Slashers and Splatterpunks

by David Byron

  Slashers & Splatterpunks

  increasingly severe torments, killing his cats and terrorizing his family, but all fail. Eventually Jack tricks it into leaving the house and attacking him, and by violating the orders of its demonic masters, the Yattering becomes Jack's servant. Unusual for Barker's early work, this story is unabashedly comic. It was made into an episode of the horror anthology TV series Tales From The Darkside.

  Pig Blood Blues A supernatural story set in a borstal. A former policeman named Redman, who starts working there, uncovers a deadly secret and a boy named Lacey is the centre of it. Lacey claims that a missing boy by the name of Henessey is actually there on the grounds of the facility, in the form of a ghost. As Redman unravels the mystery he finds that things are not what they seem and the giant pig in the sty located on the north end of the grounds is actually possessed by the soul of Henessey, who transferred his soul into the pig in order to live forever. "This is the state of the beast. ...to eat and be eaten."

  Sex, Death and Starshine Terry, a director, is having an affair with his leading lady Viola, Diane Duvall. She was on a soap opera and is a wonderful blow, but, on the stage, is dreadful. A mysterious, rather theatrical man in a mask, Mr. Lichfield, tells him that his wife, Constantia, would have done better. However, aside from the problem of his wife being dead, Terry cannot replace her do to the draw she'd have due to publicity.

  Days pass and Terry worries about the play and is comforted by Mr. Lichfield. Then, the day of the show Mr. Lichfield catches Terry and Diane in the middle of sex (and after an embarrassing moment for Terry in which he leaves) confronts her about her lack of "style" on the stage and states that his wife will play the role of Viola on the following day's opening night. Diane uncovers the face behind the mask and finds that Mr. Lichfield is actually the walking dead. Mr. Lichfield then kisses Diane and she slips into a coma. His wife is introduced as the new Viola while Diane is taken to intensive care. However, Diane returns later and finds Terry, stating that they need to "finish". After believing that Diane has recovered, Terry realises that she is in fact dead, while she is giving him felatio. She

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  finds out that he knows, and dispatches with him. The play is performed to a packed house, however, once the performance is finished (and the light's come back up), the actors realise that the audience were in fact ghosts. The theatre is burnt down and everyone in the production is killed.

  The story ends with several of the actors and Terry joining Mr. Lichfield and Constantia on the road as ghost actors -- as they've decided to devote their life to the art.

  In the Hills, the Cities Two gay men, Mick and Judd, go on a romantic but strained vacation in Yugoslavia. In an isolated rural area, there happens an astounding event: two entire cities, Popolac and Podujevo, create massive communal creatures by binding together the bodies of their citizens, with almost forty thousand people walking as the body of a single giant, as tall as a skyscraper. It's a ritual that occurs every ten years, but this time, things go wrong, and the Podujevo giant collapses, killing thirty-eight thousand, seven hundred and sixty five citizens horribly. Mick and Judd come upon the smashed bodies of Podujevo and a ravine awash with blood, but at first do not see the City of Popolac walking behind nearby hills. Meanwhile, in shock, the entire population of Popolac goes mad, and in losing their individual minds actually become the giant they are strapped into. Popolac wanders the hills aimlessly. By nightfall many of the people who made up the giant die from exhaustion, but still it walks. Mick and Judd are told the truth about the giants by a local man who tried to steal their car in order to catch up with Popolac and reason with it before it collapses and destroys the people who compose it. But Mick and Judd at first do not believe his story. They seek shelter at a remote farm, but Popolac blunders right into the farmhouse that night. Its giant foot kills Judd by accident. The elderly farm couple, who saw Popolac, go crazy with fear. Mick, seeing Popolac, goes insane too, but wants to join Popolac. He climbs up the tower of ropes and bodies, and is carried away as it walks into the hills to its fate.

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  Iron Dave's Top 15 Horror Films Of the 1980s ***

  The Thing / 1982 / Directed by John Carpenter

  Although not accepted well at the theatre upon it's initial release, it has now become a cult-classic among 80s film fans, and among the horror film community in general. It had some tough competition that year, too; E.T. and Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom. I still list it as one of my favorite horror films of all time, and thanks to Rob Bottin's excellent FX work and Carpenter's deft direction, it spawned a lot of imitations, that of course never held a candle to Carpenter's magnum opus of horror.

  Maniac / 1982 / Directed by William Lustig

  Still considered by some critics as pure sleaze and exploitation, this film, nonetheless, still remains one of my all time favorite films of the 1980s. It WAS sleaze, but, still managed to instill an air of foreboding and intensity, and featured scenes that could successfully combine the excellent FX work of Tom Savini with utter terror. After watching this one, you may feel slimy, want to take a shower, but you won't turn off the DVD player feeling as though you watched a film with no meaning, no pulse, or no heart.

  The Prowler / 1981 / Directed by Joseph Zito

  Tom Savini supplied the FX work for this one, too, a smart little film that, in the age of the slasher, is by far bloodier than any of it's brethren, but still more efficient at creating scares. This ultraviolent gem may be too strong for some to stomach, but it deliver the goods as far as genuine fright factor goes. Warning: Bring the barf bags.

  Halloween 2 / 1981 / Directed by Rick Rosenthal

  Not nearly as good as the original, it still is a good effort on director Rosenthal's part. Not quite the Rolls-Royce of 80's slashers, it could be more like the Toyota of slashers in a year that featured so many Halloween ripoffs, some of which never even made it to VHS. The script could have been better, but with my favorite final girl Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance reprising his role as Loomis, what more I could I ask for in a Halloween

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  sequel? Two thumbs up to Rosenthal for a great effort on his part. Hellraiser / 1987 / Directed by Clive Barker

  Labeled by one critic as ''part gothic, part S&M, and part slasher,'' this mean-spirited little gem went on to launch the career of Doug Bradley { Pinhead} into the horror film icon stratosphere. When Stephen King once stated that '' I have seen the future of horror, and it's name is Clive Barker,'' he wasn't kidding around. This film is a horror classic, and although it went on to spawn many lame sequels, it still, to me, retains an air of dignity amidst the 80s slush pile.

  Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer / 1989 / Directed by John McNaughton

  Originally filmed in 1985 but shelved for four years due to legal { and distribution} problems, this film was a welcome shock to the system after a decade filled with so many cardboard killers and faceless and nameless horror-icon wannbes. Made for a paltry $110.000 , it gave us an unflinching look into the daily life of a serial killer, played by Michael Rooker, and was ''loosely based'' on the real-life exploits of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, who professed upon his capture to having killed hundreds of people over a span of two decades. And one of the scariest parts of watching the film was, that you KNEW there were men like just like him out there. He could be your neighbor. As Rolling Stone's Peter Travers once stated, ''this film gives off a chill that follows you all the way home.''

  Motel Hell / 1980 / Directed by Kevin Conner

  Originally intended as a black comedy, this little gem has also gained cult classic status since it's release in 1980. The ad-line ''It takes all kinds of critters to make farmer Vincent's fritters!'' still remains one of the best ad-lines for a horror film for me. You could tell Rory Calhoun and Nancy Parsons were having a blast making this one, and I wish I could have been there to watch. Mr. Calhoun sadly died in 1992 of cancer.


  The Howling / 1981 / Directed by Joe Dante

  Boasting one of the most intense, frightening, and realistic werewolf transformations ever put to celluloid, this is by far my

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  favorite werewolf movie, followed closely by the John Landis film American Werewolf In London. You can tell Director Dante and his whole cast and crew were having a blast making this one, and it shows in the finished film. There has never been another werewolf film quite like it; one with a sense of humor.

  Near Dark / 1987 / Directed by Katheryn Bigelow

  A cut above most of the vampire flicks of the 80s, this one employed a country and western setting to add to the mood, complete with desolate but beautiful desert settings, a great score by Tangerine Dream, and great performances by genre greats Lance Henriksen and a young Bill Paxton. Splendidly shot and hauntingly beautiful, this Southwesern neo-noir ode to gangster filcks like Bonnie and Clyde is a must see for vampire fans.

  An American Werewolf In London / 1981 / Directed by John Landis Another FX laden werewolf film from the 80s, with the award winning FX supplied by FX wizard Rick Baker, and a great soundtrack including Credence Clearwater Revival. Upon th film's release, alot of move-goers thought it was purposely played out for laughs, but Landis insists it was a '' traditional, Monster At Large'' horror film, I will let you be the judge.

  The Evil Dead / 1983 / Directed by Sam Raimi

  First-time filmmaker Sam Raimi's magnum-opus of cheap { but very well executed} FX and demonic possession still holds a place in my heart after all these years, partially due to the fact is stars one of many horror fan's favorite defacto-hero, Bruce Campbell. This film is a fine example of just how far a filmmaker can go with a very limited budget, if placed in the right hands. Warning, though; not for the weak of stomach or faint of heart. This is a rollicking, rip-snorting, blood-drenched rollercoaster ride through HELL.

  Friday the 13th / 1980 / Directed by Sean Cunningham There have been a lot of imitations over the years, but none can hold a candle to this film, which set the slasher/splatter standard for future generations of filmmakers. It also spawned countless { and LAME } sequels, including a 2009 remake which I felt almost fell flat on it's ass. If boobs, blood, booze, drugs, and a lame screenplay are your thing, you will really enjoy the remake.

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  Otherwise, steer clear at all costs. Return Of the Living Dead / 1985 / Directed by Dan O'Bannon Surprisingly, this film was directed by one of Alien's producers, but this one played out a tad bit more comically than Ridley Scott's magum opus of inner galactic terror. Complete with talking zombies { ''I want more BRAINS!'' } a group of punks { led by a youger and sexier Linnea Quigley }and just enough gore to please the splatter fans, this film is a very funny and imaginative take on the ghoulish material George Romero made so popular back in 1968. Originally pitched as the ''perfect combination of humor and horror,'' it most definitely reflects the punkish nihilism of the era and the ever present fear of a nuclear apocalypse.

  Child's Play / 1988 / Directed by Tom Holland

  Tom Holland's best contribution to the 80s, his other being Fright Night, a suburban vampire nightmare. In this one, a serial killer, Charles Lee Ray {played by the ever-creepy Brad Dourif } is gunned own in a toy store, and employs his knowledge of voodoo to transfer his soul into the body of a creepy looking doll. It manages to stand out from the rest of the splat pack because it is DIFFERENT. The acting is good, the plot is interesting, the characters have common sense, and the villian { Chucky the killer doll } has a sense of humor. A breath of fresh air in the ''dead teenager decade.''

  A Nightmare On Elm Street / 1984 / Directed by Wes Craven Brought to us by the same fellow that released the surprisingly lame Scream series in the 90s, this film introduced us to Freddy Krueger, one of the most despicable, hated, yet popular slasher icons of the 80s. Indeed, the film opened the floodgates for the ''rubber reality'' movies, which included 1988's Shocker and 1989's The Horror Show, but no other figure in 80s horror cinema will ever capture the raw intensity that actor Robert Englund did with Freddy Krueger. This film gave the term ''Is this real or is it a dream?!'' a whole new meaning.

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  Greg and Chuck’s Top Ten Greg Lamberson is the screenwriter and director of SLIME CITY, UNDYIONG LOVE, and NAKED FEAR, which will all be released in June 2009 as THE SLIME CITY GRINDHOUSE COLLECTION. He is also the author of the novels Johnny Gruesome and Personal Demons, and the instructional book CHEAP SCARES! Low Budget Horror Filmmakers Share Their Secrets. He is currently developing a new film, SLIME CITY MASSACRE. His website is www.slimeguy.com .

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  The 80s: Slime and Slime Again By Greg Lamberson I was born in the 60s, discovered horror films in the 70s, and ―came of age‖ in the 80s. Because my flick SLIME CITY played as a midnight movie in 1988 and was released on video for the first time in 1989, I assume I‘ll always be associated with the age of ―rubber reality,‖ as Wes Craven called it. Here is my list of ten great ‗80s classics. I‘ve deliberately left out some important films, like THE EVIL DEAD and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, in favor of other titles. Kill me.

  AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1980) – The decade started out promisingly with John Landis‘s classic werewolf tale which remains great despite a weak ending. Both the humor and horror continue to elicit their intended reactions, and the film has aged far better than Joe Dante‘s THE HOWLING (but I like that, too).

  SCANNERS (1981) – I love David Cronenberg films like RABID, THEY CAME FROM WITHIN, THE BROOD and VIDEODROME, but if I have to choose one that had an impact on me (and I must), it‘s this one. I was in high school when it came out, and the thrill of seeing a man‘s head explode in TV commercials psyched me out. Horror is supposed to be dangerous,

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  and this film sure was at the time. BASKET CASE (1982) – I first read an insane article about the distribution nightmares encountered by Frank Henenlotter with this film in the early days and pages of FANGORIA. When I moved to NYC to study filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts, BASKET CASE was one year into its midnight run at the Waverly Twin Theatre and one of my classmates, Jim Muro (STREET TRASH) had worked on it as a Production Assistant. For a handful of us who lived in a YMCA on 34th, seeing the film on a semi-big screen became a ritual, and I alter worked as Henenlotter‘s Assistant Director on BRAIN DAMAGE.

  Q – THE WINGED SERPENT (1982) – That same year saw the release of Larry Cohen‘s underappreciated ode to New York City featuring Michael Moriarty as a con man, David Carradine as a cynical cop, and David Allen‘s wonderful stop-motion animations as a winged Aztec god plucking helpless Manhattanites from rooftops. Besides being clever and unpretentious, this blast from the past made use of scores of NYC locations never seen before.

  JOHN CARPENTER"S THE THING (1982) – I saw this the way every horror film should be seen, but no longer can: in a sleazy 42nd Street Cinema filled with bums, reeking of piss, and haunted by one black cat hired to rid the joint of rats. The year may have been 1982, but the film was pure 70‘s nihilism. Carpenter‘s greatest film was the apex of his journey as a filmmaker after several indie efforts, and unfortunately, it‘s all been downhill ever since. But a filmmaker is lucky to make even one classic, and this man made two. Give him major props.

  JUST BEFORE DAWN (198--?) – IMDB lists 1981 as the release year for Jeff Lieberman‘s backwoods slasher flick, but I saw it at a movie theatre I managed between 1983 and 1984, so that can‘t be right; maybe it‘s just the yhear of the film‘s copyright. In any case, this is my favorite slasher film, with more realistic characters and setting than usual. The woods have never seemed so dark to me. Lieberman, like Cohen, is the auteur behind several offbeat pics, including SQUIRM and BLUE SUNSHINE.

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  THE DEADLY SPAWN (1983) – While tearing tickets at the RKO National Twin on Broadway, I witnessed the premieres of two indie horror classics. The fi
rst was THE EVIL DEAD (you should have seen a nervous Sam Raimi chain-smoking in the lobby, back when that was legal). The other was this Douglas McKeown monster flick co-written by John Dods and Ted Bohus. A boy, his monster magazine collection, some New Jersey teenagers, and a legion of space critters straight out of ALIENS make this one of those most enjoyable monster movies of the era.

  FROM BEYOND (1986) – It may sound hard to believe, but I wasn‘t a fan of Sturt Gordon‘s RE-ANIMATOR the first time I saw it. In fact, I blew the chance to have Vestron Video produce SLIME CITY when I confessed that I didn‘t like their most successful horror release (―You never tell them that!‖ Frank Henenlotter chastised me). But I loved FROM BEYIOND from Frame One: other dimensional creatures, house loads of pink slime, and Barbera Crampton in a dominatrix outfit. What‘s not to love?

  THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (1986) – I have tons of friends who hate this movie, but I love it. Tobe Hooper‘s sequel/remake of TCM—possibly the greatest horror flick ever lensed—was released the same summer I shot SLIME, and I had thye best time ever watching Leatherface chainsaw the crowns off those yuppie bastards in the beginning. And Dennis Hopper sawed ass!

  NEAR DARK (1987) – I can usually tell what generation horror fans are from depending on whether or not they liked GOONIES and THE LOST BOYS. I hated both films, which I found to be overly slick Hollywood concoctions. NEAR DARK, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and co-written by Eric Red, remains the Last Great Vampire Film, but it bombed in theatres while the frivolous LOST BOYS became a box office sensation. Kids, box office gross has nothing to do with quality, and this Sam Peckinpah-styled Fang-‗em up remains in a class of its own.