The 50 Best Horror Movies of the 1980s.

Classic horror films, slashers and thrillers that you will never get tired of watching.

1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 2

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

• USA, 1986.
• Horror, comedy.
• Duration: 100 minutes.
• IMDb: 5.6.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series began in 1974 with a B-movie directed by Tobe Hooper, and the second part was released in 1986. And away we go... A maniac nicknamed Leatherface (he wears a mask made from skin taken from his victims) begins to commit bloody murders, armed with a chainsaw.

He does this not only for entertainment, but also to feed his cannibal relatives. And although the film was received controversially, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre eventually became a cult series, and Leatherface became one of the most recognizable maniacs.

2. Children of the corn

Children of the Corn

• USA, 1984.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 5.6.

This film was based on the novel by horror master Stephen King. A married couple accidentally ends up in a town inhabited by insane, cruel children who have created their own religious cult and killed all the adults living in this town. The kids decide to sacrifice the guests to appease the deity who lives in the cornfields.

3. Cannibal Hell

Cannibal Holocaust

• Italy, 1980.
• Horror, adventure.
• Duration: 95 minutes.
• IMDb: 5.9.

A group of reporters travels to the equatorial forests of the Amazon to film a documentary about local tribes. The Aborigines did not appreciate the impulse of the white people and decided to use them as food.

The film was banned in as many as 50 countries around the world due to its cruelty. So, the animals that the natives ate in the frame were killed for real. Therefore, this picture is definitely not for the impressionable. And “Cannibal Hell” also has a pretty good remake - the 2013 film “The Green Hell”.

4. Deadly fun

The Funhouse

• USA, 1981.
• Horror.
• Duration: 91 minutes.
• IMDb: 5.9.

A film by Tobe Hooper, director of the famous Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Four teenagers named Amy, Buzz, Liz and Richie, along with baby Joey, are having fun at the fair. For fun, they decide to spend the night on a carnival train and accidentally witness a brutal murder committed by the crazy son of the carousel manager.

5. Silent Night, Deadly Night

Silent Night, Deadly Night

• USA, 1984.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 79 minutes.
• IMDb: 5.9.

An old man scares his grandson with creepy stories about Santa Claus who punishes bad children. And so it turns out that the boy’s parents are attacked by a maniac dressed as this particular Christmas character. An orphaned boy is sent to an orphanage where he is treated poorly. Having matured, the guy himself puts on a Santa Claus costume and begins to brutally kill.

6. Delicious rubbish

The Stuff

• USA, 1985.
• Horror, comedy.
• Duration: 86 minutes.
• IMDb: 5.9.

Horror with elements of black comedy. During mining operations in Alaska, a mysterious substance of unknown origin is discovered, which tastes very pleasant. And as a result, they begin to use it as a dessert throughout the country. True, then it turns out that the tasty rubbish devours people from the inside, turning them into cruel zombies .

7. Maniac Cop

Maniac Cop

• USA, 1988.
• Horror, action, crime.
• Duration: 85 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.0.

In New York, there are terrible bloody murders committed by a man in a police uniform. And at first suspicion falls on the young cop Jack Forest. But soon the terrible truth is revealed: the criminal is Officer Cordell, resurrected from the dead, who wants revenge on his killers and destroys everyone he meets on his way.

8. Hell's Motel

Motel Hell

• USA, 1980.
• Horror, comedy.
• Duration: 101 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.0.

A funny black comedy about a couple of maniacs, brother and sister. They own a roadside motel that is famous for its meat cuisine. Smoked meat is a signature dish here, which no one can repeat. The brother and sister keep the recipe strictly secret, because the source of the meat is very dubious.

9. Gate

The Gate

• Canada, USA, 1986.
• Horror, fantasy.
• Duration: 86 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.0.

A family lives in an old house, next to which there is a huge tree. They decide to uproot the tree, after which a deep hole remains in the area. When the parents leave for a few days, terrible demons begin to climb out of the hole - as it turns out, the hole in the ground is nothing more than a portal to hell. And the boy Glen and his sister El will have to deal with monsters without the help of adults.

10. Cujo

Cujo

• USA, 1983.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 93 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.0.

Another horror film, the primary source of which was the novel by Stephen King . Cujo is the name of the large St. Bernard, the pet of the Camber family. A bat accidentally bites a dog, infects it with rabies, and the dog begins to attack people.

11. Happy birthday to me

Happy Birthday to Me

• Canada, 1981.
• Horror, thriller, detective.
• Duration: 106 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.1.

A birthday is not the best holiday for young Virginia. On this day, the girl and her mother get into a car accident. Only Virginia survives, but she is seriously wounded by the propeller of a passing ship. And as a result, the girl begins to suffer from memory loss. A year later, her eighteenth birthday comes, and on the eve of Virginia's name day, a maniac begins to kill her friends.

12. April Fool's Day

April Fool's Day

• USA, Canada, 1986.
• Horror, detective.
• Duration: 89 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.2.

Several young people come to the country house of their fellow student to cheerfully celebrate the first of April and make fun of each other. But in the midst of the fun, the guests suddenly begin to disappear. And the friendly feast turns into a bloody massacre.

13. Pumpkinhead

Pumpkinhead

• USA, 1988.
• Horror, fantasy.
• Duration: 86 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.2.

Ed Harley lives a simple but quite happy life. He owns his own grocery store and has a young son. However, everything changes when a boy is killed by teenage motorcyclists out for a ride in the hills.

The father, crushed by grief, decides to resort to the help of an old witch: she summons a pumpkin-headed demon, who begins to take revenge on the boy’s killers. And this demon is so cruel that even Ed, who is thirsty for revenge, is horrified.

14. Warlock

Warlock

• USA, 1988.
• Horror, fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 103 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.2.

In 1691, a sinister, attractive-looking sorcerer was captured and imprisoned in a tower by the witch hunter Redfern. But the sorcerer did not wait for execution: the devil himself frees him and takes him to the future, to modern Los Angeles.

And here the warlock is going to cause nothing less than an apocalypse. However, the brave Redfern even then sets off in pursuit of the villain. But it won’t be easy to deal with a sorcerer who can literally shoot a person with his finger.

15. Sleeping camp

Sleepaway Camp

• USA, 1983.
• Horror.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.3.

A yacht is sinking on the lake, but the teenagers boating nearby do not pay attention to it. The owner of the ship and his son die, only the little daughter Angela survives. A few years later, the matured heroine returns to the ill-fated camp, and people begin to die there. Does this remind you of anything? Oh yes, the famous "Friday the 13th".

16. Cat's eye

Cat's Eye

• USA, Netherlands, 1985.
• Horror, thriller, comedy.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.3.

The film combines three short stories by Stephen King, who also became a screenwriter here. A witness to the events of the film and the link between the three parts of the film is a stray cat trying to protect a little girl.

In the first part of the film, the hero tries to quit smoking , and he succeeds because the psychologist begins to threaten his wife with self-harm. In the second, a criminal forces his wife's lover to walk on the roof of a skyscraper. And in the third, a cat protects a girl named Amanda from an evil troll.

17. My bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine

• Canada, 1981.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.3.

In a small mining town, a tragedy occurs on Valentine's Day: a group of miners die due to a methane explosion. Only one survives - Harry Warden. But after the experience, he goes crazy and is placed in a psychiatric clinic. And twenty years later, a madman, armed with a pickaxe, escapes to begin a bloody massacre.

18. Silver bullet

Silver Bullet

• USA, Netherlands, 1985.
• Horror.
• Duration: 95 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.4.

A series of terrible murders takes place in the town. Local residents take up arms, hoping to find and destroy a villain capable of such crimes. A little boy, Marty, confined to a wheelchair, tries to warn others that the bloodshed is being carried out by werewolves, against whom any weapon except silver is powerless. Naturally, no one believes him.

19. Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th

• USA, 1980.
• Horror, thriller, detective.
• Duration: 95 min.
• IMDb: 6.5.

At Camp Crystal Lake, due to an oversight by the counselors, a boy named Jason drowns. His mother, Pamela Voorhees, decides to take terrible revenge and begins brutal murders in the camp. In the next parts of this horror franchise, which has become truly cult, the main villain becomes the grown-up Jason, who actually did not drown (don’t ask how he survived alone in the forest).

Then he will turn into an unkillable zombie maniac. Will go hunting in Manhattan. Will be cryo-frozen and transported to the future. And even flies into space. His distinctive feature is a hockey mask, and his favorite weapon is a machete.

20. Children's games

Child's Play

• USA, 1988.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 87 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.6.

Little Andy receives a Chucky doll as a gift. The boy is delighted until he gets to know his new toy better. It turns out that the doll was possessed by a cruel maniac who died several years ago. He brutally kills Andy's nanny. And, of course, no one believes the child that Chucky is the killer.

21. Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary

• USA, 1989.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 103 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.6.

The film is based on a story by Stephen King. Louis Creed and his family move to a country house next to which there is an old Indian cemetery. Anyone who is buried here will rise from the dead. It worked for the family's cat who died. Therefore, when Louis’s little son dies under the wheels of a truck, his father decides to resurrect him in the same way. But this doesn't lead to anything good.

22. Howl

The Howling

• USA, 1981.
• Horror.
• Duration: 91 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.6.

A serial killer named Eddie asks to meet with journalist Karen White. And before the girl’s eyes, he begins to turn into a wolf-like monster. The police kill the maniac, but Karen cannot recover from what she saw. And when her husband is wounded by a creature similar to Eddie, events take a completely unexpected turn.

23. Halloween-2

Halloween II

• USA, 1981.
• Horror.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.6.

The main villain of the Halloween franchise is the sinister maniac Michael Myers, who commits his murders on All Hallows' Eve. In the first film, a bloody 1978 slasher from John Carpenter, Myers escapes from a psychiatric clinic and brutally kills a group of teenagers - only the girl Laurie managed to escape.

In the sequel, the psychopath decides to finish what he started by finishing off the surviving victim. Even if to do this he has to kill every living thing in the entire hospital where Lori was taken.

Michael Myers, along with Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Leatherface, is one of the most iconic villains in modern culture. Eight films have been made about his adventures, two remakes by the well-known rock musician and director Rob Zombie, as well as a recent reboot of the same name in 2018.

24. Alien stew

Bad Taste

• New Zealand, 1987.
• Horror, fantasy, comedy.
• Duration: 91 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.7.

Peter Jackson's first feature is a great black comedy, which he shot on a student scholarship. Aliens arrive in a New Zealand town and want to use people as ingredients for alien fast food dishes. The government sends a special squad to deal with the invaders. The battle ahead will be serious, hilariously funny and very bloody.

25. Fog

The Fog

• USA, 1980.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 89 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.8.

Something strange is happening in a fishing town in northern California. An unusually thick fog comes from the sea and envelops everything around. But it is not the fog that is terrible, but what it hides. Under the cover of darkness, the inhabitants of the town are attacked by the vengeful ghosts of drowned sailors who want to get even with all the living that fall into their hands.

26. Stepfather

The Stepfather

• UK, Canada, USA, 1987.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 89 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.8.

A cruel psychopath, pretending to be a caring and friendly man, ingratiates himself with single mothers and then kills them along with their entire household. When he marries widow Susan, her daughter Stephanie begins to suspect something. And this results in a new series of terrible murders.

27. Kaleidoscope of Horrors

Creepshow

• USA, 1982.
• Horror, comedy.
• Duration: 120 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.9.

Film directed by George Romero, filmed in collaboration with Stephen King. In Kaleidoscope of Horrors, a ghost appears to a boy and tells five creepy stories. These stories are based on King's stories - about a man on whose body alien weeds grew, about a jealous husband who took revenge on the wife he killed, about a box with a monster locked inside, bloodthirsty cockroaches, sinister zombies and other things that the King of Horrors loves so much.

28. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

• USA, 1986.
• Thriller, drama, biography, horror.
• Duration: 83 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.0.

The film is based on the true story of maniac Henry Lee Lucas, who committed at least 11 murders. Together with his comrade, the feeble-minded criminal Ottis Toole, he traveled along the roads of Texas, choosing victims and killing them in a variety of ways.

29. It's almost dark

Near Dark

• USA, 1987.
• Horror, action, thriller.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.0.

A vampire girl travels around the country in a van with her clan. In one city she meets a handsome young man and bites him so that he can be with her forever. But the clan refuses to accept the newcomer until he commits his first murder. And the vampire has to protect him from her relatives.

30. Hellraiser

Hellraiser

• Great Britain, 1987.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 93 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.0.

A petty criminal takes possession of a mysterious device - Lemarchand's box, a kind of demonic Rubik's cube. And he doesn’t even suspect that this thing can open the gates to hell, releasing cenobite demons who want to torture and kill everyone who comes to hand.

Like many other cult horror films of the 80s, Hellraiser turned into an entire franchise. In total, the film has nine sequels, the last of which is very recent - 2018.

31. Horror at the opera

Opera

• Italy, 1987.
• Horror, thriller, detective.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.1.

A film by Italian horror director Dario Argento. Young singer Betty suddenly gets the lead role in Macbeth after her predecessor is hit by a car. The heroine achieves resounding success, but the joy of this is overshadowed by a series of bloody murders. They are carried out by Betty's mysterious admirer, hiding his face under a mask.

32. Fright Night

Fright Night

• USA, 1985.
• Horror, thriller, comedy.
• Duration: 106 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.1.

Young Charlie is a huge horror fan. He watches his strange neighbor and becomes convinced that he is a real vampire. Of course, no one believes Charlie. Therefore, he decides to seek help from the host of the popular program “Fright Night”, as an expert on vampires.

33. Reanimator

Re-Animator

• USA, 1985.
• Horror, fantasy, comedy.
• Duration: 105 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.2.

The script of this film is inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft . Herbert West, a medical student, invents a mysterious green goo that can resurrect the dead. Moreover, even if only the head remained of the corpse. True, those who returned from the other world, as expected in horror films, are not very friendly. Naturally, meeting them does not end well.

34. Trembling

Tenebrae

• Italy, 1982.
• Horror, thriller, detective.
• Duration: 101 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.2.

Film by Dario Argento. Famous American writer Peter Neal comes to Rome to present his new novel, Shivers. And soon the city is rocked by a series of bloody murders committed in imitation of the events of the novel. Moreover, the criminal places pages from the book into his victims' mouths. The police are powerless, and the writer will have to look for the killer himself.

35. Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead

• USA, 1985.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.2.

A horror film by the famous George Romero, who has a passion for stories about the living dead. And this is a classic version of a zombie apocalypse film . After the almost complete extinction of humanity, a group of military men and scientists are hiding in a bunker, searching for a vaccine against the zombie virus. They are hampered not only by the bloodthirsty dead, but also by constant personal disagreements.

36. Videodrome

Videodrome

• Canada, 1982.
• Horror, fantasy, thriller.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.3.

The owner of a small TV channel, Max, is looking for new porn to fill the airwaves. He accidentally picks up a signal from the mysterious Videodrome program, broadcasting torture, murder and sexual perversion. Watching this program leads to the hero having terrible hallucinations, during which his body changes.

37. The Lost Boys

The Lost Boys

• USA, 1987.
• Horror, comedy.
• Duration: 98 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.3.

Single mother Lucy and her sons move to a small provincial town. Older brother Michael gets involved with bad company - a gang of bikers. And the younger Sam hangs out with comic book fans who fantasize about hunting vampires. And this knowledge may well be useful to them, because those bikers are actually vampires.

38. Gremlins

Gremlins

• USA, 1984.
• Horror, fantasy, comedy.
• Duration: 106 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.3.

A father gives his little son a wonderful pet - a strange little creature with fluffy fur and touching eyes. When purchasing, the seller warns that you need to follow important rules: do not splash water on the animal and do not feed it after midnight. But the boy, naturally, does not listen to him.

39. Defector

The Changeling

• Canada, 1980.
• Horror.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.3.

Having lost his wife and daughter, composer John Russell moves to an old abandoned mansion, where he intends to while away his days alone. But the house is clearly unclean - the piano plays on its own, things move... And the hero decides to hold a seance to contact the spirit living here.

40. Travel companion

The Hitcher

• USA, 1986.
• Thriller.
• Duration: 93 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.3.

A man catches a ride. A guy agrees to give him a ride, taking pity on the pedestrian who was chilled in the heavy rain. But his kindness backfires: the man turns out to be a psychopath who kills everyone. Moreover, he does it so skillfully that all suspicions ultimately fall on the poor driver.

41. Poltergeist

Poltergeist

• USA, 1982.
• Horror, thriller.
• Duration: 114 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.4.

Something strange is happening in the house of the Freeling family: the TV turns on by itself, objects move, although no one touched them... Apparently, moving into a cottage located in an old Indian cemetery, and even digging a pit for a swimming pool, was not the best idea.

42. Return of the Living Dead

The Return of the Living Dead

• USA, 1984.
• Horror, fantasy, comedy.
• Duration: 91 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.4.

Due to a logistical error, two barrels that previously belonged to the US Army are brought into a medical warehouse. They contain the latest chemical weapons - a gas that raises the dead from their graves, as well as a couple of dead bodies preserved in alcohol.

Due to the clumsiness of the warehouse workers, the barrels are damaged, gas begins to leak, and then the dead crawl out. And if you are a connoisseur of dark humor, you will find the film a great comedy.

43. Obsessed

Possession

• France, Germany, 1981.
• Horror, drama.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.4.

Quite a crazy film, imbued with the spirit of arthouse . Secret service worker Mark returns from another business trip and discovers that his wife Anna is not herself - she intends to get a divorce, throws hysterics and often leaves home. At first he decides that his wife is cheating on him. But she soon learns a much more terrible truth: Anna is possessed by a demon.

44. Fly

The Fly

• USA, UK, Canada, 1986.
• Horror, fantasy, drama.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.5.

A scientist named Seth Brundle creates a device that can teleport objects. And after some preliminary experiments, he decides to try it on himself. Unfortunately, at this time a fly flies into the camera of the device, and after the experiment, the scientist begins to gradually turn into a huge insect.

45. A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street

• USA, 1984.
• Horror.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.5.

One of the most famous and iconic horror films of the 1980s. A creepy maniac with a disfigured face and steel claws is stalking teenagers living on Elm Street in the town of Springwood. It penetrates their dreams, and therefore no one can protect themselves from it.

46. ​​Evil Dead

The Evil Dead

• USA, 1981.
• Horror.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.5.

A group of young people come to an abandoned hut for a weekend getaway. In the basement, they accidentally find a ritual dagger, a tape recorder with recordings from the previous owner of the hut, and an ominous manuscript - the Book of the Dead. The heroes cast spells, awakening sinister demons that inhabit them and do terrible things.

This film is a rare example when the second part turns out to be much better than the first (although the first is good). “The Evil Dead 2” made the franchise literally a cult, it was dismantled into quotes. According to the plot, the only surviving hero of the first part, Ash, ends up in the Middle Ages and continues to fight the dead, possessed by demons.

47. An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London

• UK, USA, 1981.
• Horror, comedy.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.6.

A couple of American students go on a trip to good old England. In some forest, a creepy werewolf kills one of them, and only wounds the second. Of course, the survivor begins to turn into a werewolf. At night he kills, and during the day he tries to control his bestial nature.

48. Something

The Thing

• USA, 1982.
• Horror, fantasy, detective.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 8.1.

A group of American polar explorers while away their time at a research station lost among the snows of Antarctica. Suddenly the idyll is shattered: the Americans notice how several of their Norwegian colleagues are chasing a running dog in a helicopter. The helicopter crashes, and the Norwegians die, and the Americans pick up the dog. And it would be better if they didn’t do this, because something terrible lives in the dog, eager to devour all living things.

49. Aliens

Aliens

• USA, 1986.
• Horror, fantasy, action.
• Duration: 137 minutes.
• IMDb: 8.4.

Sequel to the film " Alien ", released in 1979. The capsule with Ellen Ripley, the only one embroidered from the Nostromo spaceship, is picked up by the rescue shuttle. The heroine learns that while she was in suspended animation, a colony was built on a planet inhabited by aliens. And she has to return to where she miraculously escaped last time.

50. Shine

The Shining

• USA, UK, 1980.
• Horror, thriller, drama.
• Duration: 144 minutes.
• IMDb: 8.4.

The cult film by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel by Stephen King. The main character, together with his family, moves into an empty hotel for the winter in order to write his new novel in silence and solitude, and at the same time earn extra money as a caretaker. And in this godforsaken place something strange begins to happen: the writer gradually goes crazy, and his little son suddenly learns to see ghosts.