THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE OUTRAGEOUS: 1980s Horror Cinema Author Bryan Senn
Book Review and Exclusive Interview: By Anthony W. Northrup
Sometimes we talk about the past decades. We all love to reminisce about our childhood, what influenced us, and what made us happy. Some consider the 1980s their favorite decade. Bring up that decade in conversation, and people can't wait to share their thoughts and memories of the decade that was dubbed "totally awesome"! In these conversations, many agree that the 1980s were one of the best decades for horror films.
Horror films have been a fan favorite for as long as we can remember. There's just something about being scared practically to death, then living to tell about what it was that made you feel that way. From the early beginnings of the Universal Monsters in the 1920s through the late 1940s (Dracula, Wolf Man, Frankenstein, The Mummy) to those from the 1950s forward, such films as King Kong, Godzilla, Jaws, and the biggest subgenre of horror films to emerge from Hollywood: Slasher films (Friday the 13th, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street), we could be talking for hours about some of our favorites. I'm happy to find a book that covers everything I enjoy about horror, and specifically some of the greats that hit the big screen in the 1980s.
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE OUTRAGEOUS: 1980s Horror Cinema is a fantastic book by author Bryan Senn.
I was absolutely excited when I was offered the opportunity to review this book! I love the 1980s, and I love 1980s horror films! In this new book, let me begin by saying it is HUGE!! It is a doorstop! Over 800 pages of amazing reviews and more! Bryan breaks down the best, the worst, and "What the hell were they thinking?" horror films from the "Decade of Decadence." Bryan reviews each film in alphabetical order in amazing detail, including backstories, history, behind-the-scenes content, interview clips, and more.
What I really enjoyed that stood out in this book, other than Bryan's amazing views and knowledge of these films, is that before he takes you on this trip down 80s horror memory lane, he breaks down certain topics about horror films from this era, such as "Scream Queens" (horror film leading ladies who dominated the genre with their strength and wit to survive the slasher in a mask), Foreign Horror films, and breaking boundaries (filmmakers going past the norm and breaking new ground) with special effects that we've never seen done before on the big screen.
I also enjoyed how Bryan shared his own memories of going to the theater and seeing the latest horror flick, especially sequels! However, the highlight I could really relate to was the discussion about "Video Store Rentals" or "Be Kind Rewind"! I worked at video stores when I was younger, and I can tell you, Bryan nailed it in this chapter of his book! He brought back so many wonderful memories.
This book is a ton of fun to read and full of everything you'd want to know about horror films of the era; it captures the feeling of the 80s film experience of seeing these films for the first time and the nostalgia surrounding them.
This book is packed full of information that it could be used as a film reference aid... because Bryan Senn got it right! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the ins and outs of film, loves horror, and most importantly loves the horror films of the 80s!
It was a pleasure reading this new book from Brian, and I am happy to share this interview with all of you. So, let's get to know author Brian Senn a little better.
Anthony W. Northrup - Thank you, Bryan, for joining us today. For those not familiar with your work, please share a little about yourself.
Bryan Senn - Well, I’ve been retired now for six years (from a psychology career), living in a small town in Western Montana (paradise, actually) with my wife and several cats. So now my job is to ski, play pickleball, and write about movies, lol.
AN - You've written several books about the horror genre. When did your fandom for this genre begin? What drew you most to writing about this subject?
BS - I was an imaginative kid, so horror/science fiction was a great draw for me. When I was nine or ten, my parents gave me the seminal Denis Gifford book Horror Movies (you know, the green cover) for my birthday, and I devoured it. I wanted to see every movie pictured or written about at that time! After this, I (like so many fans of my generation) would go through the TV Guide each week marking anything that looked like it might be horror or science fiction. And this enthusiasm for the genre has never left me. I love how horror movies can take us to places—both physical and emotional—that we’ll (hopefully) never go in real life. I also love how horror films let us face our fears and anxieties in a safe—and (hopefully) entertaining—way. They break taboos, they explore extremes, they provide temporary respite from our real-world issues, and the best of them make us both feel and think.
AN - What are some of your favorite horror films and why?
BS - Too, too many to list, lol. My second book was called Golden Horrors: An Illustrated Critical Filmography of Terror Cinema, 1931-1939, and I still consider it my magnum opus, even though I’ve penned 11 more since then. I have a real admiration and fondness for 1930s horror cinema, from Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932) to Island of Lost Souls (1932) and The Black Cat (1934). The latter may very well be my all-time favorite (I’m a big Karloff fan), but each of these films has layers. There’s so much to dig into. That said, I, of course, have favorites from each of the succeeding decades: The
AN - Let's talk about your book The Good, The Bad and The Outrageous: 1980s Horror Cinema. How did this book come about?
BS - I’ve written or co-written books on horror films of the 1930s (Golden Horrors), the 1940s (Forties Frights, coming out this November from McFarland), and the 1960s (Sixties Shockers), and so became well-versed in the highs and lows of a specific decade of horror cinema. Yet all those were viewed through a historic lens, since I wasn’t born until 1962. But the 1980s, well… I lived it. I was in the sticky-floored, gum-coated trenches, watching the good, the bad, and the outrageous as they arrived on American drive-in and indoor screens (not to mention via the voracious venue that was home video). So for me, this decade is personal, and I wanted to thoroughly—and critically—explore it.
As I came of age in the Eighties (I graduated high school in 1980), so did horror cinema, with the decade seeing taboos broken, technology flourish, and storytelling go off in wild, uncharted directions. For me, the 1980's became a perfect cinematic storm, as it was the first decade in which I could fully apply my critical faculties alongside my youthful enthusiasm while watching many of these films first-run in the theater (I was a devoted denizen of our local cinemas). This led to some truly memorable experiences.
For instance, during a screening of Lucio Fulci’s The Gates of Hell at the late-lamented Valley Drive-In, when the head-drilling sequence came on, a squeamish friend I was with simply got out of the car and walked home. That was ‘A Statement’! Then I took my girlfriend to see The Evil Dead. Oops. When the woodland rape sequence started, she left the theater to wait in the lobby, leaving me to finish watching on my own (which I—with perhaps more cinematic dedication than relationship wisdom—did). A couple of years later, the same thing happened during Demons. Fortunately, these cinematic incidents cost me neither friend nor girlfriend, as I’m still in touch with both—the latter
having even married me!
AN - How long was the process for this book, as it is over 800 pages; that's quite a tome.
BS - Yeah, I’m nothing if not thorough, lol. This one took two to three years, I think (I’m not great with keeping track of time). Fortunately, now that I’m retired, I can devote more time to my research-and-writing avocation; otherwise, it probably would have taken twice that. I’ve had 13 books published since 1992, so that’s an average of one every
two-and-a-half years. But as you say, The Good, the Bad and the Outrageous: 1980s Horror Cinema is a BIG one, lol.
AN - You break down the horror genre into many categories. How did you decide which horror films made the cut (no pun intended) and which didn't? Explain the process of elimination?
BS - Unlike with my earlier decade-centric books (not to mention several all-inclusive subgenre tomes like Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema; The Werewolf Filmography: 300+ Movies; and Mummy Movies: A Comprehensive Guide), it soon became apparent that such a comprehensive approach to Eighties horror was impossible. With over 1700(!) horror/sci-fi/fantasy films released from 1980 to 1989, such an exhaustive undertaking would require three million words, a ten-volume set, and a lifetime to research and write. That left a pick-and-choose approach in which I could take a representative sampling of the decade’s best, worst (yet still enormously enjoyable), and most outrageous examples and give them the in-depth coverage they deserved, thus providing an incisive overview of the genre as it stood in that innovative and entertaining decade. This allowed for a more illuminating look at the most impressive specimens, while avoiding wasting time and energy (and precious page space) on the dull and inane. By limiting this book to 88 titles covered in-depth, I could leave off the pedestrian, the mediocre, and the boring, and instead focus on the worthy, the memorable, and the batshit crazy. Of course, me being me, I just had to include a comprehensive—and lengthy (at 145 pages!)—Appendix listing all 1700-plus Eighties horrors, complete with a brief description/assessment of each.
AN - One of the features I enjoyed about this book is that you don't give harsh criticism or eliminate the worst of horror films. You treat each one as its own gem. Why is that?
BS - To my mind, the only truly “bad” movie is a boring one. Unique low-budget efforts like The Deadly Spawn, The Children, or even Boardinghouse (the first-ever shot-on-video horror feature) make up for whatever they might lack in production values or Oscar-level acting with cleverness, imagination, and sheer outrageous entertainment value.
So in the book I cover not only the acknowledged ‘80s classics like An American Werewolf in London, The Thing and A Nightmare on Elm Street, but lesser-known but still creditable efforts such as Alligator, Dead & Buried and Motel Hell, and unique obscurities like The Strangeness, Lady Terminator and Tales of the Third Dimension that comprise the best and most engaging the 1980s had to offer. And some doozies from this pivotal decade brought us the slasher phenomenon, the makeup man as rock star, wall-to-wall synth music, and such outrageous sights as a man cutting off his own hand with a chainsaw before attaching it to his bloody stump to battle a cadre of demons; a detached fetus-sucking witch-head flying through the night with internal organs dangling from its gory neck; and a reanimated disembodied head giving
head!
AN - What do you feel made the horror films of the 1980s so different, special, unique, and basically nothing like it ever since? Why do we crave 80s horror so much?
BS - As the Seventies brought gritty brutality to the fore, so the Eighties made horror fun. Along with some immense technical advancements (the Eighties were THE decade for practical effects), scenarios became more outrageous, more over-the-top, and were often leavened with a liberal dose of black humor that upped the fun factor exponentially. Additionally, during the Reagan/Thatcher era, film seemed to become that much more transgressive and satirical, perhaps in reaction to the stifling backward- looking conformity and conservatism espoused at the time. The 1980s offered plenty of anxiety to be explored and exploited, from AIDS to Reagan’s “Star Wars” boondoggle to the hypocrisy of the “Family Values” movement to the widening economic gulf between rich and poor—brilliantly realized in John Carpenter’s They Live, and something perhaps even more relevant today than it was then. Additionally, the 1980s marked a more-or-less changing of the guard in Monsterdom as well, with Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy and the Wolf Man giving way to the likes of Michael, Jason, Freddie and Pinhead, spawning a whole new generation of fascinating “monsters.” Also, the 1980s saw the rise of the near-insatiable home video market, with nearly half of all American households owning a VCR by mid-decade. Myriad independent film companies backed low-budget filmmakers like Fred Olen Ray and David DeCoteau to produce cheap but memorable movies like Deep Space, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama. Additionally, the 1980s were the first time horror fans could take ownership of the movies they loved, actually owning and revisiting them at will. These days, of course, that’s taken for granted, but back then…wow. All this just adds to our continuing fascination with 1980s horror.
AN - What fun or interesting fact impressed you the most while doing the research for these films? What would you like
BS - Just how much so many Eighties genre filmmakers did with so little (money-wise), creating memorable movies with little more than determination, imagination, and hard work. In the book, I not only try to illuminate just why these films prove so entertaining (and meaningful), but I delve into the often-crazy stories behind the making of them as
filmmakers strive to make something out of nothing. With the sheer volume of horror produced during the decade, the Eighties have something for everyone, be it the terrifying body horror of Cronenberg’s The Fly, the astounding creature effects of Carpenter’s The Thing, the gonzo humor-and-horror mix of Raimi’s Evil Dead II, the sly comedy and genuine tragedy of An American Werewolf in London, the sexy spoofery of Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, or the jaw-dropping batshit-craziness of Mystics in Bali.
AN - Lastly, you cover many, many horror films in this book and at over 800 pages - Will we ever see a sequel or possibly a 90s horror cinema book? And what is next for Bryan Senn?
BS - Oh, I’d love to do a sequel book that covers another 88 Eighties gems in-depth (in fact, I’ve already compiled a list, lol). It all depends, however, on how this book does. If enough people show interest in the topic and buy it, my publisher BearManor might just want a follow-up… As to what’s next, right now I’m nearly finished with my current writing project—a book on… get this… cats in horror cinema! Lol. I’m a lifelong cat lover, so this is a purr-fect project for me (groan).
AN - Thank you, Bryan, for taking the time to share with us today.
BS - Thank you, Anthony. I greatly appreciate the interest. And remember… EIGHTIES RULES!!! (lol)
Well, there you have it: the ultimate book of the most popular horror films of the 1980s. For those of you who love to relive the nostalgia of the fun films of this era, I strongly urge you to add this book to your collection. You can find THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE OUTRAGEOUS: 1980s Horror Cinema online at Bear Manor Media Publishing and at fine booksellers online, or near you.