Paperbacks from Hell
Films, TV movies, and mini-series mentioned (or related to books discussed) in Grady Hendrix's book Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction.
(This list is confined to titles germane to the main topic, i.e., horror novels released between the late '60s and early '90s.)
(This list is confined to titles germane to the main topic, i.e., horror novels released between the late '60s and early '90s.)
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- 91 titles
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsEllen BurstynMax von SydowLinda BlairWhen a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsUta HagenDiana MuldaurChris UdvarnokyA series of gruesome accidents plague a small American farming community in the summer of 1935, encircling two identical twin brothers and their family.
- DirectorsPeter SykesDon SharpStarsRichard WidmarkChristopher LeeHonor BlackmanAn American occult novelist battles to save the soul of a young girl from a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest, who plan on using her as the representative of the Devil on Earth.The novel was first published in 1953, but it got a new Satan-friendly cover in the '70s, thanks to the success of Rosemary's Baby et. al.
- DirectorJeff WoolnoughStarsLara Flynn BoyleColin FergusonNoam JenkinsWalker Kennedy and his wife Col are a happy, voluntarily childless suburban couple. Then the thing they fear the most happens: part of their green surrounding is turned into a building site, for what turns out to be the widely acclaimed first house built by attractive, brilliant, obsessively devoted architect Kim (30), who has a short affair with Col. Kim is even enchanted by his own house, just like everyone else. However each subsequent couple that moves into the house soon turns nasty, never staying for long, ending in tears and/or blood. When Kim finally buys it with his wife, Col who believes he somehow curses all his buildings insists it's time to deal with him, permanently.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMickey RourkeRobert De NiroLisa BonetIn 1955 New Orleans, small-time private investigator Harry Angel is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cypher to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite, but the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.
- DirectorPaul WendkosStarsAlan AldaJacqueline BissetBarbara ParkinsAn old, dying satanist arranges to transfer his soul into the body of a young concert pianist.
- DirectorSteve MinerStarsDana KimmellTracie SavageRichard BrookerJason Voorhees stalks a group of friends who have just arrived to spend the weekend at a cabin near Crystal Lake.
- DirectorJohn HoughStarsJohn CassavetesJohn IrelandKerrie KeaneA small town's doctor takes matters into his own hands after a series of gruesome and bizarre rape crimes perplex the clueless authorities.
- StarsGeorge DiCenzoSteve RailsbackNancy WolfeThe investigation and trial of the horrific Tate-LaBianca mass murders orchestrated by the psychotic pseudo-hippie cult leader, Charles Manson.
- DirectorMelvin Van PeeblesStarsMelvin Van PeeblesHubert ScalesJohn DullaghanAfter saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and some disillusioned Hells Angels.This and Shaft opened the door for Blaxploitation in horror fiction (e.g., The Black Exorcist) but none of them seem to have been made into movies.
- DirectorGordon ParksStarsRichard RoundtreeMoses GunnCharles CioffiA crime lord hires black private eye, John Shaft, to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsCristina RainesAva GardnerChris SarandonA young woman moves into an apartment in a building which houses a sinister evil.
- DirectorEvan SpiliotopoulosStarsJeffrey Dean MorganCricket BrownWilliam SadlerA hearing-impaired girl is visited by the Virgin Mary and can suddenly hear, speak, and heal the sick. As people flock to witness her miracles, terrifying events unfold. Are they the work of the Virgin Mary or something much more sinister?
- DirectorWilliam Peter BlattyStarsStacy KeachScott WilsonJason MillerAn ex-marine psychiatrist attempts to rehabilitate his patients by indulging their fantasies, and seeks to prove the existence of a loving God to one especially troubled inmate.
- DirectorWilliam Peter BlattyStarsGeorge C. ScottEd FlandersBrad DourifA police lieutenant uncovers more than he bargained for as his investigation of a series of murders, which have all the hallmarks of the deceased Gemini serial killer, leads him to question the patients of a psychiatric ward.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsScott GlennIan McKellenAlberta WatsonNazis are forced to turn to a Jewish historian for help in battling the ancient demon they have inadvertently freed from its prison.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsGeneviève BujoldHeidi von PalleskeTwin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsAnnette BeningRobert Downey Jr.Katie SagonaA suburban housewife learns that she has a dreamworld connection to a serial murderer, and must stop him from killing again.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsGregory PeckLee RemickHarvey StephensMysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?
- DirectorsDon TaylorMike HodgesStarsWilliam HoldenLee GrantJonathan Scott-TaylorDamien the Antichrist, now about to turn thirteen years old, finally learns of his destiny under the guidance of an unholy disciple of Satan. Meanwhile dark forces begin to eliminate all those who suspect the child's true identity.
- DirectorGraham BakerStarsSam NeillRossano BrazziDon GordonThe now adult Antichrist plots to eliminate his future divine opponent while a cabal of monks plot to stop him.
- DirectorGabrielle BeaumontStarsMalcolm StoddardCyd HaymanAngela PleasenceWhen a strange woman has her baby at the Marlowe's house, then disappears, Kate Marlowe is forced to keep the baby, Bonnie. She loves the child, but when her own children are systematically killed, suspicion turns to Bonnie.
- DirectorNicolas GessnerStarsJodie FosterMartin SheenAlexis SmithA thirteen-year-old girl, who lives with her absentee father, befriends a disabled teenage amateur magician and invites him, gradually, into her tenuous struggle against a predatory local neighbor.
- StarsRichard ThomasTim ReidAnnette O'TooleIn 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.