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The 24 best horror movies of the '80s

Want to watch a totally scary movie? Here are 24 of the most tubular horror picks, from The Shining to A Nightmare on Elm Street to The Thing.

If the '70s transformed horror , then the '80s was the decade when the genre really came into its own. Although many fans have a soft spot for slasher movies , the '80s also birthed iconic monsters, brought body horror to gooey new heights, and sparked a new subgenre: the splatter comedy.

Truly, some of the most famous horror movies of all time were made in the colorful, campy, boundary-pushing decade, including cult oddities like Fright Night and hidden gems like Dead & Buried .

Here's our list of the 24 best horror movies of the '80s.

The Shining (1980)

Released the same month as the original Friday the 13th , The Shining isn't necessarily what you think of when you think of '80s horror. It's a slow-burn ghost story anchored by precision cinematography, bravura performances from stars Shelley Duvall and Jack Nicholson , and direction from Stanley Kubrick , a big-name filmmaker with no previous connection to the genre.

Nevertheless, The Shining holds up as a disturbing, bone-chilling classic whose influence is all over contemporary "elevated" horror.

Where to watch The Shining : Paramount+ with Showtime

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

New Line Cinema is sometimes referred to as "the house that Freddy built" — an appropriate nickname given A Nightmare on Elm Street ' s outsize influence on the fledgling studio's fortunes.

Wes Craven adapted a newspaper story about a 12-year-old Cambodian refugee plagued by nightmares into this all-time classic, which marked the screen debut of both blade-wielding homicidal burn victim Freddy Krueger ( Robert Englund ) and a young Johnny Depp .

Where to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street : Max

Evil Dead II (1987)

Sam Raimi essentially remade his game-changing debut The Evil Dead (1981) with a bigger budget and an enhanced slapstick sensibility with Evil Dead II , a cabin-in-the-woods slasher by way of Looney Tunes.

Bruce Campbell returns as wisecracking final boy Ashley "Ash" Williams, whose unrelenting gauntlet of extreme terror as he fights for his life against the demonic Deadites is even bloodier — and sillier — this time around. The beauty of Evil Dead II is that it's both genuinely funny and genuinely scary, making for a wildly entertaining roller-coaster ride of a movie.

Where to rent Evil Dead II : Amazon Prime Video

Videodrome (1983)

Disproving the stereotype that Canadians are inherently mild-mannered people, David Cronenberg 's 1983 body-horror masterpiece Videodrome blends pain with pleasure, violence with entertainment, and human consciousness with pixelated transmissions from a nightmare realm.

James Woods stars as a sleazy TV executive in search of the ultimate ratings grab, alongside Blondie 's Debbie Harry as the seductive hostess of the titular broadcast.

Where to rent Videodrome : Amazon Prime Video

Hellraiser (1987)

Speaking of the razor's edge between pleasure and pain — queer horror icon Clive Barker lives on that edge, and so does his most famous creation, Hellraiser .

Adapted from Barker's novella The Hellbound Heart , Hellraiser revolves around a mysterious puzzle box known as the Lament Configuration. Once solved, the box summons the Cenobites, sadomasochistic beings from a dimension of pain and suffering who are all too happy to show jaded mortals an agonizing good time.

Where to watch Hellraiser : Amazon Prime Video

Fright Night (1985)

Sporting some good old-fashioned chills and a rockin' new wave soundtrack, Fright Night is a cult classic horror-comedy with a contagious affection for the genre.

Featuring Roddy McDowall as a TV horror host forced to confront the supernatural in real life, director Tom Holland's debut stars William Ragsdale as Charley Brewster, a horror-obsessed teen who becomes convinced that his suave next-door neighbor ( Chris Sarandon ) is actually a vampire.

Where to rent Fright Night : Amazon Prime Video

Creepshow (1982)

Combining the powers of writer Stephen King , director George Romero , and special effects artist Tom Savini, Creepshow is one of the best horror anthologies — not only of the '80s but of all time.

Inspired by the EC horror comics King and Romero grew up reading in the '50s, the five segments that make up Creepshow are full of macabre twists, bizarre creatures, and amoral characters getting their well-deserved supernatural comeuppance. Cartoonish in the best way, it's a tribute to the childhood scares that made these horror icons and has now spawned a reboot series on Shudder .

Where to rent Creepshow : Amazon Prime Video

Near Dark (1987)

Blending Western tropes with a punk-rock attitude, director Kathryn Bigelow puts a pulpy rockabilly spin on the vampire myth in Near Dark , one of the best and bloodiest vampire films of the '80s.

Adrian Pasdar stars as Caleb Colton, a small-town kid who joins up with a roving band of vampires after being bitten by an alluring stranger he meets at a bar. But it's Bill Paxton who steals the show as Severen, the most unhinged of this undead crew, whose sex appeal is matched by his thirst for violence.

Near Dark is currently unavailable to watch or rent

The Thing (1982)

One of several horror masterpieces directed by John Carpenter , The Thing wasn't appreciated by critics or audiences during its initial release. Decades later, it's an undisputed classic.

Filmmakers are still ripping off Rob Bottin's gruesomely inventive special effects, the excess of which contrasts with the tightly wound paranoia of the story. That latter quality only gets more relevant with every passing year; it's no coincidence that a screenshot of Kurt Russell 's character saying, "Nobody trusts anybody now, and we're all very tired" went viral in 2020.

Where to rent The Thing : Amazon Prime Video

Day of the Dead (1985)

The third film in George Romero's zombie series is just as politically charged — and as nihilistic — as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead , even though, yes, it does have a zombie listening to a Walkman.

The story picks up in a military bunker in the Everglades, where the last shreds of humanity have gathered in search of safety. Part-splatter movie and part-meditation on the dangers of science run amok, Day of the Dead is a sobering and thought-provoking take on the zombie genre.

Where to watch Day of the Dead : Hulu

Re-Animator (1985)

Sleazy, silly, lurid, colorful, and tons of fun, Re-Animator is a modern classic of mad scientist cinema. Directed by Stuart Gordon from a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, this video store favorite stars Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West, a medical student obsessed with bringing the dead back to life.

They don't teach ethics at Miskatonic University, so Herbert's experiments become increasingly outlandish, eventually drawing two of his fellow students ( Barbara Crampton and Bruce Abbott) into his chaotic orbit.

Where to watch Re-Animator : Tubi

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

The most party-hearty horror movie of a party-hearty decade, The Return of the Living Dead will bring tons of madcap energy — and toxic sludge — to your movie night.

The story takes place in Louisville, Ky., where a group of teenage punks partying in a graveyard come face to face with the aftermath of two youths accidentally kicking over a barrel in a top-secret government facility. That barrel was full of a gas that turns unsuspecting humans into zombies, which can mean only one thing: Let the flesh-eating festivities begin!

Where to watch The Return of the Living Dead : Amazon Prime Video

Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)

The 1980 original spawned 10 sequels, a remake, and innumerable rip-offs. But this is the quintessential (and the best) Friday the 13th movie.

Erroneously billed as "The Final Chapter," this fourth film in the saga does everything an '80s slasher is supposed to do — namely, put a bunch of horny teenagers in a cabin and let Jason Voorhees pick them off one by one. And it does it well, with gruesome kills, memorable characters (a rarity in the Friday the 13th series), and a totally bonkers ending featuring a young Corey Feldman .

Where to rent Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter : Amazon Prime Video

Dead & Buried (1981)

A dreamlike, atmospheric take on the zombie legend, Dead & Buried is one of the most singular horror movies of the '80s.

Director Gary Sherman's second feature, about a picturesque coastal town where packs of locals murder unsuspecting tourists — only for those tourists to be seen later wandering around town — languished in obscurity for decades before being rediscovered and hailed as a cult classic.

Where to watch Dead & Buried : Amazon Prime Video

The Changeling (1980)

George C. Scott stars as a recently widowed dad in The Changeling , a sophisticated, grown-up take on the haunted house movie that's still absolutely terrifying. The story takes place in an empty, secluded Victorian mansion, where John Russell (Scott) retreats after losing his wife and daughter in a car crash.

If you think that sounds like the perfect time and place to see some ghosts, you're correct — but the knowing doesn't make their appearance any less heart-stopping, thanks to superior craftsmanship from director Peter Medak.

Where to watch The Changeling : Peacock

Society (1989)

The '80s were a great decade for satirical horror-comedies, and Brian Yuzna's Society stands as one of the best of the subgenre.

The manicured lawns and yuppie fashions of Beverly Hills form the perfect backdrop for this bizarre (and goopy) statement on the decadence of the rich, starring the wonderfully named Billy Warlock as a wealthy teenager who suspects his parents are part of a cannibalistic cult. It all climaxes with an extended orgy of body-horror transformation that we won't spoil here, but we can guarantee that you'll never forget.

Where to rent Society : YouTube

They Live (1988)

Another instant classic from genre master John Carpenter, They Live is a sci-fi horror satire whose commentary on mindless consumerism is as relevant today as it was in 1988.

Starring "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as a drifter who finds a pair of sunglasses that expose an alien plot to subjugate humanity through subliminal messaging, They Live cuts its trenchant social critique with action-movie silliness — case in point: an infamous, hilarious fight sequence that goes on for six minutes for no particular reason — and highly quotable dialogue.

Where to rent They Live : Amazon Prime Video

Opera (1987)

Some might say that Italian horror legend Dario Argento was past his prime by the time the '80s rolled around. Opera , however, disproves that argument. Argento's work has always incorporated the melodramatic sweep and heightened emotion of opera.

And Opera , about an obsessive fan terrorizing a young soprano (Cristina Marsillach) during a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth , ranks among the maestro's most beautifully shot and fiendishly inventive tributes to the art of murder.

Where to watch Opera : Tubi

The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

The only '80s slasher franchise written and directed entirely by women, The Slumber Party Massacre satirized the subgenre while it was still being formed.

Directed by Amy Holden Jones from a screenplay by lesbian feminist author Rita Mae Brown, The Slumber Party Massacre was written as a parody, but producers insisted that Jones film it as a straightforward slasher picture. Its tongue-in-cheek sensibility came through anyway, poking at horror tropes with clever visual gags and a comically oversized power drill.

Where to watch The Slumber Party Massacre : Freevee via Amazon Prime Video

Possession (1981)

Emerging from obscurity to become a cult classic, Andrzej Żuławski's Possession is one of the most fascinating, singular visions in horror filmmaking. On one level, it's a shocking, disturbingly sexual arthouse creature feature. Dig deeper, and it's a painfully personal divorce movie.

Deeper still, it's a psychological thriller about a woman losing her grip on reality, with a touch of Cold War-era political satire. Bleak, uncompromising, and anchored by an unforgettable performance from star Isabelle Adjani, Possession is a movie that's hard to shake.

Where to watch Possession : Shudder

The Beyond (1981)

Lucio Fulci movies are an acquired taste. But once you've acquired it, nothing else satisfies in quite the same way. The Beyond is the second and best film in Fulci's Gates of Hell trilogy, about a woman who inherits a dilapidated hotel in the middle of the Louisiana swamp only to discover that it's cursed with a literal portal to hell in the basement.

The Beyond is "about" gore as much as it is "about" anything, however, a psychedelic miasma of slow-moving zombies and colorful viscera that's hypnotizing and confounding in equal measure.

Where to watch The Beyond : Peacock

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

You may think you've seen it all, but that isn't true until you've seen Tetsuo: The Iron Man .

Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto's chaotic, erotic body-horror head trip takes cyberpunk to some unforgettable new places, using inventive low-budget effects to tell the surreal story of a "metal fetishist" whose death in a drive-by car accident sparks an outrageous new chapter in human evolution.

Where to watch Tetsuo: The Iron Man : Shudder

Night of the Comet (1984)

Valley girl culture was everywhere in the '80s, and two of the most appealing characters to come out of this mall-obsessed SoCal teen cult appear in 1984's Night of the Comet .

Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney star as Regina and Samantha, teenage sisters who fight for survival in postapocalyptic Los Angeles (with breaks for shopping, of course) after a passing comet turns most of the population into zombies. Full of vibrant color and good-natured humor, this entertaining sci-fi hybrid holds up — even if the fashions don't.

Where to watch Night of the Comet : Tubi

The Burning (1981)

It didn't spawn a hit franchise, but The Burning still stands as one of the best entries into the early-'80s slasher cycle.

Inspired by the New York urban legend of Cropsey, The Burning is a lean, mean-spirited hack-and-slash summer camp horror movie that's elevated by its energetic young cast — which includes Jason Alexander , Fisher Stevens , and Holly Hunter in their debut film roles — and Tom Savini's gruesomely realistic makeup effects.

Where to watch The Burning : Amazon Prime Video

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The 35 Best '80s Horror Movies Ranked

The '80s were a boom time for horror. Two formats of video recorder (VHS and Betamax) duked it out, with VHS eventually winning due to being the cheaper format to license. The proliferation of this technology in the home meant that films had a market beyond cinemas for the first time, and rental stores cropped up worldwide. Direct-to-video became a valid way to release films, and a lot of people wanted to cash in on the growing horror craze. In addition, because it was now possible to record movies from their TVs, many eager youngsters cultivated an interest in horror by watching scary movies at home, freed from the age-based restrictions at theaters.

My childhood was one of regular video shop visits, marveling at the gory covers on cassettes in the horror section. The quality of the tapes varied wildly, but many still hold up today, and some of them now bona fide classics. Obviously, any list such as this is subjective, but there are a few entries that I'm genuinely sad missed the cut, even if just barely — especially "From Beyond."

Adjust your tracking, align your azimuth heads, and let's go...

35. Sleepaway Camp

If 1980's "Friday the 13 th " (alongside films like "The Burning") hadn't already taught us that there were few places as dangerous as summer camp, 1983's "Sleepaway Camp" proved it beyond any doubt. Summer camp counselors must have been up there alongside snake handlers and bomb disposal crews in the '80s, and at least those pursuing the latter two careers are given better protective garb than short shorts and crop top tee-shirts. It would appear that a disgruntled parent or vengeful (and permanently scarred) victim of bullying lurked behind every tree or chalet.

An unlikely film to kickstart a franchise, "Sleepaway Camp" would go on to spawn several sequels, each more tongue-in-cheek than the one before. Honestly, as a slasher — especially one in such an overcrowded market given the number of "Friday the 13 th " imitators inspired by that film's breakout success — this particular entry is very much by-the-numbers, and the characters a collection of broadly drawn archetypes in a movie particularly guilty of having 30-somethings trying to play young teenagers.

That said, it's solely the movie's ending that makes "Sleepaway Camp" worthy of inclusion on this list. A striking reveal and final shot instantly elevate the film from forgettable to quite the opposite, and it's a conclusion that still stands up as brave and shocking some four decades later .

34. Scanners

There's a general rule of thumb that the appearance of actor Michael Ironside improves any film, and this certainly applies to the 1981 science fiction/horror flick "Scanners." Ironside plays the baddie in this tale of weaponized psychics in a setting that will be familiar to any fans of the works of Canadian auteur writer/director David Cronenberg — a reality parallel to ours, but one where technology or humanity has gone awry.

In his earlier works "Shivers" and "Rabid," Cronenberg dealt with his familiar themes of disease, but in "Scanners" (and "The Brood" from two years previous) he delves into the powers of the mind and those who would exploit them.

The plot is as ambitious as it is mind-blowing, which leads us neatly into the one famous moment that cemented this visceral and literate science fiction film's place in the horror hall of fame. The villainous Darryl Revok (Ironside) turns his particularly vicious telepathic talents against another psychic, causing his head to explode messily. The scene — achieved with a prosthetic full of burger remnants, latex, and wax shot at point-blank range with a shotgun — has gained notoriety, immortalized in countless animated GIFs. It's a gimmick in a film that doesn't need one, but also a prime example of practical effects work that still stands up today.

33. Fright Night

Nostalgia is a powerful drug, and if 1985's "Fright Night" will make you long for anything, it's the concept of old-fashioned horror hosts. Those stalwart individuals — of whom Elvira was one of the most famous — haunted our screens in the dead of night on cable television, introducing a succession of schlocky low-budget, yet thoroughly entertaining, horror movies.

In this tale of a vampire moving into a suburban neighborhood and the attempts to uncover him, Roddy McDowall plays the aforementioned horror host — Peter Vincent — dragged into a real-life vampire hunt. He delights as a pretentious luvvie with ideas above his station, proving to be quite hopeless in real life at the abilities boasted about by his on-screen persona. In a metaphysical twist beating "Scream" to the punch by some time, it's also a neat skewering of the 80s trend of horror switching towards slasher movies, with has-been Vincent bemoaning modern audiences don't even have time for creatures such as vampires anymore.

The '80s were a rich era for comedy blended with horror, and "Fright Night" boasts a razor-sharp script as gruesome as it is funny. A vampire flick is also only as good as its bloodsucking lead, and here Chris Sarandon stars as the confident and suave suburban sucker Jerry Dandridge (vamping it up a couple of years after former wife Susan had done the same in "The Hunger").

32. Tetsuo: The Iron Man

The cinematic equivalent of a monochromatic fever dream, this 1989 Japanese splatter-punk body horror is as contentious as they come. Critics will point out its paper-thin plot, ramshackle special effects, and over-the-top gore — and fans will proclaim those elements as exactly why they love it.

The vague plot follows our protagonist, The Salaryman (Tomorowo Taguchi) as he contracts a mysterious illness that causes him to slowly transform into a hideous bio-mechanical hybrid of flesh and metal. An encounter with a metal fetishist forces the two rusting reprobates into a deadly battle.

A minuscule budget and a do-it-yourself approach to the special effects give " Tetsuo: The Iron Man " a unique look, making it quite different from other horror movies. Sequels would up the budget and the quality of special effects — and the complexities in the storytelling — but this first low-budget horror, with its punk-rock ethos, remains the most fascinating entry of them all. "Akira" would tread similar territory in the same decade with its own metamorphosing and mutating Tetsuo to greater and more profitable effect. Still, there's no doubting the low-fi charm of this strange little film, and you'll never look at a junk pile in the same way again.

31. Brain Damage

In 1982's " Basket Case ," writer/director Frank Henenlotter created a most unusual antagonist in Belial, a monstrously deformed conjoined twin. However, that pale-skinned, potato-shaped creature was the paragon of normality compared to Aylmer from Henenlotter's next film, "Brain Damage." Aylmer, a purple and blue chorizo-shaped parasite, is a millennia-old creature with perfectly polite diction — and a penchant for eating brains in return for injecting his acolytes with a chemical capable of causing vivid and exquisitely pleasurable hallucinations. In a knowing nod to low-budget horror, Aylmer is voiced by John Zacherle, who was a renowned host — known as The Cool Ghoul — throughout the '50s and '60s.

Protagonist Brian (Rick Hearst)– with that name and film title similarity being one of the most refined elements of this 1988 comedy horror — stands front and center in this outlandish slice of cinema. It simultaneously takes a sledgehammer-subtle approach to addiction and serves as a violent gore-fest, with each killing presented in a neon brilliance from a narcotic haze rivaling anything seen in Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever."

There's no denying a running theme in Henenlotter's output, which typically involves a grimy New York underbelly populated by sleazy unsympathetic characters getting what's coming to them. That said, his brand of horror exploitation cinema is unique, and it's no exaggeration to call Henenlotter something of an auteur. There's little reason or logic behind his works, but their distinctiveness makes them stand out in a crowded genre. Like the vicious stinger that Aylmer uses to squirt his potent narcotic all over your cerebral cortex, his films get into your brain.

30. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Before Alabamian actor Michael Rooker emerged as James Gunn's cinematic muse (appearing in "Slither" and various "Guardians of the Galaxy" films), he terrified audiences as the lead in John McNaughton's 1986 psychological horror " Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer ."

Based on the story of real-life killer Henry Lee Lucas, this gritty movie follows Henry after his release from imprisonment for murdering his mother. Taking a job — appropriately — as an exterminator, he and a friend conduct a series of indiscriminate killings. From a decade in which movie murders were designed to be as novel as possible — with the bigger the body count, the better — "Henry" stands as a grimly realistic and sobering view of a mass murderer's mind.

Henry isn't a masked slasher or supernatural creature out for vengeance or killing for a misguided cause, but an anonymous psychopath who could blend into the crowd, and whose motives appear random. The movie is awkwardly voyeuristic at times, making us, the audience, feel guilty for watching Henry carry out his hideous crimes with a casualness that defies sense. It'd be a challenge to find a more nihilistic movie from the '80s, and it's pretty telling that it sat in post-production limbo for three years before becoming one of the first movies given the Motion Picture Association of America's new NC-17 rating.

29. The Dead Zone

You'd struggle to think of two things more ubiquitous in '80s horror than David Cronenberg and Stephen King, and 1983's " The Dead Zone " sees a collaboration between the two genre legends.

In a case of perfect casting, Christopher Walken plays Johnny Smith. Walken is always at his strongest playing unusual, haunted characters (case in point: his scene-stealing performance as the Archangel Gabriel in 1995's "The Prophecy") — and Smith is one of the most interesting of them all. He wakes from a coma to find himself able to catch glimpses of individuals' lives through touch, this psychometric talent capable of discovering people's secrets — by seeing their futures. Accidental contact with presidential candidate Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) shows the Senator will go on to start World War III, and Smith is locked in a battle against time to prevent this seemingly inevitable prophetic apocalypse.

Despite feeling a little dated given recent events in modern politics — where few in positions of power seem to have the honor anymore to resign with dignity when embarrassed or shamed — it's a powerful film. The final act is a slice of brilliantly tense cinema , and "The Dead Zone" has proven to be one of the most effective of King's works put to screen. The '80s saw a great many King adaptations, but notably, few of them feature on this list, such is their varying quality.

28. Possession

Enjoying somewhat of a resurgence due to its recent appearance on the streaming channel Shudder, 1981's "Possession" was one of several films from the decade that found itself on the list of British "Video Nasties." Whereas many films found themselves on that notorious list through their extreme gore and that alone, "Possession" was also included for its sheer brutality and uncompromising view of domestic abuse. This far-from-comfortable watch charts the breakdown in the relationship between spy Mark (Sam Neill) and Anna (Isabelle Adjani), and follows her increasingly odd behavior after requesting a divorce. It flits through genres, beginning as a grim kitchen-sink divorce drama in the equally grim environs of West Germany before the fall of the Wall , yet ends up in Cronenberg-esque body-horror territory. Neill is never anything less than watchable in any of his roles and "Possession" is no exception. Still, it's Adjani who steals this movie — with one subway scene in particular memorable as a high point of horror cinema.

It's an oddly structured narrative that asks as many questions as it answers, and it's definitely not a film for everybody's taste — but if you like your horror challenging and ambiguous, there are few better examples in '80s cinema. I can guarantee you that it's like nothing you've ever seen — or will ever see.

27. Friday the 13th

It was the film that launched a franchise, eventually seeing its protagonist visit the far-off climes of Hell, outer space, and — most terrifyingly — Manhattan. It's incredible to think that a series that went on to form an instantly recognizable horror legend in the form of Jason Voorhees and his iconic hockey mask started without even his inclusion, Jason's only proper appearance being an afterthought ( inspired by the end of "Carrie" ) in a dream sequence.

Rushed into production to capitalize on the success of "Halloween" (1978) from two years earlier, "A Long Night at Camp Blood" (to use its working title) was a compelling whodunit with the identity of the murderer kept a secret from the audience. The ultimate reveal wasn't as effective as the thrills and chills that led up to it, but there is no denying how influential this film was on the genre. The excellent (and lengthy) documentary "Crystal Lake Memories" explores the sad tale of diminishing returns and how the series eventually lost its way, but it's easy to forget how it once dominated the box office.

And while "Friday the 13th" spawned countless mediocre spin-offs featuring hapless counselors in peril, the original still stands tall today. All together now ... Voorhees a jolly good fellow ...

26. Poltergeist

"Poltergeist" is an odd beast. Tobe Hooper, who'd terrified the living snot out of us eight years earlier with "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," directed this 1982 horror film, but it feels like a film straight out of the Spielberg playbook. Spielberg's influence as the tale's writer imprinted on every frame, and there's an argument — with no small irony in a film about a restless spirit — that Spielberg ghost-directed the movie . And it's easy to see how people came to believe that.

Hooper (or maybe Spielberg) lulls you into a false sense of security as the characters start witnessing odd activity in their new home (another example of '80s homeowners blissfully unaware of what lurks under the foundations of their building — although at least in this case we were spared the common trope of Indian burial ground). The titular poltergeist is initially playful, moving furniture around accompanied by a cheery Jerry Goldsmith score, as well as communicating with the family's young daughter through the static on a television set. ("They're heeeeere.")

There's a big rug pull to come, though, as the film suddenly descends into the macabre and cruel. There's a mirror scene involving face-peeling horror that would be considered over the top in a Cronenberg movie, and moments of terror you wouldn't expect in a film with such a mild rating; it was rated the equivalent of PG (Parental Guidance) in the UK, which seems laughable now given the film's haunting content.

25. Videodrome

With the dawn of the video cassette being such a boon for the horror genre — for both viewers and filmmakers, as touched upon in my introduction to this piece, it was inevitable that somebody would deliver a film about the power of that medium. And who better than a director who seemed obsessed with impressing upon us the dangers of over-reliance on technology?

1983's " Videodrome " follows TV channel president Maxx Renn (James Woods) as he attempts to uncover the secrets behind the titular TV show — a gratuitous offering dedicated to torture and abuse — after he learns that the on-screen violence might be genuine. It's a wry — and, as you can imagine from director David Cronenberg, a far-from-conventional — look at the increasingly graphic nature of the content we consume, and the lengths that television creators will go to satisfy that urge.

The VHS concept and clunky on-screen technology date the film, locking it in an alternative '80s, but the theme remains as prescient as ever when we consider how the medium has changed in the 40 years since its release. In an era of fake news, radicalization, and people famous for simply being famous, perhaps we've never wandered too far from the Videodrome.

24. The Hitcher

A masterclass in atmosphere and tension that probably resulted in far fewer hitchhikers being picked up in the decade of its release, 1986's "The Hitcher" still stands out today for its memorably callous antagonist, Rutger Hauer's John Ryder. It's precisely the kind of role that the sadly missed Hauer was best known for.

When young Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) stops for a hitchhiker, he has no idea of the events he sets in motion. He narrowly escapes with his life from this self-proclaimed psychopath, and the two of them fight to the death on the desert plains.

There are shades of Roy Batty, Hauer's "Blade Runner" character, in Hauer's oppressive antagonist, with both coming across as Aryan, idealized superhumans. Ironically, Ryder feels even less human than Roy Batty's replicant. It's a movie reminiscent of Spielberg's "Duel" from the decade previous, seeing innocents in the wrong place at the wrong time, tormented simply for their bad luck. Like the persistently aggressive Truck from Spielberg's feature, Ryder is an unstoppable force of nature, a villain with little nuance or subtlety, in a film as bleak as it is violent. "The Hitcher" was remade in 2007 with Sean Bean in the lead role, but even an actor of his gravitas couldn't salvage something that should have been left on the curbside, thumb permanently outstretched.

23. The Changeling

Another exemplary horror starring George C. Scott, " Exorcist 3 " narrowly missed being on this list by virtue of opening 11 months too late, but 1980's "The Changeling" is equally as fine — a wonderful and chilling tale released in an era known for jump scares and gore. The ghost story is a fine tradition that seems to be (no pun intended) a dying art, and "The Changeling" is a textbook example of seeing it done well.

Scott plays composer John Russell, who moves into a Seattle mansion after a car accident saw his wife and daughter killed. It's not long before he starts to experience supernatural phenomena and learns of the events that transpired in his 12-years-vacated house.

Co-writer Russell Hunter based the story on his own experiences in the Henry Treat Rogers mansion two decades before, but the tale almost feels secondary to Scott's excellent performance.. almost. His music teacher is a haunted soul — both literally and figuratively — and his reactions to the events around him make the drama utterly convincing. Scott's always been a compelling character actor, and his performance grounds some of the more far-fetched elements, making the plot work. "The Changeling," through atmosphere and sound design alone, frightened this horror fan on first viewing — and aspects of this standout film have stuck with me ever since.

22. Evil Dead II

1987's "Evil Dead II" is a quirky one — it's not exactly a sequel to the original, more a bigger budget remake that's played slightly more for laughs than the 1981 classic. The impressively chinned Bruce Campbell returns as Ash Williams, once again getting himself involved with scary supernatural shenanigans in a secluded shack. The Book of the Dead — the Necronomicon, heavily featured in the first three "Evil Dead" movies — is once again responsible, as ancient texts naively read aloud reawaken the Deadites who dwell in the surrounding woods.

The slapstick quotient is heightened considerably from the first film, with Campbell's physical comedy prowess conjuring images of a Three Stooges one-person show. His exploits with a myriad of miniaturized mimics are a particular highlight, as is the scene with his possessed hand (with the severing of said limb being responsible for one of the few visual gags ever put to screen ... based on an Ernest Hemingway novel).

It's a visual riot, ending with a perfect set-up for "Army of Darkness," which arrived in theaters in 1992 (and thus can't be included on this list). Purists may not want to think too hard about how the conclusion of "Evil Dead II" doesn't quite match the start of the next installment, but that's pure nitpicking.

21. The Shining

Stephen King may have famously hated Stanley Kubrick's 1980 adaption of his first bestselling novel , but there's no denying the quality of the notorious auteur's only stab at the horror genre. Author and recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as a winter caretaker and moves his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) into the Overlook Hotel. Given warnings from the hotel's manager that the previous caretaker had gone insane and killed his family, Jack's behavior becomes increasingly erratic, and it transpires that they're not the only occupants of the Overlook — but they are the only ones still alive.

The film has been somewhat overshadowed by the real-life horror story of actor Shelley Duvall's on-set experiences , but "The Shining" is an exemplary piece of horror cinema. It's beautifully shot, as you'd expect from a talent such as Kubrick, albeit a little clinical, but many of the set pieces remain chillingly effective today. The notorious "Here's Johnny" scene featuring an ax-wielding Jack has been spoofed and parodied so many times it's virtually a cultural landmark, but it's a reminder of how superbly Nicholson could play manic characters. Mike Flanagan's 2019 sequel "Doctor Sleep" revisited many of the iconic shots and scenes from "The Shining," acting as a timely reminder of how good they really were.

20. Basket Case

Frank Henenlotter has a rare directorial talent: the ability to cover every frame of celluloid with an intangible layer of grime. Across his limited yet illustrious career, New York has been as much a character in his films as any of the oddballs, eccentrics, or freaks he casts. "Basket Case" is as much a love letter to the Big Apple as anything made by Woody Allen, but concentrates on the city's rotten core: the seedy, sleazier side of the concrete metropolis.

"Basket Case" is a simple tale about a boy and his deformed mutant brother, but it's the humans in the film who are the real monsters. It's a tale that'll stick in your brain long after you've finished showering to try and wash the grubbiness away. Some of its effects are risible — a stop-motion scene with monstrous brother Belial trashing a hotel room is more about the "stop" than the "motion" — but, as with the rest of Henenlotter's work, there's a certain charm.

Henenlotter inspired a whole bunch of other filmmakers, notably Joe Begos ("Bliss" and "VFW") and Harrison Smith ("The Special"), proving that exploitation is alive and well. The "Basket Case" sequels veer more towards black comedy and away from horror, but are never less than watchable.

19. Predator

In some little backwater alternate reality, there's a far different version of "Predator" from the one that hit cinemas in 1987. In this universe, it's one of the more obscure movies of Schwarzenegger's oeuvre, an action-horror flick starring heavily disguised, little-known actor Jean-Claude Van Damme (who suffered a career-ending injury after an ill-timed jump in a preposterous looking rubber costume).

Luckily, that's not the one we got. Featuring the ever-reliable designs of genre genius Stan Winston, "Predator" is an unashamedly macho science-fiction action-horror movie which sees Dutch (Arnie) and his squad of war-film stereotypes take on the eponymous alien menace. Featuring enough ammunition to topple a third-world dictatorship, and biceps bulging with more veins than most of us have in our entire circulatory systems, "Predator" is an absolute blast.

Like Billy on the bridge, brave enough to take on the Predator with just a machete, the film is expertly executed. A novel sequel that moved the setting to the concrete jungle of Los Angeles was followed by increasingly dismal movies, but, unlike the Predator himself, the franchise refuses to vanish.

18. Gremlins

A rare piece of stealth-horror, this one, sneaking from the video store shelf into many homes thanks to the cute furry Mogwai on the cover. It'd be a little while before its true nature became apparent: "Gremlins" is  a Tex Avery cartoon given lizard flesh, a violent, blood-spattered tale of evil little skittering demonic creatures. My nervous mother (who'd subsequently tried to warn me away from "Rosemary's Baby," calling it the "scariest movie ever") never quite forgave me.

At its heart, "Gremlins" is a movie-length cautionary tale, a reminder to always follow instructions. The gremlins and their leader, Stripe, are the yin to the cute Mogwai Gizmo's yang, wreaking havoc amongst the deserving and undeserving alike. The gremlins themselves are a force of nature, dispatched in a variety of grisly ways that'll delight the childish-at-heart and sicken people ;ole my dear-departed mum. It's manic, playful, and buzzing with a sugar-rush energy rarely found outside of Saturday morning cartoons, but there's a hint of the darkest elements of Grimm just lurking under the surface — Phoebe Cates' saddest Christmas story of all time is testament to that.

"Gremlins" is a film that gets away with a lot due to the violence being cartoonish and over-the-top, but that doesn't stop it being as worthy an entry as anything on this list.

17. The Evil Dead

Whatever they try and tell you, nostalgia is what it used to be. A lot of my love for the movies on this list isn't simply due to the films itself, but the memories the films evoke of times, places, and friends. 

The early '80s saw the Video Nasty uproar in the UK, in which movies — typically from the horror and exploitation genres – were banned under the Obscene Publications Act, and filmmakers and distributors found themselves prosecuted. Bootleg VHS cassettes of "Video Nasties" were forced underground, passed between avid collectors and fans like a Russian athlete's urine samples at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

"The Evil Dead" was one such movie, with this writers' first experience of the seminal horror film being in a grubby caravan in a friend's garden in the summer of 1983. It could be argued that the sequel — effectively a bigger budget remake of the first — is the better movie, but there's a low-fi charm to the original. There's a joy in this style of guerrilla filmmaking, wringing the very most out of a non-existent budget. "The Evil Dead" displays all the hallmarks that Sam Raimi would come to be known for; bold camerawork, a frenetic pace and style, and a comic-book sensibility. The less said about the tree molestation scene, though, the better.

16. The Blob

"The Blob" is just one of several remakes on this list, all of which follow the same principle; do it bigger and better. The Steve McQueen original is a well-regarded, cheesy science-fiction B-movie with a novel and original antagonist. The remake is a brilliant piece of '80s body horror that time seems to be doing its darned best to forget.

Like Tom Savini's excellent remake of "Night of the Living Dead," the remake plays with the ideas of the original while subverting them for a modern audience. The jock that the film seems to be setting up to be the lead dies (horribly) in the first act, writer Frank Darabont and director Chuck Russell seem to have missed the bit in the Hollywood scriptwriter's handbook that says, "Don't kill any kids," and it all fits neatly with the '80s' obsession with conspiracies — "It was the Government what did it."

"The Blob" also sets itself up neatly for a sequel that would never come, the film getting lost amongst a heaving morass of summer releases. Still, it's great fun with some truly memorable gross-out moments, and, aside from some dated back projection work, still stands up well.

15. Halloween 3: Season of the Witch

Narrowly beating another John Carpenter movie ("The Fog") for a place on the list, "Halloween 3" sits in such a prominent position simply for trying — albeit failing — to do something new with the developing franchise. Attempting to break away from being simply the continuing saga of Michael Myers, this was a bold attempt to push the Halloween franchise in a new direction; namely, to make it a series of horror films based around the holiday itself, with no link to the Shape.

With a script originally by Nigel Kneale (of "Quatermass" fame), "Halloween 3" is a folk-horror tale at heart, brimming with concepts that Kneale relished, like the overlap between technology and old magic. He eventually distanced himself from the project, but his name runs through it like the writing on a stick of rock.

However, the true magic at work here is the sheer sexual magnetism of lead actor Tom Atkins. Jamie Lee Curtis' character in "The Fog" beds him within moments of meeting him, as does his investigative partner — Ellie Grimbridge — in this. Despite dodgy Irish accents and a jingle that'll infest your brain for weeks, "Halloween 3" is, in this writer's humble opinion, the best of the series.

14. An American Werewolf in London

Thanks to "An American Werewolf in London" there are a whole plethora of songs with "Moon" in the title that will trigger a Pavlov-conditioned response among a certain generation of horror fans, evoking imagery of violent transformations, unwelcoming taverns, and Jenny Agutter in a shower.

For a director with a rich heritage in comedy, "An American Werewolf in London" fits neatly into John Landis' filmography. It's a horror movie with a bloated, black comedic heart, elevating itself above its lupine peers from the same decade (namely, "The Howling" and its sequels). For an audience expecting the werewolf transformation to consist of the lead actor having more fur glued to his face before he appears from behind a piece of furniture, Rick Baker's moonlight change from David to lycanthrope was a revelation. This was no elegant metamorphosis from wolf to man, but an agonizing and brutal act in which bones rearranged themselves and skin stretched to the point of tearing open.

Effects aside, "An American Werewolf in London" is horror with genuine depth, faithful to the werewolf tradition, but with a modern slant. A risible sequel emerged from the moors nearly two decades later, but with none of the charm or humor of this horror classic.

13. Society

"Shunting." Such an innocent term, conjuring (to this Brit, anyway) images of steam trains and the golden age of rail. Well, watching "Society" will banish any such romantic notions from your brain, replacing the word's meaning with gross physical deformations and disgusting bodily absorptions.

Responsible for the notorious KY Jelly shortage of 1989, "Society" is a distinct film of two halves, a shifting amorphous mass that's ingested David Cronenberg and the cast of "Beverly Hills 90210." It introduces a metaphor as subtle as a house-brick to the chin, taking the adage to a logical — and repugnant — extreme: What if the parasitic rich really were feeding off the poor?

"Society" is trickle-down economics given malleable flesh, with a delightfully exuberant and grotesque final act that's well worth the wait. The aptly named Screaming Mad George is on FX duty in this paranoiac satire, and the practical special effects still stand out three decades later. Are the soulless incestuous people of "Society" aliens, or have they been here all along? A question still as valid and equally as unanswered today.

12. Day of the Dead

Any list of the top 20 horror movies of the '60s wouldn't be complete without "Night of the Living Dead," and to leave "Dawn of the Dead" out of a '70s chart would be verging on illegal. Similarly, "Day of the Dead" rightfully deserves a position here. Romero would ensure that the increasingly inaccurately titled "Trilogy of the Dead" would receive more entries in the next century , but none stand up to the original three.

The "Day of the Dead" trailer alone was enough to terrify audiences, an early example of a jump scare taken from the opening scene. As the (supposed) final entry in the trilogy, it portrays a group of survivors who may be the last remnants of mankind, hunkered together in an underground bunker. The last stragglers of a military operation which should have been long abandoned, it's a claustrophobic character study of confinement, as well as an excuse for some truly memorable and horrific effects work from Romero's long-time collaborator, Tom Savini.

Captain Rhodes' soldiers are just as terrifying as any of the undead, and it's the conflict between them and the civilian scientists that make for a tense and brutal showdown. The three surviving leads (Lori Cardille, Jarlath Conroy, and Terry Alexander) recently appeared together in intriguing photographs hinting at a return for the characters in an unofficial sequel to "Day of the Dead,"  nearly four decades later.

11. Creepshow

As a sucker for a well-done anthology movie, "Creepshow" is one of the better ones, edging out "The Twilight Zone" movie. A loving tribute to the old EC Horror comics of the '50s, it was the first collaboration between the sadly missed George A. Romero and Stephen King.

Whereas some '70s films brought EC Horror stories directly to the big screen (Amicus Productions' "Tales from the Crypt" and "The Vault of Horror"), "Creepshow" was simply inspired by the feel and theme of these comics. They all follow a similar pattern. All of the segments are modern morality tales: They're all about bad people doing dreadful things to good people, and eventually get their comeuppance. One segment starring King himself — "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" — acts more as a cautionary tale, the sage warning being, "Don't get meteor crap on your fingers."

The comic book motif is strong throughout, shots framed by borders with expositional text or filmed at bizarre angles, mimicking comic book panels. Lighting is in bold, garish colors, aping the four-color printing process of the source material, and scenes elegantly transition with the turning of pages. A standout cast is the cherry on the icing-topped, severed-head cake.

10. Re-Animator

Jeffrey Combs is a little like Michael Ironside in that both men elevate any material that they're in; even the dullest of films is enlivened by Jeffrey's manic presence, and there's no better vehicle for him than Stuart Gordon's "Re-Animator." There's a reason the actor's filmography is as long as your freshly severed arm, and this movie would have been many audience members' first experience of him.

Loosely based on the H.P. Lovecraft story of (nearly) the same name, "Re-Animator" sees a perfectly cast Combs play a medical student fixated on reanimating the dead. He's obsessed to the point of madness, channeling Colin Clive as Doctor Frankenstein in the James Whale classic.

Like many films in this list, "Re-Animator" is another horror comedy from a decade in which they positively thrived. Adding a rich vein of humor to your movie was a common delivery mechanism for conjuring up increasingly outlandish special effects and gore, and "Re-Animator" is a blood-spattered rollercoaster ride. The plot is as lurid as the bright luminous green of the re-animation serum, all reanimated heads and monstrous resurrected chimeras, only to fall into dark farce as West's ill-fated plans go awry.

9. Killer Klowns from Outer Space

History shows us that the worst way to make a cult movie is to try and make one — however, in "Killer Klowns from Outer Space," the Chiodo brothers achieved exactly that. It shouldn't work. There are very few scares, and the entire concept is laughable. But for some reason "Killer Klowns" has remained in the public consciousness for longer than it ever deserved to.

There's an amazing, frenetic, campy B-movie energy to the entire film, which succeeds by having a main cast that takes the whole thing seriously. Every avenue of clownery is explored; big-top spacecraft, monstrous popcorn jack-in-the-boxes, and death by custard pie. It's Peter Jackson's "Bad Taste" with more ambition and a bigger budget, a movie destined for drive-through cinemas and big crowds. It achieves exactly what it sets out to do, throbbing red nose and all.

Worthy of note is the key ingredient of John Massari's energetic soundtrack, shifting effortlessly between atmospheric pieces and raucous Looney Tunes-style fairground calliope and organ. The main theme by '70s punk band The Dickies makes this worth a rewatch all on its own.

Another remake on this list that's better than the original, "The Fly" is auteur David Cronenberg operating at his very peak with arguably one of his most mainstream films to date. The story — a surprisingly close adaption of the 1958 movie — is a perfect vehicle for the director's fascination with the degeneration of the human body, disease, mutation, and entropy.

In a movie about two disparate entities fused together in an accident, "The Fly" is also a hybrid: a tale of both doomed love and graphic body horror. What begins as a convincing romance between Veronica and Jeff Goldblum's eccentric yet charming scientist, Seth Brundle, mutates into something far darker. Released during the height of the AIDS epidemic, hindsight gives it a particular relevance, 

It's difficult to discuss the movie without it falling into glorious fawning appreciation over the incredible effects. A mixture of state-of-the-art prosthetics and animatronic work, Brundle's degradation from man to insect is as wonderfully realized as it is heartbreaking. Whereas the original saw the scientist separated into two distinct entities (making for a truly memorable ending), Cronenberg sees them fused into one, an amalgam with a similarly doomed fate.

7. Hellraiser

Clive Barker remains a unique voice in horror. "The Hellbound Heart" — the novella that became "Hellraiser" — was a tale of obsession and dark passions, of unspeakable creatures from a radically different Hell, a blasphemous terrain of dark order. It was Barker's first stab at directing, and to advantageous effect. There is a beautiful charm to the movie, a confidence that knows it's unlike anything seen before. It's heavy with its own mythology, as though we are only witnessing a tiny fragment of Barker's vision.

Elements of "Hellraiser" have aged poorly — an ill-conceived and overly swift resolution is matched by equally weak effects — but it still stands out as something unique. It seems like an unlikely movie to spawn its own horror legend, but Doug Bradley's lead Cenobite ended up in fine company alongside Krueger, Leatherface, Jason, et al. But Pinhead wasn't even named until the sequels; like a magic trick, the more we knew about him, the less special he became. Familiarity bred contempt, even for the Pope of Hell. Still, there is a dark magic at work in the first movie, and to some extent the second, for those who dare to brave the Lament Configuration.

6. Near Dark

If a horror movie could be said to only be as good as its villains, there's a reason that "Near Dark" makes this list while films like "The Lost Boys" and "Fright Night" don't make the grade. Jesse Hooker and his miscreant gang of fanged fanatics would wipe the floor with Jerry Dandridge, along with David and his hair-metal kin.

Hooker's gang are no preening 20-somethings whose excessive hairspray would cause them to go up like kindling if exposed to flame, nor are they smooth-talking, overly confident seducers. They're predators at top of the food chain, and vampires have rarely appeared as threatening or as menacing as they do here.

"Near Dark" is a vampire western, albeit one where the "V" word is never mentioned. It's also another wonderful pairing between Lance Henriksen and the sadly missed Bill Paxton, the only two actors to be killed by a Predator, Terminator, and Xenomorph. It's a wonderfully confident solo directorial debut by Kathryn Bigelow, who plays with the conventions of the genre conventions and has the chutzpah to stage the final conflict between hero Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) and Severen (Paxton) in a street, "High Noon" style. It's a beautifully lean movie as well, and never outstays its welcome.

James Cameron's original pitch for "Aliens" is rumored to have begun with him writing the title on a whiteboard and adding the S to the end as a dollar sign — "Alien$." If not apocryphal, then arrogant. Accurate? Resulting in a classic sequel to a classic original thought impossible to match or beat, that would be hard to argue.

Effortlessly shifting the central theme from a haunted house to the Vietnam War, "Aliens" has been the obvious inspiration for many films across the past three decades. Its strength is that it's still just as much Ripley's tale as the original. It simply ups the scale and the scope.

The Xenomorphs are back, but this time they've brought their mum. Thanks to a particular deleted scene from "Alien", the vicious fanged beasties' life-cycle was never fully explained, giving us a creature even more terrifying than Giger's slavering obsidian whirlwind of tooth and claw: the Alien Queen. It's easy to forget that "Aliens" is a masterclass in storytelling too, with not a frame or line of dialogue wasted. It's the only film I ever owned where the video cassette ended up worn out from overuse, which is the highest praise I can bestow upon any movie.

4. The Thing

It's weird to think now, given that by law it must now appear on most top 10 film lists, that "The Thing" was a flop on release. It barely made its budget back and was mauled in the press. The ambiguous ending was derided, and it was labelled by critics and audiences alike as "stupid", "nihilistic" and "boring."

But "The Thing" is a masterpiece in both horror and tension, back from when Carpenter was at the absolute top of his game. Easily as much a siege movie as his earlier "Assault on Precinct 13," "The Thing" traps its distinct and identifiable cast in the middle of nowhere — Antarctica — and then throws a distinctly slimy spanner in the works.

When "The Thing" was made, aliens in science fiction films were still mostly men in rubber suits, something that even Howard Hawks' original "The Thing from Another World" was guilty of. In Carpenter's cover version — and, to some extent, the Xenomorph in Ridley Scott's 1979 classic "Alien" — we were given an alien that was truly that: alien. With a motive as vague as its nebulous appearance, we were presented with a truly remarkable adversary. We're also lucky enough to see how it would have fared with CGI rather than practical effects in the identically titled prequel from 2011; the new version is by far the lesser film for it.

3. A Nightmare on Elm Street

It's easy to forget that in the time before he became a one-line-wisecracking Funko pop culture icon, sweater-wearing burn enthusiast Freddy Krueger was a genuinely terrifying villain. In the first — and best — of the Elm Street series, before it forgot its own rules and logic, the son of one hundred maniacs was a terrifying new figurehead in horror. In a decade plagued with wannabe franchises and countless bladed baddies, Elm Street stands out.

In a transformation as unexpected as that of Michael Keaton becoming Batman, a prosthesis-and-latex-smothered Robert Englund (better known as sweet Willie from the TV series "V") becomes the dream demon, slaughtering his way through Springwood's children like a bladed Herod. Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), cursed to meet the man of her dreams, makes for an excellent foil and final girl. Bed is where she should feel safe, so to have a villain who can invade the sanctity of sleep is a terrifying concept. It's an idea used less effectively as the series goes on, but in this first movie the dream sequences are unnerving, tinged with a surreal edge — genuinely feeling like the stuff that nightmares are made of. Forget the mediocre remake — Wes Craven's original is easily the best.

2. Little Shop of Horrors

A convoluted origin, this: "Little Shop of Horrors" is based on a 1982 stage musical which, in turn, was based on a 1960 Roger Corman horror comedy. It's inclusion on this list is a reminder that horror doesn't necessarily need to be about scares and gore. It can be fun. A brutal premise (an innocent man, corrupted by thoughts of fame and power, feeds human flesh to a ravenous meat-eating plant) is executed with humor and panache, all to a wonderful soundtrack of crowd-pleasing songs, most of them show-stoppers.

With animatronic puppet work to rival anything in "The Thing," "Little Shop of Horrors" is a visual delight too, and one of the few items on this list that remains (essentially) family friendly. As evidenced by the work of Roald Dahl, kids love the macabre, so consider "Little Shop of Horrors" their gateway drug to greater and darker pleasures later in life.

In an interesting coda, the original ending was considerably more downbeat, seeing giant kaiju-scale rampaging plant creatures destroying New York and, inevitably, the world (all to the accompaniment of "Don't Feed the Plants," one of the film's best songs). The actual ending to the movie is more upbeat (with a slightly hackneyed and predictable twist), so I happily consider the darker finale to be the proper ending.

1. Return of the Living Dead

After a dispute between George A. Romero and writer John Russo over potential sequels to 1968's "Night of the Living Dead," it was agreed they could both do their own, with Russo having control over the "Living Dead" suffix. Hence, 1985's "Return of the Living Dead," a canonical sequel that acknowledges that the previous film was fictional, albeit based on a real event. It inherits very little from its predecessor except for its pessimistic ending, the rest being unashamed slapstick and comic-book violence.

A leakage from a sealed canister of Trioxin resurrects the occupants of a nearby graveyard, threatening the lives of both a group of punks direct from central casting and employees of the nearby morgue. It's played as much for laughs as scares and is possibly the first film to introduce the concept of zombies passionately declaring their great fondness for human brains (incidentally, previous research under my horror writer secret identity has identified that brains are quite calorific, and a far from ideal snack).

Memorable for some gratuitous nudity from scream queen Linnea Quigley and for introducing the shambling oily corpse known as Tarman, "Return of the Living Dead" is a perfect macrocosm of '80s horror; confident, brash, gory, and sadly prone to spawning a set of inferior sequels that barely do justice to the original. "Send ... more ... paramedics!"

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20 best 1980s horror movies, ranked.

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• The 1980s saw the evolution of horror cinema, as the genre found its voice and took established tropes to their limits.
• The best horror movies of the 1980s are considered among the greatest films of all time, combining genres like sci-fi, fantasy, drama, and comedy.
• From iconic Western horror films to obscure Italian giallo and Asian horror cinema, these movies make a strong case for the '80s being the best decade in horror.

The best 1980s horror movies represent a special era in the evolution of the genre. This is because contemporary horror cinema developed exponentially from the '60s through the '80s. While the very foundations of modern horror were set in the '60s and '70s, it can be said that it was in the '80s when the genre truly found its voice.

Like the best horror movies of the 1970s , the genre's greatest films of the 1980s are also considered among the greatest films of all time period. In the '80s, new horror films took established horror tropes to their limits, which heavily involved other genres like sci-fi, fantasy, drama, and even comedy. The low-budget aesthetic established in the '70s was upheld by the so-bad-they're-good horror B-movies of the '80s. From the most iconic Western horror films ever to the more obscure Italian giallo and Asian horror cinema from the era, the best '80s horror movies make a strong argument for why it might be the best decade in horror.

20 Children Of The Corn (1984)

Release Date: 1984-3-9 | Director: Fritz Kiersch

Cast: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, John Franklin, Courtney Gains

Based on a short story by Stephen King, Children of the Corn took the evil child horror trope to new heights. Apart from launching the Children of the Corn movie franchise , this formative supernatural '80s slasher is notable for the performance of John Franklin as Isaac, a nine-year-old boy who forms a murderous religious cult. Isaac and his followers worship and do the bidding of He Who Walks Behind the Rows, a malevolent spirit who pushes the small Nebraska community's children into committing violent acts against all adults. A pivotal film for the evil child horror trope/subgenre, Children of the Corn dives deeply into religious zealotry, human frailty, and sacrifice.

19 Motel Hell (1980)

Release Date: 1980-10-18 | Director: Kevin Connor

Cast: Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod

Motel Hell is an iconic dark comedy based on the true story of the cannibal Karl Denke. It revolves around the secret recipe for Farmer Vincent's delectable sausages — human meat sourced from the nearby Motel Hello. From how Farmer Vincent processes his meat to perfection in his secret garden, to the hilarious moments that break the otherwise palpable tension, Motel Hell deserves its status as one of the most important cult comedy-horror films from the '80s. Despite its thick air of satire, the film's terrifying premise still makes Motel Hello one of the scariest horror movie hotels ever .

18 Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982)

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

The supernatural sci-fi horror Halloween III: Season of the Witch is both lambasted and celebrated for how it departs starkly from the slasher genre, which the previous Halloween movies helped establish. In fact, it's infamous for being the only Halloween movie to not feature the iconic Michael Myers. Centered around an evil corporation's plan to use Halloween masks in order to sacrifice children during the festival of Samhain, the film is a surprisingly successful combination of folk horror and science fiction. Halloween III added a layer of mystery to the otherwise predictable franchise, the overall cultural influence of which was greatly expanded by this formative '80s sci-fi horror.

17 Pumpkinhead (1988)

Release Date: 1989-1-13 | Director: Stan Winston

Cast: Lance Henriksen, John D'Aquino, Jeff East, Kerry Remsen

The Pumpkinhead movie franchise began with special effects whiz Stan Wilson's directorial debut, which introduced the titular monster. After a grieving father seeks the aid of a witch to avenge his son's death, a ritual of blood magic gives rise to Pumpkinhead, a grotesque, misshapen demon bent on revenge. As the creature wreaks havoc, Pumpkinhead explores themes of guilt and the consequences of seeking retribution. Known for its practical effects and atmospheric tone, Pumpkinhead has earned a cult following as an early folk horror fable that set high new standards for creature features.

16 The Company Of Wolves (1984)

Release Date: 1984-9-21 | Director: Neil Jordan

Cast: Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Micha Bergese, Sarah Patterson

A surreal retelling of The Little Red Riding Hood , The Company of Wolves is a gothic folk horror film that shifts between reality and the fantastical dreams of a teenage girl. The movie unravels across four stories and three generations, exploring the evolution of werewolves and related folklore through dreamlike, nightmarish visions. While The Company of Wolves isn't a well-known '80s horror film, it has garnered praise for its atmospheric storytelling and imaginative approach to the classic fairy tale. Celebrated for featuring some of the most gorgeous cinematography in horror, The Company of Wolves remains one of the best werewolf movies of all time .

15 Hellraiser (1987)

Release Date: 1987-9-10 | Director: Clive Barker

Cast: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence

Clive Barker's Hellraiser revolves around a mysterious puzzle box that opens a gateway to a sadomasochistic realm inhabited by demonic beings known as Cenobites. When a man inadvertently opens the box, he unleashes these otherworldly entities, leading to a nightmarish and gory ordeal — featuring some of the best set pieces in body horror history. Hellraiser is celebrated for its innovative blend of horror and dark fantasy, exploring themes of desire, pain, and base human instincts. An intense and classic '80s horror gore fest, Hellraiser is particularly iconic for Doug Bradley's performance as the Cenobite known as Pinhead, one of the greatest demonic villains in 20th century cinema.

14 Friday The 13th (1980)

Friday the 13th

There are plenty of horror movies about killers in youth summer camps, and it all started with Friday the 13th. This first of the Friday the 13th movies birthed the summer camp horror subgenre at Camp Crystal Lake, following a group of teenage camp counselors who fall victim to a mysterious killer. The movie is known for its suspenseful atmosphere, gruesome kills, and the iconic introduction of Jason Voorhees. Friday the 13th isn't a perfect movie, but it nonetheless had a significant impact on horror cinema, particularly for how it established tropes that continue to define the modern slasher subgenre

13 Suddenly At Midnight (1981)

Release Date: 1981-7-17 | Director: Ko Young-nam

Cast: Kim Young-ae, Yoon Il-bong, Lee Ki-seon

A biologist and his wife hire a new housemaid, a beautiful young woman who is also the daughter of a deceased shaman priestess who died in a fire. As the South Korean erotic horror Suddenly at Midnight (aka Suddenly in the Dark ) unfolds, the wife receives disturbing visions of the housemaid and her husband, especially after she discovers a strange wooden doll that the housemaid has brought into their home. Suddenly at Midnight is a wild combination of tragic romance, sheer paranoia, and the classic creepy killer doll concept, for which it notably predates Child's Play by several years.

12 Street Trash (1987)

Release Date: 1987-9-16 | Director: J. Michael Muro

Cast: Mike Lackey, R. L. Ryan, Vic Noto

Street Trash is a dirty and ugly '80s horror movie that only a cult following could love. Set in a decaying urban environment, Street Trash follows the chaos that ensues when a liquor store owner discovers and sells an old and spoiled stash of cheap booze. Anyone who drinks the poisonous booze painfully melts away into goo, which comes in a variety of bright colors. Street Trash is celebrated for its over-the-top gore, black humor, and social commentary on homelessness and urban decay. A rare example of a melt movie, Street Trash is an underrated cornerstone of '80s dark comedy and cult horror cinema.

Though horror movie reboots can be extremely successful, Street Trash faces an uphill battle as it attempts to revive a horror subgenre.

11 Wicked City (1987)

Release Date: 1987-4-25 | Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Cast: Yūsaku Yara, Toshiko Fujita, Ichirō Nagai, Mari Yokoo

Yoshiaki Kawajiri's Wicked City is a stylish combination of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. The horror anime movie follows the exploits of two agents of the Black Guard, an organization tasked with protecting humanity from the demonic creatures of the Black World. As they navigate dangerous alliances with peculiar mystics and demons, Wicked City explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the boundary between worlds. Known for its explicit content, stylistic animation, and great world-building, Wicked City draws inspiration from Japanese folklore, dark gothic fantasy, and noir storytelling.

10 A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

A Nightmare On Elm Street

The movie that introduced audiences to Freddy Krueger and inadvertently led to a string of Nightmare on Elm Street movies , the original Wes Craven film is a horrifically creative exploration of what would happen if nightmares became reality. The story centers on a group of teenagers haunted by Freddy in their dreams, where their nightmarish fates are reflected in the real world. Krueger's ability to harm people in their dreams remains an unforgettable and compelling premise. The film is praised for its groundbreaking practical effects, which cemented both A Nightmare on Elm Street and Freddy Krueger as horror icons.

9 The Evil Dead (1981)

The Evil Dead (1981)

The Evil Dead popularized the use of an isolated cabin in the woods as an effective horror setting. Though several movies had used this setting before, The Evil Dead was when the decrepit cabin was truly established as a viable horror movie trope. Directed by the legendary Sam Raimi, it also introduced Bruce Campbell's Ash as a typical college student stuck in the woods — before becoming the chainsaw and boom stick-wielding face of not just the Evil Dead franchise, but campy '80s horror itself. The Evil Dead 's weird gore, dark humor, and introduction of the Necronomicon cement its place as a 1980s cultural phenomenon.

Director Sam Raimi's 1981 film Evil Dead created an entire horror sub-genre featuring cabins in the middle of the woods - this is how it was possible.

8 Child's Play (1988)

Child's Play

Child's Play wasn't the first film to feature a creepy killer doll as its main antagonist. Yet, even today, it remains the most iconic movie to use this now-common horror trope. From the movie's explosive opening scene to the finale, Brad Dourif's performance as the serial killer Charles Lee Ray/Chucky is forever burned into audiences' minds. Combining crime with a supernatural voodoo-inspired twist, the plot unfolds with a mix of horror and dark humor, which gave way to an iconic and enduring horror franchise. Child's Play set extremely high standards for creepy dolls in horror, which most contemporary horror movies — including its own sequels — can scarcely meet today.

7 The Changeling (1980)

Release Date: 1980-3-28 | Director: Peter Medak

Cast: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos

After the family of composer John Russell is killed in an accident, he moves to a long-vacant historic mansion for rent in Seattle. Through a series of eerie occurrences and unexplained supernatural events, Russell discovers that the mansion is haunted by the restless spirit of a child. While exploring themes of guilt and grief, The Changeling stands out from other haunted house films with its understated psychological terror and atmospheric tension. By relying on cinematography, editing, and practical effects to evoke terror in viewers, The Changeling is a prime example of great '80s horror.

6 Possession (1981)

Release Date: 1981-5-25 | Director: Andrzej Żuławski

Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennent

Possession is about the tumultuous breakup of former German spy Mark and his wife Anna, who exhibits increasingly erratic behavior after telling Mark that she wants a divorce. One of the many banned shocking movies that only became more famous after getting censored in the '80s, Possession is renowned for its unconventional narrative, exceptional performances, and unsettling atmosphere. Even by today's standards, the movie is a disturbing collision of supernatural fantasy, intense family drama, spy noir, eroticism, and Lovecraftian horror. For her performance as Ana, Isabela Adjani won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, during which Possession was also nominated for the coveted Palme d'Or.

5 Tenebrae (1982)

Release Date: 1982-10-27 | Director: Dario Argento

Cast: Anthony Franciosa, John Saxon, Daria Nicolodi, Giuliano Gemma

Dario Argento's Tenebrae is a foundational giallo film, an Italian storytelling genre pertaining to murder mysteries. Centered around American horror novelist Peter Neal, the movie unravels across a series of murders in Italy, where Neal is promoting his latest novel, Tenebrae. Neal soon comes to the horrifying conclusion that the murders are inspired by the events in his violent horror books. From the pulsating score by the rock band Goblin to Argento's slick, stylish cinematography, Tenebrae violently dragged classic American cinema slasher tropes into Italian arthouse territory. Horror director James Wan cites Tenebrae as one of the various Argento films that inspired Malignant .

4 Kisapmata (1981)

Release Date: 1981-12-25 | Director: Mike de Leon

Cast: Vic Silayan, Charo Santos, Jay Ilagan, Charito Solis

Retired police officer Dadong gets upset after his daughter Mila informs him that she is pregnant and that she wants to marry her boyfriend Noel. As the story unfolds, Dadong gets increasingly abusive and controlling. Kisapmata is a perfect psychological thriller in many ways, but it is defined by Vic Silayan's disturbing performance as Dadong, a terrifying representation of patriarchy. Based on the true crime novel The House on Zapote Street by Filipino author Nick Joaquin, Kisapmata is an unsettling deep dive into domestic abuse. An allegory of life under former Filipino president Ferdinand Marcos's dictatorship, Kisapmata 's unique take on horror tropes makes it a cornerstone of cult '80s cinema.

3 The Thing (1982)

The Thing (1982)

In a desolate station in Antarctica, a research team encounters a murderous alien organism that assimilates and imitates any life form. The Thing is known for its groundbreaking practical effects — particularly the grotesquely realistic transformations — and for how its plot deftly tackles paranoia and isolation. Kurt Russell leads as R.J. MacReady, the helicopter pilot determined to survive the claustrophobic alien encounter. From the mystery of what The Thing really looks like , to the bleak and ambiguous ending, this formative '80s sci-fi horror will continue to subvert the expectations of viewers lucky enough to have never seen it.

2 Opera (1987)

Release Date: 1987-12-19 | Director: Dario Argento

Cast: Cristina Marsillach, Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi, Ian Charleson

Opera is about a young understudy who gets to play Lady Macbeth in an operatic rendition of the Shakespearean tragedy. However, the understudy gets targeted by an obsessive and violent stalker inside the historic opera house where the play is being staged. Combining body horror, voyeurism, and arthouse cinema, the understudy becomes the literal captive audience of the stalker, who forces her to witness his vile crimes. Filmed on location at Italy's Teatro Regio di Parma, Opera is a celebration of stylized violence and suspense and an underappreciated cornerstone of '80s horror and Italian giallo slasher cinema.

1 The Shining (1980)

The Shining

Set in the isolated Overlook Hotel in the mountains of Colorado, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining follows the new caretaker Jack Torrance, who moves his wife and child into the resort before it becomes snowbound. As The Shining unravels the hotel's dark history, supernatural forces come into play, and Jack becomes increasingly erratic and abusive towards his family. Featuring gripping cinematography and starring Jack Nicholson in one of the best performances of his movie career, The Shining is largely regarded as one of the greatest horror movies of all time. Despite what Stephen King thinks of The Shining , it remains one of the best adaptations of the horror novelist's books.

• Horror Movies

25 Horror Movies from the ’80s That Have Stood the Test of Time

The special effects might be a little outdated, but these gems have proven enduring nonetheless.

Every item on this page was chosen by a Town & Country editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.

The Fly (1986)

David Cronenberg's body horror classic is the vanishingly rare remake that transcends the original. As the title suggests, it follows scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) as—after a fateful encounter with a fly in a teleportation machine—he begins to look more and more bug-like.

The Evil Dead (1981)

Sam Raimi's take on the "scary cabin in the woods" trope still holds up.

Videodrome (1983)

Cronenberg's second film on this list is a wholly original creation: a meditation on the nature of media and violence, equal parts carnal and cerebral (though Videodrome makes a compelling case that those two concepts aren't as separate as they might appear) . Viewed decades after its debut, it's all the scarier for its prescience.

Friday the 13th (1980)

There's a lot of debate about the best Friday the 13th movie (the original spawned a dozen sequels and reboots) but what better place to start than with the slasher that started it all?

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

There's a reason why Freddy Krueger's become such an enduring character in pop culture: the original installment in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise boasts an intriguing premise, terrifying villain, and plenty of teenage drama.

Gremlins (1984)

For the sizable community of people who've always been convinced that Furbies were hiding a dark secret, Gremlins is sure to reinforce a long-held suspicion or two.

The Shining (1980)

Horror fan or not, The Shining is required viewing: the carpeted halls of the film's expansive hotel are embedded in our cultural memory, and the films iconic moments are referenced ad infinitum in movies and TV of all stripes. It's also just really, really good.

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Nothing's more punk than the undead in this high-energy tale of a group of punks who face flesh-eating consequences when one of their parties unearths a toxin that turns human into zombies.

Aliens (1986)

David Cameron's follow-up to Ridley Scott's seminal Alien sees Sigourney Weaver (er, Ellen Ripley) once again besieged by parasitic extraterrestrials—though this sequel is much heavier on the action, and a little lighter on the thrills, than its predecessor.

The Thing (1982)

The premise of The Thing revolves around a shape-shifting alien, but the protagonists are plagued as much by their own very human foibles as any extraterrestrial foe.

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Catchy tunes, a brilliant cast, and a healthy dose of camp turn this creature feature into a bloody good time.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

A pioneering entry into the now ubiquitous self-aware horror-comedy sub-genre, An American Werewolf in London manages to land jokes and scares with equal effect.

Creepshow (1982)

Inspired by 1950s horror comics, this anthology film (which marks Stephen King's screenwriting debut) by George Romero is a note perfect blend of comedy and creeps.

Predator (1987)

Prefer your creature features with a little more muscle? This sci-fi action romp (featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger) will soothe your savage soul.

Poltergeist (1982)

A key part of Poltergeist 's lore is that despite director Tobe Hooper's name in the credits, producer and screenwriter Steven Spielberg had more of a hand on the wheel—but ultimately, it's the movie itself, not its disputed authorship, that ensured it would endure.

Child's Play (1988)

The creepy doll genre gets a snarky twist with this quippy supernatural horror featuring the now famous Chucky doll—which happens to house the soul of a serial killer.

Tenebre (1982)

Dario Argento, the Italian horror auteur behind the original Suspiria , also created the (somewhat) lesser-known Tenebre —a film about an American mystery author who travels to Rome, only to find himself enmeshed in a real-life murder investigation.

Hellraiser (1987)

Clive Barker's directorial debut (based on his own 1986 novella) not only gave us our first look at the bizarre world of the Cenobites, it also introduced the world to the now-iconic Pinhead.

Beetlejuice (1988)

The '80s really embraced the intersection of humor and scares, and few movies typified that quite as much as Tim Burton's famous tale of a couple of ghosts who try to exorcise the humans from their house.

The Dead Zone (1983)

Cronenberg and Stephen King mashup in this Christopher Walken-starring classic about a man who develops psychic powers after waking up from a coma.

Chloe is a News Writer for Townandcountrymag.com , where she covers royal news, from the latest additions to Meghan Markle’s staff to Queen Elizabeth’s monochrome fashions ; she also writes about culture, often dissecting TV shows like The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Killing Eve .

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The 60 Best Horror Films from the 1980s

Camp, honest-to-God scares, and stellar Stephen King adaptations—this decade had it all.

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Don’t believe me? Try watching The Boogey Man. I slept with the lights on for a week after my first viewing. The eighties delivered a slew of terrifying hits. There are far too many to count—let alone watch!—so we’ve narrowed down the selection to sixty movies. If you want to brush up on horror history from the decade that nailed it, keep scrolling. Below, you’ll find cult classics like Child’s Play and A N ightmare on Elm Street, along with underrated gems like April Fool’s Day and The Hitcher . We can learn a lot from the eighties, so grab your popcorn, take your pick, and start streaming.

60. Waxwork (1988)

Waxwork is Madame Tussauds’ worst nightmare, and it’s about to be yours, too. When a wax museum comes to town, a group of teenagers (why is it always teenagers?) check out the exhibit’s midnight premiere. Sounds great, right? Nope. Instead of marveling at funky sculptures, they become part of the show.

59. The Burning (1981)

This summer-camp-set slasher follows a bunch of teens who accidentally kill their camp’s groundskeeper, Cropsy. They burn Cropsy’s body (!) and try to forget the whole ordeal (!!), but fate has other plans. Five years later, Cropsy returns as a barbecued killer with an appetite for revenge. Fun!

58. Inferno (1980)

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In this semi-sequel to Dario Argento’s Suspiria, a young poet named Rose Elliot is murdered in New York City after reading a book about the Three Mothers. Her brother, Mark, travels from Rome to investigate her death, but his search is derailed when his friend Sara is killed, too. Could the murders be linked? He’s about to find out.

57. Ghost Story (1981)

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Ghost Story, directed by John Irvin, stars the legendary Fred Astaire as Ricky Hawthorne. Every year, Ricky takes a trip with his three buddies, Sears James, Dr. John Jaffrey, and Edward Wanderly. Telling ghost stories is their tradition, but when one of Edward’s sons randomly dies, he becomes the subject of their ghost tale, unearthing a deadly secret with sinister consequences.

56. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Little Shop of Horrors is a haunting horror comedy about Seymour, a flower-shop assistant pining after his coworker Audrey. One day, he discovers a plant with a strange diet: human flesh. For some reason, he names it Audrey II—but that’s beside the point. The problem is that Seymour has a people-eating plant to feed and a woman to impress. Can you guess what happens next?

55. Silver Bullet (1985)

A quiet town is disrupted by a series of murders that no police officer can solve. Naturally, the residents try to hunt the assailant on their own—but that comes at a brutal price. As the town’s paranoia grows, Marty, a young boy in a wheelchair, discovers a werewolf lurking among them. Armed with information that no one else has, Marty decides to catch the killer himself.

54. Christine (1983)

Christine may be one of Stephen King’s strangest novels, sure, but it certainly makes for a campy adventure. A high school nerd named Arnie Cunningham buys a 1958 Plymouth Fury in hopes of becoming popular. For a while, it works—who can resist a dope ride? Unfortunately, Arnie’s luck changes when he learns the car is possessed by a vicious spirit.

53. Cujo (1983)

If you’re afraid of dogs, this is not the movie for you. The eponymous canine is a fluffy St. Bernard who is bitten by a bat. Though Cujo survives the attack, the bat’s venom transforms him into a violent beast. When he goes on a deadly rampage through town, his panic-stricken owners try their best to stop him.

52. The Lost Boys (1987)

In The Lost Boys, a pair of brothers, Michael and Sam, move to northern California with their mom. Being the new kid on the block is never easy, but they both make friends. Sam opts for a group of comic-book nerds. And Michael? Well, he befriends David, a tough guy who turns out to be the leader of a vampire gang.

51. The Boogey Man (1980)

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A young boy murders his mother’s abusive boyfriend as his sister watches through a mirror. Years later, the mirror is broken, which should be fine—except the man’s evil spirit was trapped inside. To make matters worse, he’s hell-bent on getting revenge.

50. Motel Hell (1980)

A satiric take on some of the genre’s most famous predecessors, this wacko horror-comedy involves a motel-operating couple who sell smoked meats that are really their guests/victims—whom they bury up to their necks in a “secret garden” until they’re ready to be harvested.

49. The Funhouse (1981)

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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper goes back to the deformed-masked-psycho well with this entertaining B-movie, where four teenagers decide to spend the night at a carnival—which already sounds like a bad idea—only to have their fun ruined by a giant mutant freak with a penchant for violence.

48. April Fool’s Day (1986)

Buoyed by one of the all-time-great horror-movie posters , this cult classic hybridizes the slasher film and the manor-house murder mystery, detailing a weekend getaway for a group of college kids that turns bloody when someone begins picking them off.

47. The Gate (1987)

The big-screen debut of then-fourteen-year-old Stephen Dorff, Tibor Takács’s film is a superior midnight movie about some kids who, left home alone for the weekend by their parents, discover that the construction-worker-created hole in their backyard is actually a portal to hell—and that clues to how it works can be found in a heavy metal album’s lyrics.

46. My Bloody Valentine (1981)

George Mihalka’s slasher film isn’t particularly inventive, but it makes up for its rote premise (kids are being stalked by a vengeful fiend on Valentine’s Day) with decent plotting, a memorable villain in a mining mask, and a level of violence that was deemed so extreme by the MPAA that the uncut version has still never been released.

45. Children of the Corn (1984)

Based on Stephen King’s short story of the same name, this adolescent nightmare charts the ordeal of a couple who wind up in a Nebraska town where the kids—led by the unforgettably sinister Isaac and Malachai—have decided that ritualistically killing adults is the best way to guarantee a good corn harvest.

44. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

John Landis’s seminal horror-comedy strikes just the right balance between the terrifying and the absurd through its tale of two American backpackers in England who are attacked by a werewolf, leaving one dead and the other to await his lycanthropic fate. Frequently amusing, it also boasts groundbreaking monster-transformation effects by Rick Baker.

43. Bad Taste (1987)

Peter Jackson’s splatter-iffic calling card, this gonzo effort is nominally concerned with a small New Zealand town under siege by aliens, but it’s really about the insanely gory, over-the-top B-movie special effects that Jackson created on his own.

42. Child's Play (1988)

Tom Holland’s franchise-starting hit tapped into the underlying creepiness of kids’ playthings with its story of a serial killer who transfers his soul into a popular doll and then attempts to leapfrog back into a young boy’s body. The loopy idea is largely sold by the design of Chucky and by Brad Dourif's voice work for the villain.

41. Pumpkinhead (1988)

Special-effects maestro Stan Winston’s directorial debut is a sturdy supernatural revenge saga about an Appalachian mountain man (Lance Henriksen) who, with the aid of a backwoods witch, conjures the legendary (and magnificent-looking) Pumpkinhead demon to kill those who murdered his son—a decision that ultimately comes back to haunt him.

40. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

One of the most traumatizing horror movies of the era (especially if you were (un)lucky enough to see it at an early age), this scuzzy slasher film features a young boy who witnesses his parents’ brutal murder at the hands of a lunatic in a Santa Claus costume and then years later turns into a like-minded killer.

39. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

The only Halloween film not to feature Michael Myers (it was intended to turn the franchise into more of an anthology-style series), Season of the Witch , about a conspiracy involving Halloween masks, remains a uniquely unsettling stand-alone film in an EC Comics-by-way-of-John-Carpenter tradition.

38. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

The film that launched the career of Michael Rooker, John McNaughton’s seminal serial-killer film takes a gritty, no-frills docudrama approach to its story about a psycho (based on real-life convict Henry Lee Lucas ) and his partner-in-crime acting on their murderous impulses.

37. Pet Sematary (1989)

It may not quite live up to its Stephen King source material, but Mary Lambert’s adaptation nonetheless captures the overarching don’t-make-deals-with-the-devil mood of its story—about a man who uses a mystical pet cemetery to bring his toddler son back from the grave—while climaxing with a depiction of childlike evil that remains downright disturbing more than three decades later.

36. Fright Night (1985)

Tom Holland’s stellar horror-comedy pits a suburban teenager (William Ragsdale) and his midnight-movie TV-host idol (Roddy McDowall) against a new next-door neighbor (Chris Sarandon) who’s uncovered as a bloodsucking creature of the night.

35. Day of the Dead (1985)

The third installment in George A. Romero’s pioneering zombie series is a scary and smart story about post-apocalyptic survivors in an underground bunker who find themselves increasingly at each other’s throats. At the same time, a team of scientists attempts to find a cure for the plague through research that includes domesticating a brain-muncher known as Bub.

34. Opera (1987)

No one has staged murder quite like Dario Argento, who continued to cement his reputation as the master of giallo (a particular strain of lurid Italian thriller) with this tale of an opera understudy who becomes the lead in a new production of Macbeth , only to be terrorized by one of Argento’s trademark never-seen-except-his-gloved-hands fiends.

33. The Howling (1981)

Joe Dante’s contribution to the werewolf genre (co-written by John Sayles) tracks Dee Wallace’s TV news reporter—still traumatized by her run-in with a serial killer—to a remote resort, where she ends up in all sorts of full-moon-triggered trouble.

32. The Stuff (1985)

Fringe auteur Larry Cohen delivers an amusingly horrific satire of American appetites with this underappreciated B-movie about a mysterious yogurt-like diet snack that becomes a national sensation. There’s just one side effect: The Stuff turns consumers into zombie-esque monsters.

31. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

With all due respect to its equally revolting kindred spirits ( Cannibal Ferox in particular), Ruggero Deodato’s infamous Cannibal Holocaust still stands as one of the most morally repulsive—and, admittedly, effective—horror movies of the decade, courtesy of extreme violence that was either thought to be real (involving humans) or was real (involving animals).

30. The Hitcher (1986)

Further emphasizing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ’s point that picking up strangers on the side of the road is a very bad idea, this Robert Harmon thriller offers up Rutger Hauer as a psycho hitchhiker who makes life a living hell for nice-guy driver C. Thomas Howell.

29. The Changeling (1980)

George C. Scott brings a measure of gravitas to this haunted-house story, about a composer who, still mourning the death of his wife and child, moves across the country to an eerie estate that boasts a ghost who likes to play ball.

28. Creepshow (1982)

Inspired by the macabre tales of EC Comics, this Stephen King–George A. Romero collaboration is a phenomenal anthology, highlighted by a short in which Leslie Nielsen gets revenge on Ted Danson by burying him up to his neck in sand right in front of the ocean’s tideline.

27. The Stepfather (1987)

Long before he was stranded on Lost , Terry O’Quinn was a nutcase weaseling his way into new families as a stepfather—and then going off the bloody deep end like a cross between Jack Torrance and Norman Bates when things don’t conform to his Reagan-era values.

26. The Beyond (1981)

Famed Italian horror director Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond is a gruesome head trip about a Louisiana hotel that contains the doorway to hell, and the new owner who unwittingly opens it, thus instigating all sorts of nasty, hallucinatory satanic madness and concluding with one of the greatest shots in all of eighties horror cinema.

25. Creepshow 2 (1987)

George A. Romero may not have directed this sequel to his anthology hit, but he and Stephen King nonetheless had a guiding hand in its production—and in making it better than its predecessor, thanks to the strikingly sinister “The Raft.”

24. Prince of Darkness (1987)

More than a little bit bonkers—and better off for it— John Carpenter’s severely undervalued Prince of Darkness stars the director’s Halloween lead Donald Pleasance as a priest who believes that a cylinder of green goo is actually Satan.

23. Hellraiser (1987)

Clive Barker paved the way for S&M-style horror with this adaptation of his novella The Hellbound Heart , about a mysterious puzzle box that functions as the portal to a sadomasochistic dimension ruled by a race of nasty Cenobite creatures, led by the porcupine-y Pinhead.

22. Friday the 13th (1980)

The one that truly started it all, Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th may not feature Jason Voorhees as its actual villain (he wouldn’t even don his signature hockey mask until 1982’s Friday the 13th Part III ), but it remains the template upon which a legion of subsequent slasher films were based.

21. Maniac (1980)

The first of two William Lustig features to make this list, Maniac is a deranged and decidedly unsettling exploitation saga about a crazed loner with a fondness for decorating department-store mannequins with the scalps of his many innocent victims.

20. Re-Animator (1985)

Stuart Gordon’s loose H.P. Lovecraft adaptation is a delirious Frankensteinian riff about a demented medical student (Jeffrey Combs, in a role that rightly turned him into a B-movie icon) who discovers how to bring things back from the dead—albeit with a few unexpected, unpleasant side effects.

19. Happy Birthday to Me (1981)

A wackadoo genre work marked by its bizarre methods of murder and its even more bizarre narrative twists and turns, Happy Birthday to Me is the rare slasher film that constantly keeps you on your toes—up to its surprising final revelations.

18. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

Rife with all sorts of psychosexual imagery—none better than the poster-ready sight of cowering women spied through the legs of a man wielding a phallic power drill—this slasher-film anomaly ultimately proves to be a distinctly feminist (and fight-the-male-power) take on the genre.

17. Sleepaway Camp (1983)

An obvious descendant of Friday the 13th , Robert Hiltzik’s Sleepaway Camp is an above-average suspense story about kids being slaughtered at an overnight camp by a mysterious assailant—until, that is, its superbly shocking finale, which stands as the decade’s biggest (and best) horror blindside.

16. The Evil Dead (1981)

Sam Raimi’s breakthrough indie set the stage for the director’s particularly rambunctious style—and established the peerless comedic-hero persona of star Bruce Campbell.

15. Maniac Cop (1988)

Featuring one of the best taglines of all time (“You Have the Right to Remain Silent…Forever”), William Lustig and Larry Cohen’s Maniac Cop follows a traditional return-of-the-repressed formula via its portrait of a vengeful cop who comes back from the great beyond in order to punish the corrupt officials who locked him up with those he’d previously put away.

14. Poltergeist

Whether you believe Poltergeist was helmed by credited director Tobe Hooper or (as rumors have long suggested) producer Steven Spielberg, this TV-phobic haunted-house thriller delivers unforgettable scares, a classic horror-cinema line (“They’re heeeere ”), and a rather touching portrait of the strength of the American nuclear family.

13. Gremlins (1984)

One of Amblin Entertainment’s finest productions, this darkly humorous holiday horror show (directed by Joe Dante, executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, and written by Chris Columbus) revolves around a strange furry pet named Gizmo who, if touched by water or fed after midnight, sprouts hordes of maniacally evil gremlins.

12. The Fly (1986)

David Cronenberg’s big-budget body-horror saga (a loose adaptation of George Langelaan’s story and the ensuing Vincent Price film) details a scientist’s (Jeff Goldblum) efforts to create a teleportation device, and the hideous consequences of his experiment when a fly accidentally enters his machine.

11. Near Dark (1987)

This Kathryn Bigelow film is an unbelievably moody, stylish vampire-western hybrid that’s as romantic as it is tense, featuring various cast members (Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein, and Bill Paxton) from her future husband (er, ex-husband) James Cameron’s Aliens .

10. Videodrome (1983)

A year after Poltergeist suggested that television was a disruptive force in the American family, David Cronenberg suggested that it was a conduit for a “new flesh” in Videodrome , a madness-infected film about a Canadian TV-station owner (James Woods) who stumbles upon—to his eternal hellish-hallucinatory dismay—a broadcast of red-room torture.

9. Tenebre (1982)

Dario Argento’s best film is this superlative giallo in which an American writer, while in Rome to promote his new book, becomes embroiled in a police case about a serial killer whose methods may be modeled after the ones found in his novel. Few horror movies have ever been this vividly awash in issues of twisted sexuality, voyeurism, gender power dynamics, mirror-image doubling, and the role between artist and spectator.

8. The Fog (1980)

John Carpenter’s follow-up to 1978’s Halloween is an old-fashioned ghost story about drowned mariners who return to exact revenge on the descendants of those who lured them to their deaths—a story that’s elevated by Carpenter’s unparalleled mastery of widescreen visuals.

7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 (1986)

How do you follow up one of cinema’s all-time-scariest films? If you’re Tobe Hooper, you take things in a decidedly more comedic direction and, in the process, deliver a second helping of Texas Chainsaw Massacre mayhem that’s as goofy as it is grisly. “ Dog will hunt! ”

6. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)

Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead sequel is, in large part, a big-budget remake-cum-overhaul of his 1981 original, marked by better special effects, more outrageous camerawork, and a truly larger-than-life performance by ably chinned leading man Bruce Campbell.

5. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Wes Craven turned Freddy Krueger into one of modern movies’ great boogeymen with his dreamlike hit about a child-abusing evildoer who returns from the grave to punish his killers by attacking their children while they sleep.

4. Possession (1981)

The craziest possession film ever—and potentially the craziest film ever—Andrzej Zulawski’s relationship drama charts the disintegration of a marriage between a spy (Sam Neill) and his wife (Isabelle Adjani), who’s soon sleeping with a tentacled monster. In the signature scene, Adjani writhes around a subway-station floor while miscarrying. As I’ve said before , it has to be seen to be believed.

3. Aliens (1986)

For this sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 original, James Cameron shifts the focus away from horror and toward action, though that doesn’t change the fact that his continuation of Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) battle against the alien xenomorphs is an unforgettable monster-movie ride.

2. The Thing (1982)

Generating nerve-rattling anxiety, John Carpenter’s science-fiction-y horror story far surpasses its 1951 Howard Hawks source material. Here, Antarctic researchers’ snowbound situation turns lethal when they’re visited by an alien who can take human shape—and therefore coexist with them in hiding. Come for the creepy creature effects and non-stop unease; stay for Kurt Russell’s first-class performance.

1. The Shining (1980)

Never mind that Stephen King doesn’t love it . Bolstered by Jack Nicholson’s unhinged performance as a father increasingly determined to off his family, and by direction that creates an overpowering sense of dread in every methodical pan and tracking shot, Stanley Kubrick’s haunted-hotel classic is the pinnacle of eighties horror.

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The 31 Best '80s Horror Movies

From the introduction of icons like Freddy Krueger and Chucky, to fun sequels featuring the likes of Michael Myers and Norman Bates

Aliens (1986)

James Cameron follows up Ridley Scott’s cosmic dread with a badass sequel some argue is better than Scott’s franchise opener. And though we love a good debate, there’s no doubt Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley is hands down one of sci-fi’s greatest heroes. Here, she resurrects her role as the sole-surviving Nostromo warrant officer, only to find herself juggling a six-year-old, a tabby, and an angry Alien Queen.

Beetlejuice (1988)

File this one under “Best Gateway Horror,” right in between The Addams Family and Ghostbusters . Starring a 1988 Michael Keaton with all the rizz of a man who’s been rotting in a coffin for a hundred years, Tim Burton’s afterlife classic operates with a lot of plot holes, but that won’t stop us from revisiting the feud between the Maitlands and the Deetzes every year around this time.

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Frank Oz's horror musical about a florist whose dreams of romance are squashed by a giant potted man-eater who demands to be fed is ripe for revival. Narrated by a Greek chorus trio—Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon—this botanical spectacle stars Rick Moranis alongside a scene-stealing Steve Martin, whose demented dentist is tops. This delightful little film bites in all the best ways.

Near Dark (1987)

Way before Point Break, The Hurt Locker, and Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow put out this immortal classic that fuses wild west action with vampire lore and sexual chemistry. About a farm boy who tries to break free from the clutches of a nomadic vampire clan, the film remains one of the best contributions to the night-bite subgenre. Plus, it comes with a killer ’80s soundtrack.

Possession (1983)

A victim of the era’s “video nasties” moral panic, Possession was banned here and in the United Kingdom. Today, however, you can stream it in all its visceral, controversial intensity. The gist: Sam Neill and the Cannes-winning Isabelle Adjani star as a married couple on the verge of divorce. Suspecting his wife is having an affair, Neill’s Mark follows her down a rabbit hole of violence and psychological horror.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

J-horror has long been a huge player in the pantheon of horror cinema, influencing American film with its psyche torture and long-haired ghosts. But sometimes, J-horror takes cues from our very own greats. Borrowing from David Lynch and David Cronenberg, Shin'ya Tsukamoto delivers dystopian body horror that sees a “metal fetishist” get revenge on his killer by impaling his body with rusty metal. Oh, and, strong stomachs need only apply.

The Changeling (1980)

Vacant mansions get a bad rap. And for good reason. Besides the negative effects on local communities … they're haunted! Exhibit A: the Seattle fixer-upper in this 1980 film from Peter Medak. After the deaths of his wife and daughter, a composer named John Russell moves into a Victorian gothic abode to nurse his grief, but instead gets tormented by a ghost named Joseph Carmichael.

The Evil Dead (1981)

In a feat of ’80s special effects, Sam Raimi’s breakout feature is a savage supernatural haunt that follows a group of friends to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly awaken a brood of hellish demons who feed on the souls of the living. Turning goo and splatter into an art form, this gore fest serves as the initial portal to a franchise still delivering on the blood-soaked fun (see: 2023's Evil Dead Rise ).

The Hitcher (1986)

Nightmares. That’s what this heap of highway havoc gives us after every watch. A benchmark in the road thriller subgenre, The Hitcher stars C. Thomas Howell as a teen who’s stalked and terrorized by Rutger Hauer’s sadistic hitchhiker while driving from Chicago to San Diego. Tapping into deep-seated primal fears, this white-knuckler will make you rethink everything you love about the open road.

Tenebre (1982)

One of the classic giallo gems from the Dario Argento canon, Tenebre is a cacophony of violence, suspense, and stylish camerawork. It tells the story of an American writer who heads to Rome to promote his latest page-turner, but instead finds himself the number one suspect in a string of murders that mirror the kills in his own book. With this one, the blurrier the line between fact and fiction gets, the higher the body count rises.

Child's Play (1988)

Before Annabelle took over the haunted/possessed/demonic doll scene, Charles Lee Ray was known as the ultimate killer doll, thanks to 1988's Child's Play . In the iconic movie, Andy begs his mom to buy him a Good Guy doll. Short on cash, she manages to snag one from some random guy in an alley for a discount price. Unfortunately, the doll she takes home contains the soul of a serial killer known as the Lakeshore Strangler. Many fun sequels followed, and now Chucky has his own TV series , so it's the perfect time to see where it all began.

Poltergeist (1982)

Although many horror movies start with a family moving into a new home, 1982's Poltergeist stands out from the crowd. Directed by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's Tobe Hooper, Poltergeist was lauded for its phenomenal special effects that helped bring a myriad of demonic spirits to life. It was remade in 2015 , but nothing can quite live up to the horror of the original, which was co-written by Steven Spielberg.

Chopping Mall (1986)

This classic '80s slasher focuses on a group of teenagers that decide to have a debaucherous party inside the mall once it's closed. What they don't count on is being stalked and killed by three malfunctioning security robots that are meant to be protecting the stores. While Chopping Mall is definitely one of the cheesier '80s slashers, it's still a super fun watch. By taking place in a mall, rather than a haunted house or a creepy camp ground in the woods, the film manages to stand out from its peers almost four decades later.

Sleepaway Camp (1983)

After her family is killed in an accident, Angela is sent away to Camp Arawak. However, Angela's fellow campers start meeting gory ends at the hands of a mysterious murderer. Any character with less than honorable intentions is especially at risk of being killed. The movie is still praised for its surprising twist, and thanks to the financial success it had at the box office, Sleepaway Camp spawned a plethora of sequels .

The Shining (1980)

Jack Nicholson stars as Jack Torrance, a struggling writer who takes a job as the winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in Colorado. Jack moves his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their son Danny into the mysterious property. However, it's not long before Danny starts having troubling visions, which get progressively worse. As Jack struggles with writer's block, he discovers that the Overlook Hotel holds some terrifying secrets, and it's not long before he starts losing his mind.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street made Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) a household name. In the franchise's first installment, a group of teenagers start having their dreams terrorized by Freddy, a former child murderer turned nightmare purveyor. Thanks to some stellar special effects, A Nightmare on Elm Street is an exceedingly fun watch, and Englund's first turn as Krueger is nothing short of iconic. If you have trouble sleeping, this probably isn't the film for you.

Friday the 13th (1980)

The '80s brought us some of the horror genre's most iconic serial killers. Joining Freddy Krueger in that list is Jason Voorhees, and although he's not the star of the franchise's first outing, Friday the 13th laid the groundwork for the hockey-masking wearing savant. Camp Crystal Lake has been closed for two decades following a series of unsolved deaths. Set to reopen, a group of camp counselors arrive for the summer season, ignoring the so-called "death curse" that the locals talk about. You can guess what happens next.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

As '80s horror movies go, Killer Klowns from Outer Space is seriously fun. A gang of strange looking alien-clowns start terrorizing a small town, but the cops think the circus freaks are just part of an elaborate prank. While these clowns look kinda cute on the outside, they're intent on harvesting and eating humans. This candy floss-covered horror flick has gained cult status, and the Killer Klowns are now regulars at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights.

Halloween II (1981)

John Carpenter's Halloween remains one of the most important horror movies in recent memory. A slew of sequels have followed, and the current timeline ignores Halloween II altogether. However, Halloween's first sequel is a gruesome slasher that's a must for anyone revisiting '80s horror. Picking up immediately following the events of Halloween, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) finds herself in a hospital. However, it's not the safest place to be, as Michael Myers stalks and kills the entire staff in his search for his eternal nemesis.

Pet Sematary (1989)

Stephen King's Pet Sematary has been haunting audiences for decades, and with good reason. In Mary Lambert's 1989 adaptation of the novel, the Creed family moves to Maine with their pet cat, Church. Their neighbor, Judd, shows them a derelict "pet sematary" behind their home, and it's not long before the family is drawn into a series of dangerous and supernatural events. From impossible resurrections to terrifying premonitions, Pet Sematary will keep you guessing right up until the end.

Amy Mackelden is a freelance writer, editor, and disability activist. Her bylines include Harper's BAZAAR, Nicki Swift, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, ELLE, The Independent, Bustle, Healthline, and HelloGiggles. She co-edited The Emma Press Anthology of Illness , and previously spent all of her money on Kylie Cosmetics.

DeAnna Janes is a freelance writer and editor for a number of sites, including Harper’s BAZAAR, Tasting Table, Fast Company and Brit + Co, and is a passionate supporter of animal causes, copy savant, movie dork and reckless connoisseur of all holidays. A native Texan living in NYC since 2005, Janes has a degree in journalism from Texas A&M and  got her start in media at US Weekly before moving on to O Magazine, and eventually becoming the entertainment editor of the once-loved, now-shuttered DailyCandy. She’s based on the Upper West Side.

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The 50 Best Horror Movies of the 1980s

October is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as “31 days of horror.” Don’t bother looking it up; it’s true. Most people take that to mean highlighting one horror movie a day, but here at FSR, we’ve taken that up a spooky notch or nine by celebrating each day with a top ten list. This article about the 50 best ’80s horror movies is part of our ongoing series 31 Days of Horror Lists .

Ah, the ’80s. There are fantastic horror films from nearly every year since cinema began, but for many fans, the genre’s output doesn’t get any better than it did in the ’80s. The rise of practical effects and the artistry on display from masters like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Stan Winston, Screaming Mad George, and others played a big role, but equally important was the sense of fun that infused horror movies. Plenty of serious, soul-crushing horrors were released in the ’80s too, but the decade really saw the genre find an interest in delivering pure entertainment too.

We’re wrapping up this year’s 31 Days of Horror Lists with a big, bangin’ list of the 50 best horror movies of the ’80s. That might sound like a lot, but we could have easily made this list two or three times bigger. Pet Sematary , Pumpkinhead , Tenebrae , Friday the 13th , The Monster Squad , The Hidden , Angel Heart , Maniac , Dead Ringers , Waxwork , Anguish … none of these made the cut for the top 50. Can you believe that not even Michael Mann’s The Keep survived the voting process?! The list of movies that didn’t make the top 50 would make a great top 50 in their own right. That’s bonkers, but it goes to show just how many fantastically beloved horror films there are from that magical decade.

Now please join me and the crew ( Chris Coffel ,  Valerie Ettenhofer,   Kieran Fisher ,  Brad Gullickson ,  Meg Shields ,  Anna Swanson ,  Jacob Trussell ) as we close out this year’s celebration with our picks for the 50 best horror movies of the ’80s!

50. Possession (1981)

The fact that my personal number one pick for the best ’80s horror movie only landed in the fiftieth spot either says something terrible about our voting system or something incredible about the overall quality of films made in the decade. Let’s generously assume it’s the latter. Possession , perhaps alienating in its apparent freneticism, is unlike any other movie made in the ’80s. Or before the ’80s. Or since the ’80s.

Andrzej Żuławski ’s masterpiece is turbulent and unnerving, yes, but the director has firm control over every frame. In this tale of a family in ruins over infidelity, paranoia, and… something else… the film abounds with gripping thrills and edge-of-your-seat scares. It also features one of the most fearless performances committed to celluloid courtesy of Isabelle Adjani . To say anything more would be to give the goods away, so let’s just say Possession is a film that has to be experienced firsthand (and hopefully as soon as possible). (Anna Swanson)

49. Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

Here’s a movie that Disney wants you to forget. So much so that we probably won’t see it on Disney+ until all of the horror elements have been edited out by the fun police over at the House of Mouse. It’s a crime that it isn’t on the streaming service to introduce youngsters to horror. Then again, this adaptation of Ray Bradbury ’s creepy carnival tale gives most adult horror movies a run for their money in the fright department.

Something Wicked This Way Comes boasts some very effective sequences, including a nightmare-inducing one involving spiders. The atmosphere is wonderfully eerie and carnivalesque, making for perfect viewing around the Halloween season. And every other time of year, for that matter. (Kieran Fisher)

48. Friday the 13th – Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter ends with a young Corey Feldman , as Tommy Jarvis, shaving his head in an attempt to disguise himself as Jason Voorhees. Why does he do this? Well, so he can distract Jason by connecting with Jason on a personal level. And then kill him with a machete. And then when he’s not quite sure that Jason is dead, he repeatedly hacks away at him while screaming “die! die!” over and over again. Tommy’s approach is a smart one because far too often would-be victims just assume the killer is dead.

This is also one of the greatest endings to any slasher of all time. The build-up to it is pretty great too. The Final Chapter — what a lie this title proved to be — features some of Jason’s best kills, including a spear-gun to the crotch, and then there’s Crispin Glover and his wild dancing. What is he even doing? It doesn’t matter. This fourth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise is easily the best of the bunch. (Chris Coffel)

47. Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

When you think of Hellraiser and its cadre of sadist gods, you’re likely thinking of Hellbound: Hellraiser II . Not to disparage Clive Barker ‘s original masterclass in horny Grand Guignol, but his initial gory romance doesn’t fully indulge in the Cenobite mayhem we always imagine typifying the series. If Pinhead and his posse were aperitifs in the first film, they are the main fucking course in a sequel that chooses excess over slow-building terror, and that is not a bad thing.

People slash themselves with razor blades, others convincingly wear full-body skin suits, a doctor goes into a Cenobite Easy Bake Oven and comes out with tentacle-knives for hands, and the entire climax takes place in a brutalist, M. C. Escher-esque labyrinth with an elaborate concrete design, countless stairs, and an unending sense of scale. If that doesn’t scream, “This movie was brought to you by cocaine,” I don’t know what does! The original Hellraiser may have introduced us to Barker’s incomparable creations, but it is Hellraiser II that turned those creations into enduring, fan-favorite movie maniacs. (Jacob Trussell)

46. Maximum Overdrive (1986)

You can’t discuss Maximum Overdrive without talking about cocaine. It’s a helluva drug, and apparently, the delicacy of choice by the director at the time of the film’s making. Stephen King dare not blame his own mind for such a ridiculously strange movie, but let’s be real, cure the madman author of his addiction and the sober result would be just as ridiculous. Machines turn on their masters — cars, trucks, vending monstrosities. Even the watermelons get in on the head smashing. It’s eighties excess at its most flagrant and offensive. Bang your head to the AC/DC soundtrack. Take a big snort and let it take over. (Brad Gullickson)

45. Creepshow (1982)

Everyone loves a good horror anthology, but so few filmmakers can deliver one. The genre format had its heyday back in the ’60s and ’70s with production outfits like the UK’s Amicus leading the way, but they quickly stumbled after that. Quantity rose, in part because they’re budget-friendly, but quality dipped. There are standouts, though, and the granddaddy of those highlights is 1982’s collaboration between George Romero and Stephen King .

The tales are brought to life with a glorious EC Comics vibe, comic book panels, and all, with tongue firmly planted in cheek the film manages to deliver some truly memorable segments involving reanimated corpses, alien moss, killer bugs, and more. The tone may not be for everyone — the film loves a laugh — but fans of old school Tales from the Crypt -style antics can’t help but fall in love more and more with each re-watch. (Rob Hunter)

44. Society (1989)

The plot of Brian Yuzna ’s body horror masterpiece is best articulated by the pop-punk poetic collective Sum 41. Quote: “I don’t want to waste my time/become another casualty of society.” How true, how true. This is, after all, the plight of Yuzna’s protagonist Bill: he’s pretty tired of his family’s lies, and he does not want to be liquified in their cult’s ritualistic flesh orgy.

Come to think of it, there’s more than one “Fat Lip” in Yuzna’s Society ; stretched, dissented, and slippery in the masterful hands of practical effect wizard Screaming Mad George . Society gets a reputation for being weird and gross, which it is. But beneath all the slime and shunting, it’s a riotous skewering of the wealthy elite and their weird, kinky slug-eating sex parties. (Meg Shields)

43. Silver Bullet (1985)

When people talk great werewolf movies they often zero in on 1982’s legendary doubleheader of An American Werewolf in London and The Howling . Both films are all-timers for a reason, but if talking top-five werewolf flicks you’re a tool to not include this mid-80s romp based on a novella by Stephen King (“Cycle of the Werewolf”).

People think just because it stars Gary Busey as a fun uncle and Corey Haim as a wheelchair-bound teen prone to pranks that it’s somehow a lesser effort, but that mentality blows. This is a fun flick that finds great character beats alongside its suspenseful monster sequences. Sure, the creature’s practical makeup can’t compete with the work of a Baker or a Bottin, but it’s still a great time in King country thanks to a commitment to deliver an entertaining slice of horror. (Rob Hunter)

42. My Bloody Valentine (1981)

In the wake of Halloween , there was a rush to pervert every holiday. The Canadians were the first to take a stab at Valentine’s Day, producing one of the most gruesome slashers of the decade. My Bloody Valentine marries the manufactured greeting card celebration with a Nova Scotian mining aesthetic, and the result is an utterly deranged splash of gore. The killer miner, at the heart of this tale, is a gas-masked tyrant destined to dig a treacherous chasm in your psyche. Whether he dies at the end or not, he will forever be locked in your subconscious, waiting to erupt whenever the lights go out. (Brad Gullickson)

41. Videodrome (1983)

Along with authentic maple syrup and basketball, Videodrome might be the greatest gift Canada has given the world. In 1983, David Cronenberg , Toronto’s own king of venereal horror, delivered his take on the classic story of a man who falls headfirst down a conspiracy rabbit hole. Max Renn ( James Woods ) is the head of a schlocky TV-station whose interest in exploitation programming leads to a mysterious broadcast where snuff films are only the beginning. Videodrome is a shocking and brutally prescient exploration of media consumption that was as groundbreaking in the ’80s as it is now, both for its daring narrative and technical prowess. Long live the new flesh, indeed. (Anna Swanson)

Related Topics: 31 Days of Horror Lists , Horror

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The 60+ Scariest '80s Movies, Ranked

Arguably the most important, inspirational, and terrifying decade for horror films, the ‘80s masterfully blended and expanded upon the genre and helped create what we know it as today, while simultaneously scaring the living daylights out of anyone who dared to check out these films. From campy slashers to melancholic deep dives to action-packed terror to horrifying body horror, there is undoubtedly something here that will terrify even the most hardcore of horror fans.

Films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th saw the continued birth and growth of the terrifyingly realistic slasher subgenre, while films like The Shining and The Thing showed the true horrors of man in painstaking and pain-inducing realism. Each and every one of these films will have audiences checking under their bed, in the closet, and around every corner because after watching them, they will be terrified of anything and everything that goes bump in the night…

Be sure to vote up the scariest horror movies of the 1980s, and be sure to check out the scariest films of the 1990s!

A Nightmare on Elm Street

• Actors : John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Johnny Depp
• Released : 1984
• Directed by : Wes Craven

Poltergeist

• Actors : Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins
• Released : 1982
• Directed by : Tobe Hooper

• Actors : Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, Richard Dysart, Richard Masur
• Directed by : John Carpenter

The Shining

• Actors : Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson
• Released : 1980
• Directed by : Stanley Kubrick

• Actors : Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen
• Released : 1986
• Directed by : James Cameron

Pet Sematary

• Actors : Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby, Brad Greenquist, Michael Lombard
• Released : 1989
• Directed by : Mary Lambert

The 25 Best Horror Movies Of The 1980s, Ranked

It’s almost Halloween, and you know what that means: It’s now socially acceptable to watch horror movies again ! You really should be watching them any time of year, but the holiday’s a good excuse to gorge on that most unfairly maligned of genres while putting together a homemade costume on the cheap .

Still, which flavor of horror do you want? If it’s ’80s horror, you get to travel back to an era of more than just questionable fashion and hair stylings. In the 1980s, a genre wrestled with the death of the ’70s, with the rise of Reagan and Bush I, with the AIDS crisis, pollution and the widening class gap. Or you can just ignore all that and cackle as bodies get hacked up real good.

Note: This list sticks to one film per filmmaker, otherwise a large chunk of it would be devoted to John Carpenter.

Related: The 10 Scariest Shows On Netflix Right Now

25. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

In 1983, the beloved magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland folded after a quarter century. The classic creature feature was dead. One year later, the world got Freddy Krueger. The rag had missed out on the decade’s reigning monster. And he was, it should be pointed out, actually a monster. Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers simply wouldn’t stay dead; Freddy had bona fide supernatural powers. And he talked! The third film is the one where Robert Englund’s Freddy evolved from yet another slasher franchise ghoul into a Borscht Belt psycho, complete with post-kill quips that would make Roger Moore’s James Bond wince. For some Elm Street purists, this is where Freddy jumped the shark. We think it hits the sweet spot between scary and camp before the series started fumbling the mix. All that, and an inexplicably wasted Laurence Fishburne too.

24. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Freddy Krueger is our favorite ’80s villain, so why are we placing a Halloween entry above an Elm Street ? For one thing, the series’ third is the one that infamously doesn’t boast Michael Myers. In fact, the baddie is an old man. Oscar-nominee Dan O’Herlihy plays the sinister head of a Halloween novelty company out to wipe out kids by selling them killer masks. John Carpenter’s original idea for the franchise that made his name was to have each round feature a different Halloween-themed menace. After the so-so box office of Halloween III (helmed by Tommy Lee Wallace but still sporting a killer Carpenter score), the series ran back into Myers’ kitchen knife-wielding arms. Too bad: Season of the Witch is a truly creepy episode that favors slow-burn chills over quick scares. And it features the franchise’s most disturbing set piece — a scene that traumatized a generation of ’80s monster-loving kids — in which a boy tries out his death-mask, with beyond freaky results.

23. Society (1989)

Full disclosure: This low-budget satire from Re-Animator producer Brian Yuzna doesn’t get great until its third act. If the whole thing was as strong as the ending, Society might have topped this list. Instead, it’s a slow build-up to a hilariously scathing punchline. A rich kid (Billy Warlock, kind of a cut-rate Emilio Estevez) wonders what his Beverly Hills family has to do with a recent spate of murders. The answer is that they, and all the other L.A. richies, aren’t only of a different class but of a different species. They get together to feast upon anyone below their social strata, their bodies Stretch Armstronging into gooey blobs as they absorb their “lesser” victims till nothing’s left. Only John Carpenter’s They Live is a better ’80s takedown, though even that has nothing on the finale here, which is something like the orgy from Eyes Wide Shut of horror.

22. The New York Ripper (1981)

Another full disclosure: We can’t always remember which gorefest by Italy’s legendary Lucio Fulci is which. What’s the one with the murderous bats? ( House by the Cemetery .) Which has a poorly translated English-language sign that reads “Do Not Entry”? ( The Beyond .) Which has the ending that makes no sense because Fulci apparently forgot to include a key plot point? ( City of the Living Dead .) Point is, they’re all wonderfully unpleasant, sick with gruesome deaths and Eurotrash airs. But we always remember which one is The New York Ripper . Fulci’s roided-up version of a giallo (roughly Italy’s answer to the slasher), it’s a deep, deep wallow in depravity that’s icky even when someone isn’t been gutted. And it somehow makes Ed Koch’s NYC look worse than it does in The Warriors , Cruising and Escape from New York combined.

21. Opera (1987)

It’s the last great Dario Argento film. If it had actually been his retirement film, he’d have gone out with a bang. Instead, he soldiered on, even churning out a Phantom of the Opera adaptation (from 1998) made thoroughly redundant by his other movie with a killer skulking about an opera house. As baroque as its title, it’s an excuse for Argento’s camera to stalk and soar around a tony setting to the strains of everyone from Vivaldi to Brian Eno to The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman. Even its best kill is a work of gorgeous simplicity: You’ve seen some poor schmo shot in the eye through a door viewer in a million other movies, but never like this.

20. The Hidden (1987)

Mysteriously, few Twin Peaks fans this summer made a point of resurrecting this nifty body snatcher cheapie, even though it also features Kyle MacLachlan acting like a blank-faced alien struggling to understand human emotion. In fact, in The Hidden , the young MacLachlan actually plays an alien. Arriving on Earth, he’s out to stop an extraterrestrial who keeps possessing people, one after the other, in order to take over the planet. MacLachlan is every bit as magical here as he was as Dougie Jones, and it’s the too-rare movie where everything’s operating on his sky-high level.

19. Fright Night (1985)

In the ’80s, the classic Universal monster movies — Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, et al. — turned 50. Their anti-heroes were too nice for the era of Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers. But they still got some love. The Monster Squad , written by Shane Black, brought them back for an all-star jamboree. And a few films at least paid homage to a more innocent era of horror (while keeping the rating R, natch). There’s the wink-winky ’50s throwback Night of the Creeps , in which alien slugs invade a college campus. Even more fun is Fright Night . Kind of the Scream of its day, it unearths good ol’ Roddy McDowell to battle a charming vampire (Chris Sarandon), all while delivering an ideal mix of real chills and self-aware jokes for a young audience still hip enough to love Bela Lugosi.

18. Dead & Buried (1981)

A diamond in the rough that still hasn’t gotten its proper due, this slow-burning creepfest is the best Stephen King movie not based on a work of Stephen King. Set in a coastal New England town, it follows a kindly sheriff (James Farentino) as a he slowly unearths a plot involving reanimated corpses. Never mind the story, because the real pull is the thick air of unease conjured by director Gary Sherman (of Vice Squad , another ’80s trash fave that transcends its genre), which he punctures by sudden, leftfield bursts of weirdo violence.

17. Day of the Dead (1985)

He was the father of both the modern zombie movie and the mainstream gorefest, but George A. Romero could never quite catch a break. Even in the horror-rich ’80s, the maker of Night of the Living Dead was largely ignored by the major studios, who were too busy cannibalizing his creations to return his calls. The poor guy couldn’t even get much cash for his third Dead entry, even after he promised it would be “the Gone with the Wind of zombie movies.” A budget that was already modest wound up slashed in half at the last minute, resulting in a tiny grinder mostly set inside an underground army base. But as ever, Romero made due with what little he had. Hated upon release, Day ages like fine wine, particularly since it makes the real villains not the zombies but the military — a boys club of bros stoked to play fascists in a new world order. Romero saves their dismemberments for the end, and it’s a beaut.

16. Near Dark (1987)

Vampires weren’t the main horror draw in the ’80s, but the ones that materialized were a diverse lot. You had modern vampires ( Fright Night ), teen vampires ( My Best Friend is a Vampire ), Brat Pack (or Brat Pack-adjacent) vampires ( The Lost Boys ). There were space vampires ( Lifeforce ), a Grace Jones vampire ( Vamp ), vampires played by Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie ( The Hunger ). There was even a vampire comedy with Young Jim Carrey ( Once Bitten ). The finest of the lot was too cool to even use the word “vampire.” Kathryn Bigelow’s breakthrough is a road trip-cum-Western where the protagonists happen to drive by night, sucking on blood for fun and sport. Bigelow may have borrowed three of her leads from Aliens , made by her future ex-husband James Cameron, but she immediately earned her own unique place in the industry.

15. The Evil Dead (1981)

Sorry, the more popular Evil Dead 2 , but we slightly prefer the one that’s not remotely a comedy. Sam Raimi’s feature debut (with some technical assists from the pre- Blood Simple Coen brothers) introduced us to both the square-jawed Bruce Campbell and his deathless undead fighter, Ash. The effects are crude and Campbell hasn’t yet figured out his shtick. (He’s often said he hates that people can still watch him try to act for the first time.) But it’s a movie that really hurts.

14. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

It’s a better origin story and a better film than Iron Man . Shinya Tsukamoto’s cyberpunk whatzit tells of a random Japanese businessman who learns to stop worrying and love biological rebellion. After accidentally killing a mysterious stranger, he finds his body quickly overtaken by metal. Soon he’s more machine than man — and what’s more, he likes it. Tetsuo started a craze of man-machine movies, not the least of them the Tetsuo sequels. But there’s nothing like the original. Shot and edited like an underground avant-garde curio that would have been screened in the Village in the ’60s, it’s all grainy B&W 16mm, and it constantly finds new and inventive ways to rev the audience up for the apocalypse.

13. Cat People (1982)

The original Cat People , from 1942, was the first in a line of beautiful, subtle and resourceful low-budget horror classics from legendary Hollywood producer Val Lewton. Paul Schrader’s remake is not only beautiful. It’s pure batshit on a budget — bombastic, heavy, as thrillingly ’80s as its Giorgio Moroder score. In the original, Simone Simon only feared she could turn into a leopard when sexually aroused; in the redo, Nastassja Kinski literally turns into a leopard, and only after she has hot sex with John Heard. In the Lewton, death always lurked in the shadows; in the Schrader, even poor Ed Begley Jr. gets mauled. But it’s still wonderful — another Schrader study of self-destructive machismo but refracted through a feminist (or feminist-ish) lens. And as far as movies where Malcolm McDowell wants to bang his sister go, it’s better than Caligula .

12. Hellraiser (1987)

Clive Barker once joked, “There are apparently two books in every American household — one of them is the Bible and the other is probably by Stephen King.” Barker never sold as well as the Robert Pollard of horror. His work is too transgressive for the masses — too in thrall to BDSM, to true transgression, to pleasure as pain and pain as pleasure. But Barker did conjure up one true icon of the silver screen: With his first movie, loosely based on his novella The Hellbound Heart , he gifted the world with Pinhead, an “extra-dimensional being” with a thing for eternal torture. Pinhead is only in a fraction of Hellraiser , but that’s not a bad thing. There’s plenty of other sins to go around, not the least of them being one doomed character’s honey of a blasphemous final line.

11. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Tobe Hooper’s original Texas Chain Saw Massacre defined the ’70s in all its violence. His belated sequel defined the ’80s in all its crassness. When the recently late Hooper caught back up with America’s favorite family of homicidal rednecks, they’d become capitalists, raking in a pretty penny selling human flesh on the market. And the only one who can stop them is counterculture god-turned-Reagan voter Dennis Hopper. Where the first is relentlessly gritty, the sequel is relentlessly obnoxious. We’re not complaining; quite the contrary. It’s a hilariously grueling endurance test that doesn’t even have a second act — just a super-long set-up followed by an endless climax, as if it had no room for narrative pleasantries. There’s no relief, and much like its final girl — played by a seriously game Caroline Williams — you leave the experience changed forever.

10. Pieces (1982)

The mother of all ultraviolent Eurotrash ’80s trash dumps, this Spanish number even has a premise that will make you vomit. There’s a serial killer who’s making a human jigsaw, and he keeps killing people, gruesomely, to get the pieces. It’s a movie that keeps on giving, right up to a nonsensical ending for the ages. But trust us when we say the best part is the out-of-nowhere and never properly explained kung fu interlude.

9. Poltergeist (1982)

We swore we’d keep this list one film per filmmaker, but the upside about the semi-confirmation that producer Steven Spielberg probably ghost-directed most if not all of this most original haunted house spooker is that we can technically include two films by the credited director: the late, great filmmaker Tobe Hooper. (See also #11 for the other.) That said, if Hooper — who’d just made the sadistic, brilliant The Funhouse — didn’t handle that scene where a guy imagines he’s tearing his own head apart, then I’m Steven Spielberg.

8. Re-Animator (1985)

While George A. Romero struggled to get his own zombie movies made in the ’80s, a legion of acolytes were banging out their own low-budget paeans to the master. First up is Stuart Gordon, who updated H.P. Lovecraft for the gorehound era with his tale of a Frankenstein-esque mad scientist (a peerlessly bonkers Jeffrey Combs). Gordon often stages the work of David Mamet, and he has a similar-but-very-different nasty streak. Case in point: our anti-hero’s experiments with waking the dead result in ravenous dogs and a headless zombie who hasn’t lost his taste for cunnilingus.

7. Return of the Living Dead (1985)

The other Romero acolyte is Dan O’Bannon. The co-writer of the original Alien , he honored the Dead films by going right to the source, creating one of history’s only decent acts of fan-fiction. Beginning with an ode to the original Night of the Living Dead , the film proceeds to a full-on comedy about a poorly-stored barrel of mysterious goo that ruins the night for the underpaid staff of a military supply warehouse. The comic tone isn’t Romero, but the mistrust of bureaucracies held together by scotch tape and bubble gum is — right down to a punchline that kind of wasn’t that funny when Reagan had his finger on the button, and really kind of isn’t that funny right now.

6. Aliens (1986)

Speaking of Alien , the first sequel is the last great movie in a franchise that has never topped its first two gos. Roger Ebert’s famous 3 ½ star review argued that the unrelenting tension — essentially recreating the Vietnam War in space — was objectively impressive, but it was so successful at what it did that it left him feeling exhausted, even depressed. Same, and we mean that as high praise too.

5. John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982)

As far as horror goes, John Carpenter basically owned the ’80s. But which do you put up top? His eternally topical Reaganomics salvo They Live ? The underrated apocalypto Prince of Darkness ? Christine , his stab at a Stephen King movie? (To say nothing of his movies outside the genre, like Escape from New York and Big Trouble in Little China .) We almost went with The Fog , his gorgeous, underrated mood piece. But we’d be fronting if we didn’t give the spot to the one where Wilford Brimley goes nuts and Kurt Russell does his best-ever John Wayne. The Thing gave Carpenter the chance to remake a film made (or ghost-made) by one of his heroes, Howard Hawks. And yet he winds up inverting the Hawksian spirit. Instead of camaraderie in the face of evil, the heroes of Carpenter’s version turn quickly to paranoia and distrust. Carpenter keeps things as grim as they are disgusting, with an ambiguous ending that’s a bummer any way you read it.

4. Possession (1981)

Polish director Andrzej Zulawski was going through a nasty divorce. So he did what any creative type does when suffering heartbreak: He made art about it. What most artists don’t do is channel their anguish into a movie about a West Berlin transplant (Sam Neill) whose soon-to-be-ex (Isabelle Adjani) starts having sex with a tentacle creature. Or throw in a scene where Adjani starts gushing a Guinness amount of blood from you know where. Cinema as primal scream therapy, Possession is white hot madness that could only come from someone at their lowest ebb. Or it could only come from Zulawski, one of film’s great lunatics; seriously, Possession isn’t even his craziest film.

3. Gremlins (1984)

The majority of ’80s horror is rated R (or worse). It was such a ghoulish time, even the only one on this list that scored a PG is partially responsible for birthing the PG-13 rating. It still feels kid-friendly. There’s the cute puppets, of course — not just Gizmo but those Tazmanian Devils he inadvertently produced. There’s also director Joe Dante, who filmed it like a Looney Tunes short. (Naturally he helmed 2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action , which is far better than its rep.) Even a helicopter parent wouldn’t hide this from their child.

2. The Fly (1986)

If you watched David Cronenberg’s very loose redo of the Vincent Price classic in 1986, would it seem like a mere gross-out horror outing? Or would it seem obvious that it spoke devastatingly of the AIDS crisis then decimating swaths of the population? In a clinical filmmaker’s saddest film, you (and Geena Davis) watch as one of the most lovable actors alive — Jeff Goldblum, as his most Goldblumiest — withers away before your eyes, succumbing to a disease no one seems to understand or be able to control. Cronenberg has said AIDS wasn’t at the forefront of his mind when making The Fly , but in 1986, his usual obsession — body horror — wound up taking on a new and terrifying meaning.

1. The Shining (1980)

Here’s an unpopular opinion: Stephen King isn’t very good. He has great ideas that bore into one’s mind, preying on fears both primal and culturally grown. But he needs an editor — or, failing that, he needs others to take his concepts and make them better. Stanley Kubrick wasn’t the first great filmmaker to get his mitts on a Stephen King doorstop; Brian De Palma made his name with Carrie four years prior. But Kubrick’s liberal adaptation of the author’s third novel not only improves upon the source; it transforms it in a way that assumes control, like a parasite engulfing its host. Every change is an improvement. Instead of a geyser of untamed prose, we get the serenely confident creep of endless Steadicam long takes. Instead of a dense and convoluted mythology that’s over-explained, we get an elusive mystery that disturbs because it can never fully be understood. When King himself marshaled a faithful adaptation onto TV screens in 1997, seeking to reprimand the disloyal Mr. Kubrick, the results were an embarrassing failure. He lost. The Shining no longer belonged to Stephen King; it belonged, and belongs, to Stanley Kubrick.

13 Essential '80s Horror Movies (and What Else to Watch if You Love Them)

Totally terrifying.

It's officially spooky season! And you know what that means. Time to curl up with the best horror movies and get scared out of your wits. There's a chill in the air, the leaves have faded, and every single major streaming service has unloaded its Halloween-centric offerings. There are the classic Halloween movies , which include a few scary choices that you definitely won't see on our roundup of family Halloween movies . But if you love a good thrill, horror is where its at. Though horror films have been a staple in Hollywood for decades, there's just something about those '80s horror movies.

Whether you're new to horror or you've long been here, there's plenty to dig into - and it might all be quite overwhelming. But '80s horror movies will undoubtedly be on your watchlist this season. Everyone loves the '80s. From the outlandish style to the iconic music, it's no wonder Hollywood continues using the decade as inspiration. Just look at Prime Video's new horror hit, "Totally Killer."

From adaptations of Stephen King books to some of the most unique monsters you could think of, '80s horror movies will always be considered top choices to turn to during the Halloween season (all year long if we have anything to say about it). But what are some of the best '80s horror movies? And what should you watch next?

Below, we've stockpiled 13 essential '80s horror movies everyone should see and recommendations to watch next inspired by each. From slashers to killer aliens, there's a little bit of everything on this list. 

TriStar Pictures

When a group of high school students discovers a gelatinous substance, they learn it consumes the flesh of living creatures. Once it seeps into the sewer system, it grows exponentially and occasionally comes to the surface to eat townspeople. It's an outlandish yet still captivating premise that'll satiate anyone's sci-fi/horror hunger.

Where to watch : Sling, Philo

Recommendation: 'Slither'

Gold Circle Films

A creature from another world slithers (pun intended) into the town called Wheelsy. There's nothing particularly interesting about the neighborhood - until someone goes missing and livestock are slaughtered. Soon, it becomes the most fascinating (and troubled) town in America.

Where to watch : Peacock

'A Nightmare on Elm Street'

New Line Cinema/Getty Images

The sleep demon known as Freddy Krueger gets you in your sleep. And we all have to sleep. There's just no escaping him. When Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) and her friends become the target of Freddy's revenge, they must find a way to stay awake and defeat their worst nightmares. Or else they just may never wake up again.

Where to watch : Max, Philo

Recommendation: 'Daniel Isn't Real'

ACE Pictures

A different sort of demon lies at the heart of " Daniel Isn't Real ." Tackling issues of mental health and generational trauma, the film confronts hard truths as young man Luke (Miles Robbins) deals with an imaginary counterpart named Daniel. He grapples with reality, slipping further and further into his delusions until there's nothing left.

Where to watch : Starz, Roku Channel

SLM Production Group/Brooksfil/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

Jeff Goldblum stars as a rogue scientist, Seth Brundle, who discovers a way to teleport using two pods. What he doesn't account for is a mutation that occurs when a second organism is present inside the pods. He unwittingly melds his DNA with that of a fly, and the results are ghastly.

Where to watch : Max

Recommendation: 'Possessor'

Rhombus Media

With the advent of technology, there come dangerous risks. When a corporate assassin uses a brain implant to take over others' bodies, things go awry. To say the consequences are dire is an understatement. Before long, Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) loses herself to the machine.

Where to watch : Hulu

'Friday the 13th'

Paramount Pictures

When you think "camp slashers," the Sean S. Cunningham-directed picture should top that list. A group of counselors ready Camp Crystal Lake for summer camp. Despite warnings from Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney), they proceed with cleaning up the property - and end up slaughtered. There are more Jason films in the franchise if you want a full marathon of all of the "Friday the 13th" movies . 

Recommendation: 'A Bay of Blood'

Nuova Linea Cinematografica

Released in 1971, Mario Bava's " A Bay of Blood" (also known as " Twitch of the Death Nerve" ) served as a precursor to " Friday the 13th ." It, too, stars a group of youths who venture out to a secluded camp and meet a grisly death, bookended with a Giallo-type storyline.

Where to watch : Tubi, Plex, Amazon Prime Video

'The Shining'

Getty Images  

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film is an expert exercise in a tightly wound psychological thriller. Starring Jack Nicholson, it follows a family who spend winter vacation in the Overlook Hotel so Nicholson's Jack can write a novel. Instead of inspiration, he discovers murderous impulses that'll make your blood run cold.

Where to watch : Fubo, Max, Philo

Recommendation: 'Bad Things'

With its most obvious influence being "The Shining," "Bad Things" pairs nicely with its landmark predecessor. When a group of friends head out to a secluded hotel, things are not as they seem. One among them loses their grip on reality, leading to a total bloodbath. 

Where to watch : AMC+

'My Bloody Valentine'

Lions Gate Home Entertainment

"My Blood Valentine" is your typical slasher. It's packed with horrifying death sequences and mountains of tension and mood. Set in a mining town, a former coal miner (believed to be dead) returns to exact his revenge. The townsfolk won't see him coming.

Where to watch : Pluto TV, Roku Channel

Recommendation: 'Hell Fest'

Jackson Lee Davis/2018 Granville Pictures

If you're looking for something frightful yet fun, look no further than " Hell Fest ." Set at a Halloween carnival, a group of friends find themselves stalked by an unknown killer through the festival's many attractions, each being bumped off in terrifying ways. The film plays on the free-spirited nature of the holiday but makes it a horrifying watch. 

'The Evil Dead' 

Renaissance Pictures

One of the wildest horror flicks ever made, "The Evil Dead" tells the terrible tale of a group of youths who stumble across the Necronomicon, an ancient text that supposedly resurrects the dead. When one of the group reads from the book, it sets off a series of unfortunate, bloody, and insane events. You have to see it to believe it.

Recommendation: 'Malum'

Welcome Villain Films

A remake of the 2014 film "Last Shift," "Malum" ups the ante, from surprising deaths to splashes of blood and guts. It's not for the faint of heart. The story goes: a newbie cop spends the night in an abandoned police station. Her reality begins to blur, and all hell breaks loose as strange events happen around her.

Where to watch : Starz

'Little Shop of Horrors' 

Murray Close/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images

A musical remake of the 1960 film, 1986's " Little Shop of Horrors" tells the tale of flower shop clerk Seymour (Rick Moranis), who discovers a plant from another world. In order to keep it alive, he must feed it, leading to a series of murders on Skid Row.

Where to watch : YouTube, SlingTV, Max

Recommendation: 'Anna and the Apocalypse'

Duncan McCallum

It's the end of the world as she knows it. Anna (Ella Hunt) and her friends find themselves amidst a zombie apocalypse. They not only fight, but sing their way through hordes of zombies, hoping to live to see another day.

'Child's Play'

United Artists/Getty Images

Chucky is everyone's favorite redhead. In the 1988 original film, a young boy named Andy (Alex Vincent) wants a Good Guy doll more than anything. His mother works overtime to be able to afford that year's hottest ticket item, and instead of playtime, they get murder time.

Recommendation: 'The Boy'

David Bukach/STX Productions

Lauren Cohan ("The Walking Dead") stars as an au pair to an older couple whose son (actually a plastic doll) needs around-the-clock care. After arriving at the estate, strange events begin happening and lead Cohan's character to believe the doll is actually real.

Where to watch : Fubo

'The Lost Boys'

Warner Brothers/Getty Images

"The Lost Boys" tells the story of a gang of vampires. When new kid Michael (Jason Patric) falls in love with Star (Jami Gertz), he finds himself caught in a gnarly web of vampires and their many desires. It's up to Michael's brother Sam (Corey Haim) to save the day.

Recommendation: 'Bliss'

Amazon Studios

A starving artist, Dezzy (Dora Madison Burge), turns to drugs for creative inspiration. An encounter in a bar one night turns into a life-changing event, as she soon finds herself craving blood. As her bloodlust grows, so does her creative energy.

Where to watch : Amazon Prime Video

'Hellraiser'

Murray Close/Getty Images

Pinhead is the ruler of the underworld, a cenobite with a predilection for sexual and painful thrills. After a sexual deviant named Frank (Sean Chapman) fiddles with the Lament Configuration Box, he opens a portal to another world, one riddled with suffering. What results is a descent into the dangerously addicting and macabre.

Where to watch : AMC+, PlutoTV, Tubi

Recommendation: 'Pin'

Lance Entertainment

Pin is a dummy. No literally. He's an anatomy dummy used by Dr. Frank Linden (Terr O'Quinn), who treats the doll like a real person. Even his two kids have learned the same. " Pin" is perhaps one of the most bizarre entries on this list, and it should not be missed.

Where to watch : DVD available for purchase on Amazon

'The Thing'

Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

"The Thing" centers around a group of researchers in the Antarctic who discover that a sled dog is actually a creature from another world. The monster can assume the likeness of anything, and soon enough, the group must combat the creature before it kills them all.

Where to watch : AMC+, Peacock

Recommendation: 'Color Out of Space'

A meteor crashes into the earth, the farmland of the Gardner family. An extraterrestrial being emerges from the cloud of smoke and debris, resulting in utter chaos and color. The creature takes over their minds, and it's a race against time until it entraps the human race.

20th Century Fox

When you think sci-fi, you likely think "Aliens." Starring Sigourney Weaver, the film serves as the follow-up to the 1979 original. Many cite the sequel as the definitive " Alien" movie, and for good reason: it's packed with tons of action and gruesome deaths with a well-plotted story.

Where to watch : Rent on Amazon

Recommendation: 'Underwater'

"Underwater ," starring Kristen Stewart, is essentially an "Alien" movie set underwater. When water crashes into a drilling station, it spells disaster for everyone inside. They must traipse across the ocean floor to the main facility while combating deadly creatures.

READ MORE:  The 25 Best Halloween Movies on Netflix If You Want a Good Scare

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The Highest-Grossing Slasher Film Each Year of the ‘80s

18 long forgotten ‘80s b-movies, every live-action lex luthor, ranked.

There is no denying that the '80s were an incredible decade for film, especially for horror films. After the groundbreaking innovation that the '70s put into the genre, with shocking films such as The Exorcist , the foundation for inventive horror had been laid perfectly by the time the '80s began. The horror genre had begun to solidify its dedicated following, which is still going strong today, in the '80s which created opportunities to experiment with different subgenres of horror. The decade continued to shock, scare, and entertain moviegoers with subversive films that could range from campy gore to genuinely terrifying.

The '80s are notoriously known for being a decade inundated with slasher movies after films like Black Christmas and Halloween introduced audiences to the subgenre in the '70s. The decade did bring about some of the most iconic slasher films of all time, such as Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street , and Chucky . Nevertheless, it brought about much more than just slashers. From demonic spirits to alien creatures, the '80s contributed to many subgenres of horror. While there are dozens, here are just ten of the best '80s horror movies that aren't slashers:

From Friday the 13th to A Nightmare on Elm Street 5, the highest grossing slashers throughout the '80s.

10 Christine (1983)

A Stephen King adaptation directed by John Carpenter sounds like every horror fan's dream come true. Both are prolific artists in their respective mediums of horror, so it should come as no surprise that this was adapted into a film.

Christine follows a bullied nerd named Arnie (Keith Gordon) who one day decides to buy a red 1957 Plymouth Fury, named Christine, when he sees it for sale in a field. He brings it to a local repair shop and works diligently to fix it up, despite protests from his parents and his only friend Dennis (John Stockwell) after finding out that the previous owner died in a mysterious accident. Once the car is restored, Arnie's shy personality changes to cocky, and he begins to date the most popular girl in school, Leigh (Alexandra Paul). Once a polite boy, Arnie turns selfish as Christine begins to harm anyone who threatens their relationship.

A killer, possessed car is such a wonderfully '80s concept that is a must-watch for fans of supernatural horror, Stephen King, or John Carpenter.

Stream it on AMC+

9 Re-Animator (1985)

Re-Animator

An adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story, Stuart Gordon's sci-fi horror Re-Animator is pure campy, gory, '80s fun.

The movie follows an overly ambitious medical student named Herbert West (Jeffery Combs) who is obsessed with overcoming death. After surviving a horrible incident at the Institute of Medicine in Switzerland, Herbert arrives in New England's Miskatonic Medical University to pick up right where left off; experimenting with dead tissue to bring corpses back to life with his glowing green re-agent. He convinces his new roommate Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) to join his audacious project, and together they successfully re-animate several corpses at the university's hospital. However, Dr. Hill wants to steal the credit for Herbert's discovery and brings to life his own plans for the re-agent serum.

Re-Animator is a bloody, gory, hilariously dark ride that is perfect for fans of both sci-fi and horror.

Stream it on Shudder or Tubi

8 The Thing (1982)

The Thing (1982)

Another John Carpenter classic, The Thing frightened essentially everyone who saw it back in the day, and quite frankly would still scare less seasoned horror watchers today .

The film starts at a U.S. research facility in Antarctica, where a helicopter from the nearby Norwegian base flies by looking for a dog that escaped their facility during a severe blizzard. When the Norwegian chopper is destroyed, the American researchers fly to the Norwegian base, only to discover all of them are either dead or missing, but they also discover a strange creature the Norwegians buried. They take it back to their base and conclude that it is an alien life form. However, much to their horror, they realize it can take the shape of any life form, including humans, and it can spread like a disease.

The tension that is built within the research base expertly rises as the researchers start to lose trust in one another and wonder who the creature will inhabit next.

Stream it on Peacock Premium or AMC+

7 Poltergeist (1982)

Poltergeist

From the mind of Tobe Hooper, director of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , comes a different type of terror in the form of demonic ghosts.

Poltergeist centers around the young Freeling family who live in the planned community of Cuesta Verde in California. Late one night, the youngest Freeling child, five-year-old Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) converses with the family's television set while it's displaying a static broadcast. The next night, she does the same thing as a ghostly white hand emerges from the TV and Carol Anne announces that they're here. Bizarre events occur the next day, such as furniture moving on its own, but when a terrible thunderstorm happens, causing a tree outside to come to life and attempt to swallow one of the kids and a portal opening up in their closet that takes Carol Anne, the Freelings call for paranormal help. They learn that their house is haunted by angered spirits, and the only way to save Carol Anne is to go through the portal and find her.

This movie is one of the most beloved and iconic horror films to come out of the decade, and while some of the special effects didn't hold up well, it is absolutely worth your time.

Stream it on Max

6 The Shining (1980)

The Shining

Another Stephen King novel adapted by an acclaimed director , The Shining is a staple film in the horror genre. This is a film that is often recommended by horror fans as a gateway film for those looking to get into the genre. It's psychological, unnerving, and a bit paranormal all at once.

The film follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who lands a job as an off-season caretaker for Colorado's snow-covered Overlook Hotel. He drags his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and gifted son Danny (Danny Lloyd) to the hotel for the winter filled with abandoned rooms and the eerie Room 237 that is off-limits. Cooped up in the giant hotel, Jack starts to lose his mind while Danny gets repeated visions of the hotel's bloody future and haunted past. A voice in Jack's head commands him to sacrifice one of his own and Wendy fears for her and her son's lives.

The Shining is a classic for many reasons, from its exceptional performances to its bone-chilling plot, and it's cemented as one of the best horror films to come out of the '80s.

A film that's escaped the public's consciousness doesn't need to stay that way, and these each make a case for why they should be allowed to re-enter.

5 Near Dark (1987)

Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow's second feature-length film is a bloody, neo-Western vampire story starring Bill Paxton. Near Dark follows an Oklahoma farm boy named Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) who meets an alluring drifter named Mae (Jenny Wright) one night and is bitten by her before she runs off.

The next day, sunlight begins to make his flesh burn, and soon he is brought to a group of nomadic vampires by Mae, so she can convince psychotic vampire Severn (Paxton) and leader Jesse (Lance Henriksen) to let him join their nest. Part of his initiation is to commence a bloody attack on the patrons of a local bar, but Caleb refuses to kill to feed.

Monster movies and creature features were no stranger to the '80s, but vampire movies in particular their moment in the spotlight during the decade. Near Dark is one of the decade's best, though severely underrated.

4 From Beyond (1986)

From Beyond

Just a year after getting together to make Re-Animator , director Stuart Gordon and stars Barbara Crampton and Jeffery Combs got together again to bring to life yet another H.P. Lovecraft adaptation. From Beyond is another body horror sci-fi film that has less blood but just enough gore.

It follows scientist Crawford Tillinghast (Combs), assistant to Dr. Edward Pretorius, as they create the Resonator, a machine that stimulates the sixth sense through the pineal gland. After the machine is turned on but goes out of control, Dr. Pretorius refuses to turn it off and Crawford desperately tries to escape the house. When police arrive, Dr. Pretorius is found dead and decapitated. Later on, prominent psychiatrist Dr. Kathrine McMichaels requests the custody of Crawford and convinces him to let her turn the machine on again. When they do, they see Dr. Pretorius as a mutated shape, leading to a nightmarish event filled with creatures only seen through the Resonator.

Again, this is a wonderfully '80s piece of horror cinema that expertly blends horror and sci-fi together to make a memorable film.

Stream it on Tubi

3 Hellraiser (1987)

Hellraiser (1987)

Clive Barker's horror thriller Hellraiser follows Larry (Andrew Robinson) and Julia (Claire Higgins), a married couple who recently moved into a house near Larry's daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence). While unpacking the house, Julia discovers that it is already occupied by her brother-in-law- Frank (Sean Chapman), although not as she remembered him. She learns that he opened a supernatural puzzle box that summoned a group of demon sadists from hell, and now he requires a series of blood sacrifices in order to escape their clutches and regain his human body.

This demonic sadist group is known as the Cenobites, which are previously human creatures that have also opened the box and now have noticeable physical deformities. The leader of the Cenobites, Pinhead has become an iconic horror villain with his recognizable head full of nails, and the Chatterer has become fairly well-known as well with his constantly clicking teeth.

The film is another '80s horror classic that has spawned a decades-long franchise, including a recent 2022 remake.

Stream it on Shudder, Prime Video, or Tubi

2 The Lost Boys (1987)

The Lost Boys

Another magnificently '80s vampire movie, Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys is one of the best, if not the best, vampire movies of all time. It is almost certainly the best vampire movie of the '80s . When teenage brothers Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim) move to the coastal Californian town of Santa Carla with their single mom, it takes exactly one night in town to realize that something is totally off with the beachside community. Michael starts sleeping days and staying out all night, while Sam starts getting into trouble with his new comic-obsessed friends. What's wrong with the town? It's overrun by a biker gang of vampires.

Complete with a bopping '80s soundtrack, pier-side bonfires, comic book stores, sarcastic teenage humor, and the perfect amount of bloody gore, The Lost Boys is undoubtedly one of the best horror movies to come out of the '80s.

1 Evil Dead 2 (1987)

Evil Dead 2

It should go without saying that The Evil Dead is one of the most influential horror movies ever put to the screen, and it's one of the films that many horror fans claim got them into horror in the first place. What Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell created in the backwoods of Tennessee with a crew of less than 15 people is nothing short of amazing.

Still, its sequel, Evil Dead 2 , is quite possibly the best horror sequel ever. All the campy gore and bloody fun is present in the sequel but kicked up about ten notches. The evil Deadites are at their peak here, both wickedly funny and utterly vile. It's also the film that has our protagonist Ash Williams (Campbell) cut off his possessed hand and replace it with his classic chainsaw hand. It's the best kind of fun anyone can have with a horror movie.

Stream it on Shudder and Tubi

• Movie Lists

32 Classic '80s Movies You've Probably Forgotten About

Just how unforgettable was the '80s, really?

Not all of the best movies from the 1980s have stood the test of time quite like other nostalgic favorites have. There are even plenty of ‘80s movies with A-list casts that just don’t get talked about much more these days. Take a look at some of our picks for ‘80s movies that deserve more love and see if we can help refresh your memory of them.

Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

The first John Hughes movies that come to mind are probably The Breakfast Club or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , while Some Kind of Wonderful — which Hughes penned and Howard Deutch directed — is more likely an afterthought. The drama stars Eric Stoltz as a young man whose date with Amanda (Lea Thompson) sparks conflict with her ex (played by Craig Sheffer) and his best friend (played by Mary Stuart Masterson).

Brewster's Millions (1985)

Richard Pryor is better known for his Gene Wilder collaborations than for Brewster’s Millions — a comedy that puts him front and center. Director Walter Hill’s adaptation of George Barr McCutcheon’s novel (the second, following a 1945 edition) stars the late comic as a man tasked with spending millions of dollars within 30 days, but without keeping a single asset, in order to inherit an enormous fortune.

Hiding Out (1987)

Arguably, the role that made Emmy-winning Two and a Half Men Star Jon Cryer a star was his supporting role in Pretty in Pink , but he also had a noteworthy leading part that is rarely (if not ever) noted today. In director Bob Giraldi’s Hiding Out , he plays a stockbroker posing as a high school student after becoming targeted by the mob.

The Legend Of Billie Jean (1985)

Helen Slater’s most famous ‘80s movie role is probably the title hero of one of the most ill-received DC movies, 1984’s Supergirl . A film the actor might prefer to be better remembered for is The Legend of Billie Jean , in which she plays a teen outlaw on the run.

Lady In White (1988)

Among the more iconic movies set on or around Halloween, Lady in White is one that deserves more attention. Set in 1962, the clever, spooky thriller stars Lukas Haas as a young boy who becomes embroiled in the mystery of a murdered girl after meeting her ghost.

My Science Project (1985)

Perhaps if the sort-of time travel comedy My Science Project had not come out in the same year as, arguably, the greatest time travel movie of all time, Back to the Future , it might have a bigger fanbase. Also starring Fisher Stevens and Dennis Hopper, Christine ’s John Stockwell this film leads as a slacker senior whose desperation to pass science class leads him to find a strange device with dangerous, otherworldly abilities. 

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Night Shift (1982)

Despite being one of the best Michael Keaton movies , Night Shift has become one of the actor’s more obscure films, sent to the wayside by hits like Beetlejuice and the Batman movies . However, director Ron Howard ’s screwball comedy, starring Keaton and Henry Winkler as morgue attendants helping ladies of the night secure a safer work environment, should be noted as the film that first helped the Oscar nominee become a star.

The Last Starfighter (1984)

Most of the best video game movies do not simply adapt a pre-existing title, but expand on the concept of interactive media in imaginative and exciting ways, just like in The Last Starfighter . From director Nick Castle, the vastly underrated sci-fi flick stars Lance Guest as a poor teen whose high score on an arcade game leads to his recruitment in a real intergalactic war.

1969 (1988)

Today, we know 24 ’s Kiefer Sutherland and the MCU’s Robert Downey Jr . best as action stars, which is a far cry from their roles in 1969 . Winona Ryder and Bruce Dern also star in this much-forgotten anti-violence parable set around the Vietnam War.

After Hours (1985)

One might not expect to see a riotous, comedic romp anywhere on Martin Scorsese ’s resume, but such a film does exist. To be fair, the plot of After Hours — involving a mild-mannered word processor (played by Griffin Dunne) embroiled in a series of increasingly dangerous circumstances over one night in New York — does seem like a Scorsese film on paper.

Innerspace (1987)

One of director Joe Dante’s most underrated and inventive films is Innerspace , which stars Dennis Quaid as a pilot testing a top-secret miniaturization technology who is accidentally injected into the body of a hypochondriac. Said man is played by Martin Short, who delivers some of his most hilarious manic energy in his dazzling sci-fi adventure which also stars Meg Ryan.

Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

People do not express much nostalgia these days for Francis Ford Coppola’s fantasy teen comedy, Peggy Sue Got Married . Perhaps that is because the bulk of the story takes place in the 1960s, which Kathleen Turner’s title character is magically transported back to after fainting at her high school reunion.

Near Dark (1987)

How Near Dark — which fuses traditional vampire lore with an old-school Western tone in a modern setting — is not a more beloved horror classic just does not make sense. At least director Kathryn Bigelow went on to receive better recognition as the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker .

River's Edge (1986)

One of the darkest films from the early years of both Keanu Reeves and Crispin Glover’s careers is River’s Edge . Dennis Hopper and Daniel Roebuck also star in this unsettling crime thriller about the life-changing effect that a murder has on the teenage killer and his friends.

Repo Man (1984)

Repo Man may be a sci-fi flick with more than 90% on Rotten Tomatoes , but it gets less attention these days than, say, 2008’s Repo! The Genetic Opera or Repo Men from 2010. Alex Cox’s cult thriller stars Emilio Estevez as a middle-class punk and Harry Dean Stanton as his mentor who chases after a Chevy Malibu carrying something not of this Earth.

One Crazy Summer (1986)

John Cusack stars in many of the most timelessly popular romantic, coming-of-age comedies of the 1980s, and was also in One Crazy Summer . Also starring Demi Moore and Bobcat Goldthwait, this funny summer comedy about the amusing adventures a young cartoonist embarks on when crossing paths with an aspiring singer is not quite the classic it could have been.

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)

For years, the Wayans Brothers brought us some of the sharpest movie spoofs around and one of the earliest examples is I’m Gonna Git You Sucka . Writer, director, and star Keenen Ivory Wayans sends up the Blaxploitation genre with this action-packed, laugh-a-minute comedy that has not quite stood the test of time like Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood or the original Scary Movie .

Just One Of The Guys (1985)

Before there was She’s the Man , there was Just One of the Guys . However, the 2006 Amanda Bynes-led rom-com is the more well-known film about a young woman posing as a male than this one starring Valley Girl ’s Joyce Hyser.

The Hidden (1987)

Why is it that unique fusions of disparate genres like detective noir and sci-fi horror rarely get the attention they deserve? A prime example of this is the unjustly overlooked The Hidden , which stars Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri as a detective and an FBI agent pursuing an alien parasite committing various crimes as the human hosts it possesses.

Knightriders (1981)

To those who only know George A. Romero for his many classic zombie movies, we point you in the direction of Knightriders . The filmmaker writes and directs this grounded drama following a group of motorcycle-riding medieval reenactment performers and without a single reanimated corpse in sight.

Enemy Mine (1985)

One of the most heartwarming instances of enemies becoming friends in the ‘80s occurs in Wolfgang Peterson’s Enemy Mine . The futuristic sci-fi thriller stars Dennis Quaid as a human and Louis Gossett Jr. as an alien who are forced to put their respective species’ war with one another behind them when they become stranded on a deserted planet together.

My Bodyguard (1980)

Chris Makepeace’s Clifford lives every bullied teen’s dream to have someone bigger and stronger on their side in My Bodyguard . Despite its modern-day obscurity, the coming-of-age dramedy marked the film debut of several well-known stars — including Adam Baldwin, Joan Cusack, and Jennifer Beals.

Real Genius (1985)

Later, more serious roles in movies like Top Gun , The Doors , and Batman Forever have caused many to forget just how comedically talented Val Kilmer is. He gives one of his funniest performances in Real Genius as a fun-loving engineering student who discovers he and his younger roommate (played by Gabriel Jarret) have unwittingly been tasked to build a military-grade weapon. 

The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

One of the more underrated ‘80s time travel movies is The Philadelphia Experiment , which is inspired by the alleged disappearance of a destroyer escort ship in the early 1940s. The film — which also spawned a 1993 sequel — follows two WWII-era sailors accidentally transported decades forward.

The Dream Team (1989)

The same year when Michael Keaton made his debut as Batman, he led a funny crime thriller called The Dream Team . He, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle, and Stephen Furst play four psychiatric patients on a day trip to New York City when their chaperone is targeted for murder.

The Serpent And The Rainbow (1988)

Arguably director Wes Craven’s most underrated film is The Serpent and the Rainbow , which is inspired by real-life anthropological researcher Wade Davis’ book of the same name. What also makes the Bill Pullman-led horror flick one of the more comparatively realistic zombie movies is its depiction of voodoo, which the original definition of the word “zombie” derives from.

Return To Oz (1985)

People who still have nightmares about Margaret Hamilton's performance as The Wicked Witch of the West in 1937's The Wizard of Oz might not have the courage to watch Disney's follow-up. A 10-year-old Fairuza Balk (of later The Craft fame) plays Dorothy in Return to Oz , which is noted by those who do remember it as one of the most visually traumatizing "kids movies" of the '80s or any decade.

Author! Author! (1982)

With how few family dramedies there are on Al Pacino’s resume, it is a shame he does not get more love for Author! Author! The Academy Award-winning legend stars as a playwright trying to balance the opening of his latest Broadway show with raising his stepchildren.

Miracle Mile (1988)

Following his scene-stealing role as Goose in Top Gun and years before he starred in ER , Anthony Edwards played the lead of Miracle Mile . Writer and director Steve De Jarnatt’s overlooked action flick follows a young man on a race against time after he becomes aware of an impending nuclear attack. 

The Night Before (1988)

Not to be confused with a raunchy holiday comedy movie from 2015 starring Seth Rogen, The Night Before is a coming-of-age rom-com with a dark mystery twist that predates The Hangover by a couple of decades. It stars Keanu Reeves as a teen whose struggle to find his missing date (played by Lori Loughlin) in L.A. is worsened by his inability to remember what happened on the way to prom.

Johnny Be Good (1988)

One of the lesser-known collaborations of Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr. (including their shared one-season SNL stint ) is Johnny Be Good , which also stars Paul Gleason and a young Uma Thurman. Hall plays the title role of this high school comedy about a football player struggling to decide which of the many college offers he receives would be best for him.

Haunted Honeymoon (1986)

Before her untimely death, SNL legend Gilda Radner starred in several films with her real-life husband, Gene Wilder. One of the last and most unfortunately overlooked is a fun horror-comedy called Haunted Honeymoon , in which the couple play newlyweds trying to cure the husband’s fears by staying in a creepy estate.

You may think you know ‘80s cinema, but your expertise will not be complete until you give these flick a try, or even revisit them for the first time in too long.

Jason Wiese writes feature stories for CinemaBlend. His occupation results from years dreaming of a filmmaking career, settling on a "professional film fan" career, studying journalism at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO (where he served as Culture Editor for its student-run print and online publications), and a brief stint of reviewing movies for fun. He would later continue that side-hustle of film criticism on TikTok (@wiesewisdom), where he posts videos on a semi-weekly basis. Look for his name in almost any article about Batman.

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This Skin-Crawling '80s Body Horror Was Marketed as a Scary Version of 'E.T.'

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The Big Picture

• Xtro , a British horror film, gained cult status for unique body horror effects, and marketed itself as a scary version of E.T.
• Despite criticism, Xtro blends horror and sci-fi elements effectively, offering impressive practical effects and storytelling.
• The film's allegorical take on divorce, eerie visuals, and standout performances set it apart from typical B-movie fare.

Every blockbuster movie begets a slew of copycats looking to capitalize on its success, and few such movies drew a more eclectic array of ripoffs than Steven Spielberg 's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial . But not every film counted in that number is fully deserving of secondhand discount bins. 1984’s Xtro is a British horror film that was cheekily marketed as a scary version of the heartwarming Spielberg classic and was subsequently maligned for its seeming cynicism and graphic conten t. Directed by Harry Bromley Davenport , Xtro even managed to score a place on the infamous “video nasties” list, which is likely responsible for whatever longevity it has experienced since its release. Despite it all, though, Xtro has maintained a cult status for its wild and genuinely impressive effects that are more than enough to grant it a spot on body horror aficionados' shelves.

Xtro (1982)

Three years after being abducted by aliens, Sam returns to Earth with strange powers. His son, Tony, begins to exhibit terrifying abilities as Sam tries to reconnect with his family. The film blends horror and sci-fi elements, exploring the eerie consequences of extraterrestrial encounters.

‘Xtro’ Became a Video Nasty and Capitalized on 'E.T.'s Success

Harry Bromley Davenport brought his script for Xtro to producer Mark Forstater , who had previously produced Monty Python and the Holy Grail , and the film was originally slated for a late 1982 release. This would have seen the movie coming out the same year as E.T. , which does call into question how long Davenport had been sitting on the story for Xtro , and if it truly was brazenly capitalizing on E.T. ’s success. Regardless, the advertising for Xtro when it was eventually released in early 1983 was decidedly referencing Spielberg’s heartwarming classic; “Some extraterrestrials aren’t friendly” says the poster, and it is not kidding.

Xtro features some truly shocking scenes that would take even the most seasoned horror viewer off guard. Early on in the film, audiences are treated to a crab-walking, reverse-jointed alien that, shockingly, looks equal parts unsettling and tangibly real. In any other film of Xtro ’s pedigree, one would likely expect cheap rubber suits and jerky, clumsy creature acting — but not here. The alien in the first part of Xtro is creepy and believable, as it assaults a hapless woman in her country home, impregnating her via the mouth with a dripping proboscis . What follows is perhaps one of the most impressive B-movie effects to come out of the practical effects era of the 1980s: The woman who was impregnated gives birth to a fully grown adult man, and yes, they show it . It is no cop-out to say the scene nearly defies literal description, but it should suffice to say it is impressively done and nauseating to watch, in that great body horror kind of way .

Unsurprisingly, Fede Álvarez Isn't Cutting Away from Xenomorph Kills in 'Alien: Romulus'

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There are plenty of other great effects in Xtro , but that one scene was more than enough t o get the film prosecuted under Britain's obscenity laws. However, it should be noted that it was never officially banned under such laws; it was slapped with an 18+ certificate and added to the famous “video nasties” list. And that was not the only negative attention it would get, with film critics like Roger Ebert utterly lambasting it and even going so far as to write about it “... It's movies like this that give movies a bad name" . But is all of this hate deserved?

"Xtro' Speaks to the Difficulty of Divorce

Xtro follows the story of Sam and Rachel, played by Phillip Sayer and Bernice Stegers respectively, and their son Tony, played by Simon Nash . Tony witnesses his father disappear from their family cottage in a flash of light and a gust of wind, never to be seen for three years. Sam comes back, but not as the same man who was abducted. Rather, he has seemingly become an alien . Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say his consciousness is transferred from an alien body into a humanoid host that is gestated inside his third victim. The film never explains what exactly the aliens are, or what they did to Sam that changed him. What is clear though, is that the new version of Sam is intent on doing the same to Tony. Standing in Sam’s way is Rachel (though, oddly, not for long) and her new boyfriend Joe ( Danny Brainin ). With its story of aliens and body horror, Xtro attempts to draw an allegory for divorce and children of divorce, with Sam’s mysterious return and the drama he causes. This drama is actually handled respectfully and with some level of depth imparted by the lead actors.

This sort of serious angle is one of the things that sets Xtro apart from similar fare; Davenport shows a believable setting for the grizzly horror that does not drive the viewer to distraction with poor acting. That may seem like a veiled insult, but that can be one of the most annoying parts of earnest B-movies, when a director’s vision is wrecked by dismal performances and tone-deaf setting. Xtro is not Shakespeare , and there is a bit of a slump in the action after the first half hour, but the effortful performances and impressive effects give it a serious leg up on its contemporaries.

‘Xtro’ Didn't Deserve All the Hate

Even if the film did not bother to maintain any level of structural or story integrity, the absolute wealth of skin-crawling body horror effects would be enough to entice any uninitiated fan. In one scene, Tony’s live-in-nanny (Maryam d'Abo) is rendered unconscious by a telekinetically awakened clown toy (yes, seriously) and forced to carry alien eggs. She is cocooned in the flat’s bathtub, and the effects used are on par, if not even more creepy looking than something like Invasion of the Body Snatchers , and when the eggs start being laid it gets even more disgusting. There are more sentient toys, including a murderous action figure that Tony uses to kill his meddlesome landlady, and even a decomposing Sam who starts to literally fall apart during a romantic scene. It is definitely not a perfect film, but Xtro is a truly unique horror movie with wild and inventive ideas realized to a level well above its weight class.

Though it will probably never be recognized as a timeless cinema classic, Xtro should fit extremely comfortably into any body horror fan’s collection . It is certainly more than just a cynical E.T. ripoff, and though it has gotten some more attention during the internet age, it is still criminally underappreciated. With stellar effects, decent acting, and a believable setting, Xtro is sure to entertain horror fans and is a quintessential piece of the “video nasties” mythology.

Currently, fans in the U.S. can pick up a Blu-ray region-free copy from UK-based Second Sight Films . It is a fabulous transfer with every ending and version conceived of by Davenport, along with a ton of Xtro extras.

Buy on Second Sight

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The 25 Best Movie Scores of the ’80s

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The ’80s was a decade of movies that you can hear at a roar even on mute. A screenshot of Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay aboard the train in “Risky Business” has a sound to it. The same goes for a still image of Kaneda riding towards Neo-Tokyo in “Akira,” or Jack Nicholson’s car snaking its way up the mountains towards the Overlook Hotel during the opening titles of “The Shining.”

Adam Solomons, Sean Malin, and Christian Zilko also contributed to this article.

25. “Witness” (Composed by Maurice Jarre, 1985)

The call came from inside the house when David Lean collaborator Maurice Jarre turned to the synthesizer shortly after his son, Jean-Michel, helped make modern electronic music happen in the mid-to-late 1970s. The elder Jarre peaked in his later era of composing with a terrific score for Peter Weir’s crime thriller about an Amish boy who witnesses a brutal murder — and becomes a target. An easy interpretation would be that the Amish community’s unfamiliarity with technology, 20th century morality or the hotness of Harrison Ford is the perfect backdrop for Jarre’s electronic sound, the past and the future colliding violently. But it’s also the case that to use a synth score in 1985 was barely an artistic choice in and of itself.

24. “Fitzcarraldo” (Composed by Popol Vuh, 1982)

Popol Vuh and Werner Herzog go together the way Herzog and Klaus Kinski go together, only much less violently. The German band scored “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” “The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser,” “Nosferatu, the Vampyre,” and several others, but they saved the best for “Fitzcarraldo.” 

Take “Wehe Khorazin”: a  dies irae -like chorus gives way to unhinged chanting, and a thudding bass drum dissolves into a wailing fuzzed-out guitar with a tambourine. It’s a sonic journey from the sacred to the profane, and therefore a perfect accompaniment to Herzog’s heavily fictionalized historical epic about an Irish rubber baron (Kinski) and his obsessive desire to build an opera deep within the Amazon rainforest. It’s the sound of reason being swallowed by chaos.

23. “Round Midnight” (Composed by Herbie Hancock, 1986)

More so than many of the scores on this list, the suite of music that Herbie Hancock contributed to Bertrand Tavernier’s great jazz film starring the legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon is rather light on original pieces. Most of the soundtrack consists of new Hancock arrangements of old standards, including Thelonious Monk’s title track, and “Body and Soul,” as well as songs by Bud Powell, Jimmy Rowles, and the Gershwins. 

And yet Hancock makes all of these pieces feel like his own through bending them all towards a mood of sustained melancholy. If you know him primarily from “Head Hunters” and his funky fusion in the ‘70s, forget it. He’s operating in the mode of Chet Baker — who appears on these tracks — and early Miles Davis here. This is the lonely, cool jazz you’d imagine accompanying an Edward Hopper painting, street lamps reflecting off damp streets after rain. Closing time.  

22. “The Beekeeper” (Composed by Eleni Karaindrou, 1986)

Eleni Karaindrou’s music for “The Beekeeper” may be the least well-known of the scores on this list, but that’s only because the film itself is among the least well-known of Theodoros Angelopoulos’ work (whose most famous stuff has struggled to gain the kind of foothold in the canon that it deserves).

Be that as it may, Karaindrou’s plaintive but soaring compositions make for some of the ’80s’ most robust film music. Saxophones blown like foghorns power through pillow-soft pianos during the early portions of this mournful story about a beekeeper traveling across Greece on his ill-fated journey home from his daughter’s wedding, only for that funereal tone to be disrupted by a playful waltz, a few crunchy blasts of cheese-rock, and a healthy serving of traditional folk melodies as it teeters towards the grave. There’s a visceral narrative baked into these notes, one so vivid that the film itself almost seems like an accompaniment to its score, and not the other way around. —DE

21. “Once Upon a Time in America” (Composed by Ennio Morricone, 1984)

This is a far more traditional score than we often got with Morricone — certainly compared to his whistle, organ, and electric guitar-filled Spaghetti Western themes or the heart-palpitations electronica of “The Thing.” His work for “Once Upon a Time in America” is more of a piece with his work on “Days of Heaven,” melancholy and introspective, avoiding the more obvious menace Nino Rota put in the “Godfather” movies. Where “Days of Heaven” mixed in bits of Camille Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals,” “Once Upon a Time in America” gives a sumptuous orchestral version of “Amapola,” the tune from Spanish American composer Joseph Lacalle that became a Billboard number one hit for Jimmy Dorsey in 1941. 

20. “My Neighbor Totoro” (Composed by Joe Hisaishi, 1988)

It feels weird and maybe even wrong to write about a Ghibli movie as originating in any decade. Hayao Miyazaki’s films have always been distinctly, intentionally otherworldly both in content and craft. His mainstream breakthrough film was a mission statement for a new way of making animated movies, its unforgettable score appropriately different to anything that had come before. The tune we remember is quirky and uplifting, the sort of song two uncertain young children would make up about an imaginary friend. Although for many Western audiences “My Neighbor Totoro” was the first Ghibli film they saw — and its simple but arresting story an apt introduction to the Ghibli way — there’s nothing plucky about Joe Hisaishi’s music. Having previously scored “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” and “Castle in the Sky,” his understanding of Miyazaki’s sensibility was well-established. That much is clear in a score that noisily illustrates the straightforward emotional peaks and troughs of its primary characters.

19. “Crocodile Dundee” (Composed by Peter Best, 1986)

These days, it’s incredible to remember that “Crocodile Dundee,” a charmingly low-key fish-out-of-water rom-com, was the second highest-grossing movie of 1986. Even more incredible to think that it has a score this good, and was emblematic of a time when rom-coms could have incredible scores, in this case thanks to Australian composer Peter Best. The “Opening Titles” track opens with a didgeridoo, of course, but moves immediately into a Down Under twangy guitar theme, the strings plucked with the force of playing a thumb piano. It’s shocking how hard this theme goes. 

And how good the rest of the score is throughout. There’s a lovely four-note wistful theme called “Never Never Land” that’s initially played on the flute and conveys Mick Dundee’s (Paul Hogan) love of the Bush, his home. When he journeys with reporter Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski) to New York, that “Never Never Land” theme is played on a synthesizer instead. Now it’s not just affection for his homeland, it’s longing for it.  

18. “Robocop” (Composed by Basil Poldouris, 1987)

If an old-fashioned orchestral score by Jerry Goldsmith for “Total Recall” would help bring a sweeping end to the ’80s synth revolution, “Robocop” is a joyful case of Paul Verhoeven embracing all the trimmings of sci-fi. The aesthetics of Basil Poledouris’s man-vs-machine score illustrate the musical tensions of the day: crashing man-made instrument sounds against slick synthesizers (someone could make a movie about the potential perils of an over-technological society). Poldouris’ 50-second main title theme begins with low, imposing strings before a zippy synth piles on the terror. It’s not a note; it’s a noise.

17. “Risky Business” (Composed by Tangerine Dream, 1983)

Tangerine Dream only contributed two original pieces — along with three remixes of their previous material — to the soundtrack of Paul Brickman’s all-time adolescent fantasy, but they dominate the collective memory of “Risky Business” almost as completely as sex dominates the minds of its high school characters. The German band’s seductive electronica was immaculately suited for this super horny story of suburban teenage lust, which in its own way can be as intense and harrowing as cracking a safe, driving a truck full of nitroglycerine, or doing any of the other filmic activities that Tangerine Dream had already been asked to score at that point. 

16. “Octopussy” (Composed by John Barry, 1983)

For a five-time Oscar winner, it still doesn’t feel like John Barry gets enough respect. The reality is that everyone should be hailing the way he shaped the sound of the James Bond franchise the way people do with John Williams and “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.” The British composer created the lush, sensual scores for 11 Bond films, stretching from 1963 to 1987 (he also arranged Monty Norman’s main “James Bond Theme” for the very first Bond film, “Dr. No,” in 1962). 

Barry had done this once before, with the “We Have All the Time in the World” instrumental theme from “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” Because that’s a better film, with a more meaningful romance for Bond, that song has become more cherished over the years — it was even reused to swooning effect in “No Time to Die.” “Octopussy” isn’t a bad film (no movie in which counterfeit Faberge eggs are somehow linked to a plot to start World War III ever could be), but it doesn’t reach the same, er, heights otherwise achieved by its “All Time High” instrumental. Turning a Rita Coolidge pop trifle into a work of orchestral art? That’s the kind of alchemy that explains how the Bond franchise has survived for 60 years. —CB 

15. “The Thing” (Composed by Ennio Morricone, 1982)

That one indelible track is so well-deployed throughout the film that it can overshadow the rest of Morricone’s contributions, many of which are used as ambient wallpaper, but all of which fortify the sense of ambiguous fear that seeps into the story from all sides. The violent strings in particular give “Shape” to a collision between classic horror and wholly contemporary social distrust, a tension that Morricone deepens with the go-for-broke pleasure of someone who hasn’t been asked to resolve it. —DE

14. “Chariots of Fire” (Composed by Vangelis, 1981)

Most iconic score for a sports film ever? How can you not hear those cascading chords of Vangelis’ title theme for “Chariots of Fire” and not picture pasty Brits clad in white athletic outfits running barefoot through the surf? It became so associated with U.K. sport and the Olympics in general that it was picked as the medal ceremony theme at the 2012 London Games a full 30 years after the release of Hugh Hudson’s film. It even reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the wake of the film winning Best Original Score (as well as Best Picture) at the Oscars. 

Well, its music certainly isn’t, as much as the success of the title track was held against it. Using all electronic arrangements helps to place the entire film out of time. Listen to “Eric’s Theme” where a synthesizer replicates the sound of bagpipes to give a Scottish tinge. It’s otherworldly and triumphant, and sad too. Vangelis gave a very melancholy flavor to everything here except for the title theme — as one character says, winning is “pretty difficult to swallow” — which anticipates something we’ve come to better appreciate in the decades since: that depression, and deep mental health struggles, often follow Olympic triumph. The price of gold can be steep indeed. —CB 

13. “The Shining” (Composed by Wendy Carlos & Rachel Elkind, 1980)

Either way, the fact remains that Kubrick got exactly what he needed. Using a MOOG synthesizer to emulate the tone of a demonically possessed church organ, Carlos and Elkind’s iconic theme — a portentous but open-ended series of rolling farts that soundtrack Jack Torrance’s drive through the mountains that lead to the Overlook Hotel — creates the palpable sense of slow-burning madness. The instrumentation’s atemporal mish-mash beautifully anticipates a ghost story in which the past doesn’t haunt the present so much as it becomes it, while the sawing wail that creeps into the mix sounds like a dying cat or a crying child, as if little Danny were trying to warn us away from this place. The other surviving track, “Rocky Mountains,” is even more dissonant, and its inhuman warble cements the mood of a film whose psychic horror troubles the mind in order to make your skin crawl. —DE

12. “Ran” (Composed by Toru Takemitsu, 1985)

One mark of a great score is that the quiet — even silence — is on the track, rather than letting the director or music supervisor turn it off for a few minutes. And Takemitsu, like Kurosawa, was not one to mess around. His century’s most important Japanese composer, Kurosawa was frankly lucky to get him, and gained his signature as far back as 1976. The Sapporo Symphony Orchestra was hired after Kurosawa wisely abandoned initial plans to record with London musicians. It helps make “Ran”‘s a profoundly coherent and authentic piece of work, Japan’s premier musicians playing feudal Japanese music for a Japanese film that would help restore the nation’s greatest filmmaker. Its impact was almost as big as its size. —AS

11. “Blade Runner” (Composed by Vangelis, 1982)

Tracks like “Wait for Me” hear smoky jazz saxophones ribbon around a trilling synth like a fog of invented memories, while “Blush Response” gives flesh to a cyberpunk world that seems part-machine itself, thus framing the search for Replicants as an act of profound self-denial. And then there’s that famous “Love Theme” (feat. saxophonist Dick Morrissey), which anticipates the wistfulness that Yoko Kanno would eventually bring to the Jupiter episodes of “Cowboy Bebop,” and the kind of digital pas de deux between innocence and tragedy that Angelo Badalamenti would soon weaponize in “Twin Peaks.”  —DE

10. “The Last Temptation of Christ” (Composed by Peter Gabriel, 1988)

Martin Scorsese’s great project with “The Last Temptation of Christ” was to defamiliarize the story of the Gospel, to feel its message with a new urgency that’s been lost in rote contemporary Catholic and Protestant services. Part of that project meant detaching the Christ story from the Eurocentric way it’s become best known in Western culture. This is a Middle Eastern story after all — a story of colonialism and resistance. 

“World music” sometimes is derided as a term. By definition, it lumps wildly different artists from countries far-flung into each other under the same homogenous label — flattening diversity by removing specificity. But the kind of all-embracing global spirit it represents at its best, finding linkages between disparate cultures, is perfectly suited to this tale of the Christ. When an Armenian doudouk trills the opening of “The Feeling Begins,” it’s such a departure from anyone who’s seen earlier Hollywood Biblical epics it puts the mystery back into the story of this singular life that everyone knows but so few seem to understand. —CB 

9. “Paris, Texas” (Composed by Ry Cooder, 1984)

When we first meet Travis Henderson in those iconic opening shots, Cooder’s harsh slide guitar invokes classic Western scores to paint the image of a silent drifter with a dark secret. The music subtly prompts us to relate to him as an archetype instead of a three-dimensional human being. When combined with the stunning rock formations that dwarf Stanton in size, Wenders is able to send a clear message that we won’t be looking into this man’s soul any time soon. When Travis ever-so-slowly begins to restore his familial relationships, the music appropriately starts to soften. But as it becomes clear that he is utterly incapable of looking inside his own soul — much less communicate his findings to anyone — the music shies away from familiar motifs and pivots in an ambient direction. By the time he’s finally ready to process his past, Cooder adds more instrumentation to create the sounds of life-affirming nostalgia without getting bogged down by sentimentality.

8. “The Natural” (Composed by Randy Newman, 1984)

“Buh-BUUUUM! Buh-buh-buh-BUM!” The incredibly hummable main theme of Randy Newman’s score for “The Natural” is as simple yet mythic as the plot of “The Natural” itself. It arrives with the force of the lightning that cleaved the tree from which baseball prodigy Roy Hobbs created his homemade bat. In a decade in which nostalgia culture became enshrined in Hollywood, Newman’s score is a pinnacle of Americana, a kind of musical Norman Rockwell painting. 

Newman’s score is delicate and ethereal at first, especially in the scenes between Robert Redford’s Hobbs and his childhood love (Glenn Close). But whenever the impossible comes into view, it suddenly crystallizes into that iconic six-note theme; it’s music to accompany a baseball flying into outfield lights, the glass and sparks falling to the ground like rain. It leaves such an impression that, even though they couldn’t get the rights to the exact music,  it got its own “Simpsons” parody.   —CB 

7. “The Empire Strikes Back” (Composed by John Williams, 1980)

Imagine creating one of the most iconic scores of all time, then throwing almost all of it out for the film’s sequel… because you’ve created an even more iconic score. That’s what John Williams did with “The Empire Strikes Back,” which retains the main “Star Wars” title theme, “Luke’s Theme,” and a few other classic tracks, but also introduces a startling number of new leitmotifs. This is where the saga gets truly Wagnerian. 

As the sequel deepened themes of the first film, so did its music become richer: There’s a romantic love theme with “Han Solo and the Princess,” a new sense of searching spiritual grandeur with “Yoda’s Theme,” the awe-inspiring daredevil music of “The Asteroid Field,” and even the AT-AT walkers get a lumbering theme that, out of context, sounds like it could be paired to the sound of lumbering elephants. The repeating rhythm of “Hyperspace” is a chase theme that every kid who ever played a ‘90s “Star Wars” video game has burned into their brains, while “Departure of Boba Fett” begins with a dirge, as Han’s frozen body is being walked funeral-like to the bounty hunter’s ship, like Williams’ own understated take on “Siegfried’s Funeral March.” 

If “Star Wars” mania was spurred by the original film, true “Star Wars”  obsession  begins with “Empire,” with its music so deep and vast it promises a true galaxy of myth-making to get lost in forever. —CB 

6. “Akira” (Composed by Tsutomu Ōhashi, 1988)

Inspired by the glassy percussion of Indonesian gamelan music and the distressed rhythms of Noh theater, the iconic first cue (“Kaneda”) flushes Otomo’s cyberpunk epic full of volatile energy as it accelerates towards an explosion; it’s beautiful, even when racing headlong towards death. Later tracks, like the plonky and unholy “Tetsuo” sound like watching a nuclear explosion through the stained glass windows of a church, while “Dolls’ Polyphony” captures the film’s psychic distress through the ears of the children who bring it to fruition. It’s one of several examples in which the polyphonic size of Geinoh Yamashirogumi creates the impression of a singularity in motion, the music building towards an unsustainable scale until the final “Requiem” finds that only the human voice remains. —DE

5. “The Last Emperor” (Composed by David Byrne, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Cong Su, 1987)

Sakamoto, who died in March this year, pulled from his background in electronic music to give a pulsating feeling of forward momentum to tracks like “Open the Door” and “Where Is Armo?” over which he layered another Chinese instrument, the violin-like erhu. His work on the score slips seamlessly into David Byrne’s own tracks, which, as expected, have a much more prominent rhythm section to each. It’s Byrne’s version of the main “Last Emperor” theme that opens the movie over the credits. And Cong Su contributes a starkly atmospheric track, entirely using Chinese instruments, titled “Lunch.” 

Other than for actual movie musicals, it’s rare for a movie with three composers to have won the Oscar for Best Original Score. But “The Last Emperor” is unthinkable without the contributions from each; their work provides overlapping fields of emotion to drive the narrative of this singular life, one that spanned such extremes as to almost be incomprehensible, while (mostly) avoiding sentimentalizing Pu Yi, a figure who does not deserve it. —CB 

4. “Koyaanisqatsi” (Composed by Philip Glass, 1982)

But where that Radiohead masterpiece started with a car crash and tried to make sense of the chaos on the fly, Reggio’s film takes the long view of civilization, which invites Glass to begin his score with primordial grumblings and chanting voices low enough to sound like they’re bellowing straight out of the earth. When human technology reaches terminal velocity, Glass’ music somehow manages to keep pace with our self-destruction, his compositions lapping over themselves in a race of repetitive structures that mirror the relentless, mechanical flow of movement and production in a world that moves too fast for anyone to get a rest from all the unborn chicken voices in their head. 

Minimalist in their design but maximalist in their effect, pieces like “Resource” or the 18-minute “The Grid” feel like nothing less than the sonic equivalent of time-lapse photography — frenzied and addictive. Eventually this musical supercollider creates enough momentum to cause a singularity, at which point aloof its chaos is usurped by the funereal sounds of an organ that’s just begging us to slow down. Idiot, slow down. —DE

3. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (Composed by John Williams, 1981)

Of course, there’s the jaunty title theme for Indiana Jones himself, which Williams cobbled together out of two separate main themes he proposed to Steven Spielberg. If ever there was music to accompany a heroic figure being dragged under a truck Yakima Canutt-style or scurrying atop the cars of a moving train, it’s this. And there’s the love theme, tender, full of swooning strings. But it’s really the theme for the Ark of the Covenant itself that elevates Williams’ score to the cosmic. 

It’s introduced in the track “Washington Men” in a choral version: three descending notes repeated twice, followed by a six note variation. Then it reaches a particular orchestral grandeur as “The Map Room: Dawn” in which the cosmos really do align to point Indy on his way. And finally in “The Miracle of the Ark” after some of the most jagged, horror-sounding moments of any Williams score, as the full power of God reveals itself in its Pentateuchal violence, it returns again as a kind of crescendo for the whole movie — with enough force to suggest the horrors of the 20th century really can be best understood through the lens of Old Testament fury. —CB 

2. “Do the Right Thing” (Composed by Bill Lee, 1989)

Think of the emotional undercurrent the aptly titled “Father to Son” lends to the extended dialogue scene in which Danny Aiello’s Sal tells his racist son Pino (John Turturro) about how he loves his Bed-Stuy neighborhood and the people in it. It starts with four tinkly notes of the piano leading into a melancholy string melody, which Branford Marsalis’s saxophone then picks up. The smooth ‘50s jazz conveys Sal’s outpouring of affection for his community, before a hi-hat chimes in and Marsalis goes into a hard bop improvisation, reflecting Pino’s brittle, chaotic edge.  

A number of the characters in “Do the Right Thing” have specific themes and instruments associated with them: bass cello for Da Mayor, a piano for Mookie — sometimes with a full jazz septet to reflect the hustle of his day, sometimes just the piano alone when he gets reflective. And of course, there’s the elder Lee’s extraordinary orchestral exit music, two saxophones and a trumpet in dialogue as contradictory quotes from Martin Luther King and Malcolm X close the film.  

1. “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” (Composed by Philip Glass, 1985)

Yukio Mishima, arguably one of the top five ultra-nationalist author/playwright/models who ever founded his own militia and committed public seppuku after trying to overthrow Japan’s constitution, devoted the thrust of his adult life to what he described as “the harmony between pen and sword.” His ambition — which became his suicide mission — was to make his art his life and his life his art, a synthesis realized with visceral force in Paul Schrader’s kaleidoscopic “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters.” Want to separate the art from the artist? When it comes to Mishima, you’re going to need a very sharp sword. 

That elasticity was made possible through the use of several different ensembles (i.e. a string quartet for the more lyrical meta-narratives, and a percussion section for the militaristic sequences that lead to Mishima’s suicide), and through Glass’ decision to reinterpolate the score’s most identifiable motifs across different genres (i.e. surf rock for “Kyoko’s House”), which allows the music to serve as a bridge between the film’s wildly different aesthetics. Mishima was a protean soul, constantly shedding his skin in the hopes of eventually bearing his soul, and Glass’ approach allows the movie to feel prismatic and holistic all at once, like a single ray of light refracted in a thousand directions. 

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20 Great 80s B-Horror Movies That Are Worth Your Time

The term B movie was first coined in Hollywood’s Golden Age which ran from the 1930’s through till the late 1950’s. Double features were the norm, showing a main feature, usually a big budget studio picture with star names, and a B movie afterwards. The B movie would usually have a much smaller budget and no star names. The films were usually genre pictures: westerns, science-fiction and horror being the most popular.

At the end of the 1950’s the double feature faded away and along with it the need for B movies, nevertheless, the term B movie stuck and is still used today. Generally referring to a low-budget film that lacks artistic ambition, instead trying to please its audience with spectacle, titillation and violence.

In the 1960’s and 70’s exploitation cinema revitalised the B movie. When the Hollywood Production Code was abolished, filmmakers were free to push the boundaries of decency and good taste to the limit. These films were shown in what’s became known as Grindhouse cinemas across America. These cinemas were generally in the rough part of town and had no inhibitions to the type of films they showed, giving B moviemakers the freedom to make anything their deranged imaginations could come up with.

By the 1980’s, home video and cable movie channels had arrived, this spelt the death of the Grindhouse cinema. The explosion of the video rental market meant the B horror movies flourished like never before or since.

The films reflected the times, in the 70’s B horror movies were grim and nihilistic, like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974) and “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977). In the 80’s they were bright, colourful and a lot more fun. They featured heaps of neon lights, over the top particle effects and musical scores filled with synthesises and rock music.

The most notable change was the inclusion of comedy, especially among the lower budgeted films, this might have been done to appeal to a larger audience, or perhaps to compensate for cheap special effects that couldn’t be taken seriously anyway.

The phenomenal success of “Jaws” (1975) and “Star Wars” (1977) blurred the lines between mainstream and B movie subject matter. A film about a giant murderous shark and a space opera were traditionally B movie subjects. In the eighties science fiction and horror became mainstream, B movies had to offer something different, so their subject matter and plots became more extreme and more bizarre.

The definition of a B movie remains ambiguous. Some people might consider all horror films to be B movies. For a horror film to be classified as a B movie, it needs to be produced on a low-budget, by an independent studio, and it also needs a unique concept. A concept so outrageous or grotesque that the major studios would never dare attempt to produce it. We have sifted through a large mountain of old VHS tapes to find some unpolished gems that are waiting to be rediscovered.

20. Killer Klowns from Outer Space (Stephen Chiodo, 1988)

Tagline: In space no one can eat ice-cream.

A brilliantly original concept that is efficiently summed up in the film’s title. A race of aliens who happen to resemble clowns, and travel across the galaxy in a spaceship that looks like a giant big top. They arrive in a small sleepy town intent on harvesting its inhabitants for sustenance. The film is essentially a string of visual circus gags connected by a thin thread of a story. The gags involve cotton candy cocoons, acid pies and lethal puppet shows. All ending with the demise of unwitting town folk.

The films is made by The Chiodo Brothers, special effects artists who made their name working on films such as “Critters” (1986). This was their first and last directorial effort. The Klown puppets are marvellously done, they are cheerfully creepy and deeply sinister. They have gritty worn pockmarked faces and evil grins that make them the stuff of nightmares. Despite this the Klowns are engaging and entertaining.

The human cast are pretty forgettable with the exception of John Vernon, who plays a grumpy cynical police officer, who believes the entire invasion is one big practical joke being played on him. The film has a gleefully surreal tone, a pitch black sense of humour, and is mostly played for laughs. The plot is a homage to the B movies of the fifties, only instead of pod people you’ve got psychotic alien clowns.

19. Chopping Mall (Jim Wynorski, 1986)

Tagline: Where shopping costs you an arm and a leg.

A large shopping mall decides it’s a good idea to invest in a new state of the art security system. The system is comprised of gigantic steel security shutters and three high-tech robots that can patrol the mall, and shoot laser beams to stun or kill would-be thieves. Eight teenagers who work in the mall decide to have an after-hours party in a furniture store.

Outside there’s a massive thunder storm, the mall is stuck by lightening, short circuiting the new security system and sending the robot security guards into kill mode. The group of teenagers, who have been drinking and partying in the furniture store, start being hunted down and picked off by the new security guards.

The film is undeniably goofy and while it’s never meant to be taken too seriously, it’s made with real focus and purpose. It tries its best to entertain and thrill its audience and never resorts to mocking itself like so many modern horror films. The robots themselves look like beefed up militarised versions of Johnny 5 from “Short Circuit” (1986).

Although most of the time the robots come across as comical, there are moments when they are genuinely menacing. Once again, the human cast are pretty forgettable and are only memorable for the manner of their deaths. An exploding head being the one that sticks in the mind. The film is produced by B movie legend Rodger Corman. The energy and invention associated with his films are undeniably present in this production.

18. Strange Behaviour (Michael Laughlin, 1981)

Tageline: Good kids turned killers.

Set in small town American. The local high school students have found a quick and easy way of making some money, they volunteer as test subjects for the local universities psychology department. Unfortunately, the treatment appears to turn them into machine like killers that can be programmed on demand.

The local sheriff (Michael Murphy) has a vendetta against the universities psychology department, who he blames for the death of his wife. The latest students to be turned into a brainwashed killer just so happens to be the sheriff’s son.

Director Michael Laughlin intended this as a homage to fifties B movie horror. It was meant to be part of a trilogy, which was never completed. The film successfully combines the eighties slasher with the mad scientist films of the fifties. The cast is surprisingly competent, Fiona Lewis stands out as the, equally alluring and terrifying, head of research, who lobotomises and brainwashes teenage boys for fun.

The film has some genuinely surreal and creepy moments that are reminiscent of the early work of David Cronenberg. There are other little touches that set it apart from its contemporaries, like a killer who wanders around in a Tor Johnson mask, a murder scene shown entirely through shadow-play, and an impromptu dance sequence at a teenage costume party.

17. Class of Nuke’ Em High (Richard W. Haines, Lloyd Kaufman, 1986)

Tagline: Readin’ Writin’ and Radiation.

Troma Pictures is a legendary B movie studio founded in the middle of the sixties exploitation era. Although their most successful period was in the eighties, with their best known film being “The Toxic Avenger” (1984). They took B movies to the next level of automatism and absurdity. “Class of Nuke’ Em High” is one of their most enjoyable and accessible films. Tromoville High School is situated right next door to a nuclear power plant. Needless to say the students have been acting strangely.

The school honour society has transformed into a gang of punk rock thugs, who terrorise their fellow students with impunity and sell them radioactive drugs. These drugs are grown in the yard of the nuclear plant. The toxic drugs have radical effects on the student population, giving them heavy-duty hallucinations and radioactive super strength. There is also a creature growing in a vat of nuclear waste in the schools basement.

There was an idea at the time that punk rock signalled a terminal stage in the decline of western civilisation. The films punk rocker thugs seem to embody this idea, a cautionary example of what exposure to toxic chemicals might do to the youth of America. Although, nothing in the film should be taken seriously.

The film is a farcical take on the high school experience and radioactive contamination. The performances in the film are so over the top they transform form just being bad to almost becoming performance art. The film has a manic energy, loads of over the top gore, and a light touch that keeps it humorous and entertaining.

16. Ghost Town (Richard Governor, 1988)

Tagline: The good. The bad. The satanic.

The film is an interesting fusion of genres and concepts, a horror western with some time-travel thrown in. A runaway bride’s car breaks down in the desert. She is abducted in a mysterious and supernatural sand storm. A local lawman (Franc Luz) finds her abandon car, as he continues to search for her in the desert he comes across an abandoned ghost town.

Although it’s not really abandon, is populated by dozens of ghosts. A curse was put on the town, a hundred years ago, when its sheriff was brutally murdered by a wicked outlaw named Devlin (Jimmie F Skaggs). The outlaw and his gang still hold the townspeople hostage in a cycle of fear.

This is a forgotten B movie gem with a unique concept. Horror westerns are rare and seldom work, but in this instance they are able to find the right balance. The film is notable for its excellent cinematography that combines a Sergio Leone feel with an unworldly haunting atmosphere.

There are some great eerie scenes where the dead town folk wander the desert wasteland lost in limbo. The plot is that of a familiar western, where an evil tyrant terrorises a small town, only in this case he’s dead with supernatural powers. There are a few decent scares infused with plenty of gun slinging action.

15. I, Madman (Tibor Takacs, 1989)

Tagline: Lose yourself in a good book.

Virginia (Jenny Wright) is a timid second-hand bookstore clerk who becomes obsessed with a dead pulp horror author Malcolm Brand. The author was a deranged murderer who fell in love with a movie star and then started removing parts of his body and offering them to her as tokens of his love.

After finally tracking down a copy of Brands’ last novel “I, Madman”, Virginia soon discovers that elements of the book are seeping through into her real life. Murders described in the book begin to happen all over the city and then to people close to her. It appears that Brand himself has returned from the dead, and he believes that Virginia is the movie star that once jilted him.

The story-within-a-story convention works well for the movie, allowing the film to create a creepy pulp horror atmosphere. The movie slips inventively between reality and imagination, between the book she’s reading and the things that happen in her real life. It gives the film a dream logic where you are never quite sure what is real.

A fine performance from Wright in the lead role carries the film along and keeps you sympathetic to her plight. The villain is an original take on the madman and is genuinely creepy. The film has an inventive visual style that works perfectly for the material as well as a dark sense of ironic humour.

15 Best Horror Movies Since 2020, Ranked

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Horror has long been one of the most versatile and popular corners of cinema mostly thanks to its ability to heighten the emotions of its viewer. The last five years have seen many brilliant horror movies come and go, ranging from long-awaited sequels and reboots to fresh and original scary stories. As a result, fans of terrifying cinema have had no shortage of great movies to sink their teeth into.

The horror genre has recently seen something of a revival, with many of the best modern movies exploring new genres, using enhanced special effects, and crafting more serious narratives. For this reason, the genre is arguably more respected than ever, especially thanks to the talents of people like Jordan Peele and Lee Cronin. Regardless of what the critics may say, the genre is as great as it's ever been, and the 2020s have plenty of excellent films to prove it.

Updated by Arthur Goyaz on August 12, 2024 : Not even halfway through the decade, the 2020s have offered many memorable horror movies that reshaped the genre. This list has been updated to include additional entries, enhance the reader experience, and meet CBR's current formatting standards.

15 Barbarian is Full of Surprises

10 Most Iconic '80s Horror Movies, Ranked

The '80s was a transformative time for horror and introduced many movies that defined future decades in the genre.

Barbarian quietly took over the horror scene in 2022 with an original and genuinely creepy premise linked to a simple question: what if an Airbnb booking went really, really wrong? In the movie, a young woman arrives at her Airbnb late at night, only to find out someone else is already there. The stranger proves to be kind and helpful, perhaps a little too much. The horror is much worse than anticipated when the truth is finally revealed.

There's no doubt that Barbarian benefits from having one of the best opening 30 minutes of any horror in recent memory. The tension goes through the roof immediately as the main character and the audience try to figure out what's so wrong with that Airbnb. The film is as creepy as it is socially conscious, addressing toxic masculinity, class disparity, and the inconsistencies of a world ruled by technology. However, Barbarian suffers from having too good of a beginning , which makes the film's second half feel a bit all over the place. For this reason, it lands among the 2020s' lower end of noteworthy horror features.

A woman arrives in Detroit for a job interview only to discover her scheduled Airbnb is already being occupied. Somehow, the two have been booked on the same night, and Tess decides to stay due to a lack of other options. After a restless night and her interview, Tess accidentally stumbles upon a secret basement door and discovers that the Airbnb she's occupying has some buried secrets of a dark nature. 

14 The Medium Takes Found Footage to Unbelievable Extremes

The Medium is a horror film determined to subvert traditional found footage tropes. It follows a documentary crew that travels to Thailand's remote countryside to report on a shaman who claims to be possessed by the spirit of a local goddess. When a local girl exhibits disturbing behavior, it becomes clear that there's little benevolence about the goddess' intentions.

Far from a conventional possession story, The Medium embraces Thai folklore and shaman inheritance to create a nightmare-fueled experience. The film seems to say that people must be careful about what they believe because faith can be a double-edged sword. Forgotten traditions and ancient customs unveil an unspeakable evil, and the camera takes viewers to the lair of a disturbing entity, making for one of the scariest movies of the 2020s.

The Medium (2021)

A family in northeastern Thailand faces the haunting reality that their lineage might be under the influence of an ancestral spirit, as believed by their shaman relative. When a younger family member starts exhibiting disturbing behavior, a film crew documenting shamanistic practices captures the escalating horror of their possession.

13 Malignant is the Horror Movie James Wan Has Always Wanted to Make

In the realm of horror features, James Wan is the one director/producer to rely on. He's the mastermind behind successful franchises like Saw and The Conjuring and with Malignant , Wan was finally free to deliver the creative and over-the-top story he always wanted to make. The film follows a pregnant woman troubled by visions of horrific murders. After a domestic tragedy, her connection to these crimes intensifies, bringing back chilling childhood memories.

What makes Malignant one of the best horror movies of the 2020s is its genre-bending meditation on family trauma. Wan deconstructs horror tropes he helped to establish with an unhinged, yet highly original story. If time does Malignant and its mind-bending plot twists justice, Gabriel should hold up as one of the most iconic villains of the century.

This horror film centers on a woman who begins to experience terrifying visions of brutal murders. As these visions intensify, she discovers that they are actually terrifying realities. She must uncover the connection between her traumatic past and the gruesome realities before it's too late, leading to shocking revelations.

12 In A Violent Nature Unfolds Through the Perspective of a Monster

Word-to-mouth marketing did wonders for In A Violent Nature , promoted as a one-of-a-kind horror film told from the perspective of a supernatural killer. After a stolen necklace disrupts the peace of an undead serial killer resting in his tomb, he sets out in the woods to retrieve what's his through bloody means.

In A Violent Nature subverts conventional tension build-up by following the perpetrator instead of the victims. The film is naturally experimental, occasionally playing out like a video game. But as far as creative death scenes go, In A Violent Nature delivers a gory feast unlike any other. It's not a horror movie for everyone, but it's fully committed to turning the tables on the horror genre, earning a loyal fanbase.

In a Violent Nature

The horror movie tracks a ravenous zombie creature as it makes its way through a secluded forest.

11 When Evil Lurks is Horror at its Most Hopeless State

The anxiety-inducing initial minutes of When Evil Lurks give the viewer a pretty good idea of the nightmare that's about to unfold onscreen. Two men stumble upon a horrific corpse and track it down to a remote shack inhabited by the family of a possessed man. They quickly decide to get rid of the demon; a choice they will regret terribly before night breaks.

By crafting an original demoniac lore and linking it to a potential outbreak, When Evil Lurks sets the seeds of evil in motion with a hopeless narrative. No one is safe from the cruelty and depravity that falls upon a small Argentinian town, not even children and animals. Every horror sequence in the movie intends to leave the viewer's heart pumping, progressively escalating danger toward a bleak finale.

When Evil Lurks

In a remote village, two brothers find a demon-infected man just about to "give birth" to evil itself. They decide to get rid of the body, only to end up unintentionally spreading chaos.

10 Halloween Kills Was The Best Of The New Trilogy

20 Good Horror Movies Held Back By One Single Scene

Some horror movies are nearly perfect in terms of story and scare tactics, like The Evil Dead and Insidious, but have one scene that holds them back.

In 2018, Halloween was rebooted for the second time, erasing every sequel since the original movie. The new timeline picks up on the story of Laurie Strode thirty years after her night of terror with Michael, where she is now a reclusive grandmother who spends her time preparing for the return of Michael. When he escapes from a transport bus, Myers makes his way back to Haddonfield. The sequel, Halloween Kills , continues immediately from the first movie, with Michael at large and the townspeople descending into paranoia and mob mentality.

Halloween Kills alternates between the people of Haddonfield turning to vigilantism to bring down Michael, the villain going on his murder spree, and the Strode family trying to survive. The film was arguably the best Halloween movie since the original and brought major action elements to the slasher franchise. However, Halloween Kills ' divisive reception keeps it from beating out its contemporaries.

Halloween Kills

Surviving victims of Michael Myers form a vigilante mob and vow to end his reign of terror.

9 No One Will Save You Is A Terrifying Twist On The Alien Invasion

No One Will Save You focuses on a young woman, Brynn, who lives in a small town and is haunted by the tragic loss of her childhood best friend. A social pariah, she lives alone and seldom interacts with those around her. One night, she finds herself the target of an alien invader, who attacks her in her home. When Brynn kills it, she attempts to flee town but is soon cornered back into her home by more of the invaders.

No One Will Save You takes an already terrifying concept in the alien invasion and adds an element of horror to it , feeling more like a slasher than a science fiction story. The film borrows the best elements of movies like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Signs and transforms them into one of 2023's most underrated movies. Despite ending on a somewhat upbeat note, the bulk of the film's runtime is brilliantly tense terror.

No One Will Save You

An exiled anxiety-ridden homebody must battle an alien who's found its way into her home.

8 The Candyman Remake Is Better Than Its Reviews Let On

Tony Todd's role as Candyman in the original 1992 movie is one of the decade's greatest, most haunting horror performances. The cult classic was rebooted by Jordan Peele in 2021, this time telling the story of Anthony McCoy, a Chicago artist who discovers the Candyman legend and the story of Helen Lyle. When he uses her story for inspiration, McCoy inadvertently brings the Candyman legend back to life.

Peele's Candyman almost matches the original in its creepy tone and escalation of violence as McCoy seemingly transforms into the killer . Despite its mixed reviews from some audiences, the movie is worth a watch for fans of the first film as it blends social commentary and supernatural horror to revive a classic urban legend.

7 Hellraiser Helped The Franchise Finally Find Its Footing

While the original Hellraiser movie remains one of horror's creepiest stories , the franchise has been plagued with increasingly bad, low-budget sequels since the abysmal third film. That trend changed with 2022's Hellraiser , a franchise reboot, that follows a young woman, Riley, as she tries to save her friends after mistakenly summoning the Cenobites.

Hellraiser holds to the vision set by Clive Barker , with a new Pinhead and her fellow Cenobites stalking Riley and her friends as they get roped into the scheming of a wealthy sadomasochist. Undoubtedly the best adaptation of Barker's work since the second film, the 2022 reboot went all in on gore and body horror as fans are shown the brutal Cenobite kills in great detail.

6 Late Night With The Devil Is As Unique As It Is Creepy

Late Night With the Devil tells the story of a TV presenter, Jack Delroy, who hosts a girl supposedly possessed by a demon on his show to boost ratings. With a series of guests involved in the paranormal present, Jack talks with the girl, Lilly, who claims to be connected to the demon she dubs "Mr Wriggles." From there, a slow escalation of horrifying supernatural events changes the guests' views on the paranormal — especially as the demon starts to seem more real.

Late Night With the Devil stands out as one of the most unique horror films since It Follows , thanks to its retro style and mash-up of filming techniques, being something of a found footage with a twist. With David Dastmalchian cast as Jack Delroy, the film has the perfect leading actor, bringing its narrative together in a fittingly unsettling fashion.

Late Night With the Devil

A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms.

5 The Last Voyage Of The Demeter Explored An Underrated Dracula Tale

10 Scariest Vampire Movies

Vampire movies have always been a mix of romantic and terrifying. But what are some of the scariest examples of vampire movies ever?

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is an adaptation of a single chapter from Bram Stoker's original Dracula novel , following the crew of the eponymous ship as they unknowingly transport the coffin of Dracula across the sea. What begins as a standard voyage slowly descends into a masterfully executed isolated horror, as the creature of the night stalks the crew by night, picking them off when they're alone.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter follows its crew in the stormy seas as their numbers shrink to the predations of Dracula. With one of cinema's scariest depictions of Dracula to date and a harrowing setting of a ship at sea, the film stands out as one of the more unique vampire movies in recent memory, earning its high praise.

The Last Voyage of The Demeter (2023)

4 the menu is psychological horror at its finest.

The Menu follows a group of wealthy snobs who, in their desperation for social clout and a transcendent experience, attend the exclusive Hawthorne restaurant, managed by Chef Julian Slowik. However, once their night of wine and dining begins, the group suffers an increasingly intense, violent, and terrifying ordeal. Remarks and insults become threats, which become acts of violence and cruelty, including one of the chef's cooks taking his own life.

The Menu is a masterful blend of satire, dark humor, horror, and drama as Chef Slowik demoralizes his pretentious guests, from ignorant food critics to social climbers who don't even value the art form. As the night progresses, the customers begin to realize and accept that there's no escape from the fate the chef has prepared for them. The film brilliantly weaves between violent tension and dark humor, with genuine laugh-out-loud moments to balance the horror.

A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.

3 Texas Chainsaw Massacre Is Non-Stop Carnage

One of many reboots of its decade, 2022's Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows the arrival of a small group of friends to the small Texan town of Harlow, which they plan to gentrify. When they mistakenly force an elderly woman who cares for Leatherface from her home, they incur the wrath of the iconic masked killer . When the woman dies as a result of her eviction, Leatherface returns to Harlow, claims a fresh mask, and begins his biggest killing spree yet.

Throughout a single night, Leatherface claims two dozen victims and faces off against a vengeful, older Sally Hardesty. Despite criticisms, Texas Chainsaw Massacre delivers non-stop fan service, has some genuinely great jump scares, and creates the scariest version of Leatherface in over a decade.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

2 x kickstarted a creepy slasher franchise.

10 Great Modern Slasher Movies

The slasher genre has been a popular genre for years. With constant reinvention and a new spins on old tropes, there are tons of great slasher films.

X follows a small group of friends making adult movies as they rent out a small cabin beside an elderly couple's farmhouse. When the elderly woman, Pearl, discovers what the guests are doing, she descends into a spiral of violence spurred on by a life of her own sexual repression. When one of the men rejects Pearl's advances, she murders him, later setting her sights on the rest of the group, with her husband helping along the way.

X is an intense slasher that pays homage to older, exploitation-style horror , and shocks audiences every step of the way. The film kicked off a new slasher franchise for fans, with the 2021 movie excelling at taking the innocence of the elderly and turning it into a horrifying look at repression and frustration.

In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives.

1 Evil Dead Rise Continued The Franchise's Stellar Quality

The latest in Sam Raimi's iconic Evil Dead franchise, 2022's Evil Dead Rise follows a woman named Beth, who visits her sister and her kids after discovering she's pregnant. After arriving at her sister's apartment, Beth and her sister's family take refuge in the building's basement after an earthquake hits. There, the children discover an ancient tomb and find the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. When they play a recording of a man reading from the book, the kids unwittingly summon the terrifying Deadites, who possess their mom.

Evil Dead Rise focuses on Beth protecting the kids from her Deadite sister, transforming the apartment building into a gruesome maze of death and horror. The movie easily surpassed the 2013 remake of the original and took the franchise back to its terrifying roots following the comedy of Ash vs. Evil Dead . These high marks cemented its place as the 2020s best horror movie.

Evil Dead Rise

A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘MaXXXine’ on VOD, the Slashy, Sleazy ‘80s-Set Finale to Mia Goth and Ti West’s ‘X’ Trilogy

Where to stream:, new movies on streaming: ‘a quiet place: day one,’ ‘maxxxine’ + more, ‘maxxxine’ comes to digital, but when will ‘maxxxine’ be streaming on max, mia goth ascends to the highest level of scream queen in ‘maxxxine’, is a24’s ‘maxxxine’ streaming on netflix or hbo max.

This week on How Is Mia Goth Terrifying Us Now is MaXXXine ( now streaming on VOD services like Amazon Prime Video ), the third film in writer-director Ti West’s X trilogy. It began with 2022’s X , set in 1979 with Goth’s Maxine character surviving a real humdinger of a Texas Chainsaw situation. It continued with a leap back to 1918, where Goth played the title character of Pearl , who murdered her way out of a Technicolor Disney/ Wizard of Oz situation in a decidedly Lizzie Bordenesque fashion. And it concludes (reportedly, for now) with MaXXXine , Goth reanimating Maxine, who finally gets her big shot at major crossover fame, which is what she’s always truly lusted after, although she’ll have to make it through a bunch of mid-’80s references to do it. And she can do it, right? You’d be wise not to doubt her.

MAXXXINE : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: She did it! Sort of. Almost. Not quite. Maxine (Goth) is on the cusp of fame. No, more like the fringe. The scungy fringe. The gross underbelly of Hollywood where the sunlight doesn’t… quite… reach. She’s Maxine Minx now, a porn star and peep-show artist whose confidence manifests in her stiletto-heeled strut, take-no-guff attitude and particular manner of driving her creamy-white Benz convertible, namely, just gunning it and ignoring basic traffic laws, and making everyone slam on the brakes for her, all the better to draw those eyes, all those eyes. She swaggers into an audition conducted by Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki), who’s directing The Puritan II , the sequel to a slab of horror schlock capitalizing on, and further stirring, Satanic Panic outrage. Maxine gives a wrenching, tearful reading of a crucial scene – and then is asked to take her top off, because it’s 1985, and showing your breasts is an equally important part of the camera test, especially for a movie whose primary ingredient is zillion-gallon tankers of pure, uncut sleaze.

Bubbling in the background of Maxine’s quest for fame is the saga of the Night Stalker, a real-life serial killer who slashed 14 people in L.A. and the Bay Area in the 1980s. Maxine slices through Hollywood to the mellifluous sounds of Ratt and Animotion, hanging with her bestie Leon (Moses Sumney), a video store worker of course, and talking business with her bottomfeeding agent/lawyer Teddy Knight (Giancarlo Esposito). She clocks in at the peep show one day and a black-gloved guy whose face we never see drops in the coin and watches her dance, and seems to be less turned on and more enraged by it, which tells us he’s a complete wacko. I’ll give you zero guesses as to who it is, since you already know. OR DO YOU?

Congratulations are in order, because Maxine lands The Puritan II and learns that Bender is kind of insane and kind of a feminist but also an exploiter and believes the project is “a B-movie with A ideas.” Maxine also meets her co-star, notable because she’s played by Lily Collins, cast presumably because her bountiful eyebrows compensate for Goth’s nearly invisible ones. As the Night Stalker’s victims start hewing closer and closer to Maxine, the cops on the case (Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan) start sniffing around her door. She also meets John Labat, a private detective played by the grossest, nastiest bits of Kevin Bacon. Needless to say, the primary question for this movie is, what will run heavier, the blood or the mascara? NO SPOILERS.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: If X was West channeling Tobe Hooper, and Pearl was West channeling Douglas Sirk, MaXXXine is West channeling Brian De Palma. Oh, and Dario Argento (think Deep Red or Suspiria ) and Nicolas Winding-Refn (whose depiction of Gross Los Angeles in The Neon Demon was more effective). Also whoever directed all the trash you used to watch on USA Up All Night . And then the movie kind of becomes a riff on Paul Schrader’s Hardcore ?

Performance Worth Watching: I’m going to use this space wisely: to pen an ode to Goth, who’s increasingly Swintonesque in her intensity, commitment and strange allure. MaXXXine doesn’t capitalize on her abilities as much as it should, a disappointment in an otherwise pretty gross, pretty amusing ’80s pastiche. She’s still scary, good and scary-good here, although Pearl is her greatest moment yet (Oscar worthy, for my nickel – as in she should’ve WON the Oscar), and Infinity Pool is my favorite Goth outing yet, showcasing her at her most despicably, savagely unhinged.

Memorable Dialogue: Director and actress wind up on the same page:

Bender: Are you ruthless? Maxine: Yes ma’am.

Sex and Skin: A couple medium-distance shots from a porn shoot, and a depiction of a fellow’s testicular area that might be the most horrific thing I’ve seen in a movie in years.

Our Take: West damn well knows he’s trafficking in the ickiest of nostalgias, with his cheeky-ass close-ups of Maxine snorting coh-oh-oh-oh-oke and very noticeably not drinking a can of New Coke. MaXXXine is homage, it’s spoof, it’s pastiche, and just like the period-specific tones, moods and details it’s aping, it’s shameless and unsubtle. The snake eats its own tail as West slashes up Hollywood and all its crassness, exploiting its exploitative qualities during perhaps the most exploitative decade of the movie biz, when sex and splatter sold like mad thanks to the VHS boom. Nasty, nasty video nasties. 

West unapologetically rummages and roots around in the ick with a De Palma-esque fetishistic fervor. There isn’t much of a focal point to the aesthetic, although the filmmaker occasionally licks his chops at the opportunity to impale sexism on a post-#MeToo pike – the way a studio-lot security guard leers at Maxine, the use-’em-up-and-throw-’em-out M.O. applied to young actresses, the scene with the soul-crushing acting immediately followed by the equally soul-crushing show-us-your-tits bit. This era generated a lot of movies we love but whose productions were surely disturbing under the harsher glare of modern sensibilities. 

So there’s some capital-T There here, for sure, although the majority of the movie is surface-level quality entertainment – fiendish kills, period-specific references, delightfully trashy soundtrack (that Ratt track is a deep cut), misc. catnip for film buffs, Mia Goth glaring right the f— into the camera. Enjoyable as it is, MaXXXine is the least of West’s trilogy, its ending a bit mooshy and only vaguely satisfying; it ultimately nips at the heels of the out-of-nowhere freshness of X , and trails Goth’s memorably devastating, peak-of-her-powers turn in Pearl by a sizable margin. Goth at three-quarters strength in MaXXXine is still worth its weight in blank BASF tapes and acid-washed denim, though. And then some.

Our Call: MaXXXine passes the camera test and earns our attention. STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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