Horror movies of the ‘80s had a style, but they also had a spirit. Speaking of horror: That opening line. Pretend it was something clever. Beyond the blood and guts, there was such an undeniable element of campy fun to those films. They could be serious, but they didn’t seem cynical. There were exceptions, but while the best of that decade’s gorefests took it far, they didn’t take it so far that they lost all sense of joy. By today’s standards, films like Dream Warriors and the original Fright Night seem almost innocent. Mean but not mean-spirited. Other paradoxes, too. I’ll think of them later. The best way to comprehend that spirit? Spend a stormy night with nothing but Coke, Combos and a stack of Freddy Krueger DVDs to get you through. (Regular cracker shell Combos, mind you. The pretzel versions are stupid and always have been.) But, say you don’t have the right movies, or the right Combos. Or, say you want to capture that spirit and actually physically hold it in your hands. In that case, dig up some Fright Flicks cards instead. It’s quieter, but it gives you shit to scrapbook with. Made by Topps in 1988, the short-lived set didn’t just capitalize, it commemorated. And not in that Franklin Mint “hey here’s a coin based on tragedy” way, either. The cards perfectly capture why we hold those dumb movies so dear. They scared us and they grossed us out, but in their own weird ways, they were practically cartoons. Depraved, yet comfortable. Also: I don’t think it’s a stretch to call those the coolest pack wrappers ever. And this explains why Predator looks like he’s on the stage at some grand event, feigning shock at his award win. Go on, look at him. Imagine a lectern in place of the “Fright Flicks” logo. A bunch of great movies are represented in the set, from Aliens to The Fly to Day of the Dead. (And every Elm Street movie up until that point. There’s a disproportionate amount of Freddy Krueger cards in here, but that’s okay. We
Posted on: Sun, 09 Feb 2014 04:04:19 +0000
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