Horror - 80s Style!
by samberdina | created - 18 Nov 2015 | updated - 25 Sep 2020 | PublicGather for the creepy, scary or cheesy horror of the 1980s! Many classics were born in that decade. Thank goodness for the B-horror that actually added lots of unforgettable moments to the horror genre. Without the wealth of special effects and CGI, the famous 80s B-horror is in a class all its own. This list resurrects some of those awesome titles, some from the 70s. I included some, now famous films, because in the 70s and 80s, they were considered B-movies and weren't recognized as much more than that. Hatchets and nudity - awesome throwback party fodder!
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1. The Final Terror (1983)
R | 84 min | Horror
A group of rangers go camping on unfamiliar forest grounds. All's well until the group members start getting killed by a cunning killer in the woods.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: John Friedrich, Adrian Zmed, Ernest Harden Jr., Lewis Smith
Votes: 3,737
Perfect example of actors before they were famous. This is a great film. Shot outdoors, cinematography was wonderful. Sound, acting, wounding, killing and even a well-written story made this another of my faves.
2. Friday the 13th (1980)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of teenage camp counselors attempt to re-open an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past, but they are stalked by a mysterious, relentless killer.
Director: Sean S. Cunningham | Stars: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan
Votes: 157,268 | Gross: $39.75M
Back in the day, it wasn't given a second glance by critics. There's still an ominous tone and a couple of surprises. The foundation was enough to keep going for years.
3. Prom Night (1980)
R | 92 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
At a high-school senior prom, a masked killer stalks four teenagers who were responsible for the accidental death of a classmate six years previously.
Director: Paul Lynch | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin
Votes: 20,889 | Gross: $14.80M
Jamie Lee Curtis herself - the Scream Squeen! Well arranged film. Excellent choice for an 80s movie night.
4. My Bloody Valentine (1981)
R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A decades-old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day turns out to be true to legend when a group defies the killer's order and people start turning up dead.
Director: George Mihalka | Stars: Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Keith Knight
Votes: 25,068 | Gross: $5.67M
There's a remake, but nothing tops the original, imo.
5. April Fool's Day (1986)
R | 89 min | Horror, Mystery
Nine college students staying at a friend's remote island mansion begin to fall victim to an unseen murderer over the April Fool's Day weekend, but nothing is as it seems.
Director: Fred Walton | Stars: Deborah Foreman, Griffin O'Neal, Clayton Rohner, Jay Baker
Votes: 18,356 | Gross: $12.95M
You see the progression of clothing styles in this one. Worth the watch.
6. Night School (1981)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Who's been decapitating the innocent girls at a local night school? The police are baffled.
Director: Ken Hughes | Stars: Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder, Joseph R. Sicari
Votes: 3,243 | Gross: $1.17M
7. The Funhouse (1981)
R | 96 min | Horror
Four teenagers visit a local carnival for a night of innocent amusement, but soon discover that nothing there is innocent or amusing.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Elizabeth Berridge, Shawn Carson, Jeanne Austin, Jack McDermott
Votes: 16,259 | Gross: $7.89M
8. Terror Train (1980)
R | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Three years after a prank went terribly awry, the six college students responsible are targeted by a masked killer at a New Year's Eve party aboard a moving train.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Ben Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hart Bochner, David Copperfield
Votes: 13,831
The Scream Queen joins a traveling party. Mayhem ensues, along with other surprises. I like a horror flick with Jamie Lee Curtis - this one's well-done.
9. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
R | 84 min | Horror
Bunks and showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.
Director: Robert Hiltzik | Stars: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Karen Fields, Christopher Collet
Votes: 37,994 | Gross: $11.00M
Excellent example of an 80s "slasher" with more than slashing to hold your attention. Sleepaway Camp has a creepy vibe along with a total jaw-dropper. The film has some sequels but none as good as this one. A must-watch! Plus, could these shorts get any higher?
10. Cheerleader Camp (1988)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A group of cheerleaders become the targets of an unknown killer at a remote summer camp.
Director: John Quinn | Stars: Betsy Russell, Leif Garrett, Lucinda Dickey, Lorie Griffin
Votes: 3,954
11. The Burning (1981)
R | 91 min | Horror
A former summer camp caretaker, horribly burned from a prank gone wrong, lurks around an upstate New York summer camp bent on killing the teenagers responsible for his disfigurement.
Director: Tony Maylam | Stars: Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua
Votes: 22,244
12. The Prowler (1981)
R | 89 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An unknown killer, clad in World War II U.S. Army fatigues, stalks a small California town, bent on reliving a 35 year-old double murder by focusing on a group of college kids holding an annual graduation dance.
Director: Joseph Zito | Stars: Vicky Dawson, Christopher Goutman, Lawrence Tierney, Farley Granger
Votes: 12,979
13. Intruder (1989)
R | 83 min | Horror, Thriller
The overnight stock crew of a local supermarket find themselves being stalked and slashed by a mysterious maniac.
Director: Scott Spiegel | Stars: Liz Kern, Renée Estevez, Dan Hicks, David Byrnes
Votes: 11,124
14. He Knows You're Alone (1980)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A young bride-to-be is being stalked upon by a serial killer in Staten Island. She gets help from a former lover, but will they manage to escape?
Director: Armand Mastroianni | Stars: Don Scardino, Caitlin O'Heaney, Elizabeth Kemp, Tom Rolfing
Votes: 4,236
15. The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Four college students are stalked by an unknown assailant while staying on campus over the Christmas holidays to help clear out a dormitory which is to be demolished.
Directors: Stephen Carpenter, Jeffrey Obrow | Stars: Laurie Lapinski, Stephen Sachs, David Snow, Pamela Holland
Votes: 2,461
16. Halloween (1978)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes
Votes: 306,509 | Gross: $47.00M
Pro movie, but still viewed in the B category back in the day (despite the appearance of the famous Scream Queen!).
17. Motel Hell (1980)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the "special meat" they are famous for.
Director: Kevin Connor | Stars: Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod
Votes: 13,596 | Gross: $6.34M
18. Sorority House Massacre (1986)
R | 74 min | Horror
College student Beth and her sorority sisters are stalked by an escaped psychopathic killer who shares a strange telepathic link with her.
Director: Carol Frank | Stars: Angela O'Neill, Wendy Martel, Pamela Ross, Nicole Rio
Votes: 3,913
19. X-Ray (1981)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
While receiving a routine check-up, a woman finds herself stranded on the hospital's eighth floor, while someone dressed as a doctor is intent on her never leaving, even if it means killing any staff member who comes into contact with her.
Director: Boaz Davidson | Stars: Barbi Benton, Charles Lucia, Jon Van Ness, John Warner Williams
Votes: 3,363
20. Alone in the Dark (1982)
R | 92 min | Horror, Thriller
A few dangerous and delusional mental patients break out of a mental asylum during a power blackout, and lay siege to their new doctor's house, who, they believe, killed their previous doctor.
Director: Jack Sholder | Stars: Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence, Martin Landau, Dwight Schultz
Votes: 6,987
21. Blood Lake (1987)
Not Rated | 82 min | Horror
6 teenagers are partying one weekend. One couple disappears, only to be found brutally murdered. A blood thirsty killer is stalking them. One by one bodies begin to show up, as they become prey to the vengeance-seeking maniac.
Director: Tim Boggs | Stars: Doug Barry, Angela Darter, Mike Kaufman, Andrea Adams
Votes: 683
22. Are You in the House Alone? (1978 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A teenage girl is harassed by a stalker who torments her with threatening notes and phone calls.
Director: Walter Grauman | Stars: Kathleen Beller, Blythe Danner, Tony Bill, Robin Mattson
Votes: 1,405
23. Don't Go in the House (1979)
R | 82 min | Horror
A disturbed young man who was burned as a child by his sadistic mother stalks women with a flamethrower.
Director: Joseph Ellison | Stars: Dan Grimaldi, Charles Bonet, Bill Ricci, Robert Carnegie
Votes: 5,230
24. Unhinged (1982)
Unrated | 79 min | Horror
Three young women who crash their car during a rainstorm are taken in by a bizarre family at their large, rural estate.
Director: Don Gronquist | Stars: Laurel Munson, Janet Penner, Sara Ansley, Virginia Settle
Votes: 1,971
25. Slaughterhouse (1987)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Horror
The owner of a slaughterhouse facing foreclosure instructs his obese and mentally disabled son to go on a killing spree against the people who want to buy his property.
Director: Rick Roessler | Stars: Joe B. Barton, Don Barrett, Sherry Leigh, Bill Brinsfield
Votes: 2,895
26. Just Before Dawn (1981)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
Five young people venture into the backwoods of Oregon to claim a property, and find themselves being stalked by a hulking, machete-wielding psychopath.
Director: Jeff Lieberman | Stars: George Kennedy, Mike Kellin, Chris Lemmon, Gregg Henry
Votes: 7,124
27. The House on Sorority Row (1982)
R | 91 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
After a seemingly innocent prank goes horribly wrong, a group of sorority sisters are stalked and murdered one by one in their sorority house while throwing a party to celebrate their graduation.
Director: Mark Rosman | Stars: Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Ward, Robin Meloy
Votes: 9,951 | Gross: $1.29M
A cult classic, this is a very well-done flick. Worth the watch.
28. Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
R | 110 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
At the snobby Crawford Academy, Virginia's group of friends start to go missing years after horrible events that happened to her as a child around her birthday.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker
Votes: 11,211
29. Final Exam (1981)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
A psycho killer shows up on college campus to slash up pretty co-eds and dumb jocks.
Director: Jimmy Huston | Stars: Cecile Bagdadi, Joel S. Rice, Ralph Brown, DeAnna Robbins
Votes: 4,613
30. Graduation Day (1981)
R | 96 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A masked killer begins murdering students on the school track team after a track runner dies upon completion of a 30 second 200-meter race.
Director: Herb Freed | Stars: Christopher George, Patch Mackenzie, E. Danny Murphy, E.J. Peaker
Votes: 4,872 | Gross: $23.89M
31. House on the Edge of the Park (1980)
91 min | Horror, Thriller
Two low-life punks invite themselves to a party at a posh villa and after being taunted by their snobbish hosts, hold everyone hostage and subject them to various forms of torture and mayhem.
Director: Ruggero Deodato | Stars: David Hess, Annie Belle, Christian Borromeo, Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Votes: 5,932
32. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
On the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, John Steadman, Janus Blythe
Votes: 39,189 | Gross: $25.00M
The film that started it all. I love the remake and the sequel, but you have to pay homage to the original.
33. Twisted (1986)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
Alienated teenager Mark uses his evil genius to manipulate his family and intimidate his peers. When a sensitive neighbor offers to baby sit, her disturbing past make her perfect prey for the reign of electronic terror Mark has in store.
Director: Adam Holender | Stars: Lois Smith, Christian Slater, Dina Merrill, Tandy Cronyn
Votes: 517
34. Night of the Comet (1984)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls fighting against cannibal zombies and a sinister group of scientists.
Director: Thom Eberhardt | Stars: Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Robert Beltran, Sharon Farrell
Votes: 24,094 | Gross: $14.42M
Classified as horror, I did wonder "why aren't you guys a little more horrified?" Well done film, combining horror, thrills, suspense and a surprise element. Also, another actor on the rise.
35. Maximum Overdrive (1986)
R | 98 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
A group of people try to survive when machines start to come alive and become homicidal.
Director: Stephen King | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith
Votes: 35,758 | Gross: $7.43M
Never considered a box office great, Maximum Overdrive does have Emilio Estevez in a B-movie developed from a little-known Stephen King story. The set is awesome, especially for a B-movie. The action and storyline makes the movie strange enough to hold your attention till the end.
36. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
R | 77 min | Horror
A female high school student's slumber party turns into a bloodbath, as a newly escaped psychotic serial killer wielding a power drill prowls her neighborhood.
Director: Amy Holden Jones | Stars: Michele Michaels, Robin Stille, Michael Villella, Debra De Liso
Votes: 17,867
Not a knife or a gun or a machete. Massacre - drill-style?
37. Nightmare (1981)
R | 97 min | Horror
A mental patient embarks on a murder spree upon escaping from an institution.
Director: Romano Scavolini | Stars: Baird Stafford, Sharon Smith, C.J. Cooke, Mik Cribben
Votes: 4,426
38. Bug (1975)
PG | 99 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
An earthquake releases a strain of mutant cockroaches with the ability to start fires, which proceed to cause destructive chaos in a small town. The studies carried out by scientist James ... See full summary »
Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: Bradford Dillman, Joanna Miles, Richard Gilliland, Jamie Smith-Jackson
Votes: 2,634 | Gross: $3.60M
Well-developed and weird. The movie travels the B-train till the odd ending.
39. Blood Beach (1980)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Something is attacking and killing people on the beach. David and Mariana, old friends, search for clues where they played as kids to uncover the mysterious creature.
Director: Jeffrey Bloom | Stars: David Huffman, Marianna Hill, Burt Young, Otis Young
Votes: 2,857
The remake is better, but props for what the 80s started.
40. The Boogens (1981)
R | 95 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Otherworldly creatures are released from the bootleg tunnels underneath a small-town mining community, and begin chomping on the locals.
Director: James L. Conway | Stars: Rebecca Balding, Fred McCarren, Anne-Marie Martin, Jeff Harlan
Votes: 3,113
41. Killer Party (1986)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Horror
In order to join a sorority, three friends go to a hazing party in an old house where a sadistic bloodthirsty demonic spirit is lying in wait.
Director: William Fruet | Stars: Martin Hewitt, Ralph Seymour, Elaine Wilkes, Paul Bartel
Votes: 2,644 | Gross: $0.68M
The first part of the synopsis doesn't come close to the plot. So those of you expecting a horror movie, you're in the right place. However, I wouldn't suggest ruining my film experience by reading the lengthy continuation of the synopsis on the next page.
42. Blood Hook (1986)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Horror
During a local fishing contest, people are being violently dragged into the lake and killed by a giant fish hook.
Director: Jim Mallon | Stars: Mark Jacobs, Lisa Jane Todd, Patrick Danz, Sara Hauser
Votes: 1,699
Characteristic of the decade - unique 'slasher.'
43. New Year's Evil (1980)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
During a New Year's Eve celebration, a Los Angeles disc jockey receives a phone call saying that when New Year's strikes in each time zone, someone will be murdered - and she will be the last one.
Director: Emmett Alston | Stars: Roz Kelly, Kip Niven, Chris Wallace, Grant Cramer
Votes: 3,835
44. Madman (1981)
R | 88 min | Horror, Thriller
A legendary psychopathic murderer stalks a summer camp.
Director: Joe Giannone | Stars: Gaylen Ross, Tony Nunziata, Harriet Bass, Seth Jones
Votes: 6,719
45. Bad Ronald (1974 TV Movie)
Unrated | 74 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A perverted teenage boy who lives in the walls of a house finds the house sold to a family after his mother dies, then he falls for one of the new residents.
Director: Buzz Kulik | Stars: Scott Jacoby, Pippa Scott, John Larch, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 2,409
Sort of like Willard - ominous, creepy and dripping with strange. 'Weird' Ronald seems appropriate. Of course, he earns his "bad".
46. Hide and Go Shriek (1988)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
A group of teenagers spend the night in a furniture store for a graduation party. A psycho killer starts hunting them down one by one.
Director: Skip Schoolnik | Stars: Bunky Jones, Brittain Frye, Annette Sinclair, George Thomas
Votes: 2,014
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