1981 Movies Ranked
by zzzorf | created - 17 Feb 2017 | updated - 09 Dec 2019 | PublicThese are all the movies from the year 1981 that I have watched & rated since joining IMDb in July 2016. This is not a complete list of everything I have watched ever as my memory isn't that good but is a complete list since joining and thus keeping track. I have them listed in order of my ratings from top to bottom.
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1. The Evil Dead (1981)
NC-17 | 85 min | Horror
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker
Votes: 232,315 | Gross: $2.40M
10/10
2. Coward of the County (1981 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
A life-long yellow-belly who made a deathbed promise to his father to be a pacifist seeks bloody revenge on the men who gang-raped his wife.
Director: Dick Lowry | Stars: Kenny Rogers, Fredric Lehne, Largo Woodruff, Mariclare Costello
Votes: 449
9/10
3. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community escape a horde of bandits.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps
Votes: 193,604 | Gross: $12.47M
8/10
4. Beau-père (1981)
13+ | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After her mother dies, fourteen-year-old Marion falls in love with her stepfather, Remy.
Director: Bertrand Blier | Stars: Patrick Dewaere, Ariel Besse, Maurice Ronet, Geneviève Mnich
Votes: 3,705
8/10
5. Obsession (1981)
PG | 106 min | Drama
The story of the impossible love between a schoolgirl and a sixty-year-old painter.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Tatum O'Neal, Norma Dell'Agnese, Donann Cavin, Elan Ross Gibson
Votes: 690
8/10
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,036,556 | Gross: $248.16M
7/10
7. History of the World: Part I (1981)
R | 92 min | Comedy, History, Musical
Mel Brooks brings his one-of-a-kind comic touch to the history of mankind covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution in a series of episodic comedy vignettes.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn
Votes: 55,210 | Gross: $31.67M
7/10
8. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
R | 87 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Five years after the events of the first film, a summer camp next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is preparing to open, but the legend of Jason is weighing heavy on the proceedings.
Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Betsy Palmer, Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King
Votes: 77,718 | Gross: $21.72M
7/10
9. 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: 25,087 | Gross: $5.67M
7/10
10. Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
PG | 85 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
A faulty computer causes a passenger space shuttle to head straight for the Sun. Can Ted Striker save the day and get the shuttle back on track - again?
Director: Ken Finkleman | Stars: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr
Votes: 56,746 | Gross: $27.15M
7/10
11. Road Games (1981)
PG | 101 min | Mystery, Thriller
A laid-back American truck driver in south Australia suspects that the driver of a green van is killing young women along his route, and plays a game of cat-and-mouse to catch him.
Director: Richard Franklin | Stars: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marion Edward, Grant Page
Votes: 9,088
7/10
12. Escape from New York (1981)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 157,410 | Gross: $25.24M
7/10
13. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 120,441 | Gross: $30.57M
7/10
14. My Dinner with Andre (1981)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Andre Gregory, Wallace Shawn, Jean Lenauer, Roy Butler
Votes: 25,761 | Gross: $5.25M
6/10
15. The Fox and the Hound (1981)
G | 83 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
A fox named Tod and a hound named Copper vow to be best friends forever. But as Copper grows into a hunting dog, their unlikely friendship faces the ultimate test.
Directors: Ted Berman, Richard Rich, Art Stevens, David Hand, Wolfgang Reitherman | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Pearl Bailey, Jack Albertson
Votes: 101,866 | Gross: $63.46M
6/10
16. Gallipoli (1981)
PG | 110 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Mel Gibson, Mark Lee, Bill Kerr, Harold Hopkins
Votes: 41,945 | Gross: $5.73M
6/10
17. Attack Force Z (1981)
Not Rated | 84 min | Action, Drama, History
A group of Australian commandos launch a secret mission against Japanese forces in World War II.
Director: Tim Burstall | Stars: John Phillip Law, Mel Gibson, Sam Neill, Chris Haywood
Votes: 2,721
6/10
18. Excalibur (1981)
PG | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi
Votes: 67,139 | Gross: $34.97M
6/10
19. Porky's (1981)
R | 94 min | Comedy
In 1954, a group of Florida high-school guys try to help their buddy lose his virginity, which leads them to seek revenge on a sleazy nightclub owner and his redneck sheriff brother for harassing them.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson
Votes: 45,736 | Gross: $111.29M
5/10
20. Clash of the Titans (1981)
PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Family
Perseus must battle Medusa and the Kraken to save the Princess Andromeda.
Director: Desmond Davis | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Harry Hamlin, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith
Votes: 47,721 | Gross: $41.09M
5/10
21. Nice Dreams (1981)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Crime
Disguised as ice cream vendors, Cheech and Chong make--and subsequently lose--millions of dollars selling a batch of marijuana with an unusual side effect.
Director: Tommy Chong | Stars: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Benita Barrie, Sandra Bernhard
Votes: 8,122 | Gross: $33.98M
5/10
22. Halloween II (1981)
R | 92 min | Horror
While Dr. Loomis hunts for Michael Myers, a traumatized Laurie is rushed to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, and The Shape is not far behind her.
Director: Rick Rosenthal | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers, Jeffrey Kramer
Votes: 101,670 | Gross: $25.53M
5/10
23. Das Boot (1981)
R | 149 min | Drama, War
A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Votes: 264,245 | Gross: $11.49M
5/10
24. Divine Emanuelle (1981)
Not Rated | 88 min | Crime
The daughter of a US Senator is drawn into a hippie called The Children of Light by the boyfriend of the cult's leader, a mysterious and beautiful Asian woman. The cult turns out to not be the free love community it presents itself as.
Director: Christian Anders | Stars: Laura Gemser, Christian Anders, Gabriele Tinti, Maximilian Wolters
Votes: 718
5/10
25. Puberty Blues (1981)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Drama
The mating rituals of two teenage surf chicks from the southern suburbs of Sydney.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Nell Schofield, Jad Capelja, Jeffrey Rhoe, Tony Hughes
Votes: 1,663 | Gross: $0.24M
4/10
26. Scanners (1981)
R | 103 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called "scanning" to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non scanners.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane
Votes: 61,714 | Gross: $14.23M
4/10
27. Possession (1981)
R | 124 min | Drama, Horror
A woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
Director: Andrzej Zulawski | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Margit Carstensen, Heinz Bennent
Votes: 42,787 | Gross: $1.11M
4/10
28. Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981)
R | 104 min | Drama, Romance
After a injury leaves her husband paralysed, Lady Chatterly is torn between her love for her husband and her physical desires. With her husband's consent, she seeks out other means of fulfilling her needs.
Director: Just Jaeckin | Stars: Sylvia Kristel, Shane Briant, Nicholas Clay, Ann Mitchell
Votes: 3,339
3/10
29. The Games of Countess Dolingen (1981)
114 min | Drama
In Paris, a young woman, Louise visits her old friend, Nena in a psychiatric clinic, who tells her that she has just finished a novel about a girl who committed suicide. She begins to read,... See full summary »
Director: Catherine Binet | Stars: Michael Lonsdale, Carol Kane, Katia Wastchenko, Marina Vlady
Votes: 187
1/10
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