To See: 1980's Horror
by jessieabasinger | created - 23 Mar 2016 | updated - 23 Mar 2016 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Boogey Man (1980)
R | 82 min | Horror
Through the reflection in the mirror, a girl witnesses her mother's boyfriend's murder.
Director: Ulli Lommel | Stars: Suzanna Love, John Carradine, Ron James, Nicholas Love
Votes: 5,108 | Gross: $4.50M
2. The Children (1980)
R | 93 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A nuclear-plant leak turns a bus-load of children into murderous atomic zombies with black fingernails.
Director: Max Kalmanowicz | Stars: Martin Shakar, Gil Rogers, Gale Garnett, Shannon Bolin
Votes: 2,749
3. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
R | 79 min | Horror, Thriller
Little Billy witnesses his parents getting killed by Santa after being warned by his senile grandpa that Santa punishes those who are naughty. Now Billy is 18 and out of the orphanage, and he has just become Santa himself.
Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr. | Stars: Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Robert Brian Wilson
Votes: 18,816 | Gross: $2.49M
4. Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
R | 88 min | Horror, Thriller
The now-adult Ricky talks to a psychiatrist about how he became a murderer after his brother, Billy, died, which leads back to Mother Superior.
Director: Lee Harry | Stars: Eric Freeman, James Newman, Elizabeth Kaitan, Jean Miller
Votes: 9,059 | Gross: $0.15M
5. Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989 Video)
R | 90 min | Horror
The comatose Ricky Caldwell reawakens and begins to stalk a blind woman, who he shares a psychic connection with.
Director: Monte Hellman | Stars: Samantha Scully, Bill Moseley, Richard C. Adams, Richard Beymer
Votes: 3,399
6. Fade to Black (1980)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
A shy, lonely film buff embarks on a killing spree against those who browbeat and betray him, all the while stalking his idol, a Marilyn Monroe lookalike.
Director: Vernon Zimmerman | Stars: Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomerson, Gwynne Gilford, Norman Burton
Votes: 4,998
7. He Knows You're Alone (1980)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A young bride-to-be is being stalked upon by a serial killer in Staten Island. She gets help from a former lover, but will they manage to escape?
Director: Armand Mastroianni | Stars: Don Scardino, Caitlin O'Heaney, Elizabeth Kemp, Tom Rolfing
Votes: 4,243
8. Maniac (1980)
18+ | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A psychopathic man goes on a killing and mutilation spree in New York City.
Director: William Lustig | Stars: Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro, Abigail Clayton, Kelly Piper
Votes: 20,227
9. Motel Hell (1980)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A seemingly friendly farmer and his sister kidnap unsuspecting travelers and bury them alive, using them to create the "special meat" they are famous for.
Director: Kevin Connor | Stars: Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod
Votes: 13,617 | Gross: $6.34M
10. Mother's Day (1980)
Unrated | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
Two brothers kidnap and brutalize three women for the pleasure of their demented mother.
Director: Charles Kaufman | Stars: Tiana Pierce, Nancy Hendrickson, Deborah Luce, Frederick Coffin
Votes: 6,205
11. New Year's Evil (1980)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
During a New Year's Eve celebration, a Los Angeles disc jockey receives a phone call saying that when New Year's strikes in each time zone, someone will be murdered - and she will be the last one.
Director: Emmett Alston | Stars: Roz Kelly, Kip Niven, Chris Wallace, Grant Cramer
Votes: 3,847
12. Prom Night (1980)
R | 92 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
At a high-school senior prom, a masked killer stalks four teenagers who were responsible for the accidental death of a classmate six years previously.
Director: Paul Lynch | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin
Votes: 20,937 | Gross: $14.80M
13. Terror Train (1980)
R | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Three years after a prank went terribly awry, the six college students responsible are targeted by a masked killer at a New Year's Eve party aboard a moving train.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Ben Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hart Bochner, David Copperfield
Votes: 13,855
14. Stage Fright (1980)
82 min | Horror, Thriller
A stage actress - who is hiding a deep trauma over the car accident that killed her mother - finds herself living a new nightmare when her fellow cast members are butchered by a glass-wielding killer.
Director: John D. Lamond | Stars: Jenny Neumann, Gary Sweet, Nina Landis, Max Phipps
Votes: 876
15. The Burning (1981)
R | 91 min | Horror
A former summer camp caretaker, horribly burned from a prank gone wrong, lurks around an upstate New York summer camp bent on killing the teenagers responsible for his disfigurement.
Director: Tony Maylam | Stars: Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua
Votes: 22,289
16. Deadly Blessing (1981)
R | 100 min | Horror, Thriller
After her husband dies under mysterious circumstances, a widow becomes increasingly paranoid of the neighboring religious community that may have diabolical plans for her.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Maren Jensen, Sharon Stone, Susan Buckner, Jeff East
Votes: 6,992 | Gross: $8.28M
17. Don't Go in the Woods (1981)
R | 82 min | Horror, Thriller
Four friends camping in the woods inadvertently stumble upon the domain of a maniacal killer.
Director: James Bryan | Stars: Nick Cleland, Mary Gail Artz, James P. Hayden, Angie Brown
Votes: 3,502
18. Final Exam (1981)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
A psycho killer shows up on college campus to slash up pretty co-eds and dumb jocks.
Director: Jimmy Huston | Stars: Cecile Bagdadi, Joel S. Rice, Ralph Brown, DeAnna Robbins
Votes: 4,625
19. The Funhouse (1981)
R | 96 min | Horror
Four teenagers visit a local carnival for a night of innocent amusement, but soon discover that nothing there is innocent or amusing.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Elizabeth Berridge, Shawn Carson, Jeanne Austin, Jack McDermott
Votes: 16,287 | Gross: $7.89M
20. Graduation Day (1981)
R | 96 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A masked killer begins murdering students on the school track team after a track runner dies upon completion of a 30 second 200-meter race.
Director: Herb Freed | Stars: Christopher George, Patch Mackenzie, E. Danny Murphy, E.J. Peaker
Votes: 4,892 | Gross: $23.89M
21. Night School (1981)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Who's been decapitating the innocent girls at a local night school? The police are baffled.
Director: Ken Hughes | Stars: Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder, Joseph R. Sicari
Votes: 3,254 | Gross: $1.17M
22. Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
R | 110 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
At the snobby Crawford Academy, Virginia's group of friends start to go missing years after horrible events that happened to her as a child around her birthday.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker
Votes: 11,237
23. My Bloody Valentine (1981)
R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A decades-old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day turns out to be true to legend when a group defies the killer's order and people start turning up dead.
Director: George Mihalka | Stars: Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Keith Knight
Votes: 25,109 | Gross: $5.67M
24. Basket Case (1982)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Horror
A young man carrying a big basket that contains his extremely deformed, formerly conjoined twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.
Director: Frank Henenlotter | Stars: Kevin VanHentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner, Robert Vogel
Votes: 21,714
25. The Curse of the Screaming Dead (1982)
Unrated | 91 min | Horror
A group of Southern deer hunters stop at a church graveyard in the woods. Their activities arouse the corpses of long-dead Confederate soldiers, who attack them.
Director: Tony Malanowski | Stars: Steve Sandkuhler, Christopher Gummer, Rebecca Bach, Judy Dixon
Votes: 812
26. X-Ray (1981)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
While receiving a routine check-up, a woman finds herself stranded on the hospital's eighth floor, while someone dressed as a doctor is intent on her never leaving, even if it means killing any staff member who comes into contact with her.
Director: Boaz Davidson | Stars: Barbi Benton, Charles Lucia, Jon Van Ness, John Warner Williams
Votes: 3,374
27. The Last Horror Film (1982)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Horror
A New York taxi driver stalks a beautiful actress attending the Cannes Film Festival, which coincides with a series of violent killings of the lady's friends.
Director: David Winters | Stars: J'Len Winters, John Kelly, Joe Spinell, Simone Overman
Votes: 2,223
28. Demon Rage (1982)
R | 98 min | Horror
A woman in an unhappy marriage finds sexual fulfillment in her relationship with a ghostly, speechless presence who, obviously, doesn't quite say who he is.
Director: James Polakof | Stars: Britt Ekland, Lana Wood, Kabir Bedi, Don Galloway
Votes: 643
29. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
R | 77 min | Horror
A female high school student's slumber party turns into a bloodbath, as a newly escaped psychotic serial killer wielding a power drill prowls her neighborhood.
Director: Amy Holden Jones | Stars: Michele Michaels, Robin Stille, Michael Villella, Debra De Liso
Votes: 17,910
30. Don't Go to Sleep (1982 TV Movie)
93 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A young girl begins seeing the ghost of her sister who died in an accident a year earlier.
Director: Richard Lang | Stars: Dennis Weaver, Valerie Harper, Robin Ignico, Kristin Cumming
Votes: 1,491
31. Frightmare (1983)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Horror
When his loyal fans decide to steal his fresh corpse from the mortuary to party with it all night long, a true horror film star returns from the grave as a ghastly blood-sucker, bent on revenge. At least, will he spare his followers?
Director: Norman Thaddeus Vane | Stars: Ferdy Mayne, Luca Bercovici, Nita Talbot, Leon Askin
Votes: 1,748
32. The House on Sorority Row (1982)
R | 91 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
After a seemingly innocent prank goes horribly wrong, a group of sorority sisters are stalked and murdered one by one in their sorority house while throwing a party to celebrate their graduation.
Director: Mark Rosman | Stars: Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Ward, Robin Meloy
Votes: 9,985 | Gross: $1.29M
33. Microwave Massacre (1979)
Not Rated | 76 min | Comedy, Horror
Fed up of his wife's bad cooking, Donald kills her and turns to cannibalism to satisfy his appetite.
Director: Wayne Berwick | Stars: Jackie Vernon, Loren Schein, Al Troupe, Marla Simon
Votes: 3,208
34. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
R | 84 min | Horror
Bunks and showers are a mad stabber's beat at a summer camp strictly for teens.
Director: Robert Hiltzik | Stars: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Karen Fields, Christopher Collet
Votes: 38,080 | Gross: $11.00M
35. Sweet Sixteen (1983)
R | 90 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
Teenager Melissa moves into a small town filled with racial prejudice and bullying, and each time she meets up with one of the boys in town, they end up murdered - but who is the killer?
Director: Jim Sotos | Stars: Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg, Patrick Macnee, Don Stroud
Votes: 2,383
36. Videodrome (1983)
R | 87 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: James Woods, Debbie Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky
Votes: 103,030 | Gross: $2.12M
37. C.H.U.D. (1984)
R | 88 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A bizarre series of sudden disappearances on the streets of New York City seems to point toward something unsavory living in the sewers.
Director: Douglas Cheek | Stars: John Heard, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry, Kim Greist
Votes: 13,975 | Gross: $4.65M
38. The Initiation (1984)
R | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An amnesiac sorority member who has been plagued by a recurring nightmare is stalked alongside other coeds by a killer in a deserted department store where they are completing a hazing ritual.
Directors: Larry Stewart, Peter Crane | Stars: Vera Miles, Clu Gulager, Daphne Zuniga, James Read
Votes: 4,488
39. Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)
R | 86 min | Horror, Mystery
Somebody with very little Christmas spirit is killing anyone in a Santa suit one London holiday season, and Scotland Yard has to stop him before he makes his exploits an annual tradition.
Director: Edmund Purdom | Stars: Edmund Purdom, Alan Lake, Belinda Mayne, Mark Jones
Votes: 3,049
40. Scream for Help (1984)
R | 89 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A teenaged girl discovers that her stepfather is trying to murder her and her mother, but when she tells people, no one will believe her.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Rachael Kelly, David Allen Brooks, Marie Masters, Rocco Sisto
Votes: 1,274
41. The Nail Gun Massacre (1985 Video)
Not Rated | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
After a young girl is gang raped by a crew of construction workers, someone starts killing off members of the group with a nail gun.
Directors: Bill Leslie, Terry Lofton | Stars: Rocky Patterson, Ron Queen, Beau Leland, Michelle Meyer
Votes: 1,935
42. April Fool's Day (1986)
R | 89 min | Horror, Mystery
Nine college students staying at a friend's remote island mansion begin to fall victim to an unseen murderer over the April Fool's Day weekend, but nothing is as it seems.
Director: Fred Walton | Stars: Deborah Foreman, Griffin O'Neal, Clayton Rohner, Jay Baker
Votes: 18,400 | Gross: $12.95M
43. Chopping Mall (1986)
R | 77 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A group of young shopping mall employees stay behind for a late night party in one of the stores. When the mall goes on lock-down before they can get out, the robot security system malfunctions, and goes on a killing spree.
Director: Jim Wynorski | Stars: Kelli Maroney, Tony O'Dell, Russell Todd, Karrie Emerson
Votes: 17,250
44. Killer Workout (1987)
R | 85 min | Horror
Two years ago, a young woman named Valerie was burned after entering a tanning salon. Now, her twin sister, Rhonda, runs a local gym where, all of a sudden, people are being murdered.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: Marcia Karr, David Campbell, Fritz Matthews, Ted Prior
Votes: 2,740
45. Mountaintop Motel Massacre (1983)
R | 95 min | Horror
A mentally-unstable elderly woman recently released from a mental asylum proceeds to slaughter all the guests staying at her motel.
Director: Jim McCullough Sr. | Stars: Bill Thurman, Anna Chappell, Will Mitchell, Virginia Loridans
Votes: 1,837
46. Sorority House Massacre (1986)
R | 74 min | Horror
College student Beth and her sorority sisters are stalked by an escaped psychopathic killer who shares a strange telepathic link with her.
Director: Carol Frank | Stars: Angela O'Neill, Wendy Martel, Pamela Ross, Nicole Rio
Votes: 3,921
47. Bloody New Year (1987)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
A group of friends take refuge in an island hotel that is decorated for New Years. The problem is, it's early summer, and soon enough, even the walls themselves are striking out against them.
Director: Norman J. Warren | Stars: Suzy Aitchison, Nikki Brooks, Colin Heywood, Mark Powley
Votes: 2,276
48. Slaughterhouse (1987)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Horror
The owner of a slaughterhouse facing foreclosure instructs his obese and mentally disabled son to go on a killing spree against the people who want to buy his property.
Director: Rick Roessler | Stars: Joe B. Barton, Don Barrett, Sherry Leigh, Bill Brinsfield
Votes: 2,902
49. Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)
R | 77 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
Courtney Bates, the younger sister of Valerie, and her friends go to a condo for a weekend getaway, but Courtney can't get rid of the haunting feeling that a supernatural rockabilly driller killer is coming to murder them all.
Director: Deborah Brock | Stars: Crystal Bernard, Jennifer Rhodes, Kimberly McArthur, Patrick Lowe
Votes: 7,419
50. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)
R | 97 min | Horror, Thriller
Thirty years after her accidental death at her 1957 senior prom, the tortured spirit of prom queen Mary Lou Maloney returns to seek revenge.
Director: Bruce Pittman | Stars: Lisa Schrage, Michael Ironside, Wendy Lyon, Louis Ferreira
Votes: 7,626 | Gross: $2.68M
51. Cheerleader Camp (1988)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A group of cheerleaders become the targets of an unknown killer at a remote summer camp.
Director: John Quinn | Stars: Betsy Russell, Leif Garrett, Lucinda Dickey, Lorie Griffin
Votes: 3,961
52. Bad Dreams (1988)
R | 80 min | Horror, Thriller
The 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.
Director: Andrew Fleming | Stars: Jennifer Rubin, Bruce Abbott, Richard Lynch, Dean Cameron
Votes: 4,354 | Gross: $9.80M
53. 976-EVIL (1988)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Horror
People who dial 976-EVIL receive supernatural powers and turn into satanic killers. When Spike dialed 976-EVIL, he knew it was an expensive toll call, but he didn't know that he'd have to pay for it with his soul.
Director: Robert Englund | Stars: Stephen Geoffreys, Patrick O'Bryan, Jim Metzler, María Rubell
Votes: 6,012 | Gross: $2.96M
54. Beware: Children at Play (1989)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A mentally-disturbed teenager kidnaps and brainwashes children into cannibalistic psychopaths - but not when the adults intervene.
Director: Mik Cribben | Stars: Michael Robertson, Rich Hamilton, Robin Lilly, Lori Romero
Votes: 1,450
55. C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1989)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A military experiment to create a race of super-warriors go awry, and legions of murderous zombies are unleased upon a surburan neighborhood.
Director: David Irving | Stars: Brian Robbins, Bill Calvert, Tricia Leigh Fisher, Gerrit Graham
Votes: 4,035
56. Parents (1989)
R | 81 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
A young boy living in 1950s suburbia suspects that his parents are cannibalistic murderers.
Director: Bob Balaban | Stars: Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis, Bryan Madorsky
Votes: 8,587 | Gross: $0.87M
57. Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989)
R | 91 min | Horror, Romance
A man loses his home and suffers life-threatening burns from a fire deliberately set by commercial real estate developers vying for his property. One year later, a shopping mall opens on the land, and a series of murders begins.
Director: Richard Friedman | Stars: Derek Rydall, Jonathan Goldsmith, Rob Estes, Pauly Shore
Votes: 2,229
58. Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator (1989)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Horror
STUFF STEPHANIE IN THE INCINERATOR is the twisted tale of a husband and wife, Jared and Stephanie, who delve into the demented fantasy games of the super wealthy.
Director: Don Nardo | Stars: Catherine Dee, William Dame, M.R. Murphy, Dennis Cunningham
Votes: 451
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