The movie was
very early New Line Cinema... and for what it was --- with the actual visual/physical SFX (no CG), unique makeup designs, a good music score by Christopher Young, Bob Shea's marketing... it went on to spawn a good number of sequels... that actually were less impressive than the original. (tho #2 had some kick ass fx and scenes that were top notch, imo).
Some scenes in #1 are cheesy, I will say... but in the end, it worked...and became quite the little franchise.