Fri. Mar 29th, 2024


Criterion Channel, horror

If you’re a horror fan with a subscription to the Criterion Channel, you’ve got a hell of a month to look forward to. The streaming service will kick off the Halloween season with a collection of thirty of the best ’80s horror movies out there. With movies from Dario Argento, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, Tobe Hooper, and more, there’s something for everyone, from Amy Holden Jones’ sleazy slasher The Slumber Party Massacre to Kathryn Bigelow’s cult classic vampire thriller Near Dark.

This collection of ’80s horror was curated by Clyde Folley and will take you on a “ghastly tour through the decade of greed features ambitious art-pulp hybrids, old-fashioned creature features, a vampiric Nicolas Cage, and absolutely unclassifiable cult oddities, bringing together some of the eighties’ most stylish, haunting, and outrageous visions.” Here’s the full list of horror movies which will be available on the Criterion Channel on October 1st, but note that Tony Scott’s The Hunger won’t arrive until November 1st.

  • Inferno, Dario Argento, 1980
  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne, Walerian Borowczyk, 1981
  • Dead & Buried, Gary Sherman, 1981
  • The House by the Cemetery, Lucio Fulci, 1981
  • The Funhouse, Tobe Hooper, 1981
  • Strange Behavior, Michael Laughlin, 1981
  • Wolfen, Michael Wadleigh, 1981
  • Scanners, David Cronenberg, 1981
  • Road Games, Richard Franklin, 1981
  • The Fan, Ed Bianchi, 1981
  • Basket Case, Frank Henenlotter, 1982
  • Next of Kin, Tony Williams, 1982
  • Cat People, Paul Schrader, 1982
  • Q: The Winged Serpent, Larry Cohen, 1982
  • The Slumber Party Massacre, Amy Holden Jones, 1982
  • The Keep, Michael Mann, 1983
  • The Hunger, Tony Scott, 1983 (not coming until November 1)
  • Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, John McNaughton, 1986
  • The Hidden, Jack Sholder, 1987
  • Prince of Darkness, John Carpenter, 1987
  • White of the Eye, Donald Cammell, 1987
  • Near Dark, Kathryn Bigelow, 1987
  • The Vanishing, George Sluizer, 1988
  • Brain Damage, Frank Henenlotter, 1988
  • Dream Demon, Harley Cokeliss, 1988
  • The Blob, Chuck Russell, 1988
  • Lair of the White Worm, Ken Russell, 1988
  • Vampire’s Kiss, Robert Bierman, 1988
  • Society, Brian Yuzna, 1989
  • Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Shinya Tsukamoto, 1989

Which of these classic ’80s horror movies will you be checking out on the Criterion Channel?



By Dave Jenks

Dave Jenks is an American novelist and Veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Between those careers, he’s worked as a deckhand, commercial fisherman, divemaster, taxi driver, construction manager, and over the road truck driver, among many other things. He now lives on a sea island, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, with his wife and youngest daughter. They also have three grown children, five grand children, three dogs and a whole flock of parakeets. Stinnett grew up in Melbourne, Florida and has also lived in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and Cozumel, Mexico. His next dream is to one day visit and dive Cuba.