Classic Horror Movie Deaths That Won't Work Today

Scream appears in Wes Craven’s 1996 classic.Scream.Serial killer Stu, with his partner Billy, brings terror to Woodsboro, CA. Sydney Prescott’s actions stop the reign if she drops a giant CRT television on Stu’s head, ending his rampage.

Good luck with that today using a modern LCD flat panel.

In the 1980s, pay-per-call lines, often starting with 900 or 976, put many kids in trouble with heart-palpitating phone charges for parents nationwide. The 1988 film...976-EVIL.976-EVIL took it further. Bullied teen Hoax, played by Stephen Geoffreys of Fright Night fame, dialed a premium line that summoned a supernatural force, turning him into a satanic serial killer.Fright Night.Hoax dialed a premium line that summoned a supernatural force, turning him into a satanic serial killer.

Today, the internet offers similar premium numbers, often free. The government cracked down on 900 numbers.976-EVIL cracked down in 'Classic Horror Movie Deaths That Won't Work Today'.The government cracked down on 900 numbers.

In 1978, director John Carpenter terrified the world with the release of Halloween.Halloween.Halloween centers on Michael Myers, an escaped psychopath who menaces Haddonfield, IL, with a large butcher knife. Myers used a handset cord from an old Bakelite telephone to strangle cheerleader Lynda instead of the knife.

Does anyone still have a landline? Lynda might have survived in the cellphone age.

Director Hideo Nakata’s 1998 Japanese horror film...Ring.Ring was a big success and spurred many feature-film sequels. The film’s simple idea was this: Someone gives you a VHS tape and says watching it means you die in seven days.

This premise scared people in the '90s, but streaming video replaced VHS players. Finding a working player may be harder now than escaping the ghost in the tape. Unless you prefer VHS “quality” over 4K.

The '80s brought innovations like Jolt Cola, Walkman cassette players, and waterbeds. Most of these fell out of favor, including the water-filled mattresses.'A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master' replaced by.equally comfortable but lighter, less leaky options.

It is a shame someone did not tell Joey about the 1998 film...A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master.Dozing on his floaty bed, hormonal Joey meets his dream girl swimming under the mattress, followed by...Elm Street.The Elm Street boogeyman Freddy Krueger handles the teen. Freddy asks, “How’s this for a wet dream?” Memory foam seems safer.

What began as a scary film series with 1987’s...Hellraiser.Demonic figures led by the evil, mysterious Pinhead arrive on our plane of existence, dragging people into the abyss. By 1992, the property arguably drifted into 'cheese.'

The filmmakers behind the project did not want to stick to the mythos Clive Barker already created.Hellraiser III: Hell on EarthThe film added new demons, one named “CD Head.” This demon uses a compact disc as a weapon, throwing it at high speed as a lethal projectile. Time has passed; no one will likely face an “MP3 Head” soon. Throwing a data packet is difficult.

The commercial for the Silver Shamrock mask company in 1982 says, “It's almost time, kids. The clock is ticking. Be in front of your TV sets for the big giveaway. And don't forget to wear your masks.”Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

The catch involved science and Stonehenge. Silver Shamrock mass-produced children’s masks with deadly chips. These chips triggered an explosion in anyone wearing them when they tuned into the show. Only three network channels existed then. Now, everyone streams and watches TV whenever they choose.

Mike proclaims, “I kicked that map into the creek yesterday! It was useless!” in 1999’sThe Blair Witch ProjectThis dismayed fellow hikers Heather and Josh.

The trio walked in circles in the woods outside Burkittsville, MD, for days. They met their end by the film’s witch. Today, the three likely would have used a cellphone with GPS instead of an old paper map, finding their way out of the forest and back to their car.

The 2016 science-fiction horror filmCellAn electronic signal broadcasts globally across mobile networks, turning phone callers into rabid killers.

This concept is clever. However, today, anyone under 25 likely avoided the danger because Gen Z prefers texting over talking. Unless, of course, it is their parents calling.