A Taste of Things to Come!

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Right now, 80’s horror is on my mind much more than usual. I watched “In Search of Darkness” on Shudder recently and loved it very much, so the contents are still fresh on my mind. Also, it doesn’t hurt that I’m often in the mood for 80’s music. That and I’m watching Night of the Comet right now as I write this. It’s one of those movies that I always knew of and had seen bits and pieces of not long after my parents got satellite TV, so now I’m watching it in its entirety and having a good time.

It’s hitting the nerves already, and in a good way. The pop music is there, the synthy undertones and score are there, and that wonderfully strange 80’s interpretation of what a post-apocalyptic world would look like is also there and I love it. There’s nothing like it, really. And from what I see of the lead character, I can definitely tell how this influenced Joss Whedon when he created Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Aaaand now I got vampires on the mind, thank you brain. I may have to dig out my VHS copy of either The Lost Boys or Fright Night. You know what? We could do both and much more. Lots more. Not just vampires, but monsters and ghouls galore! Did I mean to rhyme and use some alliteration? Who knows?! All I do know is that it is time for this. You’re probably thinking, “What is ‘this‘ exactly?” Well… it’s everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything.

The horror movies, the classic tropes and creatures, the love for the genre and its many sub-genres, and why we need it now more than ever. Because even though there’s a lot of craziness out there in the world, the need for escapism and coming together is just as important (if not more important) than ever before.

Having watched The Last Drive-In and being part of the real-time social media reactions when it first debuted on Shudder in 2018 made me feel like this was not just an event I was taking part in, but a revitalization. Horror fans have always been united by their love for the genre, of course. But with social media, they’re united in ways we never would have imagined decades ago. And now, with a lot of concern these days about physical distancing and getting through this pandemic, it feels like we need to be more united than ever. We need each other even if it means getting through the day with fun chit chat and brief levity.

The fandom is always growing, and the fact that big-name horror films have gotten a lot of praise in the last few years alone has only made it clear that it will continue to grow. It also has shown others why we love it. We like to see new things being done. We also like to see more thought and care put into the current state of storytelling in horror. And we also like to see nostalgic/retro elements being revisited and re-implemented in fun new ways.

And sure, a lot of it isn’t for everybody. Sometimes, movies like Hereditary, Midsommar, or Antebellum come out and some viewers might find them overrated or that they just don’t live up to the hype; and that’s perfectly fine. The fact that this can lead to a discussion of what they feel does and doesn’t work proves that even some light discourse counts as people coming together to share that passion. Because whether someone passionately hates or loves a particular movie, whatever they say still comes from the heart. And in the end, we’ll always be fans of this stuff no matter what.

But we’re not here to discuss recent movies and creations. Not yet, at least. I do like a lot of what’s out there, but my head is in the retro stuff these days. So in terms of movie reviews, I’ll be sharing some of my personal favourite gems from the 80’s as well as other little surprises. It’s been a while since I’ve done this, and there may not be enough time to cover all the things I originally intended to cover, but we can still have a good time.

So grab your vampire stakes and protect your brains, this is Halloween 2020! Stick around and enjoy the ride.