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Horror Movies For Sick Days From The 80S And 90S

Horror movies for sick days from the 80s and 90s. Includes The Shining, The Thing, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island and more, curated by Moviepiq.

You feel terrible. A good film fixes nothing and somehow helps anyway.

The Shining movie poster
1
1980 · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.

Warm, absorbing, and completely non-taxing. Exactly what sick days call for.

The Thing movie poster
2
1982 · ★★★★☆ 8.1/10

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

The right texture for a sick day. Present enough to be company, gentle enough not to overwhelm.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island movie poster
3
1998 · ★★★½☆ 7.7/10

After going their separate ways, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred reunite to investigate the ghost of Moonscar the pirate on a haunted bayou island, but it turns out the swashbuckler's spirit isn't the only creepy character on the island. The sleuths also meet up with cat creatures and zombies... and it looks like for the first time in their lives, these ghouls might actually be real.

Warm, absorbing, and completely non-taxing. Exactly what sick days call for.

Evil Dead II movie poster
4
1987 · ★★★½☆ 7.5/10

Ash Williams and his girlfriend Linda find a log cabin in the woods with a voice recording from an archeologist who had recorded himself reciting ancient chants from "The Book of the Dead." As they play the recording an evil power is unleashed taking over Linda's body.

Warm, absorbing, and completely non-taxing. Exactly what sick days call for.

Cure movie poster
5
1997 · ★★★½☆ 7.5/10

A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.

The right texture for a sick day. Present enough to be company, gentle enough not to overwhelm.

The sick-day film is a category unto itself. Not too demanding, not too forgettable.

Depends on tolerance. Some find it distracting in the right way. Others don't.

The Devil's Advocate movie poster
6
1997 · ★★★½☆ 7.5/10

Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that his boss has something far more evil planned.

The right texture for a sick day. Present enough to be company, gentle enough not to overwhelm.

Thesis movie poster
7
1996 · ★★★½☆ 7.5/10

While working on a thesis about audiovisual violence, film student Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that she was a former student in her university, and that the authors of the video are not very far either.

Warm, absorbing, and completely non-taxing. Exactly what sick days call for.

Bram Stoker's Dracula movie poster
8
1992 · ★★★½☆ 7.5/10

Count Dracula, a 15th-century prince, is condemned to live off the blood of the living for eternity. Young lawyer Jonathan Harker is sent to Dracula's castle to finalise a land deal, but when the Count sees a photo of Harker's fiancée, Mina, the spitting image of his dead wife, he imprisons him and sets off for London to track her down.

The right texture for a sick day. Present enough to be company, gentle enough not to overwhelm.

The Fly movie poster
9
1986 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

When Seth Brundle makes a huge scientific and technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.

The right texture for a sick day. Present enough to be company, gentle enough not to overwhelm.

Scream movie poster
10
1996 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.

Warm, absorbing, and completely non-taxing. Exactly what sick days call for.

These films work because they match where you actually are, not where you think you should be.

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