Decade
1980s Horror
The horror that defined the 1980s — ranked by Crypt Score, from era-defining classics to the deep cuts worth resurrecting.
625 titles
Mother's Day
›NR1980 · Action, Horror, Comedy · 91m · Nancy Hendrickson, Deborah Luce, Tiana Pierce
Three girls discover that two men are willing to do anything to impress Mother and what impresses Mother is watching her sons commit acts of rape and murder. Now these women are prisoners and lowered to pawns in the game of checkers between two dim wits and their Maniac Mommy and the question becomes, can any of them escape, alive?
Rawhead Rex
›R1986 · Horror · 89m · David Dukes, Niall Tóibín, Cora Lunny
Ireland will never be the same after Rawhead Rex, a particularly nasty demon, is released from his underground prison by an unwitting farmer. The film follows Rex's cross country rampage, while a man struggles to stop it.
Crawlspace
›R1986 · Horror, Thriller · 80m · Klaus Kinski, Talia Balsam, Barbara Whinnery
A man who runs an apartment house for women is the demented son of a Nazi surgeon who has the house equipped with secret passageways, hidden rooms and torture and murder devices.
Killer Workout
›R1987 · Horror, Thriller · 84m · Marcia Karr, David James Campbell, Fritz Matthews
Two years ago, a young woman named Valerie was burned after entering a tanning salon. Now, Rhonda runs a local gym where all of a sudden, people are being murdered.
Cheerleader Camp
›R1988 · Comedy, Horror, Thriller · 89m · Betsy Russell, Leif Garrett, Lucinda Dickey
A cheerleader named Alison is plagued by nightmares about the upcoming all-state finals and attends a summer training camp with her teammates. When a number of deaths start occurring at the camp, Alison's nightmares turn twisted and brutal, and she begins to believe that she may be responsible for the mayhem.
Doom Asylum
›R1988 · Horror, Comedy · 79m · Patty Mullen, Ruth Collins, Kristin Davis
A demented former lawyer uses autopsy equipment to kill off the teenagers who trespass on the long-abandoned asylum he inhabits. Filmed on location in an actual abandoned asylum.
He Knows You're Alone
›R1980 · Horror, Thriller · 94m · Don Scardino, Caitlin O'Heaney, Elizabeth Kemp
A reluctant bride-to-be is stalked by a serial killer who only kills brides and the people around them. While her friends get whacked one by one, a hard-boiled renegade cop whose bride had been killed years before tries to hunt the killer down before it is too late.
Bloody New Year
›R1987 · Horror · 94m · Suzy Aitchison, Nikki Brooks, Colin Heywood
A group of friends take refuge in an island hotel decorated for New Year's. The problem is, it's early summer, and soon enough, even the walls themselves are striking out against them.
Not of This Earth
›R1988 · Horror, Comedy, Science Fiction · 81m · Traci Lords, Arthur Roberts, Lenny Juliano
An alien arrives on Earth looking to take human blood in an attempt to preserve his dying planet.
Don't Open Till Christmas
›R1984 · Thriller, Horror, Mystery · 87m · Edmund Purdom, Alan Lake, Belinda Mayne
It's just days before Christmas in London, but not everyone is full of good cheer - as a maniac with a pathological hatred of Santa Claus stalks the streets, butchering any man that’s unlucky enough to be wandering around dressed as Old Saint Nick.
To All a Goodnight
›R1980 · Horror, Mystery, Thriller · 87m · Jennifer Runyon, Forrest Swanson, Linda Gentile
A group of teenagers at a party find themselves being stalked by a maniacal killer in a Santa Claus costume.
The Unholy
›R1988 · Horror · 102m · Ben Cross, Ned Beatty, William Russ
A priest battles a demon that kills sinners in the act of sinning.
Flesh-Eating Mothers
›R1988 · Comedy, Horror · 89m · Robert Lee Oliver, Donatella Hecht, Neal Rosen
A venereal disease turns an entire town of two-timing mothers into cannibals!
Jaws of Satan
›R1982 · Horror, Mystery, Thriller · 92m · Fritz Weaver, Gretchen Corbett, Jon Korkes
A preacher whose ancestors were Druids battles Satan, who has taken the form of a huge snake.
Psycho Cop
›R1989 · Horror · 87m · Robert R. Shafer, Jeff Qualle, Palmer Lee Todd
Officer Joe Vickers would probably make a good policeman if it weren't for his two nasty habits. Firstly, he is a devoted satanist; secondly - he likes to kill people. When he meets a group of teenagers spending their vacation in a wood hut, he decides to investigate.
Scared to Death
›R1980 · Science Fiction, Horror · 93m · John Stinson, Diana Davidson, Jonathan David Moses
A series of hideous murders is taking place, and Inspector Capell and cop-turned-novelist Lonergan are investigating. The murders are found to be the work of an out-of-control experiment in genetic engineering. The two men must descend into the city's sewer systems to destroy the horrific miscreation. It won't be hard to find, as it's already looking for its next victims...
Grotesque
›R1988 · Horror · 89m · Linda Blair, Tab Hunter, Donna Wilkes
A gang of crazed punkers breaks into a family's vacation home in the mountains and slaughters the entire family, except for one daughter who gets away. As the gang pursues the girl through the snow, they slowly realize that some kind of murderous creature is chasing them...
Chiller
›PG-131985 · Horror, Science Fiction, TV Movie · 100m · Michael Beck, Beatrice Straight, Laura Johnson
A wealthy industrialist arranges for his body to be kept on ice in a high-tech cryonic chamber. When the instructions are not followed properly, he emerges from the frozen crypt as an empty, soulless creature with an appetite for destruction.
Beyond Evil
›R1980 · Horror · 94m · John Saxon, Lynda Day George, Michael Dante
Middle-aged newlyweds Larry & Barbara spend their honeymoon at a palatial Filipino mansion, unaware that it is inhabited by the vengeful spirit of a notorious voodoo witch queen who was murdered a century ago. The woman's evil spirit promptly begins precipitating a variety of violent deaths in accordance with a diabolical ritual intended to bring her back to life -a process which is ultimately consummated by taking possession of Barbara's body.
Hard Rock Zombies
›R1985 · Comedy, Horror, Music · 98m · E.J. Curse, Geno Andrews, Sam Mann
A hard rock band travels to the tiny and remote town of Grand Guignol to perform. Peopled by hicks, rubes, werewolves, murderous dwarves, sex perverts, and Hitler, the town is a strange place but that doesn't stop the band's lead singer from falling in love with a local girl named Cassie. After Nazi sex perverts kill the band to satisfy their lusts, Cassie calls the rockers back from the grave to save her, the town, and maybe the world.
Slaughterhouse Rock
›R1988 · Horror · 90m · Toni Basil, Nicholas Celozzi, Tom Reilly
A man visits Alcatraz prison after having dreams about all the people who died there. When he gets there, his brother is possessed by an evil cannibal demon. The ghost of a female heavy metal singer who was killed there tries to help the man fight the monster.
Demented
›R1980 · Crime, Horror, Thriller · 87m · Sallee Young, Harry Reems, Deborah Alter
A woman is gang-raped in a horse's stable, and even though the rapists are caught and imprisoned, she is harassed many moons later by ghastly visions of her tormentors, while her husband philanders and every little thing frightens her out of her wits.
Deadly Games
›R1982 · Horror, Mystery, Crime · 95m · Jo Ann Harris, Sam Groom, Steve Railsback
A masked maniac with a penchant for a monster-themed board game is playing his own twisted game with the women of a small American town. Each time the dice are rolled, another victim meets a grisly end. Returning home to mourn the death of her murdered sister, Keegan befriends local cop Roger and reclusive cinema projectionist Billy — but soon finds herself in the killer's sights.
Friday the 13th Part VII - The New Blood
›R1988 · Horror, Thriller · 88m · Lar Park Lincoln, Kane Hodder, Terry Kiser
Tina Shepard, a telekinetic teenage girl, accidentally unchains Jason from his watery grave, allowing him to go on another killing spree in the area.
