The Crypt Charts

The Top 13 Horror Movies of 1988

The thirteen horror films of 1988 that the crypt judged worthiest, ranked by the Crypt Score.

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Ranked by Crypt Score · Updated weekly · captured Jul 20, 2026

Eligibility: a title needs at least 2 rating sources and 1,000+ votes to chart — no thin-data entries.

1—

Dead Ringers

R1988 · Thriller, Horror · 115m · Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold, Heidi von Palleske, Barbara Gordon

Elliot, a successful gynecologist, works at the same practice as his identical twin, Beverly. Elliot is attracted to many of his patients and has affairs with them. When he inevitably loses interest, he will give the woman over to Beverly, the meeker of the two, without the woman knowing the difference. Beverly falls hard for one of the patients, Claire, but when she inadvertently deceives him, he slips into a state of madness.

IMDb 7.2MC 86🍅 86%TMDB 7.1☠ 7.4

2—

They Live

R1988 · Science Fiction, Action, Thriller · 93m · Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George Buck Flower

A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.

IMDb 7.2MC 55🍅 86%TMDB 7.3☠ 7.2

3—

The Blob

R1988 · Horror, Science Fiction, Action · 95m · Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch, Jeffrey DeMunn

In Arborville, California, three high school students try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches.

IMDb 6.7🍅 71%TMDB 6.9☠ 6.8

4—

Tales from the Gimli Hospital

1988 · Comedy, Horror · 64m · Kyle McCulloch, Michael Gottli, Angela Heck, Margaret Anne MacLeod

While their mother is dying in the modern Gimli, Manitoba hospital, two young children are told an important tale by their Icelandic grandmother about Einar the lonely, his friend Gunnar, and the angelic Snjofrieder in a Gimli of old.

IMDb 6.6MC 71🍅 78%TMDB 5.9☠ 6.7

5—

Child's Play

R1988 · Horror · 87m · Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif

After being shot in a toy store, a serial killer transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll. A mother then gifts it to her 6-year old son Andy, which unleashes terror upon the city.

IMDb 6.7MC 58🍅 65%TMDB 6.8☠ 6.6

6—

Lady in White

PG-131988 · Mystery, Horror, Thriller · 113m · Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco, Katherine Helmond

Locked in a school closet during Halloween 1962, young Frank witnesses the ghost of a young girl and the man who murdered her years ago.

IMDb 6.6MC 70🍅 67%TMDB 6.1☠ 6.6

7—

Brain Damage

R1988 · Horror, Comedy, Science Fiction · 86m · Rick Hearst, Jennifer Lowry, Gordon MacDonald, Theo Barnes

Brian comes under the addictive spell of a parasite with the ability to induce euphoric hallucinations in its hosts.

IMDb 6.5MC 61🍅 69%TMDB 6.7☠ 6.5

8—

Pin : A Plastic Nightmare

R1988 · Horror, Thriller · 103m · Jonathan Banks, David Hewlett, Cynthia Preston, Terry O'Quinn

Pin, a plastic medical dummy, has been the fixation of Leon since youth. Now grown up and orphaned in an accident, Leon brings Pin home to live with him and his sister Ursula, much to her reluctance. Soon, however, Leon's fixation on Pin spirals out of control, and Ursula must face the devastating consequences.

IMDb 6.5TMDB 6.8☠ 6.5

9—

Deadbeat at Dawn

NR1988 · Action, Crime, Drama · 81m · Jim Van Bebber, Megan Murphy, Marc Pitman, Ric Walker

Goose leaves the gang life behind after pleas from his girlfriend. But it isn't long before he's pulled back into the world of violence.

IMDb 6.5TMDB 6.3☠ 6.5

10—

The Serpent and the Rainbow

R1988 · Horror, Thriller · 98m · Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield

A Harvard anthropologist is sent to Haiti to retrieve a strange powder that is said to have the power to bring human beings back from the dead. In his quest to find the miracle drug, the cynical scientist enters the rarely seen netherworld of walking zombies, blood rites and ancient curses. Based on the true life experiences of Wade Davis and filmed on location in Haiti, it's a frightening excursion into black magic and the supernatural.

IMDb 6.4MC 64TMDB 6.4☠ 6.4

11—

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

PG-131988 · Comedy, Fantasy, Horror · 96m · Cassandra Peterson, William Morgan Sheppard, Daniel Greene, Edie McClurg

Arriving in the small town of Fallwell, Massachusetts to claim her inheritance, horror hostess Elvira receives a less than enthusiastic reception from the conservative locals, including her sinister uncle Vincent.

IMDb 6.6MC 43🍅 58%TMDB 6.7☠ 6.4

12—

Killer Klowns from Outer Space

PG-131988 · Comedy, Horror, Science Fiction · 86m · Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson, John Vernon

Aliens disguised as clowns crash land on Earth in a rural town to capture unsuspecting victims in cotton candy cocoons for later consumption.

IMDb 6.2MC 43🍅 79%TMDB 6.6☠ 6.2

13—

Monkey Shines

R1988 · Horror, Science Fiction, Drama · 113m · Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil, Joyce Van Patten

A quadriplegic man is given a trained monkey help him with every day activities, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master and those who get too close to him.

IMDb 6.2MC 71🍅 55%TMDB 6.3☠ 6.2

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