Terrifying Tuesdays: Weeks One and Two of My Scary Movie Recommendations from the 1970s-1990s, Part 1

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Since I forgot to post about my recommendations for last week, this week I will quickly run through the films for the past two weeks. Without further ado, let's get started!  I reviewed my first choice on the list in a previous post, so today we start with the second movie listed, which is the horror anthology "Asylum" (1972).  In general, horror anthologies do not get much love, and for good reason, as some if not all of the included short tales can be less than perfect.  However, I personally feel that, if done right, the horror genre can be more effective in a shorter format as it can be difficult to maintain the proper amount of unease and terror for the entire length of a movie or novel.  The best movie horror anthology in my opinion is "Dead of Night" (1945), which showcases some of the best short horror fiction in its vignettes, but I think "Asylum" is one of the better offerings as well.  You can watch it for free on YouTube here and decide for yourself if you agree:

"Beetlejuice" (1988) is up next and surely needs no introduction, as the sequel was just released recently and the original has been available for viewing on multiple sites.  I have yet to see the new movie, but always enjoy watching the first one as I find it highly entertaining.  I am probably also one of the few to find Delia Dietz's house remodel to be far preferable to the Maitlands' bland style!

"The Blair Witch Project" (1999) is notable as one of the first found footage horror movies and the one that popularized the style.  Despite its limited budget the movie became quite a hit.  It is available for viewing on several streaming services, but not for free.

I love a good ghost story, and "The Changeling" (1980) is considered by many to be one of the best.  A New York composer (George C. Scott) loses his wife and daughter in a horrific car accident, prompting him to move to the West Coast to escape his tragic memories.  He rents an old mansion and soon comes to find that it is haunted, but by whom, and why?  If you want to find out, you can watch the film on YouTube here.

For a completely different change of pace, "Creature" (1985) is a space alien film obviously inspired by the movie "Alien" (1972), which was my first recommendation on this list.  Even so, I find the two movies to be just different enough to like both.  Watch this one on YouTube here and see what you think (assuming that you have already seen "Alien", which is not available free online).

The 1970s-1990s was a great time period for horror anthologies, and "Creepshow" (1982) may be the one best known to most people.  This is one of those anthologies where the quality of each segment is variable (I definitely have my favorite and least favorite of the five offerings), but the good ones are very good so I do enjoy this movie.  A couple of interesting facts - the film was directed by George Romero and several of the stories were written by Stephen King.  Also, most of the filming was done in and around the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area (even in my hometown, as I grew up in a Pittsburgh suburb, so I have a special fondness for this film).  I could not find this one free online, but it is available on several streaming sites, including Shudder.  Interestingly, "Creepshow 2" (1987) is available on YouTube here, and there is some disagreement among horror enthusiasts as to whether the sequel is better or worse than the first film.

The next movie on the list is "Cube" (1997), which is an early version of the more recent escape room movies.  Seven people find themselves trapped in a chamber of constantly shifting cube-shaped rooms, some of which are booby-trapped, with no memory of how they came to be there.  They must find a way to escape without getting killed, but the potentially fatal rooms are not the only danger they face.  I like to think of this movie as an example of mathematical horror, because these people must solve a complex mathematical problem to escape, and what could be more horrifying than being forced to do math?  You can watch the movie on YouTube here.

Since this post is getting rather long, I am separating it into two, so this one will be followed by another covering the movie recommendation for Week Two.  See you there! 👽👻🎃💀👿