Great Horror Movie Villains

The 80's cultivated a lot of horror movies. Popular culture powerhouses were defining a genre for today's avacado toast generation and we were too close to see. Freddy was coming to get you if you fell asleep. If you had plans to promiscuously camp near a lake, you might want to stop living your best life for a few days. Want to petition Halloween to be on the last Saturday of October instead of the 31st? You would need to survive the pursuit of an impossibly whiter Captain Kirk.

These were the unholy trinity. Sure, there have been other greats that have spawned many sequels like Scream and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but the original three made it fun to see a horror movie. Freddy was the talkative one. So much so that he was able to get DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince to write an unauthorized song about his antics, be sued by New Line and subsequently "lose" their copies of the music video. Do yourself a favor and watch the music video that was recently unearthed. It's fantastic. 

I still remember Jake Bunts coming to my house when that song released. It was at the time that Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff were at the peak of their music careers. Jake had a cassette with the single, "Nightmare on My Street." My dad wouldn't let me near something that could possibly terrify my fragile child mind, but he was in the backyard and we were perfectly cognizant of that fact.

Jake saw his moment and went for it. He quickly dropped the cassette into the boom box in the garage and turned it up to a less than reasonable volume, considering the circumstances. The song immediately painted a picture so vivid in my mind of how this whole Nightmare on Elm Street series worked, that I can still remember most of that thought process today. I hadn't even seen any of the movies yet, only caught glimpses of my parents watching it on a VHS they rented from local favorite, Video Shark. Regardless, there was no way I was going to get a good night's sleep for at least the next month. 

 

This all leads me to something I found in a boutique shop. It's a book called Great Horror Movie Villains Paper Dolls by Erin A. Ellis. It feels like something that was made in the 80's because these days it is rare to see something with psychopathic killers marketed towards young kids. I mean, Aliens, Predator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day action figures were massively successful (by today's standards) R-rated movie toys, but that's not something I've seen attempted since. This is why I say it feels like something from another era. 

The art is definitely on point in here. I don't want to spoil too much from the book, but I snapped some shots to give you an idea of what you'd be buying. 

Freddy and Nancy are some of my favorites. The book even lists the actors names at the bottom of the dolls. 

We even get a nice little throwback to bag head Jason. The attention to detail is outstanding! 

Last but not least, a peek at Mr. Halloween himself. Although I found this in a boutique store, I was able to find it on Amazon. Enjoy the season folks. It's just getting started.