Best to worst horror movies of the 80s
The 80s were a great decade for horror. This list contains all horror movies I've seen from 1980 to 1989 in order of my personal taste. Only movies which are considered horror following IMDB are put on this list, so movies like 'The Hitcher', 'Aliens' or 'They Live!' fall out of the selection.
This list includes:
-50 best horror movies of the 80s
-100 best horror movies of the 80s
-150 best horror movies of the 80s
The 75 highest rated movies are great and are worth watching multiple times. Most of the lower rated movies are actually still fun to watch. Horror-related movies are lower on the list. Most of these are good, but in my opinion less fun.
See also my other lists:
Best to worst of Jess / Jesus Franco
Best to worst universal monster / horror movies (1923-1960)
The 150 best horror movies of all time
This list includes:
-50 best horror movies of the 80s
-100 best horror movies of the 80s
-150 best horror movies of the 80s
The 75 highest rated movies are great and are worth watching multiple times. Most of the lower rated movies are actually still fun to watch. Horror-related movies are lower on the list. Most of these are good, but in my opinion less fun.
See also my other lists:
Best to worst of Jess / Jesus Franco
Best to worst universal monster / horror movies (1923-1960)
The 150 best horror movies of all time
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- DirectorLucio FulciStarsCatriona MacCollDavid WarbeckCinzia MonrealeA young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEllen SandweissRichard DeManincorFive friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter, where a sinister presence influences the father into violence. At the same time, his psychic son sees horrifying forebodings from both the past and the future.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsLori CardilleTerry AlexanderJoseph PilatoAs the world is overrun by zombies, a group of scientists and military personnel sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida must decide on how they should deal with the undead horde.
- DirectorDouglas McKeownStarsCharles George HildebrandtTom DeFrancoRichard Lee PorterAlien creatures invade a small town and four teenagers, along with a young boy, attempt to escape from them.
- DirectorMary LambertStarsDale MidkiffDenise CrosbyFred GwynneAfter tragedy strikes, a grieving father discovers an ancient burial ground behind his home with the power to raise the dead.
- DirectorDan O'BannonStarsClu GulagerJames KarenDon CalfaWhen two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsDavid NaughtonJenny AgutterJoe BelcherAmerican college students David Kessler and Jack Goodman on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists. Jack dies. David recovers in a hospital, where he has nightmares.
- DirectorClive BarkerStarsAndrew RobinsonClare HigginsAshley LaurenceA woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law and lover. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body and escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their underworld.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsJeffrey CombsBarbara CramptonTed SorelA group of scientists have developed the Resonator, a machine which allows whoever is within range to see beyond normal perceptible reality. But when the experiment succeeds, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsMaren JensenSharon StoneSusan BucknerAfter her husband dies under mysterious circumstances, a widow becomes increasingly paranoid of the neighboring religious community that may have diabolical plans for her.
- DirectorJoseph ZitoStarsErich AndersonJudie AronsonPeter BartonAfter being announced dead and taken to a morgue, Jason Voorhees spontaneously revives, escapes from the hospital, and stalks a group of friends renting a house in the countryside near Crystal Lake.Yes, I rate this higher then the first chapter of the Friday the 13th.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsBill PullmanCathy TysonZakes MokaeAn anthropologist goes to Haiti after hearing rumors about a drug used by black magic practitioners to turn people into zombies.
- DirectorGeorge MihalkaStarsPaul KelmanLori HallierNeil AffleckA decades-old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day turns out to be true to legend when a group defies the killer's order and people start turning up dead.
- DirectorFred DekkerStarsJason LivelyTom AtkinsSteve MarshallAlien brain parasites, entering humans through the mouth, turn their host into a killing zombie. Some teenagers start to fight against them.
- DirectorStephen ChiodoStarsGrant CramerSuzanne SnyderJohn Allen NelsonAliens who look like clowns come from outer space and terrorize a small town.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsAnthony FranciosaGiuliano GemmaChristian BorromeoAn American novelist visiting Rome to promote his latest book is stalked and harassed by an obsessed fan who is committing a string of murders that appear to be tributes to his work.
- DirectorChuck RussellStarsHeather LangenkampRobert EnglundCraig WassonA psychiatrist, familiar with knife-wielding dream demon, Freddy Krueger, helps teens at a mental hospital battle the killer who is invading their dreams.Some sequels of ANOES are more enjoyable then where it all began in my opinion.
- DirectorDavid SchmoellerStarsPaul Le MatWilliam HickeyIrene MiraclePsychics find themselves plotted against by a former colleague, who committed suicide after discovering animated, murderous puppets.
- DirectorDon CoscarelliStarsJames Le GrosReggie BannisterAngus ScrimmMike, now released from a psychiatric hospital, meets with Reggie, and discover his dreams (the events of the original film) are real, and they both journey to find and stop the evil Tall Man from his grim work.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsJeffrey CombsBruce AbbottBarbara CramptonAfter an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsElizabeth BerridgeShawn CarsonJeanne AustinTeenage Amy Harper, her boyfriend Buzz Dawson, and their friends Richie Atterbury and Liz Duncan visit a local carnival for a night of innocent amusement, but soon witness a fortune teller's murder and find that the exits are locked.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellSarah BerryDan HicksAsh Williams, the lone survivor of an earlier onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits, holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.
- DirectorCharles E. Sellier Jr.StarsLilyan ChauvinGilmer McCormickToni NeroLittle Billy witnesses his parents getting killed by Santa after being warned by his senile grandpa that Santa punishes those who are naughty. Now Billy is 18 and out of the orphanage, and he has just become Santa himself.