80s Horror/Science Fiction Movies

For various reasons, I found myself revisiting 3 “horror/sci-fi” movies from the 80s this past month which I hadn’t seen in >15 years. The results were predictable: John Carpenter’s movie was much better than Lewis Teague’s and Jack Sholder’s. Who the hell are those last 2 guys? Exactly. (Click below for Alligator, The Hidden, and The Thing)

Alligator (1980) – John Sayles (!) was hired to write this Jaws ripoff where a giant alligator terrorizes Chicago. I love Robert Forster, one of my favorite character actors, but he’s a little out of his depth as the lead here. He’s the all-too-familiar world-weary cop who seeks revenge on the alligator after it kills his partner. Michael V. Gazzo (Frank Pentangeli in Godfather II) is the chief of police demanding results. The special effects are lame and the plot is both familiar and predictable, but what else would you expect from this classic B-movie set-up? The movie is perhaps best known as the movie referenced in E.T. Who can forget the way Drew Barrymore says, “Alligators in the sewer.” C+

The Hidden (1987) – One year after Blue Velvet, Kyle Maclachlan plays an FBI agent on the trail of the serial killer, but the killer seems to be changing forms. It’s nearly the exact same plot as Fallen (1998), but since that movie had a bigger budget, a better director, not to mention Denzel, Walter Sobchak, and Tony Soprano, it’s a bit better. MacLachlan and Michael Nouri know not to take the material too seriously and the movie is successful with its humor and solid action scenes. How can you not love a movie that has a car drive through a plate glass window being carried across the street? B-

The Thing (1982) – After wreaking havoc on a Norwegian team of scientists in Antarctica, an alien life form makes its way to the American camp. The monster/thing can assume any appearance and inhabit a human without any external manifestation (unlike Invasion of the Body Snatchers – where you could easily tell who the Pod People were). On the surface, the movie is classic horror-movie stuff where you don’t know who will get killed next. But the movie goes much deeper, creating a sense of isolation and a perfect claustrophobic atmosphere.

The character development is the best I’ve seen in a horror movie and the paranoia that fills the group is palpable. The wintry scenes, white outs, and black outs are expertly done by director Carpenter. And the cast – all male – is first rate - led by Kurt Russell, but including Wilford Brimley, Donald Moffat, Keith David, and Richard Dysart. The movie is a bit gory for my taste, but it serves the story rather than existing for itself. And Ennio Morricone’s score is perfectly understated, increasing the dread factor. Ridley Scott’s Alien may still be my favorite horror movie (Aliens is more of an action movie), but this is a close second. A-