Horror History: Friday, May 15, 1981: Happy Birthday to Me was released in theaters

Virginia (Melissa Sue Anderson) is proud that she belongs to a clique. The best students at a private school. But before her 18th birthday, a grueling set of murders take place and her friends are the ones who are falling prey. Could it be her? She suffers from balckouts due to a freak accident oneyear earlier. We soon learn the truth behind her accident and what is going on….

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Horror History: Friday, May 8, 1981: The Burning was released in theaters

A group of summer camp pranksters get the scare of their lives when they target the camp’s creepy caretaker…and he takes bloody revenge! “Gruesome” (The Hollywood Reporter) and “stomach-churning” (Boxoffice), this terrifying tale is “a brilliant slasher flick [and] gory as hell” (slasherpool.com)!

After a cruel joke goes awry, severely burning him and subjecting him to five years of intensive, unsuccessful skin graft treatments, Cropsy (Lou David) is back at camp…and ready to wreak havoc on those who scarred him! With his hedge clippers in hand, he terrorizes the camp and systematically mutilates each victim. Can a few courageous campers save themselves and destroy this demented madman before he kills them all?

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Horror History: Friday, May 1, 1981: Friday The 13th Part II was released in theaters

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to camp…here’s even more heart pounding terror. Five years after the horrible bloodbath at Camp Crystal lake, all that remains is the legend of Jason Voorhees and his demented mother, who had murdered seven camp counselors. At a nearby summer camp, the new counselors are unconcerned about the warnings to stay away from the infamous site. Carefree, the young people roam the area, not sensing the ominous lurking presence. One by one, they are attacked and brutally slaughtered. Suspense and screams abound in this compelling chiller.

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Horror History: Friday, May 1, 1981: The Nesting was released in theaters

Agoraphobic mystery novelist Lauren Cochran decides to leave the city in an attempt to cure her recent writer’s block. She rents an old Victorian house in the quiet countryside, unaware of its shocking history. As those around her suffer increasingly violent deaths, Lauren begins to unravel the truth: the house was once an infamous brothel now haunted by the victims of a bloody massacre.

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Horror History: Friday, April 10, 1981: The Howling was released in US theaters

A television newswoman reporting on a story goes to a psychiatric retreat for those recovering from sexual abuse. Once she is there, she knows something is not right in this very weird place. The reason is… everyone there is a werewolf.

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Horror History: Wednesday, February 11, 1981: My Bloody Valentine was released in theaters

There’s a big Valentine’s day party planned in the little mining town of Valentine’s Bluff. It is the first Valentine’s party in 20 years, because then there was an accident in the mine, and the accident happened because the men responsible for the security were at the party. The sole surviving miner killed them, and told the town NEVER to arrange a valentine party again. The party begins, and so does the killing.

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Horror History: Friday, January 30, 1981: Maniac was released in US theaters

Frank Zito is a deeply disturbed man, haunted by the traumas of unspeakable childhood abuse. And when these horrific memories begin to scream inside his mind, Frank prowls the seedy streets of New York City to stalk and slaughter innocent young women.

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Horror History: Friday, January 23, 1981: Blood Beach was released in theaters

Something or someone is attacking people one by one on the beach. Some of them are mutilated, but most of them are sucked into the sand, disappearing without a trace. What is the creature responsible? Where does it live, and where did it come from? And is there any chance of it reproducing?

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Horror History: Thursday, December 25, 1980: Altered States was released in theaters

A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing him to regress genetically.

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Horror History: Friday, December 19, 1980: New Year’s Evil was released in theaters

Lonely women wanting to celebrate New Year’s Eve become easy prey for a maniacal murdering misogynist whose New Year’s resolution is to kill women at every stroke of midnight.

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Horror History: Friday, November 7, 1980: The Boogeyman was released in theaters

As a child, young Lacey witnesses a horrific murder at the hand of her disturbed brother. Two decades later, Lacey is married with a young son, but her perfect world begins to crumble when her most terrible childhood nightmare returns with a vengeance. This terrifying supernatural slasher is a cult gem in the vein of Halloween and Friday the 13th.

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Horror History: Tuesday, October 14, 1980: Fade to Black was released in theaters

Shy, lonely Eric Binford delivers film cans and posters in Los Angeles for a living but he really exist only to see movies and immerse himself in fantasies about cinematic characters and stars

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Horror History: Friday, October 3, 1980: Terror Train was released in theaters

A masked killer targets six college kids responsible for a prank gone wrong three years earlier and who are currently throwing a large New Year’s Eve costume party aboard a moving train.

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Horror History: Friday, September 19, 1980: Mother’s Day was released in theaters

Loving sons always do what their mothers tell them to… even if it’s to kill! A mad matriarch and her two maniac sons kidnap and torture three women in their backwoods cabin!

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Horror History: Friday, August 29, 1980: He Knows You’re Alone was released in theaters

Tom Hanks makes his screen debut in this slice-and-dice horror film about a psychotic murderer who terrorizes a bridal party in search of a bride of his own.

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Horror History: Friday, June 20, 1980: The Hearse was released in theaters

When Jane moves into her late aunt’s house, she is haunted by evil spirits and an old hearse that carried her aunt’s dead body. Her aunt’s evil secrets are revealed and as she tries to leave, the spirits keep her as a prisoner.

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Horror History: Sunday, June 1, 1980: The Alien Dead was released in theaters

A meteor strikes a houseboat in the swamps near a southern town populated by Yankees with fake accents. The people on the houseboat become zombies who feed on the alligators in the swamp. Once they run out of alligators, they start going for the citizens. A local scientist tries to figure out what’s happening to people once they start disappearing.

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Horror History: Sunday, June 1, 1980: Demented was released in theaters

She has lost everything.

Hope…control…and her mind.

After surviving a brutal and devastating assault, Linda Rodgers is institutionalized in order to deal with her intense trauma. By the time she is finally released, her attackers have been brought to justice and imprisoned…but the psychological scars remain.

Tormented by visions of her attackers, and mistreated by her philandering husband, Linda is pushed over the edge when she encounters four young men whom she confuses with the men who assaulted her. Consumed with madness, Linda attempts to enact a bloody retribution for the disgusting crimes committed upon her… and no one is safe in this shocking 1980 exploitation film in the tradition of I Spit On Your Grave.

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Horror History: Friday, May 9, 1980: Friday The 13th was released in theaters

Camp Crystal Lake has been shuttered for over 20 years due to several vicious and unsolved murders. The camp’s new owner and seven young counselors are readying the property for re-opening despite warnings of a “death curse” by local residents. The curse proves true on Friday the 13th as one by one each of the counselors is stalked by a violent killer.

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Horror History: Thursday, May 8, 1980: The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb premiered on TV

Mysterious events occur soon after an archaelogist discovers the Egyptian ruler’s burial site, leading some observers to take an ancient curse seriously. Starring Raymond Burr and Eva Marie Saint.

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Horror History: Thursday, April 17, 1980: The Watcher in the Woods was released in theaters

Legendary actress and two-time Oscar(R)-winner Bette Davis (Dangerous, 1935; Jezebel, 1938) stars in this frightening and atmospheric thriller. When an American teenager joins her family in an English country house, she experiences strange and supernatural occurrences. Mrs. Alywood (Davis), the kindly caretaker, knows the dark secret behind the happenings … and prepares for the return of a young girl who died mysteriously some 30 years earlier! The Watcher in the Woods weaves a haunting, riveting tale that stays with you long after the explosive ending!|This 1980 film, starring Bette Davis, was released without an ending — the elaborate special effects segment wasn’t completed in time. The studio hoped no one would notice, but critics did, and Disney withdrew the picture to “refilm” the ending.

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