1980's Horror Movies
"The '80s were a phenomenal time for aficionados of the gruesome, the gory, and the ghoulish. Both independent and mainstream cinematic offerings delivered chills that stayed with you long after you'd left the theater and curled up in bed, wondering about what might be lurking in your closet, or just outside your window." as well." Here is every horror film I have liked so far (7 or higher) from these years.
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- DirectorTony RandelStarsDoug BradleyAshley LaurenceClare HigginsKirsty is brought to an institution after the horrible events of Hellraiser (1987), where the occult-obsessive head doctor resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites and their demonic underworld.
- DirectorClive BarkerStarsAndrew RobinsonClare HigginsAshley LaurenceA woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law and lover. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body and escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their underworld.
- DirectorNathan J. WhiteStarsGregory FortescueStevie LeeSteve DixonThe main character is stricken with a horrible disease, but it doesn't affect him. It spreads to every inamimate object that he touches, and then if another person touches the object, they are dissolved into it. No one knows that Jake is the carrier except him. This brings about the "red objects" that specify every object that he has touched, as discovered by the community with cats. They use cats to test inanimate objects for the disease. And they cover themselves in garbage bags to protect themselves.
- DirectorJohn Llewellyn MoxeyStarsMariette HartleyKathleen BellerArlen Dean SnyderAmy is the Mannings only daughter. After the death of her rich father, she lives together with her stepmother. Recently she sees a man in black following her, waiting for her in her car, wanting to kill her. The police can't help her. But who is this man in black? Is it the strange young man whom she recently dated? Or the psychologist her mother told her to visit? Or is she really insane...?
- DirectorThom EberhardtStarsAnita SkinnerCaren L. LarkeyPeggy McClureA lone survivor of a plane crash is haunted by a feeling unworthy of survival. Dead people start coming after her to collect her.
- DirectorHideshi HinoStarsHiroshi TamuraKirara YûgaoAnja BlagojevicLate at night, a woman is kidnapped by an unknown assailant and taken back to his blood-spattered dungeon, where he turns her into a "flower of blood and flesh" through a series of dismemberment and evisceration.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsLara WendelGreg RhodesMary SellersVisions of a deceased girl and her doll bring doom to the visitors of a deserted house.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEllen SandweissRichard DeManincorFive friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsCristina MarsillachIan CharlesonUrbano BarberiniA young opera singer is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.
- DirectorRichard LangStarsDennis WeaverValerie HarperRobin IgnicoA young girl begins seeing the ghost of her sister who died in an accident a year earlier.
- DirectorHolly DaleStarsGordon CurrieLouis FerreiraHelene ClarksonA vampire falls for a woman working at a donut shop.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsTomorô TaguchiKei FujiwaraNobu KanaokaA businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.
- DirectorRaúl RuizStarsGeoffrey CareyJohn Paul Getty IIIJeffrey KimeA small group of well-to-do vacationers go on a hiking trip into the woods. Foolishly unprepared to deal with Mother Nature and their situation, they wander around lost for days and weeks, becoming more and more fatigued, hungry, and desperate. A brief encounter with a pair of epicureans on a bridge fails to garner them any of the gluttons' feast due to a language barrier. Eventually their party begins to die, and the survivors ration their meat among them, attaching a religious-type ritual to its dispensation.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsChristopher GeorgeCatriona MacCollCarlo De MejoA reporter and a psychic race to close the Gates of Hell after the suicide of a clergyman caused them to open, allowing the dead to rise from their graves.
- DirectorRussell KernStarsJames AerniChopper BernetRex CutterThe planet Jupiter has moved closer to the Earth causing an increased gravitation pull which affects the human brain, and people with certain blood types in higher elevations. The result is that the citizens in a town in the Rocky Mountains have become blood-hungry, flesh-eating, and insane.
- DirectorJay WoelfelStarsNick BaldasareRick KeslerSusan PinskyBen hasn't been able to dream since the deaths of his parents, but as he attempts to make human connections, his nightmares begin to spill over into all of their waking lives.
- DirectorGianfranco GiagniStarsRoland WybengaPaola RinaldiMargareta von KraussAlan Whitmore, a young American researcher, goes to Budapest to visit Professor Roth, with whom he collaborated on a secret project called "Intextus" while a mysterious killer in on the loose...
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsGeneviève BujoldHeidi von PalleskeTwin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsTerry PotterPete O'HerneCraig SmithThe population of a small town disappears and is replaced by aliens that chase human flesh for their intergalactic fast-food chain.
- DirectorTun-Fei MouStarsGang WangDai Yao WuRunshen WangJapanese troops round up Chinese and Russian prisoners of war and take them to unit 731, where they're horribly tortured and experimented on to test new biological weapons.
- DirectorWilliam WesleyStarsTed VernonMichael David SimmsRichard VidanCriminals hijack a plane and force the pilot and his daughter to fly them to Mexico. However, an unexpected landing finds them in a cemetery inhabited by killer scarecrows.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsKristy McNicholChrista LangVernon WeddleA trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that's been raised to attack black people.
- DirectorBigas LunaStarsZelda RubinsteinMichael LernerTalia PaulA controlling mother uses telepathic powers to send her middle-aged son on a killing spree.
- DirectorGerald KarglStarsErwin LederRobert Hunger-BühlerSilvia RyderA troubled man gets released from prison and starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsHeather LangenkampJohnny DeppRobert EnglundTeenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
- DirectorGoran MarkovicStarsRade SerbedzijaErland JosephsonDusica ZegaracThis is a true story of the famous Variola epidemic outbreak in Belgrade.
- DirectorRaphaël DelpardStarsIsabelle GogueyCharlotte de TurckheimMichel FlaviusYoung Martine begins working as a nurse at Deadlock House, a secluded grande retirement home, but from the beginning not everything is as it seems, strange residents each with their own quirks and a rather macabre dietary supplement to their vegetarian diet are ruled by the strict Miss Helene, and her suspicions are soon raised when her co-worker who has taken her leave for two months leaves without her suitcase.
- DirectorWilliam HaleStarsCharles FieldsLiane LanglandJoyce Van PattenA young boy is taken over by demons who force him to commit murder.
- DirectorArmand WestonStarsRobin GrovesChristopher LoomisMichael David LallyA writer suffering from agoraphobia rents an isolated house so she can concentrate on her writing. She doesn't know that the house is a former brothel, and is inhabited by the ghosts of dead prostitutes.
- DirectorBruno MatteiClaudio FragassoStarsMargie NewtonFranco GarofaloSelan KarayAfter an experiment gone wrong, a virus that turns people into zombies spreads throughout New Guinea. A female reporter and her cameraman, and a team of four commandos sent to investigate try to survive the onslaught.
- DirectorFrancis LeroiStarsAnny DupereyJean-Claude BrialyPierre SantiniOn an island, things start going crazy as the islands house hold appliances go rogue. It's up to Dr. Gabrielle Martin to discover what's causing this evil, and much more.
- DirectorJohn IrvinStarsCraig WassonAlice KrigeFred AstaireTwo generations of men find themselves haunted by the presence of a spectral woman. When the son of one of the elderly men returns to his hometown after his brother's mysterious death, they attempt to unravel her story.
- DirectorHark TsuiStarsNorman ChuEddy KoMelvin WongA secret agent investigates a village that is populated by crazed, inbred cannibals.
- DirectorEthan WileyStarsArye GrossJonathan StarkRoyal DanoThe new owner of a sinister house gets involved with reanimated corpses and demons searching for an ancient Aztec skull with magic powers.
- DirectorGary ShermanStarsJames FarentinoMelody AndersonJack AlbertsonSheriff Dan Gillis investigates eerie deaths in a sleepy coastal town.
- DirectorDean AliotoStarsTommy GiavocchiniPatrick KelleyShirly McCallaOn a typical fall evening in 1983, a young man was videotaping his niece's 5th birthday party. As the night's strange occurrences took place, he kept his video camera running, recording the entire event.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsJoseph Alan JohnsonStefania Orsola GarelloMatteo GazzoloA group of people stay at a run down hotel, unknown to them the hotel has a dodgy past with the landlord.
- DirectorKuen YeungStarsNorman ChuPhillip KoMaria JoA Hong Kong taxi driver's life horribly falls apart after accidentally hitting a sorcerer with his cab. He decides to seek the sorcerer's help to turn the curse on his enemies at the expense of his own life.
- DirectorKatt SheaStarsStarr AndreeffCyril O'ReillyDebbie NassarA vampire follows his instincts to a strip joint where he focuses in on one of the performers. He picks her for his meal because she is contemplating suicide, but he wants to share her life before taking it, and during the course of the evening they discuss their differences, their fears, and their lifestyles. As the moment of truth approaches, the woman becomes less sure that she wants to die.
- DirectorJeff BurrStarsVincent PriceClu GulagerTerry KiserIn a small Tennessee town, a historian relates four horror stories to a reporter.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeff GoldblumGeena DavisJohn GetzA brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.
- DirectorLarry CohenStarsMichael MoriartyAndrea MarcovicciGarrett MorrisA delicious, mysterious goo that oozes from the earth is marketed as the newest dessert sensation, but the tasty treat rots more than teeth when zombie-like snackers who only want to consume more of the strange substance at any cost begin infesting the world.
- DirectorDick MaasStarsHuub StapelWilleke van AmmelrooyJosine van DalsumA lift technician finds himself drawn into a web of mystery and peril as he investigates the perplexing deadly accidents occurring in the elevators of a new office building.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsJack HedleyAlmanta SuskaHoward RossA burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.
- DirectorRichard CiupkaStarsJohn VernonSamantha EggarLinda ThorsonSix young actresses auditioning for a movie role at a remote mansion are targeted by a mysterious masked murderer.
- DirectorRoger ChristianStarsKathryn HarroldZeljko IvanekShirley KnightA disturbed telepathic man is unable to fully control his ability to transmit his dreams and visions into the minds of the people around him, or even influence reality. A female therapist tries to help him, but his mother gets in the way.
- DirectorZoran TadicStarsIvica VidovicFabijan SovagovicBozidarka FrajtAfter moving to a new neighborhood, a mysterious man starts introducing his landlord to the hobby of collecting crime statistics.
- DirectorFrank De FelittaStarsCharles DurningRobert F. LyonsClaude Earl JonesIn a small Southern town, four vigilantes wrongfully execute a mentally-challenged man, but after the court sets them free mysterious "accidents" begin to kill them off one by one.
- DirectorJohn HoughStarsJohn CassavetesJohn IrelandKerrie KeaneA small town's doctor takes matters into his own hands after a series of gruesome and bizarre rape crimes perplex the clueless authorities.
- DirectorRuggero DeodatoStarsDavid HessAnnie BelleChristian BorromeoTwo 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.
- DirectorLindsey C. VickersStarsEdward WoodwardJane MerrowSamantha WeysomA British horror film that starts with a bang, then settles into a slow-moving examination of one day in the life of a British family--a day full of tension and foreboding.
- DirectorLewis JacksonStarsBrandon MaggartJeffrey DeMunnDianne HullA toy factory worker, mentally scarred as a child upon learning Santa Claus is not real, suffers a nervous breakdown after being belittled at work, and embarks on a Yuletide killing spree.
- DirectorUlli LommelStarsSuzanna LoveJohn CarradineRon JamesThrough the reflection in the mirror, a girl witnesses her mother's boyfriend's murder.
- DirectorHideshi HinoStarsShigeru SaikiMari SomeiMasami HisamotoAn artist rescues a mermaid in a sewer who develops bleeding sores all over her body, paints a portrait with her oozes and eventually disjoints her.
- DirectorHerbert WiseStarsAdrian RawlinsBernard HeptonDavid DakerA lawyer travels to a small seaside town to settle the estate of a recently deceased woman, but soon becomes ensnared in something much more sinister.
- DirectorScott SpiegelStarsLiz KernRenée EstevezDan HicksThe overnight stock crew of a local supermarket find themselves being stalked and slashed by a mysterious maniac.
- DirectorAndrew FlemingStarsJennifer RubinBruce AbbottRichard LynchThe lone survivor of a suicide cult wakes from a thirteen-year coma in a psychiatric ward, where other patients suddenly start dying under mysterious and gruesome circumstances.
- DirectorMichael GornickStarsGeorge KennedyLois ChilesDomenick JohnThree macabre tales from the latest issue of a boy's favorite comic book, dealing with a vengeful wooden Native American, a monstrous blob in a lake, and an undying hitchhiker.
- DirectorJack SholderStarsKyle MacLachlanMichael NouriClaudia ChristianA cop and an FBI agent race for answers after law abiding people suddenly become violent criminals.
- DirectorAgustí VillarongaStarsGünter MeisnerDavid SustMarisa ParedesA former Nazi child-killer is confined in an iron lung inside an old mansion after a suicide attempt. His wife hires him a full-time carer, a mysterious young man who is driven slowly mad by the old man's disturbing past.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames WoodsDebbie HarrySonja SmitsA programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.
- DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosStarsPeter WellerJennifer DaleLawrence DaneA man becomes destructively obsessed with killing a dangerous rat, which has taken residence in his recently renovated house.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
- DirectorJuan Piquer SimónStarsMichael GarfieldKim TerryPhilip MacHaleKiller slugs on the rampage in a rural community.
- DirectorJames SignorelliStarsCassandra PetersonPhil RubensteinLarry Flash Jenkins"Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" is a 1988 comedy, horror movie - upon arriving in a small town where Elvira has inherited a rundown mansion, the famous horror host must battle an evil uncle, and townspeople who want her burned at the stake.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAdrienne BarbeauJamie Lee CurtisJanet LeighAn unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsGeorge C. ScottTrish Van DevereMelvyn DouglasAfter the death of his wife and daughter in a car crash, a music professor staying at a long-vacant Seattle mansion is dragged into a decades-old mystery by an inexplicable presence in the mansion's attic.
- DirectorBrett LeonardStarsJeremy SlateCheryl LawsonStephen Gregory FosterThe arrival of an amnesiac patient in a psychiatric hospital somehow frees a mad doctor, who was shot and entombed with his fiendish experiments in an abandoned wing of the asylum 20 years before.
- DirectorMary LambertStarsDale MidkiffDenise CrosbyFred GwynneAfter tragedy strikes, a grieving father discovers an ancient burial ground behind his home with the power to raise the dead.
- DirectorLuigi CozziStarsFlorence GuérinUrbano BarberiniCaroline MunroAn actress starts seeing visions of a witch character called Levana, which she's supposed to play in an upcoming horror movie, and slowly begins to discover a supernatural plot against her life.
- DirectorAugusto CaminitoKlaus KinskiStarsKlaus KinskiBarbara De RossiYorgo VoyagisProfessor Paris Catalano visits Venice, to investigate the last known appearance of the famous vampire Nosferatu during the carnival of 1786.
- DirectorLamberto BavaStarsUrbano BarberiniNatasha HoveyKarl ZinnyA group of random people are invited to a screening of a mysterious movie, only to find themselves trapped in the theater with ravenous demons.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsLori CardilleTerry AlexanderJoseph PilatoAs the world is overrun by zombies, a group of scientists and military personnel sheltering in an underground bunker in Florida must decide on how they should deal with the undead horde.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
- DirectorJoe D'AmatoStarsGeorge EastmanAnnie BelleCharles BorromelA priest-doctor chasing a man with supernatural regenerative abilities, who has recently escaped from a medical lab, reaches a small town where the mutant goes on a killing spree.
- DirectorJohn Llewellyn MoxeyStarsDavid NaughtonDorian HarewoodMarilyn JonesA Los Angeles student working as a coroner's assistant falls in love with a strange young woman.
- DirectorWilliam AsherStarsJimmy McNicholSusan TyrrellBo SvensonAn orphaned teenager finds himself being dominated by his aunt who's hell-bent on keeping him with her...at all costs.
- DirectorChih-Hung KueiStarsFei AiMelvin WongFanny Fen-NiWhile possessed by an evil spirit, a man murders his daughter. A police detective investigating the case also becomes possessed. A good monk helps fight the evil spirit.
- DirectorJohn HoughStarsSarah TorgovTerence KellyMark EricksonA group of travellers make emergency landing on an island in the Pacific Northwest after their seaplane malfunctioned, and stumble across an isolated and psychopathic family.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMickey RourkeRobert De NiroLisa BonetA private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.
- DirectorEd BianchiStarsLauren BacallJames GarnerMichael BiehnDouglas, a record salesman, is an obsessive fan of actress Sally Ross. When his letters are rejected, he strikes out at her and her loved ones.
- DirectorH. Tjut DjalilStarsIlona Agathe BastianYos SantoSofia W.D.A woman researches a book that takes her to the black magic cult of Leák in Bali. She meets an evil witch who promises to train her dark arts. But she is tricked and turned into a flying vampire with internal organs hanging from her neck.
- DirectorCarl SchenkelStarsTim MathesonPamela Sue MartinBarbara BillingsleyA young newlywed couple move into a remote seacoast village only to find a secret coven of witches who want them to join all the fun, or face the consequences.
- DirectorBuddy GiovinazzoStarsRick GiovinazzoVeronica StorkMitch MaglioA dangerously disturbed Vietnam veteran struggles with life 15 years after his return home, and slowly falls into insanity from his gritty urban lifestyle.
- DirectorKevin TenneyStarsTodd AllenTawny KitaenStephen NicholsWhen his girlfriend becomes dangerously obsessed with a ghost she contacted using a Ouija board, Jim reluctantly joins forces with her ex-his own estranged childhood best friend-to identify and exorcise the evil spirit.
- DirectorWalter GraumanStarsJane BadlerKevin ConroyCharles FrankA powerful family that controls the world's banks has made a deal with Satan to help the forces of evil take over the world. An underground group named The Judges bands together to try to stop them.
- DirectorRobert HiltzikStarsFelissa RoseJonathan TierstenKaren FieldsBunks and showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsIsabelle AdjaniSam NeillMargit CarstensenA woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
- DirectorJohn HoughVincent McEveetyStarsBette DavisLynn-Holly JohnsonKyle RichardsWhen a family moves to a country home, the young girls experience strange happenings that have a link to an occult event years past.
- DirectorWilliam Peter BlattyStarsStacy KeachScott WilsonJason MillerAn ex-marine psychiatrist attempts to rehabilitate his patients by indulging their fantasies, and seeks to prove the existence of a loving God to one especially troubled inmate.
- DirectorTimothy O'RaweStarsDennis DriscollKathleen HeidingerDavid WeberFour strangers are summoned to the basement of a abandoned house by a mysterious entity known only as The Sentinel. One after another, they are forced to witness heinous deeds they have yet to commit - and which will damn them for all eternity.
- DirectorJim MakichukStarsRiva SpierMurray OrdSheri McFaddenThree friends on a New Year's Eve snowmobiling excursion find themselves stranded at an abandoned lodge where the elderly female innkeeper is concealing a sinister secret.
- DirectorThierry NotzStarsAndrew StevensStarr AndreeffGeorge KennedyWhen chemical warfare leaves the world barren and filled with mutated monsters, a band of survivors in an underground complex battle one of the creatures that was able to break in.
- DirectorHarley CokelissStarsJemma RedgraveKathleen WilhoiteTimothy SpallA young woman about to be married begins having terrifying dreams about demons. When she wakes, however, the demons are real and begin to commit gruesome murders.
- DirectorTom HollandStarsCatherine HicksChris SarandonAlex VincentA struggling single mother unknowingly gifts her son a doll imbued with a serial killer's consciousness.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceLisa BlountJameson ParkerA group of graduate students and scientists uncover an ancient canister in an abandoned church, but when they open the container, they inadvertently unleash a strange liquid and an evil force on all humanity.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsWilliam PetersenKim GreistJoan AllenFormer FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.
- DirectorTom HollandStarsChris SarandonWilliam RagsdaleAmanda Bearse"Fright Night" sees a teenager believing that the newcomer in his neighborhood is a vampire. He turns to an actor in a television hosted horror movie show for help to deal with the undead.
- DirectorDouglas HickoxStarsRichard WidmarkKeith CarradineKathleen QuinlanA police officer suspects that a local husband and father who has recently undergone facial surgery because of injuries received in a car accident is in reality the same man who committed a quadruple murder several years before.
- DirectorJohn CarrPhillip MarshakTom McGowanStarsBarbara WylerJamie ScogginStacey Lyons"Night Train to Terror" is a 1985 horror anthology movie where God and Satan are on a train discussing the fate of three individuals.