Welcome back to my list of 75 Films to Watch at Halloween! If you missed the first part of the list, in which I covered twelve films from the Silent Film Era and Golden Age of Hollywood, don’t worry! Just click right here to give it a look: 75 Films to Watch at Halloween (Part One). For Part Two of the list I’m going to look at those classic horror films from the 1970’s and 1980’s.
13. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – 1974
Written by: Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper.
Directed by: Tobe Hooper.
Starring: Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen and John Dugan.
Synopsis: Two siblings visit their grandfather’s grave in Texas along with three of their friends and are attacked by a family of cannibalistic psychopaths. – IMDB.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l88omZtzw9w
14. The Rocky Horror Picture Show – 1975
Written by: Richard O’Brien and Jim Sharman.
Directed by: Jim Sharman.
Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick.
Synopsis: A newly engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must pay a call to the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. – IMDB.
15. The Omen – 1976
Written by: David Seltzer.
Directed by: Richard Donner.
Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner and Billie Whitelaw.
Synopsis: Mysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil’s own son? – IMDB.
16. Carrie – 1976
Written by: Lawrence D. Cohen.
Directed by: Brian De Palma.
Starring: Sissy Spacek, John Travolta and Piper Laurie.
Synopsis: Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom. – IMDB.
17. Halloween – 1978
Written by: John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
Directed by: John Carpenter.
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P. J. Soles and Nancy Loomis.
Synopsis: Halloween night, 1963. A six year old child (Michael Myers) murdered his 17-year-old sister. He was locked away at Smith’s Grove-Warren Sanitarium for 15 years, but on October 30, 1978, things were about to change. While being transferred, a now 21 year old Michael Myers escapes Smith’s Grove and returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield. Seventeen-year-old Laurie Strode is a quiet bookworm, preferring babysitting over parties. Her friends, Annie and Lynda, are busy thinking about the fun of Halloween night.
That evening, Laurie and Annie are babysitting across the street from each other. Laurie has to keep an eye on Tommy Doyle, while Annie watches Lindsey Wallace. Little do they know that Michael Myers has come home. Carefully, he murders Annie first, followed by Lynda and her boyfriend Bob.
Their only hope is Dr. Loomis, Michael’s childhood psychiatrist who has followed Michael’s trail back to Haddonfield. Loomis enlists the help of town sheriff and together the duo search the streets, but the bogeyman is close to his prize for the night: Laurie! – Halloween Movies Official Site.
18. Friday the 13th – 1980
Written by: Victor Miller.
Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham.
Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan and Kevin Bacon.
Synopsis: A group of camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp which, years before, was the site of a child’s drowning.. – IMDB.
19. The Shining – 1980
Written by: Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson.
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick.
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers and Danny Lloyd.
Synopsis: A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future. – IMDB.
20. The Evil Dead – 1981
Written and Directed by: Sam Raimi.
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich, Betsy Baker and Sarah York.
Synopsis: Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons. – IMDB.
21. Poltergeist – 1982
Written by: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais and Mark Victor.
Directed by: Tobe Hooper.
Starring: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson and Beatrice Straight.
Synopsis: A family’s home is haunted by a host of ghosts. – IMDB.
22. The Thing – 1982
Written by: Bill Lancaster.
Directed by: John Carpenter.
Starring: Kurt Russell, A. Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan and Peter Maloney.
Synopsis A crew in Antarctica finds a neighboring camp destroyed and its crew dead. Whatever killed them is nowhere to be found, unless it’s hidden in plain sight. – IMDB.
23. Ghostbusters – 1984
Written by: Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis.
Directed by: Ivan Reitman.
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis.
Synopsis: Three former parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service. – IMDB.
24. A Nightmare on Elm Street – 1984
Written and Directed by: Wes Craven.
Starring: John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Nick Corri, Johnny Depp and Robert Englund.
Synopsis: Several people are hunted by a cruel serial killer who kills his victims in their dreams. While the survivors are trying to find the reason for being chosen, the murderer won’t lose any chance to kill them as soon as they fall asleep. – IMDB.
25. Beetlejuice – 1988
Written by: Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren.
Directed by: Tim Burton.
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton.
Synopsis: What’s a couple of stay-at-home ghosts to do when their beloved home is taken over by trendy yuppies? They call on Beetlejuice, the afterlife’s freelance bio-exorcist to scare off the family – and everyone gets more than she, he or it bargains for!
Tim Burton guides this 1988 comedy “monsterpiece” whose stars include Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Winona Ryder, with Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, the ghost with the most who flings one-liners, spins into grotesque forms, gobbles insects, and who just can’t leave the ladies (living or dead) alone. – Warner Bros.
26. The Fly – 1986
Written by: Charles Edward Pogue and David Cronenberg.
Directed by: David Cronenberg.
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz.
Synopsis: A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong. – IMDB.
27. Little Shop of Horrors – 1986
Written by: Howard Ashman.
Directed by: Frank Oz.
Starring: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, James Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest and Bill Murray.
Synopsis: A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed. – IMDB.
