Horror movies on network television

[bapo!]

Our culture is much more open and permissive than ever, but in some ways, we're more conservative. I was talking to somebody recently about how the broadcast networks used to air horror films in the 1980s. Not just reruns of campy '50s thrillers, but actual scary stuff. Like, the mama-effing 'Exorcist' was aired during primetime. Can you imagine the outcry today if CBS wanted to air this on a Friday night?

More theatrical movies in general aired on the Big Three back then, obviously, but it still surprises me how big horror used to be. I remember seeing 'The Omen,' 'The Fog,' 'Carrie,' and the camp classic 'Alligator' on random Friday and Saturday nights. I kind of miss the days when I could turn on an over-the-air channel and stumble upon just about anything, especially late-night.

While researching 'The Exorcist,' I read that the line 'Shove it up your ass, you f--got' was changed for the television version. The edited line was 'Shut your face, you f--got.' Ha! So, they redubbed the line but left the gay slur in there. So, we've made some progress since then.

[howard]

"Your mother sews socks that smell!"

[sancarlos]

It seems that the major studios still make horror pictures, but unlike the old days of movies like the Exorcist or the Omen or the Fog, nowadays they seem to be targeted at teenagers. I guess the slasher sub-genre movies like the Nightmare on Elm Street series pushed things that way.

And, I don't recall it being aired, but I've got to believe that the Exorcist would've been heavily edited back in the day.

This Exorcist talk also gets me thinking of Linda Blair. I did have a bit of a crush on that little vixen in her later teenage/early 20s years.

[howard]

She did chicks in jail movies. Had to love that. (We forgive Roller Boogie.)

[bapo!]

She did chicks in jail movies.

'Chained Heat'! Amazing that this was a genre and that I know what you're talking about. The '80s were a wonderful time to be alive.

I remember visiting a friend, and after a day of traveling, I fell asleep early. Woke up to find him watching 'Chained Heat 2,' starring the former Mrs. Gastineau, Brigitte Nielsen. It was disorienting.

[Pruitt]

I remember this classic.

[A_B]

I think Horror Movies have always been targeted at teenagers/early 20s.