The 10 Biggest Differences Between 80s & 2020s Horror Movies

The 10 Biggest Differences Between 80s & 2020s Horror Movies

When it comes to horror movies, those that have come out in the 2020s are vastly different in style from the classic horror films of the 80s.

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Like other movie genres, horror has slowly developed and changed over time. Tropes that once seemed inextricably tangled up in the concept of “horror” have either been forgotten or overused. Jump scares either hold up the second time or they don’t and scary movies that terrified people in the 1980s are often remade in an attempt to scare people again in the 2020s.

Though every decade has its own defining style — for example, the zombie movies of the 1970s — the 80s and the 2020s have some pretty huge differences between them. With 40 years between 1980 and 2020, it would be surprising if nothing had changed.

10 The Sinful 80s

In the old days, anything sinful was considered an instant red card of death. In Scream (1995), Randy Meeks has an entire monologue where he discusses popular tropes of 80s horror movies, and the first rule he has to stay alive through a horror movie? “You can never have sex.”

As Randy points out, “the minute you get a little nookie — you’re as good as gone. Sex always equals death.” And he’s right: characters — usually girls — often die right after having sex in 80s horror movies, like in Friday the 13th (1980) and Prom Night (1980).

9 The Hilarious 20s

While most movies have a couple of jokes thrown in here and there just to keep audiences from total despair, many horror movies in the old school don’t lean too heavily into the comedic aspect of things. In order to attempt to keep things tense, old horror movies tend to be rather dramatic and serious.

Lately, however, the 2020s have been seeing a boom of comedic horror movies, such as The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020).

8 An Indulgent 80s

When Randy’s giving his monologue, his second rule is, “Never drink or do drugs. The sin factor. It’s an extension of number one.” He’s onto something here: as the Satanic Panic was starting to rile up general society in the 1980s, horror movies saw a new fear to capitalize on. Sin was in, and the most terrifying thing in movies became the punishments characters got for sinning.

Having sex, drinking, doing drugs — all of these things were tantamount to witchcraft, and that would get you killed, and in movies like The Evil Dead (1981) that was pretty much a guarantee. What a time to be alive.

7 A Surreal 20s

As we enter the 2020s, movies seem to be taking on a more surreal tilt than ever. Films like The Lodge (2020) and The Beach House (2020) leave the viewer unsettled and more than a little confused as to what, exactly, was going on when, and often call for multiple rewatches.

Even more surreal is how films are now starting to shift to reflect the pandemic. Audiences are now able to watch movies like Host (2020), set over a video call between socially-distant friends in our very own currently surreal society.

6 Jump Scares In The 80s

Horror movies in the 1980s were beginning to become less cerebral and more chaotic. In the 80s, audiences were seeing a lot of slashers that they hadn’t seen before, like A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Where the 70s had laid a foundation with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1978), the 80s now built a house of horror where anything could be lurking around the next corner.

The jump scares and sudden frights characteristic of 80s movies lead Randy to his last rule: “Never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, say ‘I’ll be right back.’” It’s pretty much a guarantee that something will be waiting in the next room to emerge suddenly from the shadows and attack.

5 New Voices In The 20s

In the old days, the same group of people were in charge of producing, directing, writing, and creating all the horror movies. Though a few movies did slip through made by more diverse creators, or starring more diverse actors, the public memory of 80s movies is largely white, straight, and male.

In the 20s, it could not be more clear that this is changing, with films like La Llorona (2019), directed by Jayro Bustamante, and Amulet (2020), directed by Romola Garai, taking center stage.

4 The Slasher Villain Of The 80s

In the 1980s, some of the most popular horror movies were films like Child’s Play (1988), My Bloody Valentine (1981), and Sleepaway Camp (1983). What did all of these movies have in common? Each of them has a slasher villain. Much like your Freddys, Michaels, and Jasons, the slasher villains who starred in most horror movies of the 1980s were one single iconic figure on which all of the movie’s fears were often projected.

A monstrous doll like Chucky, a menacing man like The Miner, or a traumatized murderer like Angela became symbols of fear in their decade.

3 Subverting The Villain In The 20s

Now more than ever, horror movies simply don’t have one single iconic villain. As time has gone on, films in the horror genre have begun moving away from the slasher villain — or, indeed, even having one or two villains at all — and have started having more ambiguous villains.

In movies like The Platform (2019), the villain is a nebulous Society or The Man, Who Has Done This To Us. Some sort of shadowy government entity has become a more terrifying villain to most audiences than a guy like Jason Voorhees.

2 The 80s Kept It Slow

The pacing of movies in the 1980s is definitely drastically different than movies from the 2020s. In those older days of horror, filmmakers felt freer to spend time building tension and building character.

Long scenes between different characters in a movie where they simply exchange dialogue or bond were common, and very much enjoyed, like in movies such as The Thing (1982) and The Shining (1980). Building up how much those characters meant to each other and to the audience made their stories much more powerful.

1 The 20s Critique And Honor The Old School

While horror movies in the 2020s may not always match the speed of those old-school horror films of the 1980s, they do often attempt to honor them. Movies like the aptly-named Summer of 84 (2018) reflect upon that era with nostalgia, attempting to not only reflect the paranoia and fear of the era, but also the style and remembrance that filmmakers want to call back to, as well.

While creators in the 2020s want to grow and improve upon their predecessors, they do so knowing they stand on the shoulders of giants.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/biggest-difference-between-80s-2020s-horror-movies/

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