# Favorite Cheesy 80's Horror Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603 "2006-03-30T21:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/1 "2006-03-30T21:26:02Z")
My mom had a strange fixation for horror films, and I saw far too many as a teenager. I no longer have a taste for the ‘graphic’ horror such as _Saw_ and the like, but bring on the cheese. [Gremlins](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087363/) is considered the classic, but my personal favorite is still [Critters](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090887/). What’s yours? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/2 "2006-03-30T21:28:55Z")
Flowers in the Attic, natch. IMHO far far better than the book. And Christy Swanson was quite the babe. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/3 "2006-03-30T21:39:16Z")
I mentioned _This House Possessed_ in the 70s Horror thread. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/4 "2006-03-30T21:42:50Z")
I love, love, love [Fright Night](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089175/) (1985), with the late Roddy McDowall. It doesn’t take itself seriously at all, but it certainly has its effective scary moments. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/5 "2006-03-30T22:01:56Z")
> [@Gordon Urquhart](#): > > I love, love, love [Fright Night](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089175/) (1985), with the late Roddy McDowall. It doesn’t take itself seriously at all, but it certainly has its effective scary moments. Yeah, this movie is definitely a classic as well. Ed was my favorite character, Charley’s friend who joins the dark side. I looked up the actor who played him, Stephen Geoffreys, wondering what happened to him. His career definitely made a few interesting [turns](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0313267/). Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/6 "2006-03-30T22:03:31Z")
I still have a lingering fondness for [Razorback](http://imdb.com/title/tt0087981/) and The Boogens – best movie use for a yappy little dog. 🙂 (I tried to link to The Boogens but couldn’t make it work.) ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/7 "2006-03-30T22:11:30Z")
Night of the Creeps…brain slugs that turn you into zombies 🙂 The Stuff…space yogurt that turns you into a zombie 🙂 Return of the Living Dead…chemicals that turn you into zombies 🙂 …and Killer Clowns from Outer Space. No zombies in that one though. ---
**Author:** ![Logan\_5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/fbc32d/32.png) [@Logan\_5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logan_5)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/8 "2006-03-30T22:23:57Z")
Christine golden oldies rock tunes still give me the creeps! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/9 "2006-03-30T22:24:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Agnostic Pagan: > Ed was my favorite character, Charley’s friend who joins the dark side. > I looked up the actor who played him, Stephen Geoffreys, wondering what happened to him. His career definitely made a few interesting turns. Yikes. Yeah … I’d heard about his filmography on a movie-related site a few months ago. I was going to include in my post how almost all of the principles in the cast of _Fright Night_ have stayed pretty busy up to the present … some have made more movies (and in more _genres_) than others. **Gargoyle WB’s** post reminded me about [Night of the Comet](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087799/) – that was a lot of zombie fun, and featured 80s-hottie-in-the-Kristy-Swanson-class [Catherine Mary Stewart](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0829252/). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/10 "2006-03-30T22:27:19Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > …and Killer Clowns from Outer Space. No zombies in that one though. Some inflating boobs though. ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/11 "2006-03-30T22:56:17Z")
> [@Agnostic Pagan](#): > > Yeah, this movie is definitely a classic as well. Ed was my favorite character, Charley’s friend who joins the dark side. > I looked up the actor who played him, Stephen Geoffreys, wondering what happened to him. His career definitely made a few interesting [turns](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0313267/). Yikes. Oh dear. I was going to nominame _Fright Night_ too, but now all I can think about is _Cock Pit_. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/12 "2006-03-30T23:05:59Z")
I second [Return of The Living Dead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089907/) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/13 "2006-03-30T23:12:28Z")
Return of the Living Dead is genius. Second runner up is Shocker. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/14 "2006-03-31T02:40:21Z")
Fright Night Nightmare On Elm Street and my favorite from the 80s… [Bad Taste](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092610/) Also, many people don’t know it, but the same guys who wrote, directed, and created the special effects for [Killer Klowns From Outer Space](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095444/) also did the excellent puppet work in [the funniest movie of 2004](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372588/). Chiodo Bros. totally rock! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/15 "2006-03-31T04:08:07Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > …and Killer Clowns from Outer Space. No zombies in that one though. Did anybody else watch “Independence Day,” and think “They Stole That Scene From Killer Klowns” when the alien used Brent Spiner’s dead body as a ventriloquist’s dummy? John Vernon did it better than Spiner, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/16 "2006-03-31T04:12:49Z")
I nominate an underappreciated work of cheesy genius: [Of Unknown Origin (1983)](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0086036/maindetails) I suppose the pitch nowadays would be “Robocop meets Mouse Hunt.” Peter Weller is a yuppie who discovers a rat problem in their new home. His wife goes away for a week as he tries to make some more repairs to the house and get rid of the rat. However, he steadily goes crazier and crazier trying to kill a rat that seems impervious to all forms of attack, until it finally ends with (spoiler in case anyone wants to watch it) Weller in hand-to-hand combat with a four-foot long mutant monster rat, which he finally kills after destroying the entire building. The nonchalant greeting he gives his wife when she comes home at the end is absolutely priceless. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/17 "2006-03-31T05:07:09Z")
**Re-Animator** ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/18 "2006-03-31T12:07:25Z")
I love [House](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091223/), with William Katt playing an author/Vietnam vet who moves into his aunt’s house after she offs herself. This movie’s got _everything_. An old lady ghost in the attic telling him he’s gonna die, interdimensional portholes in various locales that suck little kids away, greebly mutant zombie things that keep moving after you chop them up and bury them in the backyard, a brief scene with a swordfish that’s _really_ upset about being stuffed and mounted on the wall, and Richard Moll sporting the worst case of post-traumatic stress disorder ever. Basically, they crammed every horror-movie archetype possible into this movie, and somehow made it work. It’s fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/19 "2006-03-31T14:38:48Z")
The BASKET CASE series BRAIN DAMAGE (The Aylmer!!!) THE TOXIC AVENGER CLASS OF NUKE’EM HIGH CAT PEOPLE thank you, the advent of Home Video and USA Network! ---
**Author:** ![meow\_meow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@meow\_meow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meow_meow)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603/20 "2006-03-31T14:50:56Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > Nightmare On Elm Street The first one was NOT cheesy! In fact, I think it is one of the scariest movies of all time. It’s dated, sure, and the sequels were cheesy, yes. But what a concept! I nominate Maximun Overdrive. Good and cheesy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-cheesy-80s-horror-movie/350603.md?page=2)