Cujo" was always about
what a mother would do

for her child.

It was never a
horror film to me.

It was a statement of
how far a mother would go

to keep her kid safe.

It's not a monster,
it's just a doggie.

I've heard from
so many people,

I watched it when I was younger,

and it was a horror film.

I watch it now
after I have kids,

it's a whole different film.

My father was a
severe alcoholic.

So for most practical
purposes, I had a single mom.

And she was a strong mom.

And I had a strong grandma
that helped raise me.

So I had some really
good personal material

to call on.

There were nine dogs
that played Cujo.

Two black labs that
could fit in a dog suit

if we needed it, and a
stuntman in the dog suit.

The dogs were all
trained to go after toys,

and we had to tie their
tails down with fish wire,

because they were
having so much fun.

Stephen King is the
sweetest, kinda shy,

very gentle man.

When he came on
the set of "Cujo",

I went, where does it
come from?

And he just started laughing.

After "E.T.", I was
plagued with mother parts.

It's not that I don't
want to play mothers,

I just want to play everything.

Dear god, I probably
have 800 roles

of every kind of mom.

Psycho mom, sweet
mom, drugged mom,

killer mom, hooker mom.

Everything!

No!

No!

No, no!

It was almost like poetry
to me, "Shadow Play".

And I wanted desperately to
work with Cloris Leachman.

I had to do that very
artsy dream nude scene,

and my husband was
not happy about that.

I don't think I've ever
told this story before.

He called me, and he said

if you do that scene tomorrow,

I think we're done.

I said Chris, don't make
me make that choice.

We got my therapist on
the phone at three a.m.

in the morning, and
we worked it out

that what was
really bothering him

was that he would have
to wait all those months

wondering what happened.

And if the director would
agree to show him the dailies,

he would be okay.

Now, this is pretty
funny coming from a guy

who had a huge naked love
scene in "The Howling",

and he expected me to
be just fine with it,

thank you very much.

But, you know.

That's a man for you.

Rubin Galindo Jr.

He's awesome!

Rubin has an amazing
lineup of movies,

and he really made
a stamp in the 80s.

Rubin,

The difference between
the Mexican horror films,

and international horror films,

we like to mix a little
bit of spirituality,

and to let some
things to the unknown.

We don't tend to try to explain.

My dad did Luchador films,

with monsters films.

"El Santo Contra Los
Asesinos De Ostros Mundos".

The saint against killers
from other worlds.

It's beautiful.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

That struck me hard,

and then one day,
my dad told me,

would you think it's a good idea

to make a film like Michael
Jackson's "Thriller"?

I said, yes!

It's a great idea!

I wanna do that!

It's a bunch of teenagers,

they wanna have
fun in Halloween.

They go to the morgue,
they steal a corpse,

and they pretend to
do a demonic ritual.

They woke up the
demon inside, Devlon,

who was a killer.

And all of the sudden,
Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

Pops
out of the tombs.

I felt very compromised
with the budget.

I had a hard time.

The lousiest effect of all

is when the guy that
was taking a leak,

Alonso Garcia, finds
the girl lying all dead

with blood all over her,

and then there is a flying ax

that hits him in the face.

You could see that the
ax had a metal pole.

I wasn't looking
through the camera,

because I was playing
the ax.

I think that's the charm.

It's kind of looking
at a kitsch art,

when you see a horror film

that was done with
such a low budget,

it's looking at like
an Ed Wood film.

The only guy that
believes in the film

is the director.

It's hard to say
what kind of influence

Stephen King had on movies,

because of so many
directors attempted

so many different kinds
of film, it's hard to say.

It depends on how
well done they are.

I know Stephen
King loves "Cujo".

Stephen
King's "Cat's Eye".

Capitalizing on the
popularity of "Creepshow',

and Stephen King in general,

the studios decided
they should make

another horror anthology,

and that's how we
got "Cat's Eye".

"Cat's Eye" is
by Lewis Teague.

He'd done "Cujo" at the time.

It is also co-produced
by Milton Subotsky,

who was kind of the king
of anthology horror.

He's the guy who produced
Tales From the Crypt,

and Dr. Terror's House
of Horrors, and Asylum.

"Cat's Eye" is three stories,

two of which are taken
from Stephen King's

short story book, "Night Shift".

Watch for the "Cujo" and
"Christine" references

in the beginning.

The first segment is called
"Quitters Incorporated",

and it stars James Woods
as a guy who's trying

to quit smoking, and the
problem is what they do

to get you to quit smoking
is incredibly extreme.

The second segment
is "The Ledge".

This is about a rich guy played

by Kenneth McMillan,

who discovers that Robert Hayes

has been sleeping with his wife.

He tells him that if he makes it

all the way around the
building on this ledge,

that he can leave
and take his wife.

Boogie, boogie, boogie!

You bastard!

I just wanna keep
you on your toes!

The third story
was more or less

how the whole thing came about.

Producer Dino De Laurentiis
contacted Stephen King

and told him he wanted
him to write a story

specifically for Drew Barrymore,

because they had just worked
together on "Firestarter".

He wrote the script
in less than 24 hours.

Help me!

The movie's tied together
with this cat, The General,

who's on his way to try
to protect Drew Barrymore

from a troll that's
living in her walls.

The troll's trying to
kill the little girl

by stealing her breath
while she sleeps.

Carlo Rambaldi
created the creature,

and it is very realistic.

The troll was a little
person in a suit.

They're doing puppetry, they're
doing forced perspective.

It's fantastic.

The movie actually is in the
Guinness Book of World Records

for making the
world's largest bed,

and the world's largest pillows.

I love how the record
player comes into play

with this segment.

Watch out!

Anthologies are
kinda hit or miss,

but with this, I think all
three segments are strong,

with the last one, "The
General", being the strongest.

Anytime you have a movie
where a cat is a hero,

I am in.

"Phenomena",
from Dario Argento

is another sort of wildly
weird movie in itself.

When I first saw it,
I actually saw it

as "The Creepers" version.

There's actually three
versions of the film.

"Phenomena" follows
Jennifer Connelly,

who's a young student
studying abroad,

who basically has a
psychic connection

with bugs, of all things,

and she comes across
Donald Pleasant,

who's an entomologist
that works with bugs

in a means to help solve crimes.

It is just like, is Argento
kind of of woke up one day,

and was picking
motifs out of a hat,

and was like,
here's "Phenomena",

but yet somehow it all works,

and I think a lot
of credit is due

to Jennifer Connolly's
performance.

Don't touch it!

Stop yelling!

It's a bee!

I know.

It won't hurt me.

Insects never hurt me.

Donald Pleasant is
always a welcome addition

to any cast.

You're in a position to
do extraordinary things

with that gift of yours.

Daria Nicolodi, who had worked
so many times with Argento.

It's one of the first instances

I can remember her being
a villain in a movie.

And she's so great in it.

Inga is the chimpanzee,

who is the assistant to
McGreggor in the movie.

And she is a delight.

Early on in the
movie, there's a point

where she's playing
with a scalpel,

and he's like, Inga.

I don't want you ever,

I don't want you ever, ever
playing with this again.

That moment has a payoff
in the end that I won't ruin.

But Inga actually becomes your
favorite part of the movie.

The "Phenomena" soundtrack
is a lot of fun,

because it marries contemporary
music of that time,

especially heavy metal music,

with these traditional
score from Goblin.

It's really interesting
that it's specifically

in "Phenomena" that Argenta
would use heavy metal music

in these weird ways that
shouldn't work, and yet it does.

♪ The smell of
resigned leather ♪

♪ The sticky iron mask

♪ As you cut and thrust

♪ And parried at the fencing

Particularly during
the kill scenes.

It actually heightens
the tensions,

in those scenes in particular,

and makes them play in
a very different way

than I think you see
contemporary music

played in American horror.

What you love is the feeling

when you're stomping out life.

"The
Doctor and the Devils".

"The Doctor and the Devils",

this is a classic British
gothic horror story.

Quite lavish, quite
beautiful to look at.

What now would they be
doing for a living, lovey?

Grave robbers.

It's definitely one
that seems to be missed

off a lot of lists of
best British horror films.

Before we disturbed his sleep.

It's crawling with maggots.

I need fresh subjects.

Specimens that I can teach with.

This is, in fact,
a decent movie

with a great cast,
and a good story.

And I believe that that end

justifies any means.

And it stars some amazing
British actors and actresses.

Dr. Rock needs fresh bodies.

Could we pay them, sir?

Only half.

Julien Sands, Jonathan
Pryce, Stephen Rea and Twiggy.

It was amazing to see
Timothy Dalton in it.

We're scientists,
not moralists.

I need bodies.

They're not called
Burke and Hare,

but they're kind of
analogs of Burke and Hare.

Quiet as death tonight.

Praise be the Lord.

For those that don't
know, Burke and Hare

is the story of
two grave robbers

who used to steal dead bodies.

And it's a true story.

Steal dead bodies and
sell them for profit.

And when the dead
bodies run out,

they start killing
actual alive people,

and selling them on.

Quite the
benefactors, the dead.

Their story kind of spins
out on the head a little bit.

Put them out of their
misery, Mr. Fallon!

That's what the
major said to me.

Pryce, quite unhinged in
the characters he does play,

and he looks evil, as well.

Fresh, Broom.

Fresh as new moon here.

This film was directed
by Freddie Francis,

who you may know made his start

with Amicus and Hammer,

doing some great
gothic horror for them.

And this is kind of a
continuation of that.

And you can see a lot
of the things he learned

with Amicus and Hammer,

the kind of level of detail
in the period pieces,

in the architecture,
in the costumes.

And that kind of gothic horror,

where you don't necessarily
need to see the killing.

Fresh bodies, fresh
bodies, fresh bodies.

You may just see a
shadow on the wall,

or the aftermath, just
that beautiful girl's

blood on her mouth.

The ultimate message in
"The Doctor and the Devils"

is if you want something
done, do it yourself.

But it's really well-done,

and I was actually surprised
how well this holds up.

This city has a
heart of goodness.

And the bowels of squalor.

For
a good time, call-

"Transylvania 6-5000".

Is good, huh?

"Transylvania 6-5000" is
an incredibly underrated

horror comedy, or should
I say comedy horror,

from the 80s.

It's got a lot of
really fun moments.

And the whole movie
just has this uplifting

jovial feeling to it.

Ah, Radu.

Yes, master?

Everybody involved
looks like they're having

an absolute blast.

You've got Ed Begley
Jr., Jeff Goldblum.

Every time I give you-

Two reporters
from a rag newspaper

are headed to Transylvania
to try to find Frankenstein.

So I'm counting on you guys
for a Frankenstein story.

I'm sorry, you're counting
on us for a what story?

My favorite part is
when they first arrive

in Transylvania, and they
ask a point blank question,

hey, where can we
find Frankenstein.

Frankenstein, you know
Frankenstein don't you?

Frankenstein?

Yes, the monster.

Ah.

Instead of just
laughing them off,

they drag it off
and humiliate them.

And then they get the
mayor to come out,

played by Jeffrey Jones,

and with the straightest
face possible,

says gentlemen, we're
in Transylvania.

Don't you want to
ask us about Dracula?

And then just
bursts out laughing.

I've got Godzilla
in the back room.

I like it, it's a good one.

How about the Blob?

It wouldn't be much
of a monster movie

without the monsters
actually showing up.

You got the mummy, a
Frankenstein monster,

a werewolf who looks
like Chewbacca.

Geena Davis as a vampire.

And then there's Kramer,
Michael Richards,

playing an Igor type.

Is good, huh?

Is funny!

Wearing funny goggles,

riding a mechanical
animal in a closet,

and slipping on banana peels.

Look, it's a
beautiful day today!

Whoa!

- Hey, hey!
- Oh!

Are you okay?

This one would make for
a wonderful double feature

with "Saturday the 14th".

They both have the same
kind of sophomoric humor.

And fun creature effects.

"Guinea Pig:
Devil's Experiment".

This is a found footage movie

in the faux documentary style.

It has title cards,
has an end card,

it's separated
into acts, almost.

It is about three guys
abusing this woman

in sequentially horrible ways.

And is absolutely gruesome.

And really effective,
because it's done in a way

where it does feel
the closest you'll see

to seeing a snuff movie.

It was made by Satoru Ogura,

who wrote and
directed it in 1985.

And the effects are inventive,

but it's not something
you can just sit down

with a packet of
crisps and eat it,

because you'll be
so grossed out.

It's a really interesting movie

that I wouldn't recommend
to too many people,

but I will say, the
sequels get more and more

and more interesting.

I am absolutely obsessed

by "Guinea Pig 5:
Mermaid in a Manhole".

That movie manages to
keep the grossness,

but add a really
heartfelt story in it.

In the first one, there was
absolutely no redemption

for these characters.

But in the later ones,
they give the characters

a little bit more
layers to them.

But they're still
doing the wrong things.

Women still end up dying,

people still end
up being tortured,

and even in my favorite
moment in "The Manhole",

he thinks he's doing
the right thing

by saving this
mermaid in the sewer,

but he is effectively
taken her out of her home,

and is slowly killing
her for the sake of art.

These "Guinea Pig" movies
are kind of notorious

as being the precursors
to torture porn.

Things like "Hostel",
things like that.

And I don't really
see that type of movie

coming back again,
because I think it was

really surrounding VHS,
and the ability to share

horrific images with people,

which you can do at
the touch of a button

with the internet now,

but back then, the feeling
of having something

that you shouldn't
have, a snuff movie,

and passing that around,
is really the reason

why there's so many
"Guinea Pig" movies,

and that's why also the
"Faces of Death" movies

in the western world
were so popular.

Spielberg once said to me

I would love to make a
really vicious horror movie.

You wouldn't believe some
of the dark ideas I have

that would probably
challenge Cronenberg

as far as going the
distance in shocking stuff.

But I can't do that
because of who I am.

That was when he was best known

for "E.T." and "Poltergeist",

and more family friendly stuff.

He felt that that
put him in a box

that didn't allow him to
go to the other distance.

The most impactful
horror films

will always come from some guy

in the middle of nowhere
with a bunch of friends

who've made a movie,
and it's really cool,

and is a huge success.

As soon as you have
a committee involved

in making a horror
film, it never works.

It's not a committee.

It's a singular vision.

Too many bones.

When you have one person
with one clear vision,

that comes through
in the final product.

So it's an important thing
that there is a director

that sees it through
from start to finish.

The lower the budget,
the more creative

a filmmaker can get to
realize their vision.

You just have to keep
everything in perspective.

We're making movies.

We're doing what we love.

I said I think my
ears are gonna explode.

I think that's really
an important part

of being a filmmaker.

I wanted to affect something.

And that at the
tenacity of the finish.

That's the whole thing.

Most people quit when
things get rough.

And they always get
rough.

Really the best directors
I've ever worked with,

they hire the right people.

And they trust their talent.

When I think about the
three great directors

that I've worked with,
the ones that come to mind

are John Carpenter, George
Romero, and Wes Craven.

They have a bunch
of things in common.

They all knew exactly
what they wanted.

And all three of them
kept a very calm,

very supportive set,
a very happy set.

Playing mind games,
that's not the way

those three men directed.

Cut.

Prints, thank you.

I would argue
that John Carpenter

was probably the most underrated

great American filmmaker ever.

And he's not probably
largely viewed that way

by people who should
view him that way.

He's certainly very
revered by most people

who like horror,
but he's much more

than a horror filmmaker.

Cronenberg, because
he was headier,

I think got more due,
and more acceptance

by the snobbier film community.

The relationship between
humanity and physicality

is something that
Cronenberg explores a lot,

whether it's "eXitenZ",
or "Rabid", or "Shivers".

"The Fly".

He regurgitates on
his food, it liquefies,

and then he sucks it back up.

It's a theme that he
would come back to a lot

Oh my god.

John Carpenter's biggest
influence on 1980s horror

was "Halloween" from 1978.

That really kicked
off the slasher boom.

And paved the way for
so many copycats after.

His legacy is that the
genre was taken seriously,

and he wanted to
give the audience,

not just a thrill, but
just show how movie making

can be an experience.

♪ Just the two of us

I didn't watch as
many horror films

as I should have during the 80s

because I was so busy.

But I remember a lot of the
movies I saw in the 70s,

"The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre" being a big one.

I loved that movie.

Tobe was a close friend.

Really upset by the
passing of Tobe.

A very sweet man.

Really wonderful guy.

He made the cinematic
experience for moviegoers

a lot more brutal I think
than they were used to.

The two greatest movies
that Tobe Hooper made,

"The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre", and "Poltergeist",

were both used against
him to say well,

he didn't direct one, and
the other one is crap.

And so he struggled
his whole life

to become more
accepted as a director.

I feel like every
movie Wes Craven makes

was like a statement
piece, was groundbreaking,

wasn't like oh,
here's a horror movie.

It was like, this
has changed the face

of what we're watching today.

He was making films
and having a blast.

He was very kind of, in the
New York intellectual scene.

Night and day different,

were Wes Craven's
movies and who he was.

George Romero,
for someone who made

such really creepy,
disturbing films,

he was such a bear.

Just a cuddly, sweet,
delightful presence.

My god.

George was a master, and he
was always ahead of his time.

That's what was so remarkable
about George's films.

They get better and
better with age.

Dario Argento, he was
consistently impressive

as a filmmaker, right up to
and including "Two Evil Eyes".

What's special about Dario

is his operatic
style of filmmaking.

He revels in murder.

He has a fetish for creating

these amazing murder set pieces.

Steward Gordon
was a provocateur.

He liked to make movies that
really provoked a reaction.

Stewart was the
king of the party.

He made sure that everything
was big and bold and body.

He has a different personality

with pretty much
every movie he does.

"Dagon" has a
different personality.

"Dolls" has a
different personality.

"Stuck" has a
different personality.

"Castle Freak", everything's
a little different.

Kathryn Bigelow,
in my estimation,

Mary Lambert, they broke
the mold a little bit.

They were very bold.

I think they knew they
were gonna be able

to find advocacy within
the studio system.

I think they had
that confidence.

And that confidence radiates
from those products.

Fasten your fucking
seatbelt!

It was very, very
difficult for women directors

to either put together
a film themselves,

or to get a job
directing any film.

Well come on, baby!

Light my fire.

Now it's opened a lot more.

But we have a lot to
ground to make up.

It was bad.

We're not as far
along as we should be.

Let's just put it that way.

We have to get to a point

where women are not labeled

as female filmmaker, or like me,

Mexican-Canadian,
blah-blah-blah, filmmaker.

Like, you can have
all the labels.

My last name's
already long enough.

I just want us to be
recognized as a good filmmaker,

and it's taken all this
time to finally get here.

But it's our responsibility
as storytellers

to challenge audiences,
and to challenge studios

to accept that.

Welcome to our house!

Puta!

We'll keep working hard.

And we'll keep
challenging everybody

that watches our
movies to accept it.

The Puttermans
finally got themselves

a pet, but they never even had
a chance to give it a name.

"TerrorVision".

"TerrorVision" was one
of the movies we made

during those amazing
three years or so

at Empire Studios
in Rome, Italy.

That's when that, you know
you conceive something,

you have a great poster,

and then it morphs into
something entirely different.

It was originally gonna be
a straight up horror movie

that this monster
comes out of the TV

and eats the family.

But Ted had this kind of
strange dark humor, and-

Whoa!

I just kind of pondered

how to make a monster coming out

of a satellite dish, have some
kind of social commentary.

You must heed my warning!

Its appetite is insatiable!

Its curiosity is boundless!

I had to capture
this moment of the 80s

about the overwhelming
garbage of television.

Channel 69, Pops.

Stanley!

Man, it exploded into this
technicolor kind of wildness.

Look out!

To the film's credit,
or maybe its detriment,

I don't know, I made
these characters

that are sort of
really reprehensible.

My parents wanna meet you.

Oh, whoa.

What a drag.

I wanted our monster in
"TerrorVision", Hungry Beast,

to be a sympathetic character.

Well, he's just a pet
who really couldn't help

that he was hungry.

John Buechler and his crew

were kind of like the Charlie
go-to makeup effects people.

John just looked at me like
I was completely insane.

Once we found the basic design,

John threw himself into it

and created this character
that is just like

the most doofus-y
looking monster

that you could imagine.

No!

It was big and
heavy and hot inside,

and required five
or six puppeteers

just to make him work,

and shipping him over to Italy

must have been just
ridiculously expensive.

♪ TerrorVision

That main title theme
is just so perfect.

Sets the time
period of the movie,

sets the tone of the movie.

We talked to Frank Zappa
about doing the score.

Then I talked to The Cramps.

But The Fibonaccis, the
quirky quality of their music

was perfect for the
main title song.

♪ TerrorVision

My favorite sequence
of "TerrorVision"

is the creature is
sitting in the big hot tub

watching "Earth Versus
Flying Saucers" on TV,

and laughing uproariously
as flying saucers

smash into the monuments.

The kids come in
and try to kill it.

That little sequence
there, to me,

kind of captures the
chaos and the humor.

Sis!

Sis!

I was so pleased
that it came out

as well as it did.

And then when it went
into the theaters

for its one week run,

it was a fucking disaster.

Nobody came.

The reviews just hated it.

Man, this is the
dumbest movie I ever saw!

What a bunch of crud.

But over the years, it's
been really satisfying

to see how it became
kind of like a

let's get stoned
and watch this film,

and that's like kind of
what it was intended to be.

I'm really happy that it's
reached as many people

as it has.

In "Rats: Notte di
Terrore", which is

"Rats: Night of Terror",
ragtag band of survivors

after the last apocalypse are
searching for food and water

in a no man's land.

They would find
evolution has taken

a pretty nasty turn.

This is a really
low budget movie,

and it's the first
movie where I'm a lead.

It was only a gag.

Listen up.

Gags we don't need.

Any more and I'll blow
your fucking brains out.

Get it?

They actually had cast
my roommate at the time

to play my role.

Completely different
type, American girl.

She's got red hair.

Completely different girl.

The budget was so low, she
goes I'm not doing that.

Somehow I guess
they heard I would.

Oh my god!

I
won't even tell you

what I got paid per week.

That's how low it was.

They were paying you by week.

Not Diana, no!

The script was in Italian.

But I did my role in English.

And then that movie,
everyone with the exception

of maybe two people,
could speak English.

And then everyone else
would be dubbed around it.

You made a bet with me
and you lost, Chocolate.

You know it.

Put it on my bill.

Tonight I don't feel like it.

Now here's a fun
thing about the set.

It's actually Sergio Leone's

old America from "One
Upon a Time in America".

All the saloons, and all
the stores they're going in.

It's the same set.

Mere weeks before,
De Niro was in town,

and he was everywhere.

You could see him anywhere,
and they were doing that.

And then we got to use the set.

Here's where my
four-legged friend came from.

Look.

There's a whole nest of
the sweet little things.

We don't have any
actual rats in the movie.

We have lab mice.

Because only lab mice
have the red eyes.

They dyed all of their hair.

It was a different
time, a different era.

I wouldn't say that all
of them were treated

the way we would do it now,

but we weren't going around

stomping on them, or anything.

And as you see the movie,
there's real no CGI.

You can tell we got rubber rats

on the roller, you know?

The movie was so low budget,

they recycled the dead ones

to throw on us in
the other scenes.

I've been on some
smelly sets before.

But you've never been on a set

that's been housing a
garbage can that big

of dead rats.

Suddenly they're
gassed, and they die.

And in the most feminine
faint in history,

I kind of faint like
this.

It was a good beginning.

If you haven't seen
the movie before,

pay great attention
to the last scene.

And if you have seen
the movie before,

here's the hint.

That's a split scene.

And I played both characters.

The terror
starts the moment you stop

for "The Hitcher".

It's a
straightforward thriller

that grips you
and never lets go.

Tobe Hooper used
to say horror films

are the new westerns.

Their mythology is all
about trying to reconcile

the evil within oneself,
the evil within a society,

the evil of a certain act,

with those who want
to correct it, fix it,

fight it, avenge it.

Don't you know who he is?

You got the wrong man, Lyle.

The monster in the film
is not a guy in a mask,

but he is exactly like Jason,
Leatherface, Michael Meyers.

He's simply hitching
a ride in the rain.

And this horrific story ensues.

You wanna know what
happens to an eyeball

when it gets punctured?

The movie truly only
has three characters,

and I love that economy.

It has C. Thomas Howell,
Jennifer Jason Leigh,

and Rutger Hauer.

He's one of the
scariest human beings

on the fucking planet.

His presence fills the screen.

That gun is empty.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Yeah?

It's a film about
being paranoid,

and knowing something
really bad is happening,

but nobody will believe you.

Jesus!

Oh my god.

He put that there!

He put that there!

To this day, when
I'm eating fries,

I always look at the
fry that I'm eating.

He's eating, and he gets
there, and it's a finger,

and you're like, fuck!

It's a finger!

They've got the
girlfriend connected,

chained up between
the two trucks.

Do something!

If we shoot him,
his foot is gonna come

off that clutch, and
that truck is gonna roll!

And he just looks
at C. Thomas Howell,

and there's that moment
of, is he gonna let her go?

TriStar released
"The Hitcher",

and they were a little skittish
about the script stuff,

is because in 1984, the last
horror movie they released

was "Silent Night Deadly Night".

And that only had
a two week run,

and it was protested
out of theaters.

So taking a chance on a
movie like "The Hitcher",

they saw this script,
and they were like

remove the slasher elements.

Figure it out.

"The Hitcher" was in
that crossover period

where things were
starting to get

a little bit less splattery.

Style, that 80s video style,

was starting to
permeate thrillers.

Directed by Robert Harmon,

written by Eric Red,

who also wrote "Near Dark",

which is another
example of that stylized

horror movie making.

Where are you from?

Disneyland.

The late great Rutger Hauer.

I could do a
complete dissertation

on just how fucking
unappreciated he was.

No!

He could have been the head
of every horror family ever.

You useless waste.

So good.

Something fantastic
in the 1980s

happened where they were like

"Gremlins",
"Critters", "Ghoulies".

There are tiny creatures,
they are going to take over,

and I'm into it.

"Critters".

They bite.

People kept
trashing "Critters"

for being a bad cheap
imitation of "Gremlins".

They're not the same movie.

No, the critters are fucking
gonna eat you alive, man.

It's attitude with an
emphasis on the drama.

I didn't even do nothing.

Boy, you shot her
with a slingshot.

It's really just the way
Stephen Herek approached it,

and took it seriously.

We want the Krites.

Oh really?

Who are they, some
new team?

It acts like a studio movie,

and it's a $2 million
little independent.

I love the little
country family,

completely innocent
of everything.

And boy, Dee Wallace
gives it her best.

Get out of my house!

We had so much
fun on "Critters".

I loved working
with Stephen Herek.

He was so easy to work with.

Always knew what he wanted.

And it was a tough shoot,

because we worked mostly nights.

The creature
designs in "Critters"

I remember thinking were
really funny when I was a kid.

Little creepy yet
adorable balls of spikiness,

and they have really
terrifying eyes and teeth,

but that's what
made them so fun.

The Chiodo brothers of
"Killer Klowns from Outer Space"

fame created the
Krites in "Critters".

With "Critters" there is an
element where you are scared

because you don't know
what's gonna happen.

They just seem in
it to destroy things

and kill people.

They didn't have the
big critter finished.

That's why in that one
scene, you only see his eyes

coming up through the window.

It was hard to stay in the fear

and everything that we had to do

because it was pretty funny.

We would be ready to do
this hysterical scene,

and Stephen would go
okay, roll them in.

Just roll
the little balls

across the set.

I did not have anything to do
with the Krite and E.T. scene.

Nothing.

And the fans that
are really fans

that are really knowledgeable,

they just get off on all
that stuff, and it's great.

I think it's wonderful
that directors

throw in all those
cross references.

A lot of people
make horror movies

just because it's the easiest,

or what they think
will be the easiest

stepping stone to a career
or a paycheck or something.

But there's a lot of love
and craft in that movie

that I really appreciate.

"Manhunter".

"Manhunter"'s based off
the novel "Red Dragon"

by Thomas Harris, who also
made "Silence of the Lambs",

and just like with
"Silence of the Lambs",

this is a movie that
critics have to refer to

as a thriller rather
than a horror movie

so they're allowed to like it.

The movie is about a killer
named the Tooth Fairy

who bites people's faces.

You can't call this
a horror movie?

Give a kiss.

William Peterson plays
a detective, Will Graham,

who's investigating
murders being committed

by this killer, who we
later learn is this guy

called Francis Dollarhyde,

and the reason the novel
was called "Red Dragon"

is because Dollarhyde
worships this painting

called the Red Dragon,
and identifies himself

as the Red Dragon.

You will lie awake in fear

of what the Red Dragon will do.

Francis Dollarhyde's
played by Tom Noonan

who also played Frankenstein
in "The Monster Squad",

and he's a very, very
effectively creepy villain.

He's up there with Buffalo Bill

from "Silence of the
Lambs", in my opinion.

Put the fucking
lotion in the basket!

As a testament to how
scary Tom Noonan is,

he can wear pantyhose
over half of his face

like he's Howie Mandel
trying to blow up a glove

with his nose, and
still be scary.

Well, here I am.

This was the very
first screen appearance

of Hannibal Lecktor,
except this time

he's played by Brian
Cox, not Anthony Hopkins.

And Cox as Lecktor
is a lot more subdued

than Anthony Hopkins,
but he still has

this quiet menace about him.

Would you like to leave
me your home phone number?

Even if he seems to
be cooperating with you,

he still never
really lets you know

what his true intentions are,

but you can be rest assured
that they're not good,

and he's smarter than you are.

I know that I'm
not smarter than you.

Then how did you catch me?

You had disadvantages.

What disadvantages?

You're insane.

At this point,
Michael Mann was famous

for the series Miami Vice,

and this movie uses
a lot of the same

color scheme, a lot of
the same use of music.

In a way, this could almost
be like a really scary

extended episode of Miami Vice,

and I think that kind of
ended up overshadowing

the movie a little bit.

Wes Craven, a very
groundbreaking filmmaker,

whenever his name was on a film,

I would always either go
and see it or rent it.

He definitely had a
shaky track record.

But it seemed like
he was always looking

to find something
that would catch on.

He was always doing these
very interesting stories

about how kids were
dealing with a lot

in terms of their family
dynamics, and things like that,

and we see that especially
in the movie "Deadly Friend".

"Deadly Friend".

She can't live without you.

"Deadly Friend" was adapted
from a story called "Friend".

They were trying to
make this love story.

A little bit of science
fiction element,

little bit of action,
little bit of horror.

We're pretty close approaching

the way a normal
human brain works.

"Deadly Friend" is
about a guy named Paul

who is a genius.

He's created this
robot friend named BB,

a robot with super strength
who thinks for himself,

and has emotions,
and feels things.

What could go wrong with
that kind of strength?

Well, turns out everything.

I'm side eyeing this robot here,

because that robot's a killer

just waiting for
an excuse to kill.

Sam was played by
Kristy Swanson,

who we love her as
the original Buffy.

Dad just will beat her,

which is terrible.

He yells at her, and then
throws her down the stairs.

You whiny little bitch!

Ow!

She dies.

Paul's like, I think
I can save her.

You're giving
her a robot brain?

Giving her a computer.

It's a battery powered
self-contained computer.

So now he has a robot's brain

in a human girl's
body, but she's dead,

so he has to hide her, or
else she's walking around,

she's a zombie, right?

And then it all goes badly,
and I'm glad it goes badly,

because it would be weird
if it didn't go badly.

She sort of becomes
this very interesting

kind of totem, in a way.

How she's able to
right the wrongs

of the way that
she's been treated,

the way other people
have been treated.

Elvira, played by Ann Ramsey.

She's that gun-toting
get off my lawn

times 40 Karen that
you could meet, right?

Who's out there?

What are you doing?

It's just me, Ms. Parker!

What is that?

BB!

But we love her.

We love Ann Ramsey from
"Throw Mama From the Train",

and from "Goonies".

We love her in that mean
scary woman character.

Damn kids.

BB picks up the ball,

and throws it at Elvira's head,

and her whole head explodes.

The whole head goes

That's my favorite
kill of the movie.

When they had
the movie together,

a studio watched it,
and they said, no.

This needs more violence.

It needs to be gory.

Because they're under
contract with the studio,

they went back and
shot gore scenes.

Then they were told
it was too much.

They needed to be trimmed.

So the creativeness is
pulled back from Wes Craven.

Another movie where
everybody had fun.

But I don't think
Wes Craven did.

♪ Rock and roll

"Trick or Treat".

The ultimate rock
and roll horror movie.

The perfect mixture
of the mythos

behind the heavy metal
culture in the 80s.

Just a great misfit
in high school story,

which I totally related to.

All right, so
"Trick or Treat".

You had Ozzy Osborne,
Gene Simmons,

and Skippy from Family Ties.

One of these things
is not like the other.

Rockstar Sammi Curr,

victim of a hotel fire.

Dead at age 38.

A rockstar dies, and then
this evil something or other

comes back as a rockstar.

I knew that "Trick or
Treat" was just candy.

It tastes sweet and
then it goes away.

It's a story of Ragman.

He is picked on, he's bullied

by pretty much everybody.

I wanna nail every
one of those bastards!

I don't know how,
I don't know when,

but I'm gonna nail them.

His hero is Sammi Curr,

who is demonic,
dark, in your face.

He ends up killing
himself in a ritual,

setting himself on fire.

His soul gets trapped
in the acetate demo

that Gene Simmons has.

This is very cool.

And then when you
play it backwards,

he comes back from the dead.

You.

Great cameos by Gene,

and then Ozzy as the Bible
thumping PMRC minister.

These evil people have
just got to be stopped.

And it's just so off the hook.

They were looking at a
lot of different rock stars

to play Sammi Curr.

Eddie.

We had a deal.

I didn't wanna be this
guy with leather studs.

I was much more
interested in the DJ.

It's party time, yeah!

This is the old
Nooser coming at ya

right here on this fine,
fine Rocktober morning.

It's the sweeping sensation,

like patterned
after Wolfman Jack,

who was a DJ at the time.

I just had two or three
weeks off between a tour,

and wound up doing it.

Eh, Ragman!

I remember I was so
excited to meet him.

I said to him, hey Gene Simmons,

can you do the thing
with the tongue?

And he said no, I only
do that for girls.

Tony Fields was genuinely scary

playing Sammi Curr.

Hiya, bud.

Boy, he got that
rockstar stuff down.

He could dance and sing
and move with the guitar

and jump off the stage,

and capable of so much,

and we lost him way too young.

The film script was
funnier and darker.

I think what we ended up with
was something in the middle.

Charlie Martin Smith was
directing for the first time,

"Trick or Treat", that
was his first time.

We had a kinship, a
nerd-like kinship,

that other directors
might not have picked me.

I have to be honest with you.

Keanu Reeves was up for it.

The gore is great,
the kills are great.

When he yanks the old
lady through the TV,

and she just immediately
turns to dust.

Uh, what the shit
just happened, dude?

This is insane.

We were blessed
to get Kevin Yagher

to do the special effects
and the makeup in the film.

It was the first time that
I had acted in a movie

with an imaginary monster, and
things happening, and stuff.

Oh.

Of course, the amazing
soundtrack by Fastway.

♪ Rock and roll

♪ Rockin' on a midnight

♪ Steal your soul

Just such a killer
collection of great tunes

that I still listen
to to this day.

♪ On a midnight

♪ Steal your soul

We were giddy, it was so good.

We were like, this is good.

If the film was successful
when it came out,

it wasn't successful enough
for them to do the sequel,

and I'm not still
living off of it.

If you think about all the
movies that are out there,

it's unimaginable that people
still care about this movie.

Un fucking real.

Heavy metal fans stayed true.

Marty
Rantzen is still a dork,

but tonight he's getting even.

Vestron Pictures presents
"Slaughter High".

April fool's!

"Slaughter High"
is about a kid

that gets bullied, and
years later at a reunion,

he comes back.

Starts killing.

It's a revenge film.

It's a horrible prank,
and a prank that went

horribly wrong for
everybody else.

I'm sorry, Marty.

We didn't mean to!

First of all, it was
called "April Fool's Day",

and of course, that's like the
American "April Fool's Day",

so we had to change the title.

It was meant to be
shot in the States,

and there was no budget, so
it was all shot in England.

Three directors.

George Dugdale, my husband.

Peter Mackenzie
Litten, and Mark Ezra.

They all took different roles.

Peter Litten did
the special effects,

so he'd step in and
do those scenes.

Mark was more the writer,
and George would be

very hands-on as the
physical director,

which worked really well.

Good friends.

I've never had that before,
but it was interesting.

Carol, my character.

Come on.

Come on.

She wasn't a very
nice person at all.

She was a bit of a tease,

and she thought she
was the bees knees.

And she was meant to
be an 18-year-old.

I'm sorry.

I was in my 30s at that point.

They were clever in the casting,

because they got people in
their late 20s and stuff,

so it didn't look
too out of place.

You filthy stinking
bastard, Marty!

What do you want from us?

There was a mix
of Brit actors,

and then we had about
four, five Americans,

so that made it credible.

Simon Scuddamore.

Very intense, and he
did a brilliant job.

He made Marty
totally come to life.

It was wonderful.

How do you want it?

Please, stop!

No!

And what they did, I
don't know why they did it,

it was just like a
pack of hyenas, really.

The scene with
the bunsen burner.

They did such a
good job with that.

No CGI.

All practically done
in front of your eyes.

It all sets on fire.

I think it's a
fabulous sequence.

It's a kind of
tongue-in-cheek play

upon other films that
were maybe more serious.

Given the budget, I think
it stands up quite well.

People seem to like it,
especially in the States

when I go there.

They say, we love it.

I say, what do
you like about it?

They say it's so cheesy,
we just love it.

Maybe it is a bit cheesy,

but it's cheesy and fun,

and the effects were
really well done,

and hopefully the
acting's okay.

Look, Manny.

The guy's weird, the
story's weird, and-

And what?

And you're weird.

"Class of Nuke 'Em High",
like all Troma movies,

was a movie ripped
from today's headlines.

There was a nuclear
power plant being built

about a quarter of a mile
away from the United States'

most populous city,
namely New York City.

And right next to where I lived,

so that gave me the idea
of let's talk about that.

But sir, if we could just
shut down for 48 hours-

Shut down?

They'll investigate us.

The EPA, the NRC.

"Class of Nuke 'Em High" is
like a Cuisinart of genres.

People really enjoyed the
mixture of humor and horror,

and social satire, and
politics, and violence.

It's an excellent film.

It's very entertaining.

It's got something to say
about pollution and radiation.

We have found no connection

between that unfortunate student

and this facility.

I almost killed
one of my kids in it.

That was kinda fun.

We had to have a motorcycle
run into a bake sale

with a lot of women with cakes,

and I put my wife and kid
right in the center of it,

so that if anybody got
hurt, you know, my fault.

Nothing happened, but
they came pretty close.

Well, the whole idea of
blowing up your school,

I always loved that.

And I think that was
one of the reasons

it was successful.

We literally destroyed a school.

Once it got into theaters,

we made over 100 prints.

A video cassette company called
Media Home Entertainment,

they sold over 500,000
video cassettes

around 200 bucks for
a video cassette.

You know, "Class
of Nuke 'Em High"

is still very popular with fans.

Nostalgic, too.

We've got all these young people

who are now in their 50s

who still like "Class
of Nuke 'Em High".

They want to see
the future, but now.

It's a good movie.

It's so good that there's
"Subhumanoid Meltdown:

"Class of Nuke 'Em High Part 2",

"The Good the Bad
and the Subhumanoid:

"Class of Nuke 'Em High Part 3".

There are five of them.

Tromaville High School will be

temporarily closed
for remodeling.

All right!

This is actually
based on a true story.

"The Zero Boys".

Dawn of a new breed of heroes.

This really did happen
upstate California.

There was a group of people
that would go paintballing,

and there was a maniac
that would kill them.

Somebody said I'm gonna write
a movie about this, and did.

In the movie, there's a
group, and they're called

the Zero Boys, because they
never, ever, ever, ever win.

But this one time, they won.

Do it.

The Zero Boys are the best!

Fucking assholes.

And they won my character.

And so she's very
unhappy about that.

I am so thrilled to
be with the champions.

Go on.

Show me what makes
the Zero Boys tick.

So they get up there,
and all of a sudden

something is wrong.

Jamie.

It was kind of more getting
into the torture thing,

like really kind
of sick and weird.

Directed by Nico Mastorakis,

who was this Greek guy who loved
action exploitation horror.

And Nico just delivers this
powerhouse of action movie

mixed with horror.

The running and the
hanging by our feet

and all that other
kind of stuff,

a lot of inventiveness with
weapons, and crossbows,

and things like that.

And this movie is
brilliantly photographed

by Steve Shaw.

Every shot of that movie
is almost like a painting,

especially when they're
out in the wilderness.

It was a lot of running
around in the woods,

that's for sure.

Everybody camped
together and went

we have a serious problem here.

What are we going to do?

And did it as a group.

You have to get engaged
with the characters,

and care about them,
or relate to them,

or have an opinion about them.

If you don't know
who these people are

on an intimate level,
then you don't care.

We wanna care.

My favorite kill
in "The Zero Boys",

he falls into this
pit of spikes,

and then you can't get out.

But it was a good
kill.

Joe Estevez played the killer,

and he looks exactly
like Martin Sheen.

Probably scarier, because
he has more experience

doing these kinds of things.

It was Hans Zimmer's
first American score.

Frank Darabont was on the crew.

I remember he was
telling us all about

how he had a story
that he bought

from Stephen King for a dollar,

and it was "Shawshank
Redemption".

"The Zero Boys" is under the
radar because it always was.

It was always an
underground thing.

What's scary about
"The Zero Boys"

is you could be doing
something that you love to do,

and be in mortal danger.

There's no place safe.

My real name is George Tani.

growing up, I was very impressed

with Ray Harry Haroldon movies.

"Jason and the Argonauts".

My dad took me to the theater.

He said it's gonna be fun,
it's gonna be a fighting movie.

It's like a skeleton, you
know, you're gonna like it.

And I said oh, that's great.

I have been watching
"Godzilla", and all those,

tojo and kaiju films.

When I saw "Howling".

The first time I saw the man
turned into the werewolf,

changing right in
front of my eye,

I was like, this is it.

And then you see more coming up

from Rick Baker, and Rob Bottin.

And then Dick Smith's
"Altered States".

The images of that
really made me decide

this is the way to go.

When I went to New
York studying in school

of visual arts, right in the
beginning of punk movement.

♪ God save the queen

I saw the art side of it.

Punk music really
gave me the art,

okay, we can do a
lot more on edge.

I can perform something
shocking to the people.

"Nightmare 4", my effect
was Debbie's roach,

the girl that hates
the cockroach,

and then she
becomes a cockroach,

and then crushed by
Freddie.

That's like Kafka,
you know?

And this is a surreal sequence.

The fake body, we take it off

so she can put her head out,

and fake arm, it breaks.

It's old trick, but the images,

and what happening,
really creep them out.

Everybody is like really, ugh!

That's gross!

I succeeded the illusion.

I'm very proud of that show.

It was Brian Yuzna.

We were really creating
the scene together.

Especially the
chanting sequence.

It's a real grotesque
orgy.

I love Dali.

Dali is the one that
made me really into art.

My crew was all
inside, you know?

Inside of that creature.

They can move.

That's why you don't
have to have expensive

mechanical movement, you know?

And the people can
move organically.

I put in my 200, 300% on it.

So my sleeping time is
really maybe average

of two hours a
day, or something,

during the show.

There was not much
budget, so I just have to

sculpt everything
myself, pretty much.

And fast.

Making things for
"Bride of Re-Animator",

we didn't have enough
time to shoot everything

that we wanted to do.

It was very rushed.

Herbert West, he does
a bunch of experiments,

so I can do so many
different idea.

The design comes in as
outrageous as possible.

You stupid biped!

Vietnam veteran,
Noble Craig, is an actor

who is amputee.

I've been working with him
since "Poltergeist II".

The vomit creature,
crawl across the room,

that is Craig.

And then "Big Trouble
in Little China",

sewer creature, the creature
comes out from a tunnel,

eats the guy, and then
comes back, right?

That's it.

It took three months
to make it.

That too, Noble
Craig is inside there

in special makeup effects.

I think that is one of
the evolutional happenings

happened in film industry.

When I was in Japan, first
I call myself Toshusi Mad,

and then I wanted
to have something

that is really crazy.

Mad is something that is
much more crazier than crazy,

I think, you know what I mean?

More power with it.

And then I remember
the blues singer

named Screaming Jay Hawkins.

If I use Screaming Mad George.

That sounds good.

Screaming Mad George
is my artist name.

"Witchboard".

"Witchboard" is the
reason I will not allow

a Ouija board in my
house to this day.

Don't come into my house
with a Ouija board.

All I ever wanted
to do was figure out

where I could get a Ouija board.

I wanna try this thing out.

Can you hear me?

That movie came out
right at the right time

for my puberty.

Tawny Kitaen, the
quintessential wow.

I had already seen her
in "Bachelor Party".

I'd seen her in all the
fucking Whitesnake videos

at that point.

♪ Well here I go
again on my own ♪

Doing flips on the cars,
and splits and things.

It was very impressive.

I'd really like to try this.

"Witchboard" is about somebody

who becomes obsessed
with the Ouija board.

David, do you remember me?

A Ouija board that then
opens the portal of hell

to a demon.

Ooh, that's a little spooky.

It's a little stupid.

It's a lot stupid.

The visceral horror and
gore that starts to happen

once the horror is
unleashed in "Witchboard".

It really scared
the crap out of me

in a really fun way.

It's the very first
film that we got

from Kevin Tenney.

This was a precursor to
"Night of the Demons".

He starts to frighten
and terrorize her,

gradually breaking
down her resistance.

And once that's done,
he's able to possess her.

The thing that Kevin
Tenney brought to the table

that set him apart from other
directors I've worked with

was his sense of humor and
his passion for horror.

Ouija board was copyrighted

so that he couldn't call
his movie "Ouija Board",

so he changed it
to "Witchboard".

It's pronounced
Ouija, not Ouij-i.

It comes from the French
and German words for yes.

Oui and ja.

Ouija.

It was great working with
the late great Tawny Kitaen.

You must be Linda.

She was fun to act with.

She had a little brown dog

that she brought on
the set all the time.

Jim, this is Zarabeth.

The best medium in
northern California.

When we did that seance scene,

every time they'd say action,

and I'd go like, whoo.

Pretend like the
boy was in my body.

I'd look over at her and
she'd be like,,

she'd start laughing, and
then we all start laughing.

And nobody could ever
pull it together.

And I was like, I can't do this!

It was so goofy.

But with the scary music,
when we finally got a take,

it worked, you know
they put a weird effect

on my voice or
something like that.

She hurt me.

She won't talk to me anymore.

Zarabeth to me is definitely
a highlight of "Witchboard".

Just some more psychic
humor.

Come on Brandy, let's
hit the musky dusk.

Her death is so gnarly, too.

They'd say action,
and then I'd get to

pretend like I land
on the sundial,

and I had got one of those
blood pills in my mouth,

and I did get to
go like,

and like split out blood,

which I adored.

They had taped the top
of the sundial to my back

so I ran down the set,

pretending like I was a shark.

I see danger ahead.

For Linda?

For you.

If you miss my house.

On "Witchboard", I had
so much fun laughing.

It's coming up on
the right!

A little more
psychic humor, huh?

With tears and
belly laughs everyday.

Tawny Kitaen.

When I saw that she died,

I felt loss, and sadness.

She was a blast, and
funny, and smart,

and lovely, and it's
weird for me to even think

that she's not around.

It's bizarre to me.

"Blood Rage", also
known as "Slasher",

and "Nightmare at Shadow Woods".

I mean it's like,
make up your minds,

will you people?

There's so few
Thanksgiving horror movies,

that I feel like this has
kind of had a resurgence

in recent years,
because everybody wants

a horror movie to
watch on the holidays.

Twin boys, one crazy, one not.

There's a mix-up.

One gets put in an asylum.

One's out loose.

Nobody in the movie knows.

Everyone in the audience knows.

Here's to the new family.

"Blood Rage" is about
a Thanksgiving meal

that just goes completely
awash in blood.

I'm not a fan of horror.

When I got "Blood
Rage", it was a new

genre for me completely.

I went to the video store, and
went to the horror section.

I literally had to go
and investigate it.

What, are you gonna try
and shoot me again, Todd?

It's twins.

You know?

So I'm going, are they kidding?

Do they know what they're
getting involved with?

That's a chore for most
people in any film,

let alone on a low budget.

I broke it down, Stanislavski,
building a character.

The psychopath, you know?

And then the other guy was
closer to what I usually played,

the sort of hate
yourself, low esteem,

I'd played a couple
of prisoners,

and stuff like that,
and mixed up kids.

Very intense.

"Blood Rage" operates in a world

where it's the family
Thanksgiving and murder.

Looks like you're
gonna get a chance

to meet the rest of the family.

My psychotic brother
just escaped.

It's the turkey
and killing people.

It's rich.

I'd say that this big
bird is ready for carving.

Why does this
make me so crazy?

Time to eat, let's all sit down.

It's time for dinner.

Look what the cat brought in!

Louise Lasser gives
110% in that movie.

She's incredible.

She was, god bless
her, a force of nature.

Mary Hartman was
seminal TV, man.

That was hot stuff.

You know, murder with
no reason, or no motive,

I mean really senseless,
when you think about it.

Do you think this is too
spicy, or not spicy enough?

She set the tone
for "Nightmare Mom".

She creates the
world for the film

Oh please.

Please don't do this to me.

She had that
voice, she would just

get into these states.

She was transformed.

Come give mommy a kiss.

That scene around
the refrigerator?

I mean, come on.

This is a woman who's
freaking out over food.

And it's so over the top.

I've been calling
you and calling you!

Why didn't you answer the phone?

Todd's here!

And he's killing again!

She was bringing it.

She got an applause on the set,

and I've only been
around that a few times.

It's bananas.

It's a movie where
no one in the movie

is making the same movie as
anyone else in the movie.

They're all singing
in their own key,

and the movie's all
the better for it.

It's unhinged, it's delightful.

Shooting a melodrama
like "Blood Rage"

is a whole different thing.

You can tear up the furniture.

You can do crazy stuff you
just don't normally get to do.

It's horror, low budget horror.

But this had a building audience

and a genre that had legs.

It was like heavy metal, man.

This ain't going away.

This is gonna be a
decades long thing.

Get used to it.

It's not cranberry
sauce, Artie.

It's not cranberry sauce.

They
have opened "The Gate".

Pray it's not too late.

One of the greatest
things about "The Gate"

is that for a lot of
kids at that time,

it became their
gateway horror movie,

because it felt
like a kids movie

that didn't play by
the kids movies rules.

Already filled it in.

Whoa, whoa!

"The Gate" is
about a group of kids

that dig a hole
in their backyard,

and find demons.

Hi.

Hey.

It's a PG-13 horror film.

I always saw it as a film

that the whole
family could watch,

that adults could
be sort of nostalgic

about growing up, and kids
could find an adventure in it.

Sacrifices.

We had so much fun
making that movie,

even though it was
very difficult.

Money was short.

All those people put
their heart into it.

The actors, the writers,
the special effects people.

We were able to pull the
most out of everybody.

The album, backwards!

Tells you how to close the gate.

It's like the first heavy
metal horror movie for kids.

They got their
lyrics from this thing

called the Dark Book.

It's like the Bible for demons.

So you have
somebody like Tibor,

who had a background working

in heavy metal music videos

coming in and being
able to infuse that

into this kids movie
is pretty astounding.

It's always much
scarier when horror

comes into the normal world.

Stephen Dorff was
just so cool to me

when I was a kid.

It seemed like something
that could happen to me.

I could look down in my backyard

and I was always sure
there was the potential

for a portal, monsters.

I always feel kids
can make great actors

if you can key into them,
you treat them like adults.

When they're in the
right frame of mind,

you can do amazing things,

and get very real performances.

We have to close the gate.

We have to go to the
hole and do it right.

You mean you guys were
serious about that demon stuff?

The main theme
of "The Gate" to me

is sibling relationships
and friendship

to overcome insurmountable odds.

You need your friends.

I think of all the
effects that they were

able to do in that
movie courtesy of
Randall William Cook.

I was already reading Fangoria

and I was into the
effect part of it,

like the technical part
of horror filmmaking.

I knew that we would have to
use an encyclopedia of effects.

There was no one solution
to all that stuff.

And thank goodness
that Randy was so good

at all of those things.

When the workman falls over
and breaks into the minions,

that to me is like a
seminal important moment

in the movie where you go wow.

Even I go wow.

But it is still cool as
hell to watch that sequence,

and I wish we got more movies

that tried to do stuff
like that more these days.

Like, I don't care if
it looks a little dated.

I don't.

Because it's still magic to me.

It's like a bespoke movie.

It's handmade.

It's kind of rough around
the edges that way.

That's what draws people to it.

They can see the love
that went into it.

"Rock 'n' Roll
Nightmare" is the story

of a band called The
Tritons, led by Thor,

who was a very popular
wrestler, rock and roller.

He was very popular
up in Canada.

So this band comes to
this tiny little farmhouse

on the outskirts of Toronto

to record their new album.

It's kind of like a vacation.

I like it.

You would.

Come on you two.

Don't start.

It turns out that
they are in a house

that had been possessed.

And one by one, they
start being killed off

by these demos.

Kind of this quirky movie

directed by John Fasano.

It's hard to call
these things demons.

They're puppets.

I can
destroy and destruct-

Demons that are rejects
from Fraggle Rock.

We talked so much
about the glorious age

of practical effects of the 80s,

but sometimes, they
were not so glorious.

My favorite monster effect

in "Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare"
is one that I did.

The chicken monster.

That was a really fun
project to work on.

And then I got to puppeteer it.

Jon Thor is a sweetheart.

He's always so positive.

He was up for anything.

♪ You get me any day

♪ Energy

It was November,
and we had that wind

coming off of Lake Ontario,

hitting you like a brick wall.

This house that we
were shooting in,

which had no electricity,
had no hot water,

and they're in a shower,
buck naked in this shower,

freezing to death.

I mean, that water was ice cold.

But the ending is
not to be missed.

I walked onto set, and
I saw Jon standing there

in this little gold
speedo, and codpiece,

and this gold lame cape.

And at one point, I looked over,

and I could see his
cape was starting

to spark and catch fire.

Oh my god, that would have been

just the icing on
the cake for sure.

Of course, you gotta love
the big devil at the end.

It was a disaster.

Nice effect, Randy.

It weighed 50 pounds at least.

And it was so unwieldy.

It was just a mess.

But of course that's
the scene that everybody

loves the most in that movie,
because it's so outrageous.

Like you have to see
this to believe it.

"Jaws" follows in a
line of horror films

where nature is out to kill you.

"Jaws: The Revenge".

It's just the idea
that meeting a shark

face to face in the water

is more likely than finding
Jason Voorhees in the water.

The Jaws sequels were
never like the first movie,

and so anytime they
sequelize something,

it was like, oh god,
what are they gonna do?

Lorraine Gary,
who once again stars

as Chief Brody's
wife, now a widow,

she travels to the Bahamas,

and what do you know?

That goddam shark
is still after her.

And she's convinced
that the shark

is following her family,

and she seems to have
some telepathic link

with the shark.

It's such a far cry from
Spielberg's original.

Just like the idea of a
shark being a slasher movie

villain that's gonna
follow these people

from Amity Island
to the Bahamas.

It has a grudge against
the Brody family.

It's just absolutely ridiculous.

- Their family-
- What shark is this?

A friend
of the other shark.

Is this like a
cousin, a nephew?

You got it.

They just

put that movie
together, really quick.

They cast all of us
before they even made

the arrangements with
the special effects guys.

They kind of did them
almost at the last minute,

and they were like,
wait a minute.

We can't do this, what
you wrote in the script.

We can do something like this,

but we can't do that.

So they had to
rewrite the scripts.

I got a script that I thought

oh, this is a pretty
good script, you know?

I believe it, I play this guy.

Everything this guy
does makes sense.

This is not gonna be stupid.

It's gonna be great.

About three days before
we started shooting,

I get a new script

that accommodates all
the technical stuff

that can be done.

For me, was like, oh god.

I couldn't make sense of it,

so I was pissed
off all the time.

We were like that, you just
try not to make it unbelievable

and it's hard.

I didn't know sharks
sound like that.

Jesus Christ!

What's great about
it is Christmas.

Who saw that coming?

Like, "Jaws 4: The
Revenge", Christmas Jaws.

♪ The first noel

♪ The angels

We blew through
most of the acting

in three weeks in that movie.

I was on that movie
for five months.

So there was a lot of
sitting out in the ocean.

We spent months
sitting doing nothing

because the shark didn't work.

We were shooting this one scene,

and it was in a little,
little tiny rowboat.

The whole boat goes down.

The battery pack that
powers the camera

is encased in plastic,
but it might leak.

So as soon as that
becomes submerged,

this hand grabs me by the shirt

with one hand, yanks
me out of the boat.

It was Michael Caine.

Get the fuck out of that boat!

I mean, I don't know that I
would have been electrocuted,

but that's what he was thinking.

So he just acted like that.

Hang onto your socks, lads.

Michael Caine saved
my life.

Oh shit!

Even
if you kill them,

they're still deadly.

"Creepozoids".

"Creepozoids".

Fun movie, little TNA

with a wonderful
director, David DeCoteau,

who remains one of
my closest friends.

"Creepozoids" is a very,
very, very low budget alien.

It was really fun,
because we did it in,

which then, was really
quick, seven days.

This place may not have all
the comforts of civilization.

Civilization doesn't
have all the comforts

of civilization anymore.

That's just my point.

There's this horrible thing

out after us that was
not from this earth,

and it's killing us one by one.

When you are doing
low budget things,

the monsters are
usually very fragile.

You had to be very
careful of these monsters.

So you're battling,
but holding back too,

because you could break them.

My mom came to set,

and both of us are
afraid of rats.

So what do they have?

These huge rats.

It didn't look bad,
that baby mutant,

but it was kind of silly.

It was a fun adventure,
because that was the first time

I really got to fight,
and be like, no makeup,

and a soldier.

I did, in "Creepozoids",
hae to battle a stuntperson,

which was interesting,
because they go all out

I'm like oh, I'm
gonna get killed.

I'm gonna get hurt.

Linnea and I go
back to a movie I made

1000 years before that,
which is hard to believe,

called "Fairytales",
and before that,

a movie called "Auditions".

It
became apparent that most

of the female applicants
were non-professionals.

The whole idea was
they would come in,

sign a release, get
paid I think $10,

because we made it clear
that their audition

was gonna be used in the movie.

And the girls had to
take their tops off,

because they had
to be kind of sexy

fairy godmother, Cinderella.

I forget the story.

Many years later,
suddenly she's back

as a more mature
still very young woman

in the lead of "Creepozoids".

When I did "Creepozoids",
this one girl

would not do a topless scene.

She was such a prude, I thought.

And she was doing all
this backstory on herself,

like who is my mother,
who is my father.

On a $60,000 film.

But she went on to big things.

She became a porn star.

And I was like, wait a minute.

You wouldn't take off your top.

Now you're a porn star.

Let's not turn this into
a slumber party, okay?

"Zombie Nightmare" is
the story of a young man

who is murdered,
run over with a car

by these bunch of teenagers.

His mother goes
to a voodoo woman

to bring him back to life

to take revenge on these kids,

these spoiled brats.

See look, I told you.

There's nobody here.

At the same time,
there are two detectives

working to try to figure out

who's killing these kids.

Let's not have any
more high school kids

turn up dead.

Understand?

The script was
actually much better

than the final film, that
John Fasano wrote, by the way.

It was about racial
tensions, also.

Pretty young thing
has just walked

into the wrong neighborhood.

I do believe you're
right, Mr. Barnes.

Hey, don't be so uptight-

I went to Montreal
with Adam West.

It was surreal.

It was like, I
can't believe this.

I'm acting in a monster movie

with my childhood hero.

Come on, Frank.

I'll buy you a drink.

Jon Thor, he actually replaced

the original zombie actor
in "Zombie Nightmare".

We actually filmed the
end of the movie first

so the zombie was still played
by Peewee, the stuntman.

And he's big guy.

I'm the young detective,
and I arrive at this garage,

and I get there
just in time to see

the zombie kill Tia Carrere.

Right?

Police!

Hands in the air!

He knocks the gun aside,

and picks me up by the throat,

and then throws me onto a car.

It's my first movie.

I'm fighting a monster.

This is what I wanted
my whole life, right?

Mystery Science Theater
discovering "Zombie Nightmare"

definitely saved that movie
from disappearing forever.

It's called
"Zombie Nightmare",

and it stars Adam West and ...

There's a scene when one
of the zombie characters

is essentially dying.

His mouth is open, and
his eyes have sunken back,

and there's all of this
mist coming out of him.

At the time I thought, oh wow.

That really looks good.

Maybe this is gonna
be good.

I had hope, anyway.

Kill me!

Kill me, Frank!

Frank!

"The Video Dead".

I love "Video Dead", because
it does something different

with the zombie genre.

We're given this weird
nightmarish suburbia,

where these zombies
are killing people,

but they all have a story.

They try to live.

Like, they try to adapt.

You have this haunted
TV that gets delivered.

And initially it
goes to a writer

in the opening of the film,

who's played by
Michael St. Michaels,

who would eventually
go on to become

the Greasy Strangler.

The TV somehow is a portal
for this zombie movie,

but also real zombies as well.

That's the first movie
I've ever died twice in,

and one time I killed me.

When I shot it, I was the
first 20 minutes of the film.

The distributor
didn't want that,

so they took out a
bunch of my scenes.

The hardest thing I
did in "The Video Dead"

was being dead.

That scene where
they open the door.

We had to do that
two or three times

because I could
not stop shivering.

Holy shit!

A few days later,
they called me up

and said would I be interested

in being in the movie some more?

I came back as Jack the Zombie.

The actor who originally played
Jack the Zombie had died.

I don't know how or why,

so they had a vacancy, and I was

the right height and
weight.

All those zombies
had personality.

They weren't just eating brains

for the sake of eating brains.

They were going places.

They were doing things.

Those are some of the
best zombies we have

of the entire 1980s decade.

The bride zombie, she's doing
all these domestic things.

And then you have the rockabilly
Flock of Seagulls zombie,

who's kind of like the
ladies man of the zombies.

My favorite scene is when
I'm the way too cool zombie.

Yes, I like you,
you know?

I could tell I really
creeped her out.

I really enjoyed working
with Robert Scott.

He really didn't
want anybody to know

that that film had
only cost $35,000.

It was shot on video,
transferred to film,

and then transferred back
to video again.

It was generating a nice
amount of money here and there,

prior to Avco Embassy
going bankrupt.

People were impressed
that I was in it.

I didn't have to pay
for video rentals

in a couple video stores.

This bar I hung out
at kept me drunk

for about six months,
because I brought in

a copy of the thing and showed
it at the bar.

People look at that
film, and they wonder

whatever happened to that guy.

And now they get their answer
in "The Greasy Strangler".

"Slumber
Party Massacre II".

If you go, don't go all the way.

Oh god, anybody
got any tranqs?

A lot of us straight boys

used to wonder in deep thought

about what must be going on

when girls are having
a slumber party.

You look like a big chicken.

Bawk, bawk, bawk!

I love the "Slumber
Party Massacre" series.

They're all written
and directed by women,

and that shows in the
content of the film.

One of the cool things about
"Slumber Party Massacre 1"

is that it's really
satirizing the slasher genre

at a time when the
conversation around

whether or not slasher
films were feminist.

But "Slumber Party Massacre 2"
takes that and runs with it.

Come on baby!

We gonna rock and roll!

"Slumber Party Massacre
2" is actually a meta film.

A comment on those
kinds of slasher movies,

at the same time that it is one.

Plus, it's a musical.

♪ I love to jam
it to the floor ♪

♪ Let its wild parts roar

I was working
for Roger Corman,

and I said Roger, I'd really
like to direct something,

and he said, okay.

I have something you
can direct immediately.

He said "Slumber
Party Massacre II".

We have to make it, because
I've sold all the rights to it.

"Slumber Party Massacre
II" is about some girls

who get away for a slumber
party at a cottage,

and it's interrupted by a
musical icon serial killer,

who is going to
sing and kill them

with his crazy guitar.

Yoo-hoo!

I'm home!

What could be more evil

than a weaponized
electric guitar?

To drill poor innocent
victims' heads in?

I couldn't think of
anything that represented

the phallic nature of rock music

any better than a guitar
that had a drill on the end.

Atanas Ilitch plays
the driller killer.

And this is Atanas
Ilitch's only album.

If you look, he's holding
a cat on the back.

He was full of lots
of enthusiasm and ideas,

and I didn't have
a choreographer,

so he and I had to make up his
"Let's Buzz" dance together,

and the chorus was

♪ Let's buzz

He's out there.

♪ Let's buzz

It was a sexy song.

My favorite two things
is the dead chicken

that jumps out of
the refrigerator

onto Crystal Bernard's chest,

and spews weird liquid
out of its cut neck.

The other one is
they're driving away,

and the Driller Killer, of
course, is in the backseat,

and he drills the kid who's
driving through the seat.

It sold a tremendous
amount of video cassettes

which was what Roger wanted
to sell at that point.

He said it made over $6 million

on a $390,000 budget.

It actually got
banned in the UK.

They wrote a letter to Roger

saying you can't show
this film in the UK

because it's a particularly
virulent combination

of sex and violence.

I wish I had a copy
of that letter.

They sounded extremely offended.

The way she broken my heart,

it made me cry,

so don't you know
she had to die.

The 80s, like any
other film decade,

was about transition.

I think that there was forward
motion in a lot of fronts,

and there was backward
motion in a lot of fronts.

Move lady, or
I'm gonna blow off

your old man's 'acho bizeezhiis!

The 80s was before we were PC.

Gay people, black
people, Asian people,

in the 80s movies were
always the butt of the joke.

And we just dealt with it.

We were just used to it.

Urban stereotypes of black
people, Asian stereotypes.

And yes, they were harmful,

but we weren't as aware
that they were harmful,

because we just had not
awakened ourselves yet.

No!

I think stereotypes are
stereotypes for a reason,

because there's a
lot of truth in them.

But I also think that the
80s is more complicated

and messier than
just a reductive,

the black guy dies first rule.

I look back at Romero,
"Night of the Living Dead",

a black leading man.

Very bold move on his part.

He wasn't there as a
symbol of a black man.

He was there just as a man.

What people don't give
Romero enough credit for

is that in his zombie
trilogy, Romero's always

putting the underdog
at the front.

Get out of the way, bitch,

or I'll go right
through you with this.

We're getting to
make this a habit, man.

"Night of the Comet",
we had a Mexican man

as the male lead, which,
because it's Los Angeles,

we didn't think
anything of that,

but everybody else
was like, whoa!

Jeez!

There goes the neighborhood!

In those days, it was
defiant to cast a Latino.

I would be very happy
when I would watch

a horror movie
back then, and see

the kind of diversity
that did show up.

Want one?

Because representation
is such a new idea,

because sometimes you don't
know what you don't have,

until you start to get it,

and then you're like, oh.

We didn't have this before.

Oh, look at that face.

Okay do the other one.

I'm from a Filipino family,

and our culture was never
represented.

Unfortunately, even
today, we're very limited.

Looking back on the way
casting was in the 80s,

I know it can be easy
to be upset at the past,

but it was of its time,

and it was kind of rough.

No!

No!

In the rare instances
where you do see yourself

represented onscreen, or
something that is even

closely akin to you, and
it's shown in a negative way,

or there's violence being
done to this person,

it weighs on you.

I feel like we can
learn from our mistakes,

but not beat
ourselves up about it,

and not feel like we
have to change the edit.

I don't think we
need to throw away

representation
that isn't perfect,

and in the 1980s,
representation was not perfect.

It's important to remember
what the social context is

when something's made.

We should be talking
about our history.

There's a reason why
this isn't okay now,

and was happening then.

Context, context, context
is what's important

when it comes to these films.

Doesn't it bother
you that he's a fag?

Come on-

Tell me, Billy.

Are you a fag?

We need to talk about
more than just the word.

We need to talk about what
the word was doing there,

and who put it on that page.

Every filmmaker,
their upbringing

influences their storytelling.

With that in mind, I began
to make my own films,

and I began to
write my own films,

and I began to
create opportunity,

not only for myself,
but for everyone else.

What do you make of it, Mark?

Beats me, Chief.

Seems like the work of
pathological weirdos.

Representation being
a double-edged sword.

I'm really getting scared.

I can't take back
any movies I did,

and I don't want to.

I represent as far as
I can what I look like

in the group of
people I come from,

but I never pretended,
and I don't say

I'm speaking for everybody.

I just have my little lane,

and I try to stick to my lane.

When you look at
horror of the late 1970s,

early 1980s, we start to see

actual queer
representation trickle in.

We see gay guys kicking
ass in films like "Siege",

and "Savage Weekend".

That was getting way
more normalized in the 70s,

and then when AIDS hit,
they all got shoved

back in the closet pretty hard.

Suddenly, there is very
much no longer an interest

in having queer characters
normalized in those films.

It was a big
elephant in the room,

and I think a lot
of horror filmmakers

didn't want to bother
navigating that.

It's part of the
evolutionary process of horror.

For me, like it was such
an educational process

to be able to go
back and look at how

we've changed, and
how our dialogue,

and how our discussion of
these movies has changed.

Oh god, she's a boy.

It's hard to compare the 1980s

and representation in horror
to what we have today.

Because what we have is
a conversation happening

that's asking for what we
want our future to look like.

I look at everything
that happens in the past

as opportunities to do much,
much better in the future.

It was once said to me that
representation is a journey,

not a destination.

So to me, representation
in the 80s

is a work in progress.

Representation now is
a work in progress.

There's forward movement, and
there's backward movement,

but you can't snapshot it
and say this is what it was.

Because I think it's
a more complicated

messier picture than that.

"Return of
the Living Dead: Part II".

Just when you thought
it was safe to be dead.

I love a good
zany horror movie.

Zombie content right
now is very serious.

It's all about
society and humanity,

and what does humanity mean.

This movie, it's
fun to watch zombies

just be ridiculous.

"Return of the
Living Dead: Part 1"

is truly a dark comedy.

You're laughing
at the situations

the kids get themselves into,

and "Part II" kind of
went for the jokes.

It's less of a sequel,
and more just kind of

a goofier remake
of the first one.

"Return of the Living
Dead II" shows that

even if you die in
the first movie,

you can still come
back for the sequel.

Not bad.

Nice bit of rump
in her time, huh?

James Karen and Tom
Matthews from the first movie

come back for this one.

They're kind of
filling the same role,

and basically have the
same arc as the first one,

so they sort of are playing
the same characters.

We've been here before!

It's like a dream,
this whole thing!

You, me!

"Return of the Living Dead"
was a huge hit in Japan,

and they said if you
can have Jimmy Karen

and Tom Matthews come
back, we'd give you

a little bit more money.

So that's how Jimmy
and I got involved

back in it again, was
because of the Japanese.

Jimmy Karen, lot of
people on the East Coast

call him the Pathmark man.

March rolls in with
hundreds of price reductions

in this new Pathmark circular.

So he would give weekly
specials every week

for 30 years.

24 hours a day, you'll save

with one stop
shopping at Pathmark.

He was so
infectious on the set.

Raised everybody's game up.

You laugh at the situations
we get ourselves into.

You can't believe the
shit that's going on.

Are you fucking kidding?

That's insane.

That's what you're
responding to.

We're acting it for real, man.

It's the dead!

They've come back to life!

The dead?

Dead, dead what?

People!

We need your car!

Well it sounds to me
like you need a hearse.

I had an issue
with Jimmy Karen

eating brains, actually,

because the director wanted
me to eat frickin' brains,

and I was like, that was just
so over the line, I thought.

I got really upset
about that on the set.

I had issues with
him, Ken Wiederhorn.

It's like he lost a bet
and had to do the movie.

Hemdale made him do
it to do other movies

that he wanted to do.

It's a sad story of Ken
Wiederhorn and his career.

He came right out of the
gate with "Shock Waves",

he had "Dark Tower"
that he wrote

that was completely butchered.

"Meatballs II" was never
a "Meatballs" movie.

It was a movie that he made,

and the company was
like, we need a sequel.

And they retitled it.

And this happens again.

I mean, Ken has the script,

and it's not really
a zombie comedy,

but they want to make a
"Return of the Living Dead II".

He just really wasn't interested

in doing the movie,
but he did it

Oh, fuck this!

The strengths of "Part II"
that people really enjoy,

I think the fact that the
main character was a kid,

so they have an emotional
connection to the movie.

Brains!

I've never heard anyone say

that they've hated "Part II",

except for me.

This is big fucking trouble!

I've changed my
mind since then.

You've got
to give the devil his due!

"Sorority Babes".

"Sorority Babes in the
Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama"

is about these kids
that think, okay,

we're gonna break into a
mall, in the bowling alley,

and steal a trophy.

Come on, man!

I'm working on it.

Will you cool your jets?

Things turn out really bad,

because they awaken this imp.

Such a sour face!

Stop it, you little prick!

Very funny imp,
but very menacing,

and does bad things.

Have a nice trip!

See you next fall!

I crack me up!

It's that story
of the monkey's paw.

Be careful what you wish for.

Gold!

Lots of it!

Then gold it is!

This isn't gold!

These people
make these wishes,

and they go so bad,
it's not even funny.

Oh perfect form!

Lovely form!

Now I come along, and
my name is Spider in it,

and I save the day.

When I got the script,
it wasn't called

"Sorority Babes in the
Slimeball Bowl O' Rama",

it was called "The Imp".

We had no idea what
the imp would be like.

We didn't know what
it would sound like,

we didn't know what
it would look like,

because no one was there.

We just had to pretend we
were looking at something.

We had no idea it
would be a funny voice.

Uncle Imp is gonna get ya!

Fun, fun, fun!

Dukey Flyswatter was in a band

called The Haunted Garage.

He was a great guy and
everything, to work with.

No, that's his real
name.

I don't know what
his real name is.

It's probably Howard,
or something like that.

Would I lie to you?

"The
Serpent and the Rainbow".

When I think of the movies
that Wes Craven created

that really moved me and
challenged me as a viewer,

"Serpent and the Rainbow"
is definitely at the top

of that list.

I love "The Serpent
and the Rainbow".

They have this dust that you
can put into people's faces

and they become a zombie.

So you could bury them,
they could come alive again.

It is Wes Craven's
take on the zombie film.

Everybody was kind
of trying to chase

what George Romero did with
"Night of the Living Dead".

It wasn't until "Night
of the Living Dead"

that people even started
talking about ghouls as zombies.

Zombies were Caribbean.

Zombies were in "I
Walked With a Zombie",

you know, "White Zombie".

That was kind of zombies.

But now, zombie
became synonymous with
living dead people.

The whole meaning of
the word got screwed up.

Wes Craven is inviting us

to learn the history
of these monsters

that we're fascinated with.

This comes from him
being an academic.

He goes back to the
root of the zombie,

and he goes back to
Haitian folklore.

It's very much about the
idea of wealthy white people

trying to steal
cultural heritage

away from Haitians.

Now, if you don't
like the word zombie,

you can choose another word,

but the fact is,
somebody brought him

back from the grave,
and I want to know

how they did it.

They send Bill
Pullman's character there

to find out what is the secret

to immortality, essentially.

He thinks that he
understands these rituals,

and that he is above them,
he is a man of science,

but then he discovers
that he doesn't really

know it at all.

Whatever happens,
death is not the end.

Wes Craven is a
great, great director,

and comes up with great ideas.

Really fantastic
effects in that movie.

Some of the camera tricks
that they're able to do,

especially in the
sequences with the coffin,

when it fills with blood.

It's just phenomenal.

The dream sequence
with the zombie bride,

a snake comes out of her skull.

I mean, that is
incredible imagery.

You dreamt of me
and of the grave.

I know because I was there.

Zakes Mokae in that movie
is absolutely terrifying.

Bill Pullman really,
he had to put up

with a lot for that movie.

I want to hear you scream.

Where he's basically
in a chair, nude,

and a nine inch nail
that changes a lot.

You see it once, you're never
gonna forget that moment.

And get out!

"The Serpent and the
Rainbow" feels the most

like who Wes Craven
was as a person to me,

because he is
interrogating the way

that our society functions,
and our fear of death,

because I think
ultimately, a fear of death

in this film is a fear of
losing power and influence.

He has always reinvented horror

as a means to teach us
either about ourselves,

broader society, or about
the sins of America,

the way we extort other
cultures for our own gain.

Don't let them bury me.

I'm not dead!

When I really think
about all of my memories

on the set of "Sleepaway Camp",

we were just one big family.

One of the most magical
times of my life.

I was a 13-year-old
making this fun movie.

Spoiler alert, I mean
the first penis I saw

was my own penis, you know?

It was like, this was a
movie like none other.

Once you find out
what the ending is,

you start to understand
the deeper meaning.

And there's a lot going on.

Your gender identification,
your sexual orientation.

It was never intended to have

any kind of negative connotation

on any aspect of life.

Goodnight, campers.

"Sleepaway Camp 2".

Michael Simpson called
about portraying Angela

possibly in Parts 2 and 3.

It was the late 80s.

We were seeing more comedy.

And I just didn't take very
well to that character.

Wake up, everybody!

Breakfast in half an hour!

I put it on hold.

I'm young, let me go to school.

Robert Hiltzik made this
movie, and it was great.

So when Robert wrote the sequel,

he continued that dark
movie that was made,

and the producers
were like, nah.

We want to really
play into Angela.

Fritz Gordon is actually
Michael Hitchcock,

who wrote Glee.

He was brought in to
write the horror comedy.

There's lots of good kids.

We just have to
weed out the bad.

But it's mainly one liners,

and just kind of
Pamela Springsteen

taking this Angela character,

and just amplifying it so much.

Say no to drugs.

She brought so much energy.

That was an Angela that was fun.

You talk too much.

Also, them playing with
the transgender character,

fully a woman, has completely
undergone everything.

A surgery and all.

You're Angela Baker,
the angel of death!

They should have
called you Peter!

My name is Angela Johnson.

A Bruce Springsteen sister.

She kept it secret.

She wanted to be an actress,

but I guess it wasn't for her.

She ended up doing
photography instead.

Some of Bruce
Springsteen's album covers

is Pamela Springsteen's
photographs.

I was once a camper myself.

She's the boss' sister.

She was born cool.

Angela is killing
because she's bullied.

She's weeding out
all the bad kids,

and she's on top of it,

and she doesn't care
what anyone thinks.

Please, don't!

Sorry!

Once I start a task,
I always finish.

It has some kind
of cruel deaths,

like shoving somebody
down a Porta Potty.

What's down there?

The leeches
attached to her face,

she's obviously covered
in poop and pee,

and it's just like, ugh.

What a horrible way to die.

I love that outhouse scene.

That was disgusting!

It's a perfect,
perfect, perfect blend

of horror and comedy.

A lot of people say
"Part 2"'s my favorite,

and I think that's fantastic.

I do wish I had
played those roles.

I do.

I always say I have
no regrets in life.

None.

But I do regret that.

Even if you're
sad, you gotta eat.

Isn't that right, Leah?

Just would have
been super cool

to feel like I had done
the entire franchise.

I think the series
is empowering.

I've watched it over 40 years

grow into this, you know,

it has a life of its own.

"Sleepaway Camp" is
so interesting to me.

I still have so many questions.

I'm completely cured.

If I wasn't, they
wouldn't have let me out.

"Don't Panic" really
feels like it was

made by a fan for fans.

One!

Two!

Three!

This 17-year-old
boy has a party

where his friends surprise
him with the Ouija board.

And if you thought this movie
was about the Ouija board,

oh you thought wrong.

In Spanish, "Don't
Panic" was called

"Dimensiones Ocultas", which
means occult dimensions.

At that time, the only way
was to shoot in English,

sell it in the
international markets.

We tried to hire actors
that were English fluent,

and that had an
international look.

Let's look at the
character Michael.

That's what I call a pullet.

You have a perm on your mullet.

And you're wearing dinosaur
pajamas at 17 years old.

They're after me.

They're gonna get me.

Don't worry, baby.

I won't let anybody hurt you.

I always get questions
about those pajamas.

They seem to be the
most memorable aspect

of "Don't Panic".

Michael.

This time you have to stop him.

Don't fail.

What the fuck?

It almost felt like a
medically induced dream fever.

It was just so out there.

Hurry!

Do you believe in Satan?

Roberto Palazuelos is playing

the character of
a tough bully guy.

He goes inside the car,
sticks his head out

from the window.

What Screaming Mad
George did for us,

he made a piece of prosthetic,

like a retractable
knife inside the mouth.

And then when he
opened his mouth,

you could see the blade pop,

and the blood come
out of the mouth.

I think it was a very good kill.

It really became a success

when video came out.

And then we started
getting requests

from all the world.

We sold it in United Kingdom,
Japan, China, Germany.

I've gotta save Christie!

Please listen to me!

It scared the shit out
of the audience.

You want to play games?

Good.

I like games.

Say your prayers.

"Lady in White".

"Lady in White" is a
particularly strong example

of gateway horror.

That was one of the scariest
movies I saw as a kid,

because it's dealing with
very, very dark material,

and it's stuff that could
happen in real life.

The titular lady in
white is a ghost,

but what this movie
is really about

is a child killer.

It was seven years
between "Fear No Evil"

and "Lady in White"
before I got back

behind the camera again.

It was a remarkable experience,

such a far cry from
"Fear No Evil".

What I wanted to do this time

was really try to make something

that was personal on an
autobiographical level.

A beautiful story
about what it was like

growing up in that era,

and combine it with
this ghost story,

that drives it thematically,

and perhaps more
so commercially.

It's like the most
cinematic version of Halloween

that you can have.

It smells like Halloween,

like you watch that movie,
and it tastes like candy corn.

The seasonal feel.

We began during the fall,

and the moved into
the winter months.

I wanted a contrast
between the darkness

that was going to
happen in the film,

and these beautiful
bucolic moments.

Hey!

The first image
that came to mind

for "Lady in White" was
this image of Frankie

being locked in the cloakroom.

Comforted
by their ancient voices,

and I began to dream.

Lukas Haas plays
Frankie in this.

I'd seen him in "Witness",

I'd seen him in "Testament",

and I knew that this
kid was extraordinary.

He had an innate ability
to express his feelings.

That's what acting's all about.

Mom used to say sometimes
when someone dies violent,

they can't rest in peace.

The story is as much
about a time and place

as anything else.

A key character is a black man

who gets caught in the
madness of what's happening,

what's going on in that town.

Dealing with issues of race,

particular as it
relates to the lady,

what was going on in that era,

and being truthful as
to how people spoke,

how they reacted, how they dealt

with each other between races.

I wanted nothing but the truth.

Harold Williams is
a perfect scapegoat.

He's black.

When it comes to pure
cinematic drive and force,

I think the climax
works beautifully.

I think that theme of loss

and coming to terms with loss

and dealing with
loss is universal.

My mommy's lost
and I can't find her.

The "Lady in White",
it fucked me up.

Seeing it as a kid, in a
way that it just becomes

like embedded in you,
and become a core memory.

10-year-old
Melissa N. Montgomery

was the first victim believed
to have been murdered.

I'm glad that people
are still discovering

"Lady in White".

It continues to remain
somewhat hidden.

It's fun for me.

I already told him.

Her mother is the lady in white.

I'm awake!

"Dream Demon".

"Dream Demon".

The movie was
about the fine line

between dreams and reality.

I think I'm awake, and
then I keep waking up.

This is crazy.

You better call that
doctor friend of yours.

My character was
like a punk rock chick

connected to this English girl.

Wake up, Diana!

Come on!

Wake up!

Diana, please!

Ultimately we realized
that through our dreams

and in our ability to
crawl into our dreams,

I think that we
ended up bonding.

Cheers.

Now wake up!

Come on, wake up!

Wake up!

Stop!

I loved working
with Gemma Redgrave.

She was like my best friend.

No that's, no that's,
that's very good.

That's really very good.

Timothy Spall and Jimmy Nail.

I remember having
good laughs with them.

Hey come on, leave her alone.

What do you think
she is, dog meat?

Piss off, darling.

We're the press!

Oh yeah, well
print this, dickhead!

It was an adventure,

some groundbreaking
special effects.

All of these art director types

that got to really stretch
out their creativity

and just be as
gross as possible.

So I'd be like, huh.

She's crawling
through slime today.

The script was peculiar.

They had so many rewrites,

and the director
was kind of a nut.

They wanted me to stand in front

of these six foot flames.

It's hot, right?

The director was like
okay, you're gonna come in

in front of that
flame, and I'm like,

how about this, fuck
no I'm not gonna stand

in front of, and then
he got really mad at me,

and I was like, I'm not
standing in front of that.

That is dangerous.

Forget you.

You stand in front of it.

He's like, all right fine!

He stands in front of it,

and he singes the
back of his hair.

I have not worked with
Harley Cokeliss since.

I don't think I was his
favorite actress.

Diana!

The most challenging aspect

of working on horror films,

it's me screaming and crying.

It's me bringing to life my
own personal freaking fear,

so I guess bringing your
own reality to the screen

is the trickiest bit.

But what a blast.

I'll do it any day of the week.

Pay me.

Where's my mark?

Anybody who thinks
it's a good idea

to get shaved by a monkey

needs to reassess
their life plan.

You're not gonna hurt me.

I'm part of you.

"Monkey Shines".

A leap into terror.

"Monkey Shines"
is about a mind meld

between a man, who
suffered a horrible injury,

and this monkey.

You're giving me a monkey?

How am I supposed to
take care of it, Jeff?

The idea is that it's
gonna take care of you.

He ends up becoming telepathic

with this monkey, and
the monkey ends up

becoming kind of
jealous of the people

that are close to our main dude.

Allan-

And the monkey starts to enact

a lot of the rage that the
quadriplegic is experiencing,

and people start to be killed.

It sounds all
very far-fetched,

but the way that
Romero handles it

is completely expert,
and a perfect example

of what a great
filmmaker Romero was,

even out of the zone of zombies.

Yeah, yeah.

I made up a formulation
based on human memory cells.

I've been injecting
one of my monkeys.

George sets the tone.

Come on, give it right here.

Now, now.

- Thank you.
- Good girl.

It was a fun set to be on.

Jason Beghe.

I liked Jason a lot.

He was a very intense guy.

Don't.

Do not.

Don't do it!

Goddam you, you-

I think it was a lot
more pressure for him.

He was carrying
that film, really.

I love monkeys!

Monkeys are awesome!

Well, not so much.

Kind of scary, really.

I really wanted to
love the monkeys,

but truthfully, I
had to really fake

not being scared.

Hey, company's here.

Come on.

They're very strong.

In the pivotal scene,
monkey's trying to drug me

with this hypodermic needle.

I had to wrestle
with the monkey.

And a lot of that was a puppet.

But there was one short time

where I was actually holding on

to a real monkey.

Ella, no!

I can't say I had a lot
of affection for them.

But I faked it really well.

And we had that love scene

that was one of the
more challenging scenes

I've ever had to do.

As a young boy,
watching that sequence

and wondering about how this guy

was going to have an
encounter with this woman

that we knew he liked,

and the way that happened,

the harness thing for his bed,

and this monkey's watching,
like getting angry.

That movie's messed up, man.

We were in it together,

and we got through it.

I do believe we
drank a little bit

of champagne during it to relax,

because it's so hard, these
intimate scenes, you know?

With a crew.

It's a scene I'm
actually pretty proud of.

"Monkey Shines"
is George Romero's

first studio movie.

The movie was taken
away from him and recut,

after he added things
that they asked for.

The original ending
was much darker,

and they hated that.

I wish we could see
George's original vision.

It's what happens when
you work for a studio.

The movie's not yours.

Even if it wasn't
appreciated at the time,

I think anybody who
appreciates George

is gonna take another
look at any of his work.

It's an interesting story.

It has survived better
than I would have thought

at the time, that's for sure.

"Black Roses".

The hottest band
this side of hell.

A big heavy metal
band is coming

to do a series of concerts,

and the parents in the town
are very much against it,

because you know, rock and
roll leads to the devil.

The fact that we had
Julie Adams in the movie

was a thrill for all
of us monster kids,

because she was in "The
Creature from the Black Lagoon".

Their satanic music
and subversive lyrics

threaten to undermine the
very fabric of our society.

John Fasano.

We did four movies
in four years.

John and I had known each
other since elementary school.

And so now, here
comes the biggest thing

to hit Mill Basin ever,
and they try to stop it?

You call that good?

When the investors saw
the first cut of the film,

they were like,
it's a little short.

It needs more monsters,
and more boobs.

So we shot these
additional sequences.

I did do some special
effects for the reshoot.

John wanted her hand
to be starting to look

like it was changing, so
I sculpted an appliance.

She's there, and she's sort of
caressing herself like this,

and I'm just going like,
nobody's looking at that hand.

Mike Maddi designed
this creature.

It was like bald, and
had these huge fangs,

and these long, sinewy
arms, and talons.

And it took five of us
to work that puppet.

It's definitely a major leap

from "Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare"
in terms of the effects.

The record starts bubbling up.

What the fuck?

And then it becomes this
creature that attacks him.

Probably the best
effect in the movie,

listening to metal, and metal
inviting in this monster.

It's clearly playing
on satanic panic.

Maybe the parents in
the PTA have a point,

and this is Satan music.

So that's kind of funny.

Let's make blood city!

"Black Roses", yeah the
band actually are from hell.

What do you know?

We are the Black Roses.

The flowers of evil!

You have been chosen.

"The Brain".

What I love about that title

is that nobody
would second guess

that a movie called "The Brain"

is about a brain
that kills people.

The plot revolves around
this evil scientist

played by David Gale,
who you might remember

as the professor
in "Re-Animator".

I will be famous!

He runs this TV show
that brainwashes people,

and gains control of their minds

with the help of this
weird brain monster,

and then there's this
rebel high school student,

who's the only one who
can resist the brain's

mind controlling power,
and save the day.

You can go now.

What the hell happened to me?

But not without some
horrific hallucinations.

The protagonist,
he's driving the car,

and the brain is sort
of taking over his mind.

I mean, could you imagine that?

If you're driving a car,

and then you just see
a video wipe transition

turn into a brain?

Holy shit.

Look at that brain.

You can't tell how
it moves around.

All you see is
this enormous face

coming after people.

It's kind of scary, but
it's also really funny.

That's food for thought.

I mean, you just
look at that thing,

and you gotta love it.

So there's this toy and
a cartoon in the 80s

called Madballs.

Madballs, Madballs!

Gross for one, gross for all!

We play with a Madball!

They're gross!

That's what the
brain looks like.

It's a giant Madball attacking.

I worked in Madrid
on a wonderful film

called "Howl of the Devil".

I love Spain.

I've done quite a
bit of work in Spain

with Sinbad, and various things.

Paul Naschy, both
directing and as an actor

in his own right.

He had such presence on camera.

Menacing presence, but
he was very charismatic.

And I'd be speaking
English to him,

and in post, they'd dub him.

The plot basically was this man,

by day, he was quite
normal, head of the house,

and he had his
lovely son, Sergio.

And I was the maid
that came to clean up,

and look after the
son, basically.

But then by night,
he would change

into these wonderful characters.

He became Frankenstein,
he became the wolf man.

These very strange characters.

Some of the sequences
we had to do

the man with a
great big chainsaw

that came running after us.

No!

Carmen.

I liked her, because
she was very proud.

Quite a holy Catholic lady.

And then the priest,
who was a lovely

sweet, sweet actor.

Was trying to molest
her, to attack her.

It was quite an emotional
scene, actually, for me.

And for him, because
he was so upset.

He spoke English, he
said I'm so sorry,

he says, so sorry.

Paul want me to do this,
and I don't want to do it.

I said, we'll make it
look as good as we can,

but I might push you
and punch you a bit.

He said, that's okay.

He said, I don't mind.

You do what you do.

So then we went for it,

and I managed to get
away from him, basically.

It felt like one of
my better scenes,

because she was in a really
state of distress before it,

and this exacerbated it,

made it far worse for her.

Paul was, to me, the
king of Spanish cinema.

He absolutely was.

People loved him.

When we talk about genre,
and we try to put things

in boxes, one of the ways
we got in trouble very early

was we conflated a
setting with a feeling.

Horror is an emotion.

So you can have a
horror in space.

You can horror in the old west.

You can have horror in a comedy.

It looked like
this!

Horror is about a
feeling that you evoke

in your audience.

Lollipops!

And all free today!

Horror is a more
flexible genre

than people realize, and
oftentimes it can be found

hiding within other
genres, nested in there,

waiting to strike at any moment.

Fear is always there.

It's just one decision,
or one thought,

or one perspective away from
being right in your face.

Any movie could suddenly
become a horror movie.

You're dead.

Horror is catching
you off guard,

and taking you off
your axis somewhat.

No!

The horror has been
a part of our lives,

new just didn't know it.

It was dressed up
in fairy tales.

But it's always
been a part of us,

because fear and darkness

is always a part of your life.

It's part of life.

Disney goes very dark.

"Pinocchio", for instance.

The Pleasure Island scene.

Bad little boys doing
bad little things,

smoking cigars, gambling,

until they turn into donkeys,

because it's a cautionary tale.

They're doing the shit they're
not supposed to be doing,

and they just
start transforming.

What do I do?

"Willy Wonka".

Not a horror movie, per se.

Does it have horror elements?

Abso-fucking-lutely.

Round the world
and home again!

That's the sailor's way!

The horrific
nightmare boat sequence,

where he's just staring deadpan,

and starts singing
that weird song.

♪ There's no earthly
way of knowing ♪

He's singing.

And there's like,
these horrible projection

that are happening.

As a child, I was sitting
there watching this

thinking what the
fuck is happening?

Now I am gonna be sick!

Never mind the fact
that these children

are just getting
offed, one by one.

It's kind of like
a slasher movie.

She was a bad egg.

I seem to find horror
in every film I see

at some point.

Any time you're writing
interesting characters,

they're gonna have a dark side,

and so if you get some
people with problems,

and issues, and
anger, and stuff,

then you have a
dangerous situation,

and that's scary.

We might not call
"Blue Velvet" horror,

but I do know it was
covered in Fangoria.

David Lynch is bouncing
in and out of horror

throughout all of his films,

and I think horror fans,

our antenna perked up.

It delivers horror
probably more effectively

than half the movies sitting
in the horror section

at the video store.

The severed ear moment.

The camera moves in.

There's ants on it.

It's incredibly graphic.

That's a pure horror moment.

Don't you fucking look at me!

Frank Booth is one of
the great horror villains.

He was terrifying, because
he was unpredictable.

He was a madman,
and it felt unsafe

in a way that by, say, 1986,

a lot of our movie
slashers didn't.

Does horror even
need to be scary?

It just has to disturb
you in some kind of way.

What's cool about the 1980s

is horror was so
big, that it actually

infiltrated other genres.

Ow!

I'm glad to see
you finally made it

to the suburbs, bitch!

My first horror
film, "Return to Oz".

It's like mombie
taking her heads off,

screaming, the wheelers.

Come here!

It can be a character,

like one person in that
film brings the horror.

The judge in "Roger
Rabbit", right?

When I killed your brother,

I talked just like this!

"Indiana Jones and
the Temple of Doom",

looking as a human hand
plunged into the chest

of a sacrificial victim,
and the beating heart

was ripped out.

This horrifying
ritual really held

all the elements of horror.

A movie that scared
the crap out of me

when I was little was "The Wiz".

My favorite movie of all
time was "Wizard of Oz",

which is also pretty scary.

You know, you get to
those winged monkeys,

and it's like, terror.

Help, help!

Help!

"The Dark Crystal",
"The Black Cauldron",

like animation, horror.

The field.

It's covered with blood.

These movies have
elements of horror,

and that's what we grew up on.

The psyche can do crazy
things to you, as well.

Your thoughts can
turn dark on you,

and that's also scary,
and a person that you know

can change on you,
and that's scary.

Aging is scary.

Dreams are scary.

The dark is scary.

There's dark everyday.

It's gonna get dark
everyday.

It's gonna get scary.

Wait!

Ow!

Get away!

Horror is everywhere.

It's everywhere.

"Things"
a horrifying sensation

that'll rip apart your soul.

A lot of people know
that Canadian horror movies

are Canadian just because
they're in English,

so they get lumped in
with American ones,

but don't be fooled.

Just because Canadians
have a reputation

for being polite doesn't
mean our horror movies are.

Canada actually made a
lot of slasher movies

in the 80s, which
is appropriate,

because we helped
start the genre

with the original "Black
Christmas" back in the 70s.

Why should America
have all the fun?

In addition to all those
great slasher movies,

Canada was also responsible
for making this movie

called "Things",
which has been called

one of the worst
movies ever made.

Oh no!

What did I do?

These two idiots sit
around and drink beer

for a little bit, and
then all of a sudden,

these weird ant thingies
invade their home.

Oh my god!

Susan!

It's not a horror comedy,

but I'd be hard pressed
to find something funnier,

because it's fucking terrible.

The whole thing has a very
home movie quality to it.

Everything looks homemade,
like the little ants

looks like they're made
out of paper mache,

the blood looks like
they mixed food coloring

and corn syrup.

Mm, that's human
blood, all right.

"Things" might just
be the most Canadian

movie ever made, and
I don't just mean

most Canadian horror movie,

I mean the most
Canadian movie, period.

Oh thanks, man.

You can practically smell

the half empty Molson bottles,

watching this movie.

Blood is just dripping
like maple syrup!

The big selling
point for "Things"

is that Ginger Lynn is in
it, the famous porn star.

But when you see the
movie, she's not doing

anything porn related.

She's like a newscaster
for, I don't know,

30 seconds at the
beginning of the movie.

They probably took
whatever budget they had

and gave her half of it,

so what, two grand maybe.

At the end of the
movie, they start killing

these weird ant things
with a chainsaw,

and spraying fake
blood everywhere.

I really hope the
guys who made it

got their damage deposit
back on the place

they were staying.

But now that everyone seems

to be talking about it again,

do I dare subject myself to
the ridiculosity of "Things"?

I'll be
okay!

The situation in
Venice is now critical.

A giant toxic cloud has
settled over the city,

and is slowly destroying
every form of life.

I'm in an infamous movie

that has several
different titles.

"Shocking Dark",
AKA "Terminator",

or da-da-da-da-da.

The movie originally was
called "Shocking Magenta".

How are you gonna
translate that?

That doesn't work
in any language.

That's not the only name

it's called "Contaminator".

"The Killers of Venice Beach".

It has lots of names,
and that has something

to do with distribution.

Venice
before the year 2000.

"Shocking Dark" is a
movie where the filmmakers

attempt to warn
people of the hazards

of industrial pollution.

Fear fighting
against the unknown.

Hurry!

They're coming, they're
coming!

My character in
"Shocking Dark"

is Lieutenant Koster,

and I'm telling all
these guys what to do.

All right, you
bunch of pussies!

I'm back, and I'm kicking ass!

And I'm not politically
correct about it,

and I don't care,
but it's because

they're my guys.

Careful, baby.

That thing just might go off!

They're sending us into
the depths of Venice.

My impression is
they're gonna find out

it's a creature
from another planet.

I can't say that
was exactly the plot

when I started the movie.

And they're waiting for you!

Who are they?

What are you talking about?

It's a sandwich
that didn't even have

a whole loaf of bread.

So it starts out pumpernickel,

and then it ends up a brioche,

and then it's a slice of pizza.

Can't you smell
that stink of shit?

The creatures in
"Shocking Dark".

I have been told
they remind people

of the creature from "Alien",

but when I was in the movie,

and as the movie was told to me,

by the director, Bruno Mattei,

he intended it to be more

of "The Creature From
the Black Lagoon".

We're chemically dumping in
the waters around Venice,

so originally the
concept was this thing,

maybe it got radiated,

because that's what they
were kind of thinking.

Something wraps around my neck.

Go back and watch carefully.

So this hand is going oh, oh,

and this hand from
below is wrapping around

my own neck, and
I'm going like that.

So every time
somebody says to me

it's a ripoff of "Alien"
and "Terminator",

I go not if you're
holding the rubber mask

with your own hand

"Shocking Dark" is
such a shameless ripoff

of so many other things
that it was legally not

able to be released in
the States for many years.

This is the end of the line.

You look at movies by guys

like Bruno Mattei,
and you think it was

probably a pretty
good party onset.

End of the line.

Maybe as long as the
filmmakers are having

a great time, you
hope it bleeds through

to the screen.

Bruno Mattei was by
no means kidding himself

of where he was in
the film industry.

And he's in on the joke.

I worked on two movies with him,

and he was always
up against a budget,

and he never took it badly,

he was never in a bad mood,

and he was a lot of fun.

I miss him.

I miss him a great deal.

A new film
by Alejandro Jodorowsky.

"Santa Sangre".

"Santa Sangre" is a
Felini-esque kind of nightmare

from the perverted mind
of Alejandro Jodorowsky.

It's just saturated with blood,

circus carnage, crazy
cults, skin, surrealism,

and enough symbolism to
send you to a shrink.

Now you're a man.

It is an absolute masterpiece.

Jodorowsky, he was approached
by Dario Argento's brother,

Claudio, to make a movie.

It was essentially,
I need you to make

a Dario Argento movie, but
by Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Well, he ended up
taking it way further

into the direction
of Jodorowsky,

and making something
entirely unique.

Sure, it's painted
in a horror movie,

but it's a coming of age story

about a boy growing up in
a circus freak setting,

that really shows the
streets of Mexico City

in a different light.

There's something so special
about all these characters,

being in makeup, being
in their costumes,

and that's how they are
every day of their lives,

and actually also
something very sad

about that, too.

That that is the identity
of these characters.

That is the way that
people see them as,

as clowns, as
performers, as freaks.

It just shows such a truth,

not just in Mexico,
but it shows a truth

of how easy we are judgmental.

There's so many
scenes in that film

I did not expect to
continue to escalate,

to go oh my god!

Oh my god!

Ugh!

The dad, the owner
of this circus,

just has an affair,
spoiler alert,

cuts this woman's arms off,

and it's like what the!

It's insane!

The wonderful
character of Conchita,

and you just see how her arms

get completely cut off,

blood pouring out of her arms,

and how she's just
looking at the sky, at us.

The one-two punch
of attacking them

during sex and
throwing acid on them,

and then getting both
of her arms chopped off,

with beautiful
Simon Boswell music

playing in the background.

That's hard to equal in cinema,

let alone in this movie.

And from that point on,

to see our main character

trying to find acceptance,
love, and freedom

of his own demons,
how he now is trapped

to be his own mother's arms,

speaks to such a sadness,

and such a truth
of manipulation.

It just completely
breaks my heart,

and grosses me out

"Santa Sangre" was
not afraid to talk

about the problems of machismo,

the class system, and just
the difference in cultures

with the Americanos
and the Mexicans,

and all from the point of view

of an innocent child.

That corruption,
that manipulation,

how sex and violence can
really, really change

a child's life, that
movie is true horror.

For "Fright Night",
I had no sense

of what is was going to become.

I thought it was a fun movie,

it was creative,
and it was gonna be

a little bitty horror
movie for that summer.

Really special experience, and
the longer I'm away from it,

the more I realize that.

"Fright Night 2".

♪ Take me baby

"Fright Night 2",
Tommy Lee Wallace

did a terrific job.

I wasn't available.

Instead I did "Fatal Beauty"
with Whoopi Goldberg.

I should have done
"Fright Night 2".

Johnny.

Peter.

It's happening again.

"Fright Night 2" was
really more about the modern

80s age, when people
were really starting

to experiment and to be curious
about cultures and people.

I give you the new host
of Fright Night, Regine!

From Regine's point of view,

my only brother, the love
of my life, was murdered.

And I am 2000 years old.

Uh, come in.

Thanks.

I find Charlie Brewster,

and I play with him like a
cat playing with a mouse.

Julie as Regine was breaking
the glass ceiling in a way.

This is not a dream.

"Fright Night Part 2"
is a lot about inverting

the sexual and
gender stereotypes

that had traditionally been
part of the vampire genre.

She was taking ownership
of lust and power

and hunger and
all of that stuff,

and she feminized it.

I think Regine is empowering
for women in general,

and for Latinas.

There's an eroticism that is
beyond gender identification.

Regine Dandridge, it was very
open to love and sensuality.

She's not just a stark,
startling character.

She's cushy, and
warm, and you know.

Is it hot in here?

You'll have to get
closer than that.

Peter Vincent was Roddy
McDowall's love letter

to the vampire
hunters of the past.

Peter Cushing, Vincent Price.

Roddy was a photographer,

so he was always
taking pictures.

He was into documenting stuff.

Encyclopedia of movie history.

He knew where the
bodies were buried.

I kill vampires.

It was a different movie,

it was like an army
of ghouls and vampires

and creatures that we
were up against this time.

Russel Clark played Belle,

a wraith-like vampire
on roller skates.

Those three characters,
Jonathan Gries,

Brian Thompson, and Russel,

they're all so
distinctive and unique

in the characters that
they came up with.

I have an entourage
of fabulous men.

Russel Clarke, he had
choreographed Michael Jackson,

and Brian Thompson
came up with the naming

all of these bugs with
their Latin names.

There's just a scholarliness
to this foursome.

Are you thirsty, Charlie?

Once I started
transitioning into a vampire,

I enjoyed getting to fang up

and get pasty, and
all that stuff.

I had my Christmas
cards that year

were me in a vampire, sort
of holiday vampire theme.

"Fright Night 2"
resonates with people,

there's something
for everyone in it.

And everyone's kind of
represented, especially today.

You notice if someone's
not represented now.

It shocked people
that somebody

would break the rules
as much as we did,

even though it made more
money at the box office

than anything else that
opened that weekend,

I think the whole distribution
went into a tailspin,

and then you could
hardly find it on VHS,

but people have unearthed it,

literally dug it
up from the grave,

so I'm very grateful
to the people

who've done that, because
Regine was really fun.

Welcome to Fright Night.

I have such a specific memory

of begging my dad to take
me to see "Relentless"

when I was too young to see it.

I was probably 12.

Judd
Nelson is Buck Taylor.

And Buck Taylor is "Relentless".

This was a Hollywood
maniac slasher,

so it was a well-produced film.

Cops chasing a serial
killer in Los Angeles.

Well, who the fuck killed him?

Well how the fuck do I know?

It's my first day.

Judd Nelson is the product

of an abusive relationship
with his father,

who was a police officer, who
he both feared and idolized,

when he couldn't live
up to his father's ideal

to also become a police officer,

he decides he's going to
go out and kill people

with his father's name.

Leo Rossi and Robert Loggia,

they are investigating it.

Read this.

No clues, no nothing.

What is it?

The asshole left it.

John had seen "Maniac",
and really liked it,

and came aboard wanting
to play the role.

For me stylistically,

it was my Dario Argento
film in daylight.

What really messed me
up too with that film

is there's a pretty brutal

piano wire
strangulation sequence.

It was intense for
me to watch as a kid.

Isn't that better?

I like the scene
where Judd is running

on the rooftop.

We did a little trick there.

We used a Louma crane,

and when he's
hidden, the stunt guy

comes out the other end,

and we tried to make it
as seamless as possible.

There was a moment that
was cut from the script

that I really wish I had shot.

The scene that I had stolen
from a Japanese movie

called "Vengeance is Mine".

Coming down the street
was a patrol car,

and Judd looks
down at his hands,

and there's blood on his hands,

so he goes in the bushes,
and pees on his hands

to wash the blood off of them.

And I thought, wow.

That would really say a
lot about a character.

It might have been
a bit too much

for mainstream audience.

It's all right.

I had a great time
with Judd Nelson.

Always joking around.

All the actors, all sweethearts.

It was a wonderful
experience on that film.

Yo brothers, what's up?

I had no interference.

Everything that's in
"Relentless" is mine,

for better or worse,
it was the way

I made the film, and
I'm quite proud of it.

I think it came out okay.

Please.

Don't hurt my son.

But it feels dated to me.

First is "Maniac Cop",
which was made before that

doesn't feel dated to me.

Go figure.

Oh my god!

William Hickey as

"The Puppet Master".

One of my favorite franchises
is "The Puppet Master".

And the first one was
just so perfect to me.

And now they have 80 of them.

Every single one, I want.

It had Blade, Tunneler, Jester,

with his weird face
stuff, and Leech Girl,

and lots, and lots, and
lots of creepy ass puppets.

I have all those
puppets as action figures.

They're some of my favorite
collectibles to this day.

I just wanted to see the
puppets fucking kill people.

You pair that with just
this weird fucking story

about an undead dude who
just wanted to get his,

gets his rivals together to
kill them off one by one.

And using the old techniques
of the old Puppet Master,

I brought myself back to life.

Why?

I want to live forever.

That is a piece of art
that came to life as a movie.

Yeah, I'm a stop motion freak.

Dave Allen helped shape
shift those characters

into what they are
now, and gave them some

historical context, because
it takes place in the 40s.

And next thing you know,
we morph into a script,

and David Schmoeller did a
great job with the script.

Charlie Band, he would give
me a lot of creative freedom.

It's real easy to
write these things.

You hope that this
is gonna work.

It goes from effect to effect.

I mean, some of them work great,

and some of them are
really stretches, you know.

You fucker!

I thought I
could create magic,

and these really great
things would happen.

These little dolls,
they would find

all these sadistic ways
to murder human beings.

It was diabolical.

Leech Woman, Lord
she looks so cute

and pretty but then

and this nasty ass leech,

and it's just, no, why?

We actually used leeches.

The puppet with the
tiniest little head,

and massive baby hands, just
beating the crap out of people.

You're taking
inanimate objects

and turning them
into real things.

We would talk about
it, and he would go off

and execute whatever
I needed to have

these puppets doing.

There would always
be some surprise

that was better than
what we had talked about.

Low budget filmmaking
is an art in itself.

It's such a crapshoot.

What's happening, Alice?

You're making
movies for no money,

and then you're expecting
a studio to pick it up.

The fact that
Paramount released it

gave it a lot of cache.

Gave it a lot of credibility.

What the hell
are you looking at?

The original idea
of these characters

that all start off a
little differently,

helped my business, my
life, and my creativity.

We're about to shoot
our 13th Puppet Master

32 years later.

"The Black Cat".

The last word in terror.

"The Black Cat", Luigi Cozzi,

or Lewis Coates, as
he's known in America.

Black
Cat, 1A, take one.

My lovely Luigi, who directed

and kind of created
"Stellar Star Star Crash".

It was his baby.

He wanted to do this
one for quite some time.

Well, we've already got
the storyline blocked out,

but before we get down to
writing the screenplay,

we'd like some pointers
about reincarnation.

I read the script, and I
thought yeah, it's interesting.

It's different.

Don't use that name.

Change it at once.

What name, Levana?

Yes.

Don't take the risk
of summoning her.

Dario Argento
had a hand in it.

Dario Argento
directed it, "Suspiria",

and I must admit, it
was very, very good.

Luigi worked very
closely with Dario.

It was shot in Italy.

Not a lot of plot, but
beautiful to look at.

Great performances
from the actors.

They were all European.

I think I was the only
English person in it.

We had a wonderful prince
called Urbano Barberini

who was in it, and then
you had Florence Guerin,

who was wonderful in the film.

She was fantastic.

You can never leave!

You'll never be
Levana the witch!

Never, never!

She was an actress,
I was an actress.

Cut.

Florence was the nice one.

I was just a bitch, I would
say, really, basically.

Sorry.

So I have your
permission to, uh,

put it to him?

But it was good
character for me.

I liked it.

Quite dark, and she was
all out for herself.

Everything was
about her, really.

She was very jealous of
Florence and the husband.

Why in god's
name did you do it?

The same reason I took
Mark away from you, Anne.

For Levana.

My character was capable
of anything, really.

I liked that concept.

What is your command?

I ordered you to stop Anne.

It rolled along nicely.

Maybe not the best dialogue.

And you know
what you must do with it.

The baby's in the other room.

Some of the scenes
were quite heavy

with the special effects.

Very bloody.

It is a bit weird, isn't it?

They're quite gruesome effects.

Looking back on it, they
were really, really good.

The Spanish title
for "Grave Robbers"

is "Ladrones De Tumbas".

There's a lot of
satanic rituals,

and a lot of killings.

A guy is persecuted
by the Inquisition,

and he's tortured, and murdered,

and he promises to
return for vengeance.

Our main characters, they
go to the cemeteries,

dig up the graves,
extract the bodies,

look for gold and
valuable things,

and they sell them
in the black market.

They go through a
tunnel into the dungeons

of this old hacienda.

And strange things
start happening.

By the time we shot
"Grave Robbers",

I was a big expert
in prosthetics

and special effects,
cinematography.

I had learned a lot.

We didn't shoot it in English.

We shot it in Spanish.

We shot that film
in Valle de Bravo.

It's about an hour and
a half from Mexico City.

It's in the mountains.

There's woods all over.

One girl is kidnapped.

And the policemen go
inside the dungeons,

and he finds his daughter
tied up to the floor.

The demon walks in

and they engage in a fight.

When our hero comes in
and saves the policeman

and saves the girl.

That's a memorable scene.

It had known actors for
the domestic market.

It was aimed for
the right target,

and it was a very big
success in Mexico,

and then a big success
when the video clubs

started renting it out.

No!

I wasn't aware
how this film became

part of the cult
1980s horror films,

because my career has gone on.

I'm mostly known
in Mexico for being

a reality show producer.

I'm proud of them
because they were done

with no money, with no time,

with no technical resources.

I was in the process of learning

how to become a filmmaker.

We were just kids having fun.

I have no idea why
people romanticize films

simply because they
were made in the 80s.

Hi.

But because they
were made in the 80s,

they develop a cult reputation.

I'm really thrilled
that audiences now

really appreciate this stuff,

that back in the 80s,
people were just like,

nah, you know, whatever.

Now there's a whole
new renaissance,

if you will, and people are
really getting into them,

and really loving
them, and giving them

the kudos that they deserve.

They have a life today
that's not the same

as their life in the 80s,

but let's get real
about, you know

Orson Welles didn't
make any of these films.

We need to reframe
the way that we look

at good and bad movies.

Bad movies can be enjoyable.

You can find a different
way to look at it.

I mean, no one's setting
out to make a bad movie.

It doesn't really
matter how great

or not great these movies were,

it's important to remember

how the cast, the
crew, the producers,

the director, put all
their love and energy

and money into
these various films,

and really made them
into something unique

that there was an audience for.

I think it's
important for us to keep

these films in conversation.

Especially the ones
that people think

maybe are not so great, because
there's the obvious ones,

like "The Shining", "The Thing".

Those extend beyond
horror audiences.

But then there's kind of like,

we have these in danger
of being forgotten

or going extinct gems.

As we move from
this media format

to this media format,

there's things that kind of
get pushed to the wayside,

and we're leaving them behind.

Hide the body, and come back,

and clean up the blood.

People should champion
anything that they enjoy,

because that's how
you keep things alive.

Streaming is great.

I love that it makes
things easily accessible

to the masses, but
also it doesn't compare

to browsing and
picking something up

and feeling it, smelling it,

holding it in your hands

is a special kind of experience.

Home video and cable
meant that movies

didn't go away, and
that meant that movies

found their audience.

And then word of mouth kicks in.

And to no small extent,
creates horror fandom,

which has become this tidal wave

over the 30, 40 years since
that technology arrived.

Of course it's not ideal
to see a movie on tape

as opposed to seeing
it on the big screen,

but as we see that
the way that the world

has currently gone, many
more people see movies

on their devices
than they ever see

on a theater screen,
and the trade off

is it isn't gonna be seen

by very many people
in the theater.

It's mostly gonna
be seen at home.

Today, there's a kind
of casualness to it.

I'm still a child of the cinema.

I'm not crazy about
people being introduced

to horror through digital.

The upside is that
the screens are better,

they're bigger, the
sound is better.

People are very
serious about the way

they present their films,

and so it's a
theater-like experience,

but it's not a
theater experience,

because a theater
experience is with a large

audience of people,
who make the difference

between what you're watching,
and what you're experiencing.

An experienced horror
film with a big audience

that's enjoying it is
completely different

and more fun experience
than watching it

at home with two friends.

That's just night and day.

Part of the problem
is our technology

is so magnificent now.

People think anything
old is clunky.

This desire just to see the new,

the new, the new, the
next, the next, the next,

sometimes prevents us
from taking some time

out of our very busy lives

and realizing that
there's some great stuff

from the past.

Maybe the movie itself
isn't necessarily great,

but it's the experience
of watching it

that makes it great,
and then 20 years later,

you're telling people, no you
have to watch "Motel Hell".

This is one of the
greatest movies ever made.

They hold it near
and dear to their heart

because they've seen it with
their father who's passed,

or cousin made them
watch it to scare them,

or whatever,
however they saw it.

It holds good
memories for people.

Horror is personal.

We can all agree on
a good horror film.

It's like, ah "Psycho".

But nobody's defending
"Psycho" to the death.

I think we have it all wrong
when we talk about horror.

We're like, this is
good, or this is bad.

No.

Something is entertaining
or it's not entertaining,

and by putting everything
on a good and bad dichotomy,

we ruin our experience
of being able

to talk about a movie,
like "Sleepaway Camp II",

that's just like a
fucking good time.

"Sleepaway Camp II" doesn't
have to be high art,

to be a social satire.

Howdy partner!

I actually think
that you can find

more in our culture and history

and even just social context

in films that are labeled trash.

There's more there to
actually pick from,

and shine a light on
who we were as people.

Like, a popcorn film?

That's loaded with identity,
and society, and culture.

I'm way more interested in
the history I'm gonna get

from a movie that
people cast aside

than the history I'm gonna get

and what I learn in
a film school class.

Let's not get insanely
academic about these films.

The people who watch
these movies in the 80s

weren't watching them from
an ironic point of view.

They were watching them because
they enjoyed the mayhem.

The people who watch
those same movies today

are watching them from
an academic standpoint,

as though they're analyzing
every little detail

of the film.

These films were made by guys

who wanted to make a fast buck.

These films were made for money.

They were not concerned with
trying to impress anybody.

They were concerned with the
largest audience possible.

They were filmmakers, but
they were also businessmen.

These aren't big
extravagant productions.

You crazy bastard.

Horror lets you be creative.

You can go outside the box.

You can go outside the scope.

Horror, it can look
cheesy and bad,

and it's fun.

We love to be scared,

and we love to think
we're in peril.

And we love to be at
odds with each other.

Movies are so powerful,
because it reminds us

of a simpler, more
innocent time.

And that's where
we all want to be.

God knows in this day and age.

That's where we all want to be.

So, before watching
"In Search of Darkness",

I was definitely
one of those guys

who was like, yeah
man, I know 80s horror.

Freddie and Jason!

Sweet!

And then I watched "In
Search of Darkness",

and I realized,
you naive bastard,

you know nothing
about 80s horror.

So now I actually know things,

and like, how had
I lived my life

and missed "Sleepaway Camp"?

That is a fantastic movie.

So thank you for awakening me.

80s horror is
very important to me

as I grew up in the early 80s,

and horror was embedded
in our culture.

It was in our toys,
in our cartoons.

It was everywhere.

We used to draw
monsters in art class,

like the Monster Squad,

and that was
acceptable back then.

You wouldn't get locked
up for stuff like that.

I miss going into a video store

and grabbing a random VHS

and saying hey, this
box art, it looks good.

Is it a curse, or is it great?

You never know.

And you watch it
with your friends

in the middle of the
night, enjoying it,

and it brings you back
to a simpler time.

80s horror is
so important to me

because it's an
escape from reality.

Takes me back to a simpler time.

Gives me that nostalgia.

And these documentaries,

they help nail the fact home

that horror can
be a cathartic way

to deal with fear and
all the BS this world

has to throw at us.

80s horror, and all
horror in general,

and I love that.

These documentaries
are amazing for that.

Favorite movie of all time?

"Silver Bullet", 1985.

It is incredible.

Rock on.

Hey.

I just wanted to say
thank you so, so much

to everybody involved with
"In Search of Darkness".

It's been absolutely fantastic.

I've really, really enjoyed.

It's flooded back
memories of going down

the video shop, the video store,

in the 80s, looking at
the best horror films

that were released.

Absolutely fantastic.

And it's also introduced me

to some of the
classics that I missed,

down the video shop, going
back all those years.

80s horror
happened to coincide

with the VHS era,
and in my opinion,

the 80s horror was
the prime attraction

of the VHS.

I mean, look at that.

How could you walk by that
and not want to rent it?

Oh, hi.

I'm AJ Danna.

I played Tapehead at
"Slashback Video".

The "In Search of
Darkness" trilogy

has meant so much to
dust off these old

classic horror tapes, and
make sure each and every

actor and filmmaker involved
in these movie making gems

did not pour their
blood, sweat, and tears

into movies in vain.

So anyways, thanks.

I decided to back the "In
Search of Darkness" series

for the tireless people
behind Creator BC,

because you learn something
interesting and significant

about the films from the
people who worked on the films

that you can't
find anywhere else.

To me, horror movies
were a safe haven

growing up in the 80s.

I spent so many hours
in the video store

browsing for titles to watch.

When "In Search of
Darkness: Part One" ended,

the covers shown up with a key,

and a dark room, the
TV, the characters.

It was like I was that same boy.

This documentary has
been a door to go back

and complete that journey.

80s horror movies
are important to me

because I was raised
the right way,

and grew up watching them

ever since I was
a wee little one,

despite not growing
up in that generation.

But it was cool people
from that generation

who showed me those
movies, and gave us

something to bond over.

But my favorite
horror movie has to be

John Carpenter's "The Thing".

The most amazing
practical effects

to the gore, and
of course starring

the absolute hunks Kurt
Russel and Keith David,

what is there not to love?

So 80s horror rules,

and thanks to "In
Search of Darkness"

for bringing it all back.

You know, growing up as a
kid with not many friends,

actually I had none
until I was 10.

Single father, worked
nights, and slept all day.

Horror movies were my go-to,

and the monsters
were my friends,

and it was just awesome.

With the "In Search
of Darkness" trilogy,

I got to relive that
past as a child,

and it just, it's perfect.

80s horror was the best.

It was imagination.

It was entertainment.

It was fun, it was
gory, it was crazy,

it was the best.

80 horror rules!

I'm Matt Weinhold,
and I love 80s horror

because it's scary,
sexy, innovative,

indecent, unapologetic, and fun!

It's the punk rock of horror!

Having been a
teenager in the 1980s,

I was able to experience
most of these films

in a theatrical setting.

The 80s gave us the
best of John Landis,

and John Carpenter,
and David Cronenberg,

and we got to see the
birth of franchises

of "Friday the 13th" and
"Nightmare on Elm Street",

and "Poltergeist", "Evil Dead",

and what "In Search of
Darkness" has allowed me to do

is revisit those memories,
and love these films

all over again.

In the 1980s, we
gazed into the abyss,

and we smiled,

because it was filled with
visceral practical effects,

intrepid heroes, garish demons,

and synth-laden
nightmare schemes.

Thanks to "In
Search of Darkness",

the abyss can finally gaze
back at us, and smile.

My love of 80s horror films

started back when
I was 11 years old.

I stayed up one night
and watched "A Nightmare

"on Elm Street" with my mum.

Halfway through the
film, I got so scared

that I went up to bed,
and five minutes later,

I was back downstairs
watching the rest

of the film with her.

That's where it started, and
it's never stopped since.

Watching "In Search of
Darkness" documentaries

takes me back to the best
part of my childhood,

and also knowing that I'm
watching these documentaries

with a community of people

that also share my
love of 80s horror,

it is the best feeling.

The immense popularity
of these movies

showed so many of
us that we were part

of a global community,
and so in a way,

the darkness became
a place of comfort,

because we knew
we weren't alone.

In a sense, it's more
like it's our story,

and what these
movies mean to us,

and I can't thank these
documentaries enough for that.

Everything about
it is so beautiful.

It's one of the
best times of horror

and it makes me feel
better about me and myself.

There's something
for everyone in there,

whether you like
slashers, comedies,

my personal favorite
horror movie from the 1980s

is "Killer Klowns
from Outer Space".

I saw that movie the first time

when I was maybe 10 years old,

and that's one of the
movies that made me

fall in love with horror,
and the reason I'm as big

of a horror fan as I am today.

When I wanted to
get into horror,

and I was too scared
to watch it by myself,

my friends would sit with
me in my dark basement,

and we would watch 80s
horror movies together.

And we started
with the classics,

and slowly moved our way out
to totally obscure titles,

but for me, those were really
special times in my life.

And it really made horror,
especially 80s horror,

something that brought
people together in my life.

80s horror movies really
had a style of their own

that make this
particular decade of work

always so unique
to look back on.

It was also a decade where
it felt like special effects

were perfected in such a way,
you could almost smell them

through your screen,
something like "The Thing",

and speaking of "The
Thing", you could have

hard horror subject like that,

but you could have also
sillier stuff like "Vamp",

which makes this particular
decade always so fun

to go back and
discover new gems,

and I really am glad that
these documentaries exist

to highlight all of that.

Best thing about 80s horror
were the comedy movies,

like "The Burbs",
and "Gremlins 2",

"House", "House 2",
the "Ghostbusters",

all those movies made
it so much easier

as a kid to then turn
around and be able to watch

movies with this
scary bastard in it,

and scare the shit out of
you when you're a little kid.

John Carpenter, Wes
Craven, Tobe Hooper,

Tom Holland, Peter
Jackson, Sam Raimi,

Stewart Gordon, Don Coscarelli.

I just need an
indestructible boogeyman

carving up annoying teenagers.

I don't need to know how or why.

It just has to show
up every few years,

and do it again
in creative ways.

Give me a monster
with sharp teeth,

and gooey tentacles.

What I don't want
is found footage,

and shaky cam and
possessed dolls,

and cheesy ghosts, and
spare me all the CGI blood.

I want Tom Savini,
Screaming Mad George.

I want a Kurtzman
Nicotero hamburger.

Hey guys.

My name is Jason.

And no surprise, my
favorite horror franchise

of all time is
"Friday the 13th".

I did a book report on
Part 3 in grade six.

Yes, I was in grade six
watching these movies,

and I absolutely loved them.

I think the 80s is
absolutely the greatest decade

of horror films, and
I grew up in the 90s.

There were so many great
horror films made back then.

I can't even decide
which one's my favorite.

I also think "In Search of
Darkness" is the greatest

documentary ever made.

It introduced me to
several horror films

I had never heard of,
including "Sleepaway Camp",

"Fade to Black", "Motel Hell",

"American Werewolf in London",

"Society", "Scanners",
"The Changeling",

"The Ghost Story",
and so many more.

I don't think there
will ever be anything

like 80s horror ever again

Hello, everyone.

What I've enjoyed most about
the "In Search of Darkness"

documentary series
would have to be

the behind the scenes
information about the movies

I know and love, but also,
and probably more importantly,

the vast amount of hidden gems

it has introduced me to.

It is mind-blowing how many
entertaining horror movies

there are from that decade.

So thank you.

One of my favorite
1980s horror movies

would have to be
"Night of the Demons".

Reason being, I was pretty young

when the movie first came out.

My older sister
introduced me to the film

because she wanted to scare me.

It scared me pretty good.

I remember having a hard time
going to sleep that night,

scared that the monster
was gonna get me.

So I have a lot of nostalgic
feelings about the movie.

That's why I like it so much.

My first and absolute
favorite 80s horror movie

is "American Werewolf in London"

by John Landis.

Watching that movie sent
me down a rabbit hole

of 80s horror movies that
I'd never seen before,

and through that
movie, I got introduced

to "In Search of Darkness",

and ever since, things
have never been the same,

and it's been an
amazing journey.

I thank you for it.

80s horror is incredibly
important to me.

Horror slashed its
way into my life

when I was a kid.

Myself and my buddies
would stay up all night

watching horror movies,
from horror icons

like Freddie, to "Killer
Klowns from Outer Space".

The greatest times of my life

is due to the horror genre.

80s horror strapped
me into my adult life

where I now collect
80s horror memorabilia,

plus I'm always on the
hunt for 80s horror

that I'm yet to discover.

I have an insatiable
thirst for blood in film.

Tom Savini's work in the genre

has my jaw dropped to the floor.

The realism of his
work is something

that's gonna be admired
long after I'm gone.

For me, he sets the bar for
practical effects within horror.

I love "In Search of
Darkness", as it's

a time capsule of
horror, for us, the fans.

"In Search of Darkness"
is also a love letter

to everyone that
holds a special place

in their heart for horror.

I love how they use
all practical effects,

for these, all the
blood and guts,

all the rubber monsters
that they used,

all the costume work
is all hand made,

and all practically done.

It makes it look great.

The 80s was an era of DIY.

If you didn't have a
passion for your craft,

or you didn't want
your story to be told,

it simply wouldn't
make it out there.

This is what showed in
the films growing up,

which was hard.

It's difficult to
articulate this feeling.

However, every fan or
person contributing

to this series, will have
moments which resonated

and impacted into
their adult life.

What I love most
about the 80s,

especially 80s horror movies,

is just how ridiculous
the concepts are,

and just how well
they're executed.

"In Search of Darkness"
meant a lot to me

because it introduced
me to a whole field,

a whole group of people,

that are so dedicated,
and so motivated,

on trying to find a
lot of 80s horror films

that not a lot of younger
horror film fans even heard of.

Sometimes y'all have
heard of "Halloween"

or "Friday the 13th", or
"Nightmare on Elm Street",

but it's these
small classic films

that really hold
deep to my heart,

knowing that a lot of
people have seen it

really brings joy to me.

That's why it meant a lot to me.

Hey, I'm Twisted Todd.

I'm a big fan of
80s horror films,

mainly because as a kid
growing up in the 80s,

didn't get to watch a
lot of horror movies,

but my parents
rented a lot of them,

and I got to hear
them from my bedroom,

which fed my curiosity,

so about the time I
was in middle school

in the late 80s, finally
got to watch horror films,

fell in love with
the slasher genre,

love films like "Creepshow",

and then later on
in my college days,

I really fell in love
with the cinematic genius

of directors like
John Carpenter,

and of course Sam Raimi,

because I'm a huge
"Evil Dead" fan.

I grew up mesmerized
by horror movies,

primarily throughout the 80s.

They were such an important part

of many of my formative years,

and contribute to so many
of my young memories.

I've since come to
embrace and enjoy

all cinema, having
learned so much more

about all genres over the years,

but you never forget
your first love.

Horror films of the 80s

were so imaginative,
and so ambitious,

but they pull it off,
and there's a real

charm to them, a levity
that we didn't have

in the 70s, when
everything was very real,

and very gritty,
and then we lost it

somewhere in the 90s,

and then things
got very cynical.

But there's a fun
factor to the 80s,

and it's no surprise
that it takes a project

three, four plus
hour documentaries

to really do that
decade justice.

Growing up in the
80s, horror movies

were a big part of my life.

Thanks to a video rentals shop,

I was able to watch
as many as I want

when I wanted without
issue on my edge,

that helped me get through
the trauma of school,

and everything
that came with it,

and this is why I'm
passionate about them,

and in particular,
"Nightmare on Elm Street"

is one I'm really
passionate about.

80s horror movies were a
big part of my childhood,

having grown up in the 80s,

I watched them all.

My favorite 80s horror
movie of all time

is "A Nightmare on Elm Street".

It was the first horror
movie I ever saw,

and it planted the seed
for my love of horror.

These "Search for
Darkness" documentaries

have been nostalgic,
and brought back

all those happy memories
of visiting video stores.

I was born in 1980,

so being a child of the 80s,

some of my best memories

were hanging out with my mom

on a Friday or Saturday night,

going down to the
local video store,

getting some 80s
horror on VHS tape,

and just making those memories

and being scared, laughing,

and getting all cringed up.

And the "In Search
of Darkness" series

has brought those
memories back to me,

and helped me discover
all the horror films

I never knew existed!

Thank you for that.

Hi there.

I love watching horror
movie documentaries

and anything regarding horror,

but one series I really love

is the "In Search
of Darkness" series.

I love how all these
people just show

how much they love and
care for these movies,

especially for the movies
I've never even heard before,

and I love this series,
because it shows me

all different kinds of horror

that I haven't
even heard before,

or even seen, or
anything like that.

So I'm sad that it's ending,

but hey, gotta end
sometimes, right?

I think most horror
fans would agree

that the absolute
best decade for horror

was the 1980s.

We got the best of the best,

the worst of the worst,

the best of the worst,

and everything in between.

I can't even pick a favorite,

because there's far too
many to choose from,

but having something like
the "In Search of Darkness"

trilogy has been an
absolute dream come true.

Getting to sit there for
hours and hours on end,

and watch my favorite filmmakers

talk about my favorite
films has been great,

but it's also been great
to be able to discover

new movies that I may not
have even heard of before.

"Evil Dead II", "Re-Animator",

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2",

all of these great horror films,

with comedic timing,
comedy inserted into it,

really affect me, shape me,

to such a degree that
today I write about horror

and horror comedy for
Pace Magazine and Vulture.

80s horror for me
signifies complete nostalgia.

I clearly remember
being a young boy

and seeing these wonderful
and iconic 80s posters,

and being simultaneously
scared and intrigued.

But now as an academic
that writes about horror,

documentaries like "In
Search of Darkness"

are highly important as
they raise the profile

of horrors in that form.

These films are not
only fun and super cool,

but they are significant
cultural products,

well-deserving of academic
analysis and study.

The 80s was a time when
the horror genre exploded.

Big name horror icons
like Jason, Freddie,

Chuckie, Pinhead, all got
their start in the 80s.

And being a late 90s
kid, these were names

that I grew up knowing to fear.

My girlfriend and I searched out

a lot of these films,
and it was something

that we could always bond over.

And I think that "In
Search of Darkness"

did something really great,

cataloging and celebrating
all of these films.

They have inspired
me to go to college

and learn how to
write horror films.

I'm a future filmmaker

because of all the
movies I've watched.

And I'm thankful that I was able

to be a part of this community.

Watching horror movies
as a kid in the 80s

inspired me to get
into the film industry,

especially to make
horror movies of my own,

and so "In Search of
Darkness" continues

to be that inspiration,

and I hope it does the same

for the next wave
of horror creators,

for generations to come.

80s horror means a lot to me,

takes me back to
when I was a kid

hanging out with my
brothers and my friends,

staying up late, watching
movies I know I should not

have been watching at the time,

and falling in love with
stories and characters

created by Wes Craven,
John Carpenter,

George Romero, and Charles Band.

I will always be in their debt

for providing me with
hours of entertainment,

and with "In Search
of Darkness",

it has provided me
with even more hours

of 80s horror entertainment

that I will continue
to watch to this day.

Long live 80s horror and
"In Search of Darkness".

As an 80s kid, one
of my favorite memories

are from video stores Friday
night selecting movies.

The horror section always
had the best films,

and the most amazing cover art.

The 80s horror
basically has it all,

a great story, a good cast,

amazing special effects,
and a cool soundtrack.

These documentaries have
been life-changing for me.

They were films that
I had forgotten about,

films that I had never seen,

and a love for a distinct period

of my early life that
I oftentimes feel
disconnected from,

and I'm so thankful to
have found these projects,

and been able to
back all of them.

Thank you.

All the best
parts of nostalgia

in a pool of blood.

Love it.

Hey, this is Jacob.

And Angelica.

We're both fans of
80s horror movies.

That's why we own
all three volumes

of "In Search of Darkness".

It's a dictionary, basically,
of all the greatest

horror movies made from the 80s

that we've all grown to love.

"In Search of
Darkness", you rock.

The "In Search of
Darkness" documentaries

have allowed me to
relive, year by year,

a truly golden age
in horror cinema.

In the 80s, we had
directors like Carpenter,

Romero, and Cronenberg in
the peak of their career.

We had a new generation of
practical special effects

in horror cinema, and
video stores coming out

with a new horror
title every week.

The fact that we're still
talking about all these films

over 30 years later
just shows how durable

the horror genre is.

So please, keep those
documentaries coming.

Hi.

First of all, I
want to thank you

for including us
fans in so many ways,

and for the journey
you've been taking us

for the three "In Search
of Darkness" documentaries.

I love 80s horror so much
because of the style,

the creativity, and the
passion for each of the films.

But the most important
part for me is

that every single film
from this horror decade,

the good and the bad,

are so great because
of the fun they make.

David, Robin.

You've created a monster.

A timeless milestone
for every horror fan.

And I'm extremely thankful
for being featured

in part one of the ultimate
horror documentary experience.

It made me feel
like I'm 15 again.

So for anyone who's "In
Search of Darkness",

stop searching,
because we found it.

80s horror is
so important to me

because it gave me ideas
to draw when I was younger,

and as my drawing
ability progressed,

today I'm a tattoo artist,

so I guess you could say 80s
horror helped shape my life.

Plus being Canadian,
I want to give

a special thanks
to David Cronenberg

for all the
inspiration he gave me.

"In Search of
Darkness", honestly,

greatest documentary
I have ever watched.

It brought me straight
back to some of the most

special times of my life.

As a kid in the
80s, I was constantly

in and out of hospitals.

Watching horror movies
and playing video games

was a release for me.

Basically, I'm the
kid on the box art,

and on the posters.

I'm so proud to be part
of this incredible journey

through 80s horror that is
the "In Search of Darkness"

trilogy, and I just had to
immortalize it on my body.

I love it that we're done.

I love it.

Love it.

Enough is never enough

of the star.

Mm.