Crank Up These Great 1970s & ’80s Horror Movie Radio Spots and Rip the Knob Off!
I don’t listen to much terrestrial radio nowadays, so I’m not sure if movies are still advertised on that medium via the 20-30-second spots that used to be commonplace on radio stations in decades past.
But it’s fun to go back and have a listen to movie radio spots from during their heyday, especially the ads for horror movies. In a number of cases, these short audio teasers could be more frightening than actual trailers or TV commercials.
They rely, of course, only on sound — screams and other effects from the movie they are advertising, bits of the film’s eerie musical score and, often, the voice of a narrator speaking with creepily dramatic effect. The resulting promo drives home just how important sound is to scary movies, perhaps even more crucial than visuals.
One thing I remember about radio spots for horror movies back in the ’70s and ’80s was that you couldn’t really tell when you might hear one on a station. When it came to TV commercials for R-rated horror films when I was a kid, I had noticed that they seemed to only air after 10pm. Some of those commercials were pretty scary to me, so I knew that before 10pm, I was usually safe from seeing one. After 10, all bets were off, and I had to be at the ready to flip the channel in case a commercial began that looked like it would be too scary to watch right before bedtime.
Remind But the radio spots, I think, would drop more randomly throughout the day. So if, say, your radio alarm went off at 7am, you might suddenly find yourself awakening to the sounds of screams and a roaring chainsaw as the radio drop for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was being played.
Ultimately, I guess that was all part of the fun and what made many of these horror movie radio spots so creepy. That, and the fact that you would hear ads for not only the obvious, big studio horror titles like The Exorcist, but also, somewhat surprisingly, radio spots for lower-budgeted productions and even some of the sleazier “grindhouse” titles. That probably makes sense, given it was likely cheaper to advertise on radio than television.
1970s & ’80s Horror Movie Radio Spots
Here are several radio spots for notable horror movies from the 1970s and ’80s. After listening to them all, you might, as the first ad for the movie Sisters warns, need a “special shock recovery period” to regain your composure!
Sisters (1972)
This ad for Brian De Palma‘s chiller borrows from the old-school William Castle approach of warning you that the film is so scary you may need assistance afterwards to recover!
The Exorcist (1973)
The ominous voice calling for Father Merrin in this spot is chill-inducing, enhanced by the crackling of the record.
Remind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Tobe Hooper‘s movie itself uses sound to brilliantly terrifying effect, so it’s no surprise its radio tease does, too.
Carrie (1976)
The Omen (1976)
The Car (1977)
Shock Waves (1977)
One of the earliest in the “Nazi zombie” subgenre of zombie movies, this film has a cool and creepy synth-based score partially heard in this spot.
Suspiria (1977)
Some of prog rock group Goblin’s demonic-sounding score can be heard here.
Tentacles (1977)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Remind Halloween (1978)
Of course some of John Carpenter‘s classic score is heard here.
Remind Piranha (1978)
Alien (1979)
The Amityville Horror (1979)
GET OUT!!!!
Tourist Trap (1979)
Friday the 13th (1980)
The narrator isn’t wrong in telling you that when watching this film, you’ll see murder … after murder … after murder … after ….
The Hearse (1980)
Prom Night (1980)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Befitting this movie’s mix of horror and comedy, its radio spot features a fun voiceover from none other than radio DJ legend Wolfman Jack!
Friday the 13th Part II (1981)
Ghost Story (1981)
Creepshow (1982)
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
In Super 3-D!
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
This one also features a bit of the terrific synth score by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth, but it does nothing to warn listeners that the film has nothing to do with Michael Myers or the plots of the first two Halloweens; in fact, it almost seems to want to create the confusion.
Jaws 3-D (1983)
Remind Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Yeah, this spot warns that this time, Friday the 13th is Jason‘s unlucky day. But even back then, I think we all knew that this was not really the “final chapter” (the franchise was back the following year with Part 5, in fact).
Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn (1987)
This spot intersperses crowd reactions to Sam Raimi‘s cult classic with sounds from the film.
Remind