’80s horror is far more than it’s cracked up to be. Unlike the ’70s which were loaded with iconic films, zombie masterpieces, and paranormal gems, the slasher-heavy decade of the ’80s brought some renowned classics and little treasures as well. Admittedly, there were a great deal of questionable films in the ’80s, as slashers became the norm, and violent goofiness rose to prominence. Effects were at their cheesiest, and borderline parody seemed to be a draw for audiences. To some extent, people began really wanting silliness in their gory horror. Amidst the cheese, however, there was a slew of outright great and criminally overlooked horror flicks. These films still showcased atmosphere, slow builds, and genuine creepiness. It wasn’t purely killer flicks, though even many of the slashers don’t get the credit they deserve for being the stars of solid films.
One thing’s for certain – directors in the ’80s still knew how to scare, and they aimed to prove it any chance they had. So, today we’re going to count down a few of the scariest horror films the ’80s had to offer. Many of these are widely known, while others will feel like surprising picks. There’s no particular ranking in the list, but a little piece of advice: be sure to watch every one of them, as they represent a great decade that’s still being used as a reference in current pop culture icons directly inspired by what made the ’80s the best decade for commercial cinema.
Updated on August 17th, 2023 by Federico Furzan: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
20 Children of the Corn (1984)
Children of the Corn, despite any and all critiques, aged incredibly well. Inspired by the work of Stephen King (a name that you will show up more than once on this list), the film tells the story of an unfortunate couple who get stranded in a town that’s in the middle of nowhere, and where kids have taken command.
They’re following a religious norm that calls for violence against adults and arguably everyone who sins. The film’s well executed, but ultimately it’s the idea that makes it a frightening film that will make you doubt taking your next road trip. The opening sequence in the diner is, to this very day, one of the most terrifying scenes on film.
19 The Funhouse (1981)
Tobe Hooper doesn’t get nearly enough credit for this all-encompassing fright, and that’s possible because he made The Texas Chain Saw Massacre years prior. The Funhouse is hard to categorize, though it’s mostly framed under slasher tropes.
Regardless, Hooper incorporates almost every element of horror here. It has it all – brutal killings, the paranormal, a deformed monster, and scared teenagers. You couldn’t expect much more from this sincerely disturbing, early ¿80s movie with a couple of unforgettable jump scares and a monster that will make you think before saying “Oh, carnivals! Those were pretty fun back in the day”.
18 Poltergeist (1982)
Tobe Hooper shows up again with the thing he did best: scare audiences out of their minds. Only this time, he came into every home and got inside the veins of ’80s America to plant a seed of absolute terror. In Poltergeist, the Freelings are an energic family of five that represent the best of the middle class.
A huge house where they’re building a swimming pool, a real estate business that seems to go really well, and just about every toy sold in the ’80s in the children’s bedroom. The thing is, this house comes with something. An evil presence that pulls Carol Anne inside and doesn’t let go. This conventional deconstruction of the American dream is one of the best horror films ever made.
17 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Everyone sleeps. It’s a bodily function you can’t avoid. So, what if sleeping were dangerous? Not because you’re afraid of never waking up, but because something lurks in your nightmares: a burned psychopath with a glove that has knives coming out of it that will slash your body to pieces if he can catch you.
A Nightmare on Elm Street was Wes Craven’s masterpiece that put the slasher genre above the usual rules and added a mystical element that simply made it more complex. It’s not about naked women running while a guy in a mask tries to kill them. It’s about vulnerable people whose only sin was being born in a family whose parents served justice to a child predator years ago, and now the spirit of the monster is back to haunt their kids.
16 Hellraiser (1987)
In Hellraiser, a man is after the exploration of pain as an inherent part of desire and lust. A device will show him exactly that. It will also open up the gates of another realm where ancient beings known as cenobites reside. All of this is framed in a story about a family starting over in a new house that used to belong to the man in question.
His brother’s new wife and his daughter come to live in the house he once owned. However, his wife is also deeply in love with his brother whose spirit resides in the attic and can materialize in this world if the woman brings him more victims for him to feed on. If you thought this was weird, wait until the very scary cenobites start showing up and become hell’s real estate dealers.
15 Pet Sematary (1983)
Pet Sematary is a jarring experience that still haunts us to this day. Inspired by Stephen King’s novel of the same name, it tells the story of a father who will do anything for his family. As they move to a small town, their neighbor tells them of a pet cemetery in the woodlands. He also tells them of an area they should step on that’s beyond the cemetery.
So, what happens when Gage, is killed and run over by a truck? The father takes the little boy’s body and buries him in an Indian burial ground that brings the dead back to life. What comes back isn’t exactly… cute. Still, this isn’t the scariest thing in the film. We’ll leave that to Zelda, one of the most effective horror characters in the ’80s that still haunts our dreams.
14 Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Sleepaway Camp is so much more than a standard ’80s campy slasher and that comes down to the atmosphere. Although it’s shot in a beautiful location, a feeling of dread permeates throughout the entirety of Sleepaway Camp. It’s eerie from start to finish. The kills are all inventive.
But it’s that ending that makes it a great pick to be on this list. Because if you stayed for the kills and for enjoying classic ’80s material, then the ending will make you change your mind. It is simply one of the scariest final shots of all time. Pay no attention to those who wish to condemn it because of its depiction of gender dysphoria. It’s much more than that.
13 The Changeling (1980)
The Changeling is a very well-made haunted house movie. It relies on atmosphere, and what the audience doesn’t see, to truly frighten the hell out of us. There are no over-the-top ghosts or mangled children with stringy hair crawling – just sounds and the occasional spine-chilling visual.
It tells the story of a composer who after a tragedy that killed his wife and daughter, decides to move into an old house where something lurks in the dark. We won’t reveal anything else. Amidst the slew of corny, jump scare-ridden haunted house films, is a treasure known as The Changeling, starring the great George C. Scott.
12 The Thing (1982)
A damn near perfect sci-fi horror/thriller. The Thing is beautifully acted, grotesque in all the right ways, and not short on suspense. The practical effects look just fine today, and Carpenter has a knack for getting the right pacing.
It tells the story of researchers who come upon an extraterrestrial being in their facility in Antarctica. Only this alien doesn’t manifest in any shape or form you’d expect. It’s actually a shape-shifter that can adopt any life form and corrupt it as a vessel. The scene with the blood sampling is just unnerving and a great exercise in tension.
11 The Shining (1980)
There’s a reason why hotels are sometimes very creepy. And the reason is called The Shining. Again, one of Stephen King’s works is taken to the big screen, but this time he hates it. Intensely. Nevertheless, The Shining is an absolute horror masterpiece that should be evaluated as a product with no relation to King’s work in order to enjoy it.
It’s a ghost story about a family who gets isolated in a hotel during the winter. The demons inside the hotel start clouding the mind of Jack, the father who’s a writer working on his latest novel. Ultimately, the demons win and Danny and Wendy become the victims of a man whose sole intention is to hack them to bits and live forever in the halls of the Overlook Hotel.
10 The Evil Dead (1981)
Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead is a product of love for the genre. And Raimi shows he loves the hell out of it by creating a unique show of gore-ish horror that only steps into comedy when it has to. Later entries would further explore the comedic aspect of the story, though the original still shines in the horror genre.
Regardless, the film about a group of friends taking a trip to a cabin in the woods, and unleashing a demon, is very scary when it has to be. That creature coming out of the basement, the possessed girl, and Raimi’s frenetic camera style, are just a few reasons why The Evil Dead became the iconic film it is today.
9 The Entity (1982)
In The Entity, there’s no monster we can see. There’s no guy in a mask wielding a sharp weapon. And there are no tropes. This is just the story of a poor woman traumatized by something unfathomable. Barbara Hershey plays Carla Moran, a single mother who one day begins experiencing sexual assaults by an unseen force.
The attacks increase and with them the violence. Eventually, she attempts to find help and The Entity becomes a more grounded film about scientists investigating a paranormal incident. The score by Charles Bernstein is impressive to this day, and it makes the film even more effective.
8 Dressed to Kill (1980)
Brian de Palma’s Dressed to Kill is a slasher film that many would categorize as problematic because of its depiction of a transgender killer. However, it’s not as simple as that. There’s a reason why a killer’s doing this, and the artsy climax will actually help you.
Dressed to Kill plays like any other slasher with a higher budget, and a better director, but it’s that final scene that elevates it on the scare scale. It’s an unsettling sequence in which the audience is forced to face the explanation of what actually happened by simply portraying an aftermath in which the killer has been institutionalized. Unlike Psycho‘s much-criticized ending, this one actually works for making the film a bit better. And definitely scarier.
7 Creepshow 2 (1987)
Creepshow was a definite icon of the ’80s. We won’t argue. However, Creepshow 2 takes the franchise and lands it on horror territory by making everything more serious and nightmare-inducing. The segments in the first one pushed everything towards comedy, but the sequel brought on short features that never felt funny or misdirected.
Take the segment called The Raft for example. It tells the story of a group of young people who swim on a lake and get attacked by a blob-like creature that has the speed of a jellyfish but the lethal force of a shark. One by one, they start to get eaten. Now, tone-wise this could have followed the rules of the first Creepshow, but fortunately, it doesn’t happen that way. What Jaws did for the beach, Creepshow 2 did for lakes.
6 The Fog (1980)
The Fog is John Carpenter’s cozy comfort film to watch on a stormy night. It tells the story of a coastal town that one night gets invaded by heavy fog and the beings that reside in it. They’re the ghosts of sailors who perished decades ago and for some reason, are looking for revenge against the living.
Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, and Adrienne Barbeau, The Fog is a practical effects horror vehicle that features Carpenter’s abilities in horror: his score, the great communication with cinematographer Dean Cundey, and an impending feeling of dread that’s never been repeated by any other director.
5 Aliens (1986)
James Cameron’s Aliens is everything Alien is not. And that’s a good thing! Cameron’s sequel is more of an action thriller taking place in space, and this one makes great use of enclosed spaces to make the audience feel trapped in the film.
Yes, it’s a sequel, and we were already aware of what a Xenomorph was. However, the improved special effects meant Cameron could expose and he does so, shocking the audience by making them face a monster that we still can’t understand.
4 Altered States (1980)
In Altered States, a psychologist that doesn’t run on traditional science discovers the effects of sensory deprivation tanks and psychoactive drugs. What follows is his fall from grace as he insists there’s something to be explored on the other side.
However, it’s only accessible by submitting the human body to practices that shouldn’t exist in medicine. Only the surface of those worlds is shown in Ken Russell’s film, but it’s enough to creep you out. This very underrated film was the feature debut of John Hurt and Drew Barrymore.
3 Possession (1981)
It’s very hard to explain what Possession is about. In fact, many fight over categorizing the genre it falls in. In any case, let’s just say it’s a horrific depiction of the human psyche being subjected to emotional warfare. At least, that’s what it looks like when seeing the effects in a couple that has decided to separate and divorce.
When infidelity enters the picture, the film gets weirder. If you don’t believe us, try to explain what the hell the tentacled creature is, what the subway scene represents, and what happens in the end with the doppelgangers. This is a very unsettling film that will stay with you for days.
2 Cujo (1983)
The last movie on the list is based on a novel by Stephen King. Cujo‘s premise is basic. Dangerously simple. It tells the story of a mother and son who get trapped in a non-working car while a huge rabid dog is outside with no intention but to destroy them.
Under the scorching summer heat, things don’t look good for them. Heatstroke and dehydration enter the picture when anyone who tries to help them, gets killed. The film’s horribly violent and its practical effects are curiously effective.
1 Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th is a modern classic. There’s no other way to put it. Made more than 40 years ago, it still looks great, it’s still very scary, and its story feels logical. Never mind where the franchise went afterward, Friday the 13th is the real deal.
The iconic horror tells the story of a group of campers who get killed one by one by an angry mother whose only intention was to avenge her little Jason’s death. Its last scene is truly terrifying and perhaps the most important reason why the film deserves to be on this list.
