Greatest Horror Movies From the 1980s

The 1980s reinvented the horror genre and were a golden age for horror movies as many of the best horror franchises got their start.

There may have never been a better decade for horror movies than the 1980s, when many of the greatest horror franchises got their start — franchises which continue to pump out movies into the 2020s.

We live in a time where it’s never been easier to access every single one of those horror movies because of the digital streaming era. So, if you’re looking for something scary to watch, these are the greatest horror movies from the 1980s. Make sure to keep a light on.

30. The Fog

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Release date: Feb. 1, 1980

Director: John Carpenter

Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Houseman, Janet Leigh, Hal Holbrook

Box office: $21.3 million

Bottom line: Director John Carpenter had to be on this list. We went back-and-forth about whether to include his best film of the 1980s — “The Thing” starring Kurt Russell — but ultimately decided it was a sci-fi film more than a horror film when it came to the primary genre.

That being said, “The Fog” is excellent and teams Carpenter back up with the muse that changed his career, Jamie Lee Curtis. And it was just two years after her “Halloween” debut.

29. April Fool’s Day

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Release date: March 27, 1986

Director: Fred Walton

Starring: Jay Baker, Deborah Foreman, Deborah Goodrich, Ken Olandt, Griffin O’Neal, Leah King Pinsent, Clayton Rohner, Amy Steel, Thomas F. Wilson

Box office: $13 million

Bottom line: “April Fool’s Day” definitely blurs the line between slasher film and horror film. Although we like to make the argument that there isn’t inherently a difference between the two.

Either way, “April Fool’s Day” plays with some pretty interesting genres, including murder mystery. The tale of college students going to an island for a weekend of debauchery sucks you in from the start and got a really, really bad remake in 2008 that went direct-to-video.

28. The Hunger

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Release date: April 29, 1983

Director: Tony Scott

Starring: Susan Sarandon, David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve, Cliff De Young, Dan Hedaya, Beth Ehlers

Box office: $10.2 million

Bottom line: The late Tony Scott would go on to become one of the most venerated action movie directors of all time, making hits like “Top Gun,” “True Romance,” “Crimson Tide,” “Enemy of the State,” and “Man on Fire” before his death by suicide in 2012.

Before all of that, Scott dipped his toe in the vampire genre with the creepy, slow-burning “The Hunger.” It was a box-office flop that set him on the path to making mainstream movies.

“The Hunger” still contains Scott’s distinctive style. Great filtered light. Dusty rooms. And people longingly thinking about adventures ahead. Just this time, it’s vampires.

27. Child’s Play

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Release date: Nov. 9, 1988

Director: Tom Holland

Starring: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Brad Dourif, John Franklin

Box office: $44.2 million

Bottom line: The cottage industry of evil doll “Chucky” begins with the 1988 film “Child’s Play,” one of two films from director Tom Holland to make the list of greatest 1980s horror flicks.

The premise of the movie boils down to “evil, possessed doll” but doesn’t really do it justice. Chucky doesn’t become possessed until a voodoo ritual transfers the soul of a serial killer into the physical doll, setting off the killing and chaos that ensues.

“Child’s Play” writer Don Mancini thought up the idea for his script based on the consumerism he loathed all around him during the 1980s — in particular his abhorrence of the craze for Cabbage Patch Kids. This is one way to get your feelings out, Don.

26. Creepshow

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Release date: Nov. 10, 1982

Director: George A. Romero

Starring: Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Carrie Nye, E.G. Marshall, Vivica Lindfors, Ted Danson

Box office: $21 million

Bottom line: This was Stephen King’s first produced screenplay. It was a horror/comedy anthology that included a pair of his short stories.

The great cult hit from the 1980s gives us a lot of bang for our buck — five separate stories along with a prologue and epilogue that tie things together.

Our favorite of the group is “Something to Tide You Over” starring the late Leslie Nielsen and Ted Danson.

25. The Monster Squad

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Release date: Aug. 14, 1987

Director: Fred Dekker

Starring: Andrew Gower, Robby Kiger, Stephen Macht, Duncan Regehr, Stan Shaw, Tim Noonan

Box office: $12 million

Bottom line: One of the biggest internal debates we had in putting together this list was how we ranked horror comedies or if we included them at all. That being said, there weren’t too many even considered.

“The Monster Squad” was one of the ones that tipped the scales in favor of horror comedies. While it came and went at the box office pretty quickly in the summer of 1987, kids from that era clung to it tightly over the years — first on VHS, then DVD, and now on streaming services.

So much absolute trash gets remade into movies and TV shows, but not this? Come on, Hollywood studios, do your thing and bring us the 10-part series we deserve.

24. Friday the 13th

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Release date: May 9, 1980

Director: Sean S. Cunningham

Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon

Box office: $59.8 million

Bottom line: The “Friday the 13th” franchise is almost universally associated with the main villain being deranged, hockey mask-wearing killer Jason Voorhees. However he’s not the main villain in the first film.

That would be … well, we don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t seen it before, but it’s not him. And while future movies in the “Friday the 13th” franchise would expertly use Jason and his machete, “Friday the 13th Part 2” in 1981 was a clumsy take.

Keep an eye out for a young Kevin Bacon in one of his first roles. For some reason, Bacon was attracted to genre classics to begin with as he also had a supporting role in “Animal House” in 1978.

23. Re-Animator

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Release date: Oct. 18, 1985

Director: Stuart Gordon

Starring: Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale, Robert Sampson, Jeffery Combs

Box office: $2 million

Bottom line: “Re-Animator” understood the moviegoing audience in the 1980s as well as any horror movie. It’s a deranged scientist/zombie trip with humor and a plot that jumps around like hot grease on the stove.

One interesting thing about “Re-Animator” was how it propelled the career of writer/director Stuart Gordon, who was one of the highest-grossing directors in the world by the end of the decade thanks to the smash-hit “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” franchise for Disney.

22. Hellraiser

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Release date: Sept. 10, 1987

Director: Clive Barker

Starring: Doug Bradley, Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Nicholas Vince

Box office: $14.6 million

Bottom line: The 1980s gave us some of our greatest horror villains of all time. And legendary director Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser” and its main pinned-out antagonist — listed just as “Cenobite Leader,” but better known as Pinhead — almost automatically became a part of pop culture.

“Hellraiser” came from a series of novellas, also written by Barker. The film was made for $1 million, grossed almost $15 million and led to a whopping nine sequels. Although none of them would be directed by Barker.

21. The Evil Dead

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Release date: Oct. 15, 1981

Director: Sam Raimi

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandwweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly

Box office: $2.9 million

Bottom line: The tentacles of the low-budget horror film “The Evil Dead” have defined Hollywood for the last four decades, most notably in director Sam Raimi and editors Joel and Ethan Coen, who became Academy Award-winning filmmakers with such classics as “Blood Simple,” “Fargo,” “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “No Country for Old Men.”

While “The Evil Dead” was critically praised and a sleeper hit in theaters, it got its real footing when author Stephen King called it one of his favorite films and eventually became a trilogy with “Evil Dead 2” (1987) and “Army of Darkness” (1990).

Raimi went on to direct some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters of all time, including the first three films in the “Spider-Man” franchise.

20. The Changeling

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Release date: March 28, 1980

Director: Peter Medak

Starring: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos, Jean Marsh, Helen Burns, Madeleine Sherwood

Box office: $12 million

Bottom line: Some of the best horror movies wrap other genres into the fold. In this case, it’s a murder mystery/haunted mansion/ghost story wrapped up in the horror genre.

Another way to make sure your horror movies pop and make awesome lists like this one? Get a big-time star to lead the cast. In this case, that’s Academy Award winner George C. Scott, who plays a broken man trying to unwind the mystery of his rented Victorian mansion.

Want to be really scared? The movie was inspired by real-life events.

19. Gremlins

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Release date: June 8, 1984

Director: Joe Dante

Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly HOlliday, Frances Lee McCain

Box office: $212.9 million

Bottom line: It seemed like there wasn’t anyone in America who didn’t go see “Gremlins” in the summer of 1984. A movie that makes $212.9 million at the domestic box office in 2021 is usually considered a massive hit. That’s what “Gremlins” made in 1984 — and it’s comparable to almost $600 million today.

What’s amazing about Joe Dante’s film is the stars weren’t the humans. The stars were the cute and cuddly Gizmo and his reptilian offspring, led by Spike. Who we’d like to enter into the pantheon of great movie creatures.

18. Pet Sematary

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Release date: April 21, 1989

Director: Mary Lambert

Starring: Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Blaze Berdahl, Miko Hughes, Michael Lombard, Denise Crosby

Box office: $51.5 million

Bottom line: We’re not sure how the film version of “Pet Sematary” wasn’t a bigger hit. Because it’s awesome. It did pretty well at the box office, making $52.5 million against just $11.5 million for its budget. But it had a few things holding it back.

Mainly, King worked into his contract when selling the rights that the movie had to be filmed in Maine, which must have been tough to broach when approaching stars for the project. This was one of King’s better screenplays as well.

17. Silver Bullet

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Release date: Oct. 11, 1985

Director: Dan Attias

Starring: Corey Haim, Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Megan Follows, Terry O’Quinn, Tovah Feldshuh

Box office: $12.4 million

Bottom line: Upon its release in 1985, “Silver Bullet” came and went with little fanfare at the box office. It might be because the name of King’s original work this movie was based on was “Cycle of the Werewolf.” Changing the title for the film release wasn’t a good idea. But the movie still is.

Corey Haim and Gary Busey work incredibly well together. The scenes between Busey as Uncle Red and Haim as his nephew are some of the funnest to watch. Nothing tops the werewolf transformation and brutality that this movie offers.

It’s definitely one of the best werewolf movies of all time and King’s only real foray into that specific horror genre as a writer.

16. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

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Release date: April 13, 1984

Director: Joseph Zito

Starring: Corey Feldman, Kimberly Beck, Peter Barton, E. Erich Anderson, Crispin Glover, Ted White, Alan Hayes, Barbara Howard, Lawrence Monoson, Joan Freeman, Jodie Aronson, Camila and Carey More

Box office: $33 million

Bottom line: No, smart guys and gals, this wasn’t “The Final Chapter” in the “Friday the 13th” series. It’s actually the fourth of 12 films.

This one was the best of the 13, however, and we like to think it’s because the producers had decided that the film series, having fallen off the critical map with the second and third films, needed to come to an end.

What makes this movie tick? That’s none other than one of the greatest child actors of all time, Corey Feldman, who plays horror flick junkie Tommy Jarvis for the first time, reprising the role in two more sequels.

If you’re only going to watch one of the “Friday the 13th” movies at Halloween, make it this one. And thank us later.

15. Night of the Comet

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Release date: Nov. 16, 1984

Director: Thom Eberhardt

Starring: Robert Beltran, Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Sharon Farrell, Mary Woronov

Box office: $14.4 million

Bottom line: The concept of female protagonists is way ahead of its time and works perfectly here. Combined with a post-apocalyptic/zombie plotline, you’ve got a movie that really sings and seems like more of a precursor to our love of a show like “Stranger Things” than anything else.

One cool aside is that one of the lead roles was actually supposed to be “Nightmare on Elm Street” star Heather Langenkamp but eventually went to Kelli Maroney. Director Thom Eberhardt went from making horror to eventually becoming the director and writer behind “Captain Ron” starring Kurt Russell in 1992.

14. Waxwork

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Release date: June 17, 1988

Director: Anthony Hickox

Starring: Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, Michelle Johnson, David Warner, Dana Ashbrook, MIles O’Keeffe, Patrick Macnee, John Rhys-Davies

Box office: $808,000

Bottom line: The only film on this list to not make at least $1 million at the box office, “Waxwork” was a bomb that became destined to scare the bejeezus out of late-night cable viewers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It also was enough of a hit on video rentals that a direct-to-video sequel came out in 1992.

One of the interesting things about “Waxwork” is that it was one of two 1980s horror classics starring Zach Galligan in the lead. He also played the main role in “Gremlins” and in the sequels of both movies.

One thing “Waxwork” doesn’t get enough credit for is mixing so many different horror genres, including vampires, werewolves and a mummy.

13. The Howling

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Release date: March 13, 1981

Director: Joe Dante

Starring: Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone, Belinda Balaski, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim PIckens, Elisabeth Brooks

Box office: $17.9 million

Bottom line: This is the second of two films from director Joe Dante to make the list. He also directed “Gremlins,” but this is the far superior of the two films in regards to the horror genre.

What’s crazy about “The Howling” coming out in 1981 is that it was released in the same year as “An American Werewolf in London.” That gave us two of the great werewolf movies of all time in a single year, although the two films couldn’t be more different.

“The Howling” has a mystery at its heart. It starts as a thriller about tracking down a serial killer, then evolves into something else. If that fact doesn’t scream 1980s, we don’t know what does. “The Howling” spawned seven sequels total, with four more in the 1980s alone.

12. The Return of the Living Dead

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Release date: Aug. 16, 1985

Director: Dan O’Bannon

Starring: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Caifa, Thom Matthews

Box office: $14.2 million

Bottom line: The genesis of “Return of the Living Dead” goes back to the original partnership between screenwriter John A. Russo and director George A. Romero on the original “Night of the Living Dead” film in 1968.

The two had a splits-right agreement that gave Russo all rights to properties with “Living Dead” in the title, while Romero was allowed to have his own series, which began with “Dawn of the Dead” — arguably the better known of the two in modern times.

The premise of “Return” was essentially punks vs. zombies, and it’s awesome. While not a huge hit at the time, it generated four sequels.

11. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

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Release date: Feb. 27, 1987

Director: Chuck Russell

Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Patricia Arquette, Larry Fishburne, Priscilla Pointer, Craig Wasson, John Saxon, Dick Cavett, Zsa Zsa Gabor

Box office: $44.8 million

Bottom line: Of all the “Nightmare” sequels — the franchise has nine films, including a reboot — this is the best outside of the original film.

Why does it hit home like it does? One part is casting. Star Heather Langenkamp is brought back into the fold after sitting out the original sequel. Plus, there are performances by Oscar winner Patricia Arquette and Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne.

The real kicker is a great origin story, which in this case is the origin story for Freddy Kreuger, “the son of 1,000 maniacs.”

10. The Shining

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Release date: May 23, 1980

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd

Box office: $47 million

Bottom line: The history of “The Shining” comes back to an unusually bad look for Stephen King, who famously beefed with director Stanley Kubrick over his adaptation. We can obviously look back and say King needed to lay back in the cut on this one.

Jack Nicholson brought one of the most famous characters in movie history to life with tortured, haunted writer Jack Torrance, but we need to give props to Shelley Duvall as his wife and, more than anything, Scatman Crothers as Dick Halloran. Because he’s damn good.

“The Shining” is as much a psychological thriller as it is a horror movie in some spots, so it doesn’t necessarily fall in line with some of the other classic horror films on this list. But it still packs a punch.

9. The Fly

Twitter / EmHorrorQueer

Release date: Aug. 15, 1986

Director: David Cronenberg

Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz

Box office: $60.6 million

Bottom line: Few movies have pumped as much abject fear on a truly psychological level that moved to the physiological level as well as director David Cronenberg’s remake of “The Fly” starring Jeff Goldblum.

That’s no surprise considering Cronenberg’s other works. “The Fly” actually represents the only Academy Award won by any Cronenberg film in his 50-plus year career when it brought home the award for Best Makeup.

Horror movies are inherently violent. The gruesomeness of how Cronenberg does it in “The Fly” and the visceral reaction from audiences is a testament to both his talent and the talents of his two stars, Goldblum and Geena Davis.

8. Poltergeist

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Release date: June 4, 1982

Director: Tobe Hooper

Starring: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight, Heather O’Rourke, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Zelda Rubinstein

Box office: $121.7 million

Bottom line: Any discussion of “Poltergeist” comes back to its creators — director Tobe Hooper and producer/writer Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg was making “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” at the same time as Poltergeist was being filmed and not contractually allowed to direct two films at once, but all stories from “Poltergeist” production center on Spielberg being hands-on. To the point of essentially directing the film alongside Hooper.

That’s not totally fair to Hooper, who Spielberg initially approached about making an alien/horror film that could be a spiritual sequel to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” another Spielberg film. But it was Hooper who pushed the partnership toward a ghost story.

7. Near Dark

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Release date: Oct. 2, 1987

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein, Tim Thomerson

Box office: $3.4 million

Bottom line: If we could implore people to watch any movie on this list, it’s probably Kathryn Bigelow’s great “Near Dark” — a vampire movie that’s almost been forgotten to time at this point.

“Near Dark” was a box-office flop when it came out, making just $3.4 million at the box office against its $5 million budget. But it has gained a cult following over the years.

Bigelow’s directing chops are on full display here. And she went on to make “Point Break” and became the first female to win an Academy Award for Best Director for “The Hurt Locker” in 2009.

6. The Lost Boys

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Release date: July 31, 1987

Director: Joel Schumacher

Starring: Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Jami Gertz, Billy Wirth, Brooke McCarter, Alex Winter

Box office: $32.2 million

Bottom line: This teenage vampire story was a smash hit in the summer of 1987 and featured some of the most talented up-and-coming young actors in the game, including Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and Jami Gertz.

Director Joel Schumacher had a lot of notable flops later in his career, but he was at the peak of his powers in the late 1980s. He made eight films between 1985 to 1995 that included “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “The Lost Boys,” “Flatliners,” “Dying Young,” “Falling Down,” “The Client,” and “Batman Forever.”

That was the first of two films in the Batman franchise. We won’t talk about the second one.

5. Day of the Dead

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Release date: July 19, 1985

Director: George A. Romero

Starring: Lori Cardile, Terry Alexander, Joe Pilato, Richard Liberty

Box office: $34 million

Bottom line: Moviegoers got a double dose of classic zombie films from the team behind “Night of the Living Dead,” cocreators George A. Romero and John A. Russo. Romero backed “Day of the Dead.” Russo was behind “Return of the Living Dead.” And the films came out just months apart.

While “Return” is great, it’s “Day” that is the winner in that particular race, and Romero was nothing but ambitious when he made it, calling his film the “‘Gone With the Wind of zombie movies.” Although its reception was much less rapturous, its greatness has been acknowledged over the ensuing decades.

4. A Nightmare on Elm Street

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Release date: Nov. 9, 1984

Director: Wes Craven

Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Johnny Depp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Nick Corri

Box office: $57 million

Bottom line: One of the most influential, groundbreaking horror films of all time brought us an iconic villain that’s provided nightmare fuel for almost 40 years in the hideously burned Freddy Kreuger.

Why was “Nightmare” so successful? The common school of thought is the movie was the first to play with the audience’s perceptions as far as what is real and what is happening in the nightmares of the characters. It’s such a common trope now that we don’t appreciate how that initial round of terror hit us in the face.

Oh, and we also got a young Johnny Depp in his first role.

3. Evil Dead 2

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Release date: March 13, 1987

Director: Sam Raimi

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Richard Domeier

Box office: $10.9 million

Bottom line: “The Evil Dead” was critically praised and a sleeper hit in theaters when it was released in 1981, but it got its real footing when author Stephen King called it one of his favorite films a few years later. Eventually, it became a trilogy with “Evil Dead 2” (1987) and “Army of Darkness” (1990).

Raimi went on to direct some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters of all time, including the first three films in the “Spider-Man” franchise.

2. Fright Night

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Release date: Aug. 2, 1985

Director: Tom Holland

Starring: Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Stephen Geoffreys, Roddy McDowall, Jonathan Stark

Box office: $24.9 million

Bottom line: An almost perfectly crafted horror movie, “Fright Night” has aged surprisingly well over the ensuing decades. Meaning, it should still scare the daylights out of you.

Director Tom Holland had two films make this list — he also directed “Child’s Play” — but his story of teenage outsider Charlie Brewster and his epic battle with a nightmare of a next-door neighbor is one fans go back to every Halloween. An all-time horror classic earned its spot on this list.

Pro tip: The remake isn’t as bad as people make it out to be.

1. An American Werewolf in London

IMDb

Release date: Aug. 21, 1981

Director: John Landis

Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine

Box office: $62 million

Bottom line: Made on a budget of just a shade under $6 million by the late John Landis, “American Werewolf” was a massive box-office hit. Still, it wasn’t exactly a precursor to the director Landis would become with “Coming to America” and “Trading Places” among his greatest hits.

Instead, “American Werewolf” was horror perfection. It’s the greatest werewolf film of all time. The man-to-wolf transitions still reign supreme, and it engages as a horror movie on more levels than that.

Special shout-out to make-up effects artist Rick Baker, who won the first of seven Academy Awards for Best Makeup for “American Werewolf” in 1981, and special shout-out to actor Griffin Dunne, who stole scenes as the (dead) best friend of our hero, David.