50 Best Horror Films of the 1980s
I might get some flack for leaving off some pretty famous genre films, but these are the 50 that I've enjoyed the most thus far, ranked in order of preference.
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- DirectorJohn McNaughtonStarsMichael RookerTracy ArnoldTom TowlesArriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJennifer ConnellyDonald PleasenceDaria NicolodiA young girl who has an amazing ability to communicate with insects is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.
- DirectorRuggero DeodatoStarsRobert KermanFrancesca CiardiPerry PirkanenDuring a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.
- DirectorFrank HenenlotterStarsRick HearstGordon MacDonaldJennifer LowryOne morning, a young man wakes to find that a small, disgusting creature has attached itself to the base of his brain stem. The creature gives him a euphoric state of happiness but demands human victims in return.
- DirectorGerald KarglStarsErwin LederRobert Hunger-BühlerSilvia RyderA troubled man gets released from prison and starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house.
- 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.
- DirectorJean-Pierre MockyStarsMarie-José NatJean-Pierre MockyNino FerrerNora and Jock arrive in the strange village of Litan during the Festival of the Dead.
- DirectorChih-Hung KueiStarsFei AiMelvin WongFanny Fen-NiWhile possessed by an evil spirit, a man murders his daughter. A police detective investigating the case also becomes possessed. A good monk helps fight the evil spirit.aka: Bewitched
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsSarah PattersonAngela LansburyDavid WarnerA teenage girl in a country manor falls asleep while reading a magazine, and has a disturbing dream involving wolves prowling the woods below her bedroom window.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEllen SandweissRichard DeManincorFive friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsJeroen KrabbéRenée SoutendijkThom HoffmanA man who has been having visions of an impending danger begins an affair with a woman who may lead him to his doom.
- DirectorRichard HobertStarsHans MosessonBergljót ArnadóttirVictoria Möllerström-HjelmTwo construction workers are offered an unusual contract. Great pay, but they don't know where they're going or what they are supposed to build. They are brought to a place with 12 months of summer.aka: The Twelve Months of the Summer
- DirectorFrank HenenlotterStarsKevin VanHentenryckTerri Susan SmithBeverly BonnerA young man carrying a big basket that contains his extremely deformed, formerly conjoined twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.
- DirectorKatt SheaStarsStarr AndreeffCyril O'ReillyDebbie NassarA vampire follows his instincts to a strip joint where he focuses in on one of the performers. He picks her for his meal because she is contemplating suicide, but he wants to share her life before taking it, and during the course of the evening they discuss their differences, their fears, and their lifestyles. As the moment of truth approaches, the woman becomes less sure that she wants to die.
- DirectorKevin TenneyStarsCathy PodewellAlvin AlexisHal HavinsTen teenagers party at an abandoned funeral parlor on Halloween night. When an evil force awakens, demonic spirits keep them from leaving and turn their gathering into a living Hell.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsZoë LundBogeyAlbert SinkysA timid and mute seamstress goes insane after being attacked and raped twice in one day, in which she takes to the streets of New York City after dark and randomly shoots men with a .45 caliber pistol.
- DirectorRichard FranklinStarsAnthony PerkinsVera MilesMeg TillyAfter twenty-two years of psychiatric care, Norman Bates attempts to return to a life of solitude, but the specters of his crimes - and his mother - continue to haunt him.
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsGeorge C. ScottTrish Van DevereMelvyn DouglasAfter the death of his wife and daughter in a car crash, a music professor staying at a long-vacant Seattle mansion is dragged into a decades-old mystery by an inexplicable presence in the mansion's attic.
- DirectorJérôme BoivinStarsLise DelamareJean MercureJacques SpiesserA white bull terrier named Baxter is given to an elderly woman by her daughter. As time passes, the dog develops aggressive and murderous behavior in order to be adopted by another family.
- DirectorLewis JacksonStarsBrandon MaggartJeffrey DeMunnDianne HullA toy factory worker, mentally scarred as a child upon learning Santa Claus is not real, suffers a nervous breakdown after being belittled at work, and embarks on a Yuletide killing spree.
- DirectorGoran MarkovicStarsMustafa NadarevicAnica DobraMilorad Mandic-MandaPiano teacher is deeply traumatised by the events of his childhood, as well as by political oppression in his youth. Decades later, all those traumas lead to carnage.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsCristina MarsillachIan CharlesonUrbano BarberiniA young opera singer is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.
- DirectorWilliam AsherStarsJimmy McNicholSusan TyrrellBo SvensonAn orphaned teenager finds himself being dominated by his aunt who's hell-bent on keeping him with her...at all costs.
- DirectorAgustí VillarongaStarsGünter MeisnerDavid SustMarisa ParedesA former Nazi child-killer is confined in an iron lung inside an old mansion after a suicide attempt. His wife hires him a full-time carer, a mysterious young man who is driven slowly mad by the old man's disturbing past.
- DirectorVera ChytilováStarsMiroslav MachácekTomás PalatýStepánka CervenkováA group of teenagers are mysteriously invited to a skiing workshop in the mountains. There are eleven of them, but the camp supervisors insist that there should be only ten, and that one of them is an intruder.aka: Wolf's Lair
- DirectorTun-Fei MouStarsGang WangDai Yao WuRunshen WangJapanese troops round up Chinese and Russian prisoners of war and take them to unit 731, where they're horribly tortured and experimented on to test new biological weapons.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsZach GalliganPhoebe CatesHoyt AxtonA young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
- DirectorChih-Hung KueiStarsPhillip KoShao-Yen LinKar-Man WaiWhile in Thailand to avenge his brother who was crippled in a fight with a corrupt Thai boxer, a man gets caught up in a web of fate, Buddhism and black magic.aka: The Boxer's Omen
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsAlec BaldwinGeena DavisMichael KeatonThe spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsSigourney WeaverMichael BiehnCarrie HennDecades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
- DirectorRicky LauStarsChing-Ying LamSiu-Ho ChinRicky HuiThe planned reburial of a town elder goes awry as the corpse resurrects into a hopping, bloodthirsty vampire, targeting everyone responsible for digging the grave. A Taoist Priest and his two disciples attempt to stop the terror.
- DirectorRené ManzorStarsBrigitte FosseyLouis DucreuxPatrick FloersheimOn Christmas Eve, a resourceful young boy has to defend himself and his grandfather from a killer dressed as Santa Claus.
- DirectorFrank OzStarsRick MoranisEllen GreeneVincent GardeniaA nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.
- DirectorHideshi HinoStarsShigeru SaikiMari SomeiMasami HisamotoAn artist rescues a mermaid in a sewer who develops bleeding sores all over her body, paints a portrait with her oozes and eventually disjoints her.Guinea Pig: Mermaid in a Manhole
- DirectorSandor SternStarsDavid HewlettCynthia PrestonTerry O'QuinnIsolated by his strange parents, Leon finds solace in an imaginary friend, which happens to be an anatomy doll from his father's doctor office. Unfortunately, the doll begins to take over Leon's life, and his sister's life as well.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsDee WallacePatrick MacneeDennis DuganAfter a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.
- DirectorJean RollinStarsBrigitte LahaieAlain DuclosDominique JournetFuturistic asylum residents in a skyscraper suffer insanity, amnesia. Blank-eyed inmates roam halls of "Black Tower" as tension escalates and bodies pile up.
- DirectorChuck VincentStarsVeronica HartJerry ButlerJennifer DeloraA woman kills a burglar in self-defense. The experience so unnerves her she begins to imagine that everyone is trying to harm her and begins to kill anybody who comes near her.
- DirectorMichael HerzLloyd KaufmanStarsAndree MarandaMitch CohenJennifer BabtistTromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.
- DirectorBrian YuznaStarsBilly WarlockConcetta D'AgneseBen SlackAn ordinary teenage boy discovers his family is part of a gruesome orgy cult for the social elite.
- DirectorWilliam Peter BlattyStarsStacy KeachScott WilsonJason MillerAn ex-marine psychiatrist attempts to rehabilitate his patients by indulging their fantasies, and seeks to prove the existence of a loving God to one especially troubled inmate.
- 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.
- DirectorH. Tjut DjalilStarsBarbara Anne ConstableChristopher J. HartClaudia Angelique RademakerThe spirit of an ancient evil queen possesses the body of a young anthropological student, who then goes on a murderous rampage.
- DirectorWilliam LustigStarsJoe SpinellCaroline MunroAbigail ClaytonA psychopathic man goes on a killing and mutilation spree in New York City.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames WoodsDebbie HarrySonja SmitsA programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.
- 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.
- DirectorTibor TakácsStarsJenny WrightClayton RohnerRandall William CookA bookshop clerk and wannabe actress starts seeing the disfigured killer from her 1950s pulp novels come to life and start killing people around her. She tries to convince her cop boyfriend, but to no avail.
- DirectorRubén Galindo Jr.StarsHugo StiglitzUsi VelascoErika BuenfilOn Halloween, a group of medical students steal the corpse a serial killer from a morgue and raise him from the dead, inadvertently putting themselves and a group of young neighborhood children in danger.
- DirectorTom HollandStarsChris SarandonWilliam RagsdaleAmanda Bearse"Fright Night" sees a teenager believing that the newcomer in his neighborhood is a vampire. He turns to an actor in a television hosted horror movie show for help to deal with the undead.