The Best ’80s Horror Creature Extravaganza You’ve Never Seen, Stream Without Netflix
Most often, a horror film will use a singular type of creature or entity as the antagonist that wreaks havoc on the unfortunate characters. In one cult film from the late 1980s, filmmakers utilized a bevy of different monsters to terrorize the players on screen in an unforgettable production. Spookies might not have been the box office success the studio was looking for, but its unique monsters and well-timed jump scares make it one of the most unique horror entries of the decade.
Mansions And Murderous Werecats
Spookies begins with a young boy that has run away from home. Cutting through the woods, he’s startled by sounds that seem to be coming from a giant cat, totally unaware that a malicious werecat lurks in the trees ready to leap on its prey. After encountering a drifter along his way, the boy parts ways and discovers an old mansion in a clearing.
Spookies sees the drifter violently murdered by the half-man/half cat. This same creature stalks the boy as he wanders into the mansion and into what appears to be an empty birthday party. The boy runs from the mansion after opening a box that contains a severed head, only to be caught, mauled, and buried alive by the werecat.
Kreon And His Bride
Simultaneously, a group of college kids are pulling into the drive of the mansion in search of a place to drink for the night. They are unaware that the mansion is home to an ancient warlock named Kreon and his bride. Kreon’s wife has retained her beauty after nearly a century, but has been in a severely weakened state for 70 years.
Hordes Of Monsters
While Spookies never explains what really ails the woman, it becomes apparent that in order for her to survive, Kreon must kill other humans. In a creative move, Kreon possesses one of the partygoers to use the powers of a Ouija board to summon hordes of monsters from other realms to dispatch the group one at a time.
Spookies uses a spider-woman, a werecat, reptile-demons, giant spiders, and more monsters to terrorize and kill those who stumbled into Kreon’s mansion for the night. The film’s creativity for kills balanced out the relatively small budget, giving audiences a gory and startling ride from start to finish.
Terror Awaits Unsuspecting Victims
What Spookies lacked in special effects and makeup it more than delivered with the creepy setting and the attack sequences. From the film’s opening moments when the young boy is stalked by the werecat, audiences get a taste of what’s in store for them. Viewers see the terror that’s coming long before the characters do, helping build a level of tension and anxiety that’s tough to top.
Weird Production, Weirder Characters
GFR SCORE
Spookies had a production arc that is as weird as its characters. Originally, a film called Twisted Souls was in production, but failed to be completed due to a conflict between the financier and the studio. Another director was brought on board to finish the film with newly written scenes and adding a hoard of zombies to give it even more of a punch.
Spookies wasn’t a box office success by any means, but its numerous airings on the USA Network over the years gave it a cult following.
You can catch the horror classic Spookies streaming for free on Tubi.
