10 Best Horror Movies Turning 30 In 2020
Arachnophobia: giving spiders a bad name for 3 decades...
Horror movies are a funny breed. They can be made with a huge budget, big name actors and an enormous marketing campaign and can still fall into obscurity. Conversely, they can be released to tiny fanfare and develop and strong and passionate cult following.
Every year, another film comes out that may fall into either camp, while still yet more can simply fade away altogether. But time has been kind to some too and thirty years is no time when it comes to great movies.
Coming off the back of the terrific number of horror films from the '80s, 1990 had big shoes to fill. It was faced with the double task of also initiating the horror trends of the '90s. The examples here are something of a hybrid between the ultra gore that had come before and the move toward more psychological and self-aware films that would follow throughout the next decade. Still, some of these have yet to find their true followings.
Several on this list may seem somewhat obscure or even forgotten by the general public yet this does not mean they are not fantastic examples of passionate film making. From killer spiders to Oscar-worthy exclamations, sequels to killer clowns, here are ten of the best films turning 30 this year.
10. Tremors
Kevin Bacon has two iconic horror roles to his name. The first is his ill-fated camper in the original Friday the 13th movie. The second is Valentine McKee in Tremors.
Tremors is an example of a simple idea becoming a beloved classic, still widely enjoyed by audiences today. It started life with a goofy idea - land sharks - that was developed in the creature feature that eventually landed with audiences after years in pre-production. The title changed from Land Sharks to Beneath Perfection when the film was being made, before eventually landing on Tremors. Once the first completed version of the film was delivered, it was slapped with an R rating due to the numerous F words dropped throughout.
It was reworked and re-dubbed, eventually gaining a PG-13 rating, widening its appeal with audiences. At that point, it took off and many of the reviews that came in were love letters. It was horror, it was action, it was comedy and most of all it was family friendly. The characters were likeable and funny and the monsters were devilishly fun, popping up out of the ground like the desert's answer to Jaws.
While it has spawned a successful franchise, this 1990 original remains the cream of the crop, hitting every note perfectly and delivering a fantastic film for all to enjoy.