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
American Gothic
›R1987 · Horror · 90m · Rod Steiger, Yvonne De Carlo, Michael J. Pollard
When six friends fly off on a weekend getaway and are suddenly plagued by engine trouble, they're forced to land on a remote island. Looking for shelter, they're grateful to encounter Ma and Pa and their children - an eccentric family living in the island's backwoods. But what begins as simple hospitality turns into a terrifying race for survival as the friends start disappearing one by one ... and turning up dead.
The Deadly Spawn
›R1983 · Horror, Science Fiction · 81m · Charles George Hildebrandt, Tom DeFranco, Richard Lee Porter
When a meteorite touches down in the New Jersey woods carrying a monstrous alien slug, it’s up to four teens to stop it before it’s terrifying brood consumes all life on Earth!
Fear City
›R1984 · Drama, Crime, Mystery · 95m · Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams, Jack Scalia
Strippers in Manhattan are being stalked and murdered by a psycho. A hard-nosed police detective and a conflicted ex-boxer-turned-private-eye, hired by the strip club owners, set out to find him before he strikes again.
Turkey Shoot
›R1982 · Science Fiction, Action, Horror · 93m · Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, Michael Craig
In the near future, after an unspecified holocaust, survivors are herded into prison camps. There, they are hunted for sport by the leaders of the camp. Paul, one of the newest prisoners, is determined not to go down as quietly as the others.
Fade to Black
›R1980 · Drama, Horror, Thriller · 102m · Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomerson, Gwynne Gilford
A lonely film buff embarks on a killing spree against those who browbeat and betray him, all the while stalking a Marilyn Monroe lookalike.
Spellbinder
›R1988 · Horror, Drama, Romance · 99m · Tim Daly, Kelly Preston, Rick Rossovich
After leaving work one night, Los Angeles attorney Jeff Mills and his colleague rescue a young, beautiful woman from an abusive boyfriend. Jeff soon becomes romantically involved with her and embroiled in the web of intrigue that follows her, despite a string of ominous happenstances and repeated warnings from his secretary.
Faceless
›1988 · Horror · 98m · Helmut Berger, Brigitte Lahaie, Telly Savalas
A detective investigating a missing model in Paris uncovers a plastic surgeon’s horrifying secret.
Harlequin
›PG1980 · Drama, Fantasy, Horror · 95m · Robert Powell, David Hemmings, Carmen Duncan
Up-and-coming senator Nick Rast's young son is terminally ill with leukemia. A mysterious faith healer, Gregory Wolfe, appears and seems to cure the boy. Rast's wife Sandy falls in love with Wolfe, but the powerful interests behind Rast's career, represented by geriatric monster Doc Wheelan are less happy with events.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
›PG1986 · Crime, Horror, Mystery · 100m · George C. Scott, Rebecca De Mornay, Ian McShane
A detective comes out of retirement to help his daughter's fiance prove that he did not commit a series of murders.
The Rosary Murders
›R1987 · Crime, Mystery, Thriller · 105m · Donald Sutherland, Charles Durning, Belinda Bauer
A priest is put in a dilemma when the serial killer who has been murdering priests and nuns confesses to him.
Relentless
›R1989 · Mystery, Thriller, Horror · 92m · Judd Nelson, Robert Loggia, Leo Rossi
Two Los Angeles police detectives hunt for a serial killer who randomly chooses his victims from a phone directory.
Shallow Grave
›R1987 · Horror, Thriller · 89m · Tony March, Lisa Stahl, Tom Law
When four young college girls stumble upon a murder, they find themselves targeted by a killer who will stop at nothing to silence them.
Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except
›NR1985 · Crime, Action, Thriller · 84m · Brian Schulz, Robert Rickman, John Manfredi
Jack Stryker took two bullets in the leg in Vietnam and was carried back by one of his men. When he returns, he tries to live a quiet life in his cabin and go back out with his girlfriend, Sally.
The Attic
›PG1980 · Horror · 101m · Carrie Snodgress, Ray Milland, Ruth Cox
A librarian devotes her life to caring for her wheelchair-bound tyrannical father after being stood up at altar. She fantasizes his death and finds joy only with her pet monkey. When the monkey disappears, a shocking past is revealed.
Deadline
›1980 · Horror, Thriller, Drama · 90m · Stephen Young, Sharon Masters, Marvin Goldhar
A horror film about a screenwriter who loses the ability to distinguish between his fantasy world and the real world, with disastrous consequences. As he ruminates on his place in any world and loses his grip, he also loses his wife and his children's respect, and critics tear him apart. The final undoing of this screenwriter is a deadline that must be met at all costs, costs that perhaps are too great.
The Bad Seed
›1985 · Drama, Thriller, Horror · 100m · Blair Brown, Lynn Redgrave, David Carradine
Rachel is a 9-year-old girl who is perfection itself - unless she's crossed or challenged. Several disturbing recent incidents have led Rachel's mother Christine to suspect that her child is a latent murderess. Upon discovering that she herself is the daughter of a convicted killer, Christine becomes convinced that sweet little Rachel is a "bad seed" - an inherent killer who feels no remorse because she doesn't know any better.
Night Life
›R1989 · Horror, Comedy · 92m · Scott Grimes, John Astin, Cheryl Pollak
Archie works part-time at his uncle's mortuary and is harassed by a few of the popular kids because of it. His harassers die in an automobile accident, and the bodies are taken to his uncle's mortuary. Archie is pulling a late night at the mortuary when he sees a storm brewing. Lightening strikes! They're alive! The preppie bullies continue to torment him...as zombies!
Jason Lives - Friday the 13th Part VI
›R1986 · Horror, Thriller · 86m · Thom Mathews, Jennifer Cooke, David Kagen
Tommy Jarvis, tormented by the fear that maybe Jason isn't really dead, unwittingly resurrects the mass murderer for another bloody rampage.
Maniac Cop
›R1988 · Action, Horror, Mystery · 85m · Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon
A killer dressed in a police uniform begins murdering innocent people on the streets of New York City.
The Gate
›PG-131987 · Horror, Fantasy · 86m · Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp
Three young children accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard. What follows is a classic battle between good and evil as the three kids struggle to overcome a nightmarish hell that is literally taking over the Earth.
The House on Sorority Row
›R1982 · Horror, Mystery, Thriller · 91m · Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Ward
When the senior sorority sisters of Theta Pi decide to do in their demented house mother, someone seeks revenge, and begins a night of terror and madness.
10 to Midnight
›R1983 · Crime, Drama, Thriller · 102m · Charles Bronson, Lisa Eilbacher, Andrew Stevens
Warren Stacy, an office equipment repairman, begins murdering women after they reject his advances. To minimize the evidence, Stacy always kills while naked, wearing nothing but gloves, and further evades the law with his strong alibis. Veteran detective Leo Kessler is convinced of Stacy's guilt and begins using questionable methods to catch him.
Gothic
›R1987 · Horror · 88m · Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson
Living on an estate on the shores of Lake Geneva, Lord Byron is visited by Percy and Mary Shelley. Together with Byron's lover Claire Clairmont, and aided by hallucinogenic substances, they devise an evening of ghoulish tales. However, when confronted by horrors, ostensibly of their own creation, it becomes difficult to tell apparition from reality.
The Believers
›R1987 · Horror, Mystery, Thriller · 114m · Martin Sheen, Helen Shaver, Harley Cross
Mourning the accidental death of his wife and having just moved to New York with his young son, laconic police psychologist Cal Jamison is reluctantly drawn into a series of grisly, ritualistic murders involving the immolation of two youths.