Classic Scary Movies from the Mid-80s

There was a bit of a slump in the mid-80s when it comes to original horror films. Thrillers were either low-budget disasters or less-compelling sequels of hit scary movies from the late 70s and early 80s. But there are a few movies from this time period worth watching.

Firestarter

In this 1984 suspense thriller, a man named Andy and woman named Vicky meet when they both volunteer to be part of an experimental study at college, during which they are given a chemical they don't know much about. The two go on as normal, fall in love, get married and have a daughter together named Charlene (a.k.a. Charlie) who is played by a very young Drew Barrymore. But all is not normal. Andy has received special powers after the experiment and Charlie is born with the ability to start fires just by thinking about them.

A special branch of the government was responsible for conducting the experiments on Andy and Vicky, and now they are intensely interested in Charlie's abilities. The parents must protect their daughter from the evil government conspirators at all costs, but Charlie also feel very protective of them. How far will the government go to catch these products of their dangerous experiments? How far will Charlie and her dad go to protect each other? Let's just say the ability to start fires at-will proves to be a good defense mechanism.

Children of the Corn

Stephen King is the master of scary books, but let's face it. Was anyone really that afraid of the movie Cujo? I mean, I love dogs, but why not just shoot the rabid thing until it died? But I digress... Fortunately, in Children of the Corn, it turns out that a large group of small-town, creepy cult-kids are convincingly scarier than a single foaming dog.

An adult couple is driving their car down a long stretch of seemingly never-ending country road lined with corn fields as long as the eye can see. After a child is run over in the road, the couple stop in a nearby town seeking help. But there is no help to be found, for in this strange town there are no adults. For this, you can thank Isaac, a creepy teenage brat who has brainwashed all the kids into killing all the adults and worshiping an ominous God or evil force of the corn. The couple finds themselves trapped in this small town full of full of evil children and has to decide if they should try to save the children or just save themselves.

It's not an A+ kind of movie, but then again, horror movies rarely are.

Gremlins

The movie begins with an inventor, Rand Peltzer, searching for the perfect gift to for Billy, his son. He happens upon a strange little pet - a cute, wide-eyed and furry creature that the shop-owner calls "Mogwai." When Peltzer purchases the pet, he is given a grave warning by the shop's owner that three rules must never be broken: 1) No bright light, 2) No water, and 3) Don't ever feed it after midnight.

Peltzer returns home with the Mogwai to his quaint small-town home. Of course, Billy loves the creature. He names it Gizmo and shows it off to all of his friends.

Unfortunately, he and his break the rules set forth by the shop owner one by one and grave consequences ensue. They multiply like rabbits, and not all of them are nice. Next, the Mogwai eat food after midnight suddenly they transform from cute cuddly little guys into scaly little monsters known as 'Gremlins.'

This movie is almost more of a comedy and a children's movie than it is a horror movie, until the adorable Mogwai become Gremlins.