1980's Vs. 1990's

The 80’s Great 4 vs. The 90’s Fab 4

Each decade, there are usually horror movie films that make their mark in history and are remembered and they turn into iconic franchises. In my opinion, there are four movie franchises that are easily identifiable for their generation. The 80's were easy to pick out, while the 90's were a little harder. You could make a case for a horror movie franchise that I didn’t include, but for this post, I choose these movie franchises to "represent" their decade and contributions to the horror industry.

For the 1980’s (The Great 4), I choose:

Friday the 13^th

Nightmare on Elm Street

Halloween

Child’s Play

For the 1990’s (The Fab 4) I choose:

Scream

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Urban Legend

Final Destination

Recap of Movie Contributions

All of these movies tend to “rip” something off from one another, but they also each brought something different or unique to the table themselves. It can be claimed that Halloween started the “slasher” genre. Halloween started the "mold" of horror movies to come. It struck the fear of a masked psychopath into the minds of the world. The notion that “anyone in the neighborhood could do this” became a paranoia and found it's way into the back of the viewers’ minds.

After the success of Halloween, the “Friday” films took the same slasher idea, but took the psychopath to the next level. Friday took the evil out of the small town neighborhood and placed it into the remote/isolated setting of the woods. Friday enhanced the "sensation of fear" by placing the audience in a situation where the help was just not a phone call away or right around the corner. For some people, the feeling of isolation with out the comforts of society around is scary enough.

The “Nightmare” films brought in a new twist of alternate realities. The franchise introduced a killer that could only kill during a child’s dream sequence. This proved to be scary in it’s own way. Everyone eventually sleeps, which puts everyone at risk. People also sleep at different times of the day, such as daydreaming, which make the sequences in the film even more scary because it's hard to distinguish between on screen reality and dream sequences.

The Child’s Play movies went on to prove that the eeriness of a simple demonic doll causing death is a successful formula to make more movies.

The late 1990’s (Fab 4) made their own marks onto the horror movie industry. They continued to steal from its predecessors, but added their own flavor. The 80’s movie franchises had their clear-cut villain. Every one knew that Michael, Jason, Freddy or Chucky were gonna make their kills, but the nineties brought in the “who dunnit” factor. Scream led the way, laying down the blueprint for the next revolution of horror movies.

Scream simply brought the small hometown feel and added a murder mystery atmosphere into the equation. It continued the tradition of the masked killer, but didn’t give the audience the pleasure of knowing who was behind the mask. Scream also made movies more “pleasant” on the human eye. (Eye Candy) Scream figured out the casting debacle in which the 80’s films struggled with. It was a simple answer: cast hot men and women from popular television shows and put them in danger. Right there you double your audience. You’ve got pop culture clashing with horror. Pop culture fans hang on to every little project their favorite actors/actresses are in, now you've just lured them to come to the theatre for a horror movie. Scream also created a “cast mold” of future horror movie casting. Not to say the 80’s films didn’t have their own mold, but the Scream and the 90’s enhanced this. Mold: Hot, troubled virgin chick, with hot best friends, a joker/prankster, stuck up individuals, mysterious troubled boyfriends, and a token black person or two.

I Know What You Did Last Summer was the next franchise to test the waters in the aftermath of Scream's success. I.K.W.Y.D.L.S. brought in the “eye candy” from popular T.V. shows and stole the “who dunnit” philosophy from Scream and…well let’s just say they stole everything from Scream and made the setting on the East Coast (to offset the West Coast movie). Always an East coast vs. West coast thing goin’ on. Any way, I.K.W.Y.D.L.S. brought in a little factor of the "stalked" knowing that they’re being stalked because they did something wrong. Instead of doing something logical, like going to the cops, they continue to withhold their secret and fall one by one. Franchise sequels plays off of other type of settings like: a remote tropical island, and an isolate Colorado mountain town. Yawn!

Urban Legend brought…well nothing new to the table. That’s not true. Is it? Okay, “Urban” brought in the twist of dying by a certain method…some times…for a brief time. Still a murder mystery “who dunnit” with eye candy, but with a larger body count.

Final Destination brought in the supernatural into the equation. Death is coming…by death. No matter how you try to avoid it, death will find its way.

Villain Comparison:

For Friday & Halloween Films (True Slasher Killers):

In the 80’s, the villain usually started off “real” and believable to the audiences (at least until many sequels made it clear that the villain couldn’t be killed). The style of the villain was creepy. The killer was silent (voice and stealth like) and lurked in the shadows picking off its prey one by one. Screen time wasn't as big for the villain in these movies. The suspense of not knowing where they are outweigh the pleasure of knowing where they were. This made the audience think twice when they heard a bump in the night. Or a strange noise in the house. Or a CRACK! in the woods. Or even do a double-take when something flashed by and was caught in the corner of the eye. This is the style in which everyone who watched horror movies grew up to love. Until many, many, many, many more sequels killed the “mystique” of the killer. Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees became legendary icons over the course of time. Both wore masks to conceal their face, and both are brutal in their style of kills.

For Nightmare & Chucky Films (Imagine/Unreal Slasher Killers):

These two films threw away the whole “it could happen” feel to the horror industry and played on alternative realities and black magic. A dream demon and a demonic doll. If there were betting odds on if it could happen, then I’m betting with the house. Just not possible…but a fun idea. In Nightmare, we have Freddy a child killer burned at the stake by the parents seeking revenge. Freddy returns from the dead and kills the children of his hometown through their dreams. Not to mention he’s a wise crackin’ killer who eventually makes kills in ways so he can pun. On the other side of the ring, we have Charles Ray, a serial killer who uses “Black Magic” to preserve his soul into a child’s doll to prevent himself from dying after a fatal blow from the guns of the police chasing him. The aftermath of the situation…Chucky is born. A 2 foot high “Good Guys Doll” with the mind of a serial killer. Now you maybe asking yourself, what makes him so scary, and my answer is…I have no idea, but some how this formula seems to work. Over and over again, Hollywood uses demonic possession of dolls to scare audiences. It started with the Twighlight Zone and continues now a days with movies like “Dead Silence”. I don’t find it scary, but rather amusing with a potty mouth doll killer.

For Scream, I.K.W.Y.D.L.S., & Urban Legend Films (Don't know who Killers):

The mysterious masked “who dunnit” man/woman. Unfortunately for these films, the “who dunnit” only works best for the first film. Sequels do not provide repeat villains, thus no real legendary icon. Only the ghost mask is identifiable amongst fans. Typically motivated by revenge and stalks their victims through out the movie a little bit too much. Just kill the bitch already. Don’t spend 1, 2, 3 or 4 days toying with her to let her get away eventually. Hit ‘em when they’re not looking.

For Final Destination (Just Death):

Well, it’s death itself. What do you do? Die. Franchise doesn’t provide a face for “death”, but just random, supernatural events that eventually cause the downfall of soon to be victims.

Cast (Actually hot chicks)

If there is a category you give the Fab 4 an edge in, then it’s got to be here. The actors/actresses in the 90’s movies are way, way better than the crap the 80’s puts up. I know there are like two or three cases to be made (Jamie Lee Curtis being one), but overall, the casting in the 80’s sucked! The chicks weren’t hot, although most were happy enough to show their “twins”, the fashion was horribly wrong (clothing and hair), and the acting was…beyond horrible. At least the Fab 4 produces movies which are bearable to watch even though most plots suck.

The Killings

The Great 4 of the 80's tended to have higher body counts. It was Quantity over Quality. Whereas, the Fab 4 had the luxury of special effects and chose Quality over Quantity. I admit the 80's had some "bad" kills to them, but there were instances where people were "ofted" off screen leaving the kill to the imagination of the viewer. Sure the 80's had some kills that were a little bloodier than they should have been, but the 90's kind of dwell on the detail of the kill. They have to show the axe going all the way through the head and down to the stomach. Some kills are just too over the top and some kills are set up to find "cool ways" to kill a person. I know that the 80's films got their "Rated-R's" from nudity and violence, while the 90's films have to get their ratings from violence, because they're casting no one for the nudity. This is a little upsetting.

Who Survives?

Another comparison between the two generations, the 80's movies typically had a sole female survivor of the film. She initially was emotionally weak and "pure" but rose to the occasion when it was do or die time during the final stand off with the killer.

The 90's continued to type cast that sole surviving female but added on the heart throbbing boyfriend on the list on "NOT KILLED". It is usually done to make a "happy ending" and provide closure with the audience. The 80's boyfriend was usually the last to go before trying to make a heroic sacrifice to save the girl. If the boyfriend did survive, he was "knocked out" and discarded off to the side until the final showdown was over.

In the end...It's all good!

Both generations of films have their good and bads. That's probably why there has been a shit load of remakes over the past few years. Audiences want today's special effects and eye candy, but want the villains and originality of the old school films.