just watched this again after 31 years

Rating: 8/10 (10 January 2014)

When I was 14 / 15 myself and two school friends used to go to our local cinema in Glasgow for the Wednesday night skuddie / horror double-bill. Allow me to clarify. The opening / supporting film would usually be a soft porn flick, and the main feature would be the latest horror. The man on the door would enquire re our age, to which we would reply "18, mate" - and that was us in.
We had an arrangement that we would each bring something to the party. And so it was that cans of lager, cigars and so on, were transported from our homes to the picture-house in large coats.
If I shouldn't move from here, I can remember - with one of my old Granda's cigars in one hand and a can of lager in the other - saying to my pals, as we settled down for The Evil Dead, how I was sick and tired of being disappointed by these would-be scary films about young Americans getting murdered on rural holidays. Not this one, one of my mates assured me. He'd seen the clips, and they were enough to convince him that this film would be different. And he was right.
All the knock knock knockin on horror's door stuff was familiar enough, but once it all kicked off, it was a relentless, concentrated gorefest. There is no doubt that I had never been so captivated by a horror film in my life. For once, I had got what I paid for, and was thoroughly entertained.
So, how did it look tonight, all these years on? Might sound daft, but I think that one of the things that 'dates' early 80's horrors (and Sci-Fi's) is the electro-drone music. But, I enjoyed the sfx - very European, with touches of The Thing near the end. Has there been a better horror film than this made since? I think that The Omen is a better horror than this - but it's older, and very different. And I would say the same of a number of other films. However, I cannot think of a younger horror film that is a better horror film than this. Then again, as you'll have worked out for yourself, it's all changed since my day - all of this was just fields, you know.