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5 Old School Thrillers That Still Give Us Chills

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Terror Train

I love older horror films, especially from the late 1970’s/early 1980’s. While a lot of them are kitschy, and sometimes cult-y, oftentimes the story-lines manage to hit that sweet spot somewhere between horrific and gleefully garish.

Below are 5 favorite 1970’s/1980’s horror movies guaranteed to make you yearn for the days when less CGI meant more plot and circumstance.

Terror Train [1980]

Those who haven’t seen Terror Train are in for a real treat. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis, who came on board right after filming Prom Night. The film also features Hart Bochner [The Starter Wife], Sandee Currie, Ben Johnson and a very young David Copperfield.

The set-up is simple: College kids decide to throw a costume party on a moving train. They’re drunk, dressed up, and dying… one by one.

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Happy Birthday to Me [1981]

Melissa Sue Anderson departs from her days of life in the Little House on the Prairie to move off to the big city and hang with the popular kids in an exclusive private school. While Happy Birthday to Me doesn’t have any famous co-stars most of us would easily recognise – other than Anderson and actor Glenn Ford – it does offer some familiar faces, such as Lawrence Dane [Bride of Chucky, Scanners], Frances Hyland [The Changeling, Never Talk to Strangers], and Tracey E. Bregman [The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful].

The set-up is sinister: A killer on the loose, and a birthday party where the guests are dying to get an invite. On the bright side, there’s enough cake for everyone!

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When a Stranger Calls [1979]

Starring a young Carol Kane [Gotham, Taxi], and the talented Charles Durning [Rescue Me, Evening Shade], When a Stranger Calls would be considered lame and tame by today’s standards, especially since you wont find any blood splatter or gory guts. It was suspense that kept the audience hooked and reeled them right in. Fourteen years later, Kane and Durning reprised their roles for When Stranger Calls Back, a made for TV continuation of the original, which aired in 1993.

The set-up is sweet pop culture: Urban legend has it that a babysitter is terrorized by phone calls as the children left in her care sleep peacefully upstairs, only to realize later that the children have been savagely murdered – no doubt all while the babysitter had been busy answering the phone all night.

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The Funhouse [1981]

Directed by the iconic master of horror, Tobe Hooper, The Funhouse was one of his earliest movies. It was released about six years after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and one year before Poltergeist.

The Funhouse stars Elizabeth Berridge [Amadeus], Cooper Huckabee [True Blood, Django Unchanged], and a cast who appears to have completely dropped out of the industry.

The set-up is scary: Four teens decide to go to the local carnival, where they decide to spend the night in the funhouse for kicks and giggles. While exploring the dark corners of the eerie attraction, they stumble upon a monster, a murder-in-progress and maniacal madness.

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The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane [1976]

Not long after filming Freaky Friday, actress Jodie Foster signed on for The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, her first full feature horror movie at age 13. Since Foster was uncomfortable filming sex scenes and appearing nude on camera, her older sister Connie was cast as her stand-in. Look for Martin Sheen, Scott Jacoby and Alexis Smith to round out the main cast.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is based on the book of the same name, written by Laird Koening.

The set-up is shocking: A precocious teenage girl lives in a house big enough to keep all of her secrets.

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What’s your favorite old school thriller?

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

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The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

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Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

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lizzie borden house

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

Inside the Lizzie Borden House

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.

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