1980 Movies to See
by brentwillipeter | created - 13 Feb 2017 | updated - 27 May 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Ordinary People (1980)
R | 124 min | Drama
The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father and the guilt-ridden younger son.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 56,696 | Gross: $54.80M
Netflix Disc
2. Eaten Alive! (1980)
Not Rated | 92 min | Adventure, Horror
A young woman teams up with a mercenary to find her missing sister in the jungles of New Guinea where they find that a deranged leader of a religious cult has located his commune in an area inhabited by cannibals.
Director: Umberto Lenzi | Stars: Robert Kerman, Janet Agren, Ivan Rassimov, Mel Ferrer
Votes: 4,600
dailymotion
3. Somewhere in Time (1980)
PG | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A Chicago playwright uses self-hypnosis to travel back in time and meet the actress whose vintage portrait hangs in a grand hotel.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer, Teresa Wright
Votes: 32,542 | Gross: $9.71M
FamilyVideo
4. The Grim Reaper (1980)
R | 92 min | Horror
A group of friends and a hitchhiker become stranded on a tourist island where they are stalked by a disfigured cannibalistic killer who is prowling the island after killing its residents.
Director: Joe D'Amato | Stars: Tisa Farrow, Saverio Vallone, Serena Grandi, Margaret Mazzantini
Votes: 6,972
YouTube
5. Fame (1980)
R | 134 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Eddie Barth, Irene Cara, Lee Curreri, Laura Dean
Votes: 24,706 | Gross: $0.12M
FamilyVideo/Netflix Disc
6. Stir Crazy (1980)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Crime
Set up and wrongfully accused, two best friends are sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. However, no prison cell can keep them locked in a cage.
Director: Sidney Poitier | Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown, JoBeth Williams
Votes: 30,401 | Gross: $101.30M
Netflix Disc
7. Used Cars (1980)
R | 113 min | Comedy
When the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Kurt Russell, Jack Warden, Gerrit Graham, Frank McRae
Votes: 16,774
RentHD $4
8. Saturn 3 (1980)
R | 88 min | Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi
Two lovers stationed at a remote base in the asteroid belt of Saturn are intruded upon by an anal-retentive technocrat from Earth and his charge: a malevolent eight foot tall robot.
Directors: Stanley Donen, John Barry | Stars: Farrah Fawcett, Kirk Douglas, Harvey Keitel, Ed Bishop
Votes: 10,491
YouTube
9. House on the Edge of the Park (1980)
91 min | Horror, Thriller
Two 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.
Director: Ruggero Deodato | Stars: David Hess, Annie Belle, Christian Borromeo, Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Votes: 5,941
YouTube
10. Midnight Madness (1980)
PG | 112 min | Comedy
Leon picks college students to participate in his all night scavenger hunt. Five teams receive clues to solve leading them to the next clue site hidden in the city.
Directors: Michael Nankin, David Wechter | Stars: David Naughton, Debra Clinger, Joel Kenney, David Damas
Votes: 3,897
Rent $3
11. Galaxina (1980)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
In the 31st century, sexy blonde android Galaxina helms the crew of a space cruiser on a mission to find the Blue Star, a mystical gem that holds unlimited power.
Director: William Sachs | Stars: Stephen Macht, Avery Schreiber, J.D. Hinton, Dorothy Stratten
Votes: 3,430
Blu-ray $9
12. Blood Beach (1980)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Something is attacking and killing people on the beach. David and Mariana, old friends, search for clues where they played as kids to uncover the mysterious creature.
Director: Jeffrey Bloom | Stars: David Huffman, Marianna Hill, Burt Young, Otis Young
Votes: 2,861
YouTube
13. Times Square (1980)
R | 111 min | Drama, Music
Two ill-matched teenage girls form a punk band and soon have New York City by its ears.
Director: Allan Moyle | Stars: Tim Curry, Trini Alvarado, Robin Johnson, Peter Coffield
Votes: 1,986 | Gross: $1.40M
YouTube
14. Super Fuzz (1980)
PG | 97 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Red powder from a nuclear explosion gives a police officer super powers as long as he doesn't see anything red. He is eventually framed for murder and is unsuccessfully executed by many different methods.
Director: Sergio Corbucci | Stars: Terence Hill, Ernest Borgnine, Joanne Dru, Marc Lawrence
Votes: 8,193
Netflix Disc
15. Death Ship (1980)
R | 91 min | Adventure, Horror, Mystery
A mysterious ghostly freighter rams and sinks a modern day cruise ship whose survivors climb aboard the freighter and discover that it is a World War II Nazi torture vessel.
Director: Alvin Rakoff | Stars: George Kennedy, Richard Crenna, Nick Mancuso, Sally Ann Howes
Votes: 5,696
YouTube
16. Contamination (1980)
R | 95 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A former astronaut helps a government agent and a police detective track the source of mysterious alien pod spores, filled with lethal flesh-dissolving acid, to a South American coffee plantation controlled by alien pod clones.
Director: Luigi Cozzi | Stars: Ian McCulloch, Louise Marleau, Marino Masé, Siegfried Rauch
Votes: 5,298
Shudder/Prime
17. Don't Answer the Phone! (1980)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A deeply disturbed Vietnam veteran terrorizes the young women of Los Angeles and taunts a radio psychologist with descriptions of his grisly crimes.
Director: Robert Hammer | Stars: James Westmoreland, Ben Frank, Flo Lawrence, Nicholas Worth
Votes: 2,161
Hulu
18. Night of the Demon (1980)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror
An anthropologist and his students attempt to track down a Bigfoot responsible for a rash of violent murders, only to uncover something even more sinister.
Director: James C. Wasson | Stars: Michael Cutt, Joy Allen, Bob Collins, Jody Lazarus
Votes: 2,516
YouTube
19. The Awakening (1980)
R | 101 min | Horror
An archeologist discovers his daughter is possessed by the spirit of an Egyptian queen. To save mankind he must destroy her.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Charlton Heston, Susannah York, Jill Townsend, Stephanie Zimbalist
Votes: 2,866 | Gross: $8.42M
Rent $2
20. Hell of the Living Dead (1980)
Unrated | 99 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
After 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.
Directors: Bruno Mattei, Claudio Fragasso | Stars: Margie Newton, Franco Garofalo, Selan Karay, José Gras
Votes: 5,927
Shudder/Prime
21. The Hearse (1980)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A schoolteacher moves into her deceased aunt's home in a small town, only to find herself plagued by supernatural occurrences and unexplained hostility from the local townspeople connected to her aunt's past.
Director: George Bowers | Stars: Trish Van Devere, Joseph Cotten, David Gautreaux, Donald Hotton
Votes: 2,374
Prime
22. 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
Prime
23. Cannibals in the Streets (1980)
R | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Mentally unstable Vietnam vets who were held captive by the Viet Cong come back to America after being rescued carrying a dangerous virus that turns people into cannibals when bitten.
Director: Antonio Margheriti | Stars: John Saxon, Elizabeth Turner, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Cinzia De Carolis
Votes: 4,298
DVD $34
24. Devil Hunter (1980)
Not Rated | 102 min | Horror
a young woman modelling in South America is kidnapped for ransom in the jungle when a Vietnam veteran is going to rescue her only to find out that the jungle is filled with cannibals
Director: Jesús Franco | Stars: Ursula Buchfellner, Al Cliver, Antonio Mayans, Antônio do Cabo
Votes: 1,607
YouTube
25. The Godsend (1980)
R | 93 min | Drama, Horror
When a strange woman has her baby at the Marlowe's house, then disappears, Kate Marlowe is forced to keep the baby, Bonnie. She loves the child, but when her own children are systematically killed, suspicion turns to Bonnie.
Director: Gabrielle Beaumont | Stars: Malcolm Stoddard, Cyd Hayman, Angela Pleasence, Patrick Barr
Votes: 1,267
OWN DVD
26. Macabre (1980)
Unrated | 89 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A middle-aged woman, traumatized from the death of her adulterous lover, moves into a room at a New Orleans boarding house where the blind landlord becomes suspicious to her activities of continuing her affair with her dead lover.
Director: Lamberto Bava | Stars: Bernice Stegers, Stanko Molnar, Veronica Zinny, Roberto Posse
Votes: 3,092
Shudder/Prime
27. Hero at Large (1980)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Romance
A struggling actor buying milk stops a robbery while wearing a superhero uniform, promoting a movie. The unknown hero decides to try again. Can he impress his cute neighbor?
Director: Martin Davidson | Stars: John Ritter, Anne Archer, Bert Convy, Kevin McCarthy
Votes: 1,829 | Gross: $15.93M
Rent $3
28. Schizoid (1980)
R | 89 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
An advice columnist in the midst of getting a divorce begins receiving threatening notes from an anonymous stalker. Meanwhile, members of her group therapy session are being murdered by an unknown assailant.
Director: David Paulsen | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Donna Wilkes, Marianna Hill, Craig Wasson
Votes: 1,976
Blu-ray w/ X-ray $14
29. Demented (1980)
R | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
After being gang raped and institutionalized, a woman suffers nightmares while under the care of her unfaithful husband, and finally snaps when a group of masked youths decide to invade her house.
Director: Arthur Jeffreys | Stars: Sallee Young, Harry Reems, Deborah Alter, Kathryn Clayton
Votes: 761
DVD $10
30. To All a Goodnight (1980)
R | 87 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of teenagers at a party find themselves being stalked by a maniacal killer in a Santa Claus costume.
Director: David Hess | Stars: Jennifer Runyon, Forrest Swonsen, Linda Gentile, William Lauer
Votes: 2,356
Blu-ray $19
31. Phobia (1980)
R | 91 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A psychiatrist involved in a radical new therapy comes under suspicion when his patients are murdered, each according to their individual phobias.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Paul Michael Glaser, Susan Hogan, John Colicos, David Bolt
Votes: 839 | Gross: $0.06M
YouTube
32. The Alien Dead (1980)
R | 74 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A meteor hits a houseboat, turning its occupants into zombies feeding on alligators. As reptiles dwindle, they target townspeople. A scientist investigates disappearances caused by the undead houseboat dwellers.
Director: Fred Olen Ray | Stars: Buster Crabbe, Ray Roberts, Linda Lewis, George Kelsey
Votes: 1,274
YouTube
33. Monstroid (1980)
R | 78 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A rural Colombian village is attacked by a horrible sea serpent, aroused by industrial pollution of a nearby lake. Based on a real event that took place in June of 1971.
Directors: Kenneth Hartford, Herbert L. Strock | Stars: James Mitchum, John Carradine, Philip Carey, Anthony Eisley
Votes: 863
YouTube
34. Alien 2: On Earth (1980)
R | 92 min | Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi
A spaceship lands back on Earth after a failed mission, but the astronauts have been replaced by hideous creatures that can penetrate people's bodies and make them explode. A group of cave ... See full summary »
Directors: Ciro Ippolito, Biagio Proietti | Stars: Belinda Mayne, Mark Bodin, Roberto Barrese, Benedetta Fantoli
Votes: 1,697
DVD $14
35. Toxic Zombies (1980)
R | 89 min | Horror
Marijuana growers deep in the woods are hit with a new toxic herbicide, and they turn into mindless cannibals killing everyone they come into contact with.
Director: Charles McCrann | Stars: Charles McCrann, Beverly Shapiro, Dennis Helfend, Kevin Hanlon
Votes: 1,157
YouTube
36. The Attic (1980)
PG | 101 min | Horror, Thriller
A librarian devotes her life to caring for her wheelchair-bound tyrannical father after being stood up at the altar. She fantasizes about causing deaths of the men who most wronged her and ... See full summary »
Directors: George Edwards, Gary Graver | Stars: Carrie Snodgress, Ray Milland, Ruth Cox, Rosemary Murphy
Votes: 868
DVD $23
37. Nightkill (1980)
R | 97 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A woman's lover poisons her cruel husband, a rich businessman, in front of her. She becomes more terrified when she finds the lover dead as well. A police detective suddenly shows up at her door.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Jaclyn Smith, Mike Connors, James Franciscus
Votes: 891
YouTube
38. Cannibal Terror (1980)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
After botching a kidnapping, two criminals hide with their victim in a friends house in the jungle. After one of them rapes the friend's wife, they're left to be eaten by a nearby cannibal tribe.
Directors: Alain Deruelle, Olivier Mathot, Julio Pérez Tabernero | Stars: Silvia Solar, Gérard Lemaire, Pamela Stanford, Olivier Mathot
Votes: 1,008
RentHD $4
39. Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (1980)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
An ugly, misshapen podiatrist ingests a formula made by a colleague and turns into a handsome, devil-may-care (but violent) ladies' man.
Director: Charles B. Griffith | Stars: Oliver Reed, Sunny Johnson, Maia Danziger, Virgil Frye
Votes: 729
YouTube
40. Patrick Still Lives (1980)
92 min | Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi
Five people receive an anonymous letter revealing a secret of theirs and inviting them to come stay at a mansion that houses a clinic run by a corrupt doctor who experiments on the brain of his comatose son.
Director: Mario Landi | Stars: Sacha Pitoëff, Gianni Dei, Mariangela Giordano, Carmen Russo
Votes: 959
YouTube
41. Beyond Evil (1980)
R | 94 min | Horror
An architect and his wife move into a colonial mansion, where the demonic presence of the original owner's wife takes residence.
Director: Herb Freed | Stars: John Saxon, Lynda Day George, Michael Dante, Mario Milano
Votes: 1,038
YouTube
42. Cataclysm (1980)
R | 94 min | Horror
Mitchell, a police detective investigating the death of a victim of a German concentration camp, discovers a nightclubbing playboy who has strange powers over women and is seemingly ageless.
Directors: Phillip Marshak, Tom McGowan, Gregg G. Tallas | Stars: Cameron Mitchell, Marc Lawrence, Faith Clift, Richard Moll
Votes: 710
aka The Nightmare Never Ends Prime
43. Double Negative (1980)
96 min | Thriller
Mentally tortured photojournalist attempts to track down his wife's murderer.
Director: George Bloomfield | Stars: Michael Sarrazin, Susan Clark, Anthony Perkins, Howard Duff
Votes: 182
YouTube
44. Mama Dracula (1980)
90 min | Comedy, Horror
A female vampire must bathe in the blood of virgins in order to stay alive. The trouble is that virgins are in short supply nowadays, and she is running into major problems in finding one.
Director: Boris Szulzinger | Stars: Louise Fletcher, Maria Schneider, Marc-Henri Wajnberg, Alexander Wajnberg
Votes: 488
Prime
45. Bloodrage (1980)
78 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
A sexually frustrated young man kills hookers.
Director: Joseph Zito | Stars: James Johnson, Judith-Marie Bergan, Jerry McGee, Ian Scott
Votes: 367
YouTube
46. Effects (1979)
R | 84 min | Horror, Thriller
While a small film crew are shooting a low budget horror movie in a house in the woods, the lines between reality and fiction start to blur, and the movie slowly starts to turn into a "snuff" film.
Director: Dusty Nelson | Stars: Joseph Pilato, Susan Chapek, John Harrison, Bernard McKenna
Votes: 987
DVD $12
47. 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
aka Nightmares Shudder
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