Ep 144 - THE BEST (AND WORST) SLASHERS OF 1981 (Part 1 of 2)

WHO WANTS TO TALK SLASHERS?? FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (1981) d. Steve Miner (USA) HALLOWEEN II (1981) d. Rick Rosenthal (USA) THE BURNING (1981) d. Tony Maylam (USA) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (1981) d. J. Lee Thompson (Canada) MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) d. George Mihalka (Canada) THE FUNHOUSE (1981) d. Tobe Hooper (USA) HELL NIGHT (1981) d. Tom DeSimone (USA) THE PROWLER (1981) d. Joseph Zito (USA) NIGHTMARE (1981) d. Romano Scavolini (USA) JUST BEFORE DAWN (1981) d. Jeff Lieberman (USA) The early 1980s were a golden age for horror, and by 1981, the slasher subgenre had already exploded into a full-blown phenomenon, with producers and filmmakers eager to capitalize on the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th. While horror sequels weren't a new concept, Friday the 13th Part 2 introduced Jason Voorhees as a full-fledged killer, creating a genre icon before our eyes, and Halloween II picked up immediately where the 1978 original left off, both pushing their respective series toward more explicit violence and expanding their internal mythologies, with impressive box office results. But there were also plenty of one-offs, from out in the wilderness (The Burning, Just Before Dawn) to civilization (Nightmare, The Prowler), from exotic settings (The Funhouse, Hell Night) including the Great White North (Happy Birthday to Me, My Bloody Valentine). Join AC and his incredible panel of gorehound guests (Fraser Coffeen, Art Ettinger, Kolleen Carney Hoepfner, Adam Rockoff, Freddie Young) as we head back 45 years to a time of body counts, masked killers, outrageous offings, eerie atmosphere, endlessly quotable dialogue, and filmmakers throwing it all at the screen to see what would stick. THE SLASHERS OF 1981!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------  FRASER COFFEEN is the co-host of Creepy History, a podcast dedicated to all the creepy stuff you wish they taught you in High School. He's been published in Horror Homeroom magazine and How to Analyze and Review Comics. ART ETTINGER is the editor of Ultra Violent Magazine, a public defender, and a Razorcake record reviewer. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where his lifelong obsessions with punk rock and horror/exploitation cinema continue to consume him. KOLLEEN CARNEY HOEPFNER is a freelance writer, copyeditor, and Southern California convention booth gal for venues such as Fangoria. She is the author of two poetry collections and recently completed her first novel. ADAM ROCKOFF is the screenwriter of Wicked Lake, a film so depraved it caused Ron Jeremy to storm out of the theater in anger. However, his 2010 adaptation of the classic exploitation film, I Spit on Your Grave, received nearly unanimous praise from horror critics. His first book, Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978-1986, a critical examination of the slasher genre, was made into a documentary which premiered on STARZ, and his follow-up, The Horror of It All traces the highs and lows of the genre through the lens of his own obsessive fandom, which began in the horror aisles of his childhood video store and continued with a steady diet of cable trash. When he's not getting his hands bloody, Rockoff runs the television production company, FlashRock Films. FREDDIE YOUNG is a NYC horror reviewer and frequent podcaster. He has been running the website Full Moon Reviews (www.fullmoonreviews.net) since 2006, telling it like it is and enjoys spreading the word on good and bad films, mainly in th