60 Fun Facts About 80s Horror Movie

Who directed The Shining (1980)?

The novel's author disliked the film's changes so much that he produced his own miniseries in 1997.

Which room in the Overlook Hotel is Danny warned to avoid?

Kubrick's film moved the novel's room number. The Overlook's earlier caretaker, Grady, had murdered his wife and daughters there.

The Shining got two nominations at the first Razzies: Kubrick as director and what else?

The Worst Actress nomination for Shelley Duvall was rescinded in 2022 over Kubrick's alleged treatment of her on set.

Where was The Shining almost entirely filmed?

Sets were built based on real locations, and the then-new Steadicam gave the film its gliding look.

Which future star appears in the original Friday the 13th (1980)?

Sean Cunningham advertised the film in Variety before the script was even finished, riding the success of Halloween.

What was the working title of the first Friday the 13th script?

It was shot in New Jersey in the fall of 1979 for roughly $550,000 to $650,000.

In which film did Jason Voorhees first wear his hockey mask?

Part III was also the only entry shot and released in 3-D. In Part 2 he hid his face under a sack.

Who was the killer in the original 1980 Friday the 13th?

Betsy Palmer's camp cook took revenge for her son's drowning; Jason himself only appears in a nightmare.

Who played Freddy Krueger throughout the original Nightmare on Elm Street series?

Freddy's burned face, striped sweater, fedora and self-welded bladed glove made him the decade's most recognizable villain.

Whose film debut came in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)?

He played Glen, boyfriend of Heather Langenkamp's Nancy. Wes Craven made the film for about $1.1 million.

Wes Craven loosely based Elm Street on news stories about which group dying in their sleep?

The success turned its small distributor-turned-studio into a mini-major.

Which studio earned the nickname 'The House that Freddy Built'?

Elm Street was one of its first productions, and its success made the company a mini-major.

The Evil Dead (1981) was shot on location in a remote cabin in which state?

The Morristown shoot was miserable for cast and crew. A 1979 short, Within the Woods, had raised the $90,000 seed money.

Whose rave review helped The Evil Dead land a US distributor?

After his review, the film got a wide US release in April 1983.

Which producer, introduced by the horror novelist who championed the first film, financed Evil Dead II?

The author was making Maximum Overdrive for him at the time. Publicist Irvin Shapiro had pushed for the sequel after Crimewave flopped.

The Thing (1982) is based on which novella?

John W. Campbell Jr.'s story had already inspired 1951's The Thing from Another World. Kurt Russell plays helicopter pilot MacReady.

What share of The Thing's budget went to Rob Bottin's creature effects?

The film flopped against E.T.'s sunnier aliens that summer, then was reappraised on home video as one of the genre's best.

Who is credited as director of Poltergeist (1982), amid long-running debate over Steven Spielberg's role?

Spielberg wrote and produced it but was contractually barred from directing another film while making E.T.

What does five-year-old Carol Anne say after talking to the static on the TV in Poltergeist?

The Freelings live in the planned community of Cuesta Verde; Carol Anne is later pulled into a portal in her closet.

An American Werewolf in London won the inaugural Academy Award for what?

Rick Baker's transformation sequence took the first-ever makeup Oscar. Landis had written the script in 1969 and shelved it for a decade.

What is the name of the pub where the two American backpackers are warned to stay off the moors?

David Kessler and Jack Goodman ignore the advice, with predictable results under the next full moon.

The Howling was one of three high-profile lycanthrope films of 1981. What were the other two?

Its success got Joe Dante the Gremlins job. Rob Bottin did the makeup a year before The Thing.

What are the three rules for caring for a Mogwai in Gremlins?

Complaints about Gremlins and Temple of Doom led Spielberg to suggest a new rating; the MPAA created PG-13 within two months.

Gremlins helped prompt the creation of which movie rating?

Howie Mandel voiced Gizmo; Chris Columbus wrote the script and Joe Dante directed under Spielberg as executive producer.

The Return of the Living Dead introduced which now-standard zombie idea?

Dan O'Bannon's punk comedy also popularized the headshot as the way to stop them, and its soundtrack was full of LA deathrock bands.

What is the name of the toxic gas that raises the dead in The Return of the Living Dead?

The drums are stored at the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky.

Re-Animator is loosely based on a serial by which author?

Jeffrey Combs plays Herbert West. Stuart Gordon first conceived it as a stage play, then a TV pilot; the unrated video cut found its biggest audience.

In Fright Night, teenager Charley Brewster recruits which TV horror host to fight his vampire neighbor?

Roddy McDowall played the washed-up host; Chris Sarandon was the vampire. Tom Holland made his directing debut.

Cronenberg's The Fly (1986) won an Academy Award for what?

Chris Walas and Stephan Dupuis took the prize; Walas then directed the 1989 sequel. Mel Brooks's company produced the film.

What is the name of Jeff Goldblum's scientist in The Fly?

His telepods work fine until a fly joins him. Geena Davis plays journalist Veronica Quaife.

Hellraiser (1987) was adapted by Clive Barker from which of his own novellas?

His directorial debut cost about $1 million and grossed $30 million. The puzzle box summons the Cenobites.

How is Doug Bradley's character credited in the original Hellraiser?

The crew's nickname 'Pinhead' stuck with fans and later films, though Barker despises it. The character has about eight minutes of screen time.

In Child's Play, what is the name of the serial killer whose soul ends up in a Good Guy doll?

Known as the Lakeshore Strangler, he uses a voodoo invocation of Damballa as he dies. The same actor plays him and voices the doll.

Who has voiced Chucky since 1988?

Don Mancini created the character; the original film cost $9 million and grossed more than $44 million.

The Lost Boys is set in which fictional California town, nicknamed the murder capital of the world?

It was shot mainly in Santa Cruz. The title nods to Peter Pan's boys who never grow up.

Near Dark (1987) was the solo directorial debut of which future Oscar winner?

Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen and Jenette Goldstein play a nomadic vampire family roaming Oklahoma.

Under what pseudonym did John Carpenter write the screenplay for They Live?

He adapted Ray Nelson's 1963 story 'Eight O'Clock in the Morning' as a jab at Reagan-era commercialism.

Which former pro wrestler stars in They Live?

His character Nada finds sunglasses that reveal the alien elite and their subliminal commands. Keith David co-stars.

What was the name of the ship deliberately wrecked a century earlier in John Carpenter's The Fog?

Antonio Bay's founders sank it to stop its leprosy-afflicted owner founding a colony; his crew returns with the fog on the centennial.

Which entry in the Michael Myers series does not feature him at all?

Carpenter and Debra Hill imagined an anthology series; after the film's poor reception Myers returned in Halloween 4 in 1988.

Which 1983 film features a killer 1958 Plymouth Fury?

John Carpenter directed and co-scored it. The car turns nerdy Arnie Cunningham into a menace.

In Cujo, mother and son are trapped by a rabid St. Bernard inside what car?

Dee Wallace, who had faced werewolves in The Howling, plays the mother.

Who directed the 1982 EC Comics-style anthology Creepshow?

The Carrie novelist wrote it, his screenwriting debut, and he and his son Joe act in two of the segments.

Who directed the 1989 film Pet Sematary?

The novel's author wrote the screenplay himself; the Creeds move to Ludlow, Maine, and Fred Gwynne plays neighbor Jud Crandall.

Videodrome was the first Cronenberg film backed by a major Hollywood studio. Which one?

James Woods plays a Toronto UHF station boss who finds a snuff-film signal; Debbie Harry co-stars.

Sleepaway Camp (1983) is best remembered for what?

The camp is Arawak; Felissa Rose plays Angela. Four sequels followed.

Which future Shawshank Redemption filmmaker co-wrote the 1988 remake of The Blob with director Chuck Russell?

It bombed, taking $8.2 million on a $10 million budget, but is now praised as a remake that beats the 1958 original.

Day of the Dead (1985) traps its survivors in an underground bunker in which state?

Romero called the third film in his Dead series a tragedy about how a lack of communication causes collapse.

George C. Scott's haunted composer in The Changeling (1980) relocates to a mansion in which city?

The story drew on events playwright Russell Hunter claimed to have experienced in a Denver mansion in the late 1960s.

Which Halloween producer suggested Prom Night's director make a horror film built around a holiday?

Paul Lynch's 1980 slasher starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen.

In Cronenberg's Scanners (1981), which corporation hunts psychics to exploit their powers?

Michael Ironside's renegade scanner Darryl Revok wages war on the weapons-and-security firm.

In Basket Case (1981), what does Duane Bradley carry around in his wicker basket?

Frank Henenlotter shot his debut on 16 mm in New York for about $35,000.

Which rock star plays a possessed homeless man in John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (1987)?

The film is the middle entry of Carpenter's unofficial Apocalypse Trilogy, between The Thing and In the Mouth of Madness.

Wes Craven's The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) is loosely based on a book by which ethnobotanist?

Davis investigated Clairvius Narcisse, a Haitian man allegedly poisoned, buried alive and revived as a 'zombie'.

Which effects-making family team produced Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)?

Stephen directed and co-wrote with Charles; it was shot in Watsonville and at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Society (1989) marked the directorial debut of which producer of Re-Animator?

Yuzna reshaped a conventional slasher into body horror about a shapeshifting elite that feeds on the lower classes.

Which future Seinfeld star made his film debut in the 1981 slasher The Burning?

The Cropsey-legend slasher was written by Bob Weinstein from a story co-conceived by Harvey Weinstein.

In Motel Hell (1980), farmer Vincent Smith turns his trapped guests into what?

Rory Calhoun starred; his sister Ida helped run the operation at the Sable Ranch shoot.

In Dead Ringers (1988), Jeremy Irons plays twin brothers in what profession?

The story drew on the real Marcus twins and won 10 Genie Awards including Best Motion Picture.

Night of the Comet (1984) is credited with influencing the creation of which TV heroine?

Thom Eberhardt's comet-apocalypse comedy grossed $14.4 million on a $700,000 budget.