(Photo by New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Welcome to Camp Rotten! We’ve got lakes for skinny dipping, Necronomicons for candle-lit reading, and your esteemed camp counselors: A finer breed of spurned psychos, unstable writers, and sarcastic undead you’ll never meet. That’s right, wastoid, they’re all here and more in our list of the 84 Best 1980s Horror Movies!
After the 1970s blew the doors open on horror for mass appeal, and New Hollywood directors became, well, Hollywood, the industry started cranking the movies out by the bloody bucketload. During this hallowed decade of spandex and Spandau Ballet, slashers hit critical bloat (Friday the 13th, Sleepaway Camp), as guffaws mixed in with the guts (Return of the Living Dead, Evil Dead 2). Horror directors who made their name in the ’70s, like John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper, put up valiant fights with The Thing and Poltergeist. And when in doubt, Hollywood just twirled the rolodex to that subtle off-white card with Stephen King’s number on it (The Shining, The Dead Zone). The only stipulation for a movie to be considered for this list was a Fresh rating from at least 10 reviews, before we ranked them all by Adjusted Tomatometer.
Alright you sportos, motorheads, geeks, zeeks, bloods, dweebies, and head bangers: See who’s really bad with the best scary 1980s movies that did blast ever so bodaciously from the theaters and out your VCR!
#84
Adjusted Score: 61.751%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#83
Adjusted Score: 62.116%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#82
Adjusted Score: 62.192%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#81
Adjusted Score: 62.284%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#80
Adjusted Score: 62.843%
Critics Consensus: Cujo is artless work punctuated with moments of high canine gore and one wild Dee Wallace performance.
#79
Adjusted Score: 62.856%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#78
Adjusted Score: 63.062%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#77
Adjusted Score: 63.623%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#76
Adjusted Score: 63.743%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#75
Adjusted Score: 63.952%
Critics Consensus: The Twilight Zone: The Movie suffers from the typical anthology-film highs and lows; thankfully, the former outnumber the latter.
#74
Adjusted Score: 64.012%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#73
Adjusted Score: 64.212%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#72
Adjusted Score: 64.564%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#71
Adjusted Score: 65.293%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#70
Adjusted Score: 65.697%
Critics Consensus: Rather quaint by today's standards, Friday the 13th still has its share of bloody surprises and a '70s-holdover aesthetic to slightly compel.
#69
Adjusted Score: 65.835%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#68
Adjusted Score: 65.899%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#67
Adjusted Score: 66.082%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#66
Adjusted Score: 66.272%
Critics Consensus: A fun '80s adventure with a slightly scary twist, The Monster Squad offers tween-friendly horror with just enough of a kick.
#65
Adjusted Score: 67.376%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#64
Adjusted Score: 67.38%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#63
Adjusted Score: 67.925%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#62
Adjusted Score: 67.982%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#61
Adjusted Score: 68.549%
Critics Consensus: An effective if knowingly silly Stephen King anthology that combines comedy and terror.
#60
Adjusted Score: 68.686%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#59
Adjusted Score: 68.918%
Critics Consensus: Unabashedly campy -- often to its detriment -- Swamp Thing is not without its charms, among them Adrienne Barbeau as the damsel in distress.
#58
Adjusted Score: 69.024%
Critics Consensus: Peter Jackson's early low-budget shocker boasts a disgusting premise - aliens harvesting humans for fast food - that gives the budding auteur plenty of room for gross-out visuals and absurd cleverness.
#57
Adjusted Score: 69.192%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#56
Adjusted Score: 69.302%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#55
Adjusted Score: 69.556%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#54
Adjusted Score: 70.015%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#53
Adjusted Score: 70.854%
Critics Consensus: The cracks are starting to show in John Carpenter's directorial instincts, but Christine is nonetheless silly, zippy fun.
#52
Adjusted Score: 70.918%
Critics Consensus: A silly and ribald superhero spoof, Toxic Avenger uninhibited humor hits more than it misses.
#51
Adjusted Score: 70.951%
Critics Consensus: Elevated by writer-director Clive Barker's fiendishly unique vision, Hellraiser offers a disquieting - and sadistically smart - alternative to mindless gore.
#50
Adjusted Score: 71.542%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#49
Adjusted Score: 71.569%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#48
Adjusted Score: 73.015%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#47
Adjusted Score: 73.47%
Critics Consensus: It's uneven, as anthologies often are, but Creepshow is colorful, frequently funny, and treats its inspirations with infectious reverence.
#46
Adjusted Score: 73.804%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#45
Adjusted Score: 75.167%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#44
Adjusted Score: 75.237%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#43
Adjusted Score: 75.341%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#42
Adjusted Score: 75.574%
Critics Consensus: While Basket Case definitely delivers all the gonzo gore promised by its cracked premise, it's really set apart by its rich vein of genuine pathos.
#41
Adjusted Score: 75.763%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#40
Adjusted Score: 75.835%
Critics Consensus: Killer Klowns from Outer Space's title promises darkly goofy fun -- and more often than not, the movie delivers.
#39
Adjusted Score: 76.358%
Critics Consensus: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors offers an imaginative and surprisingly satisfying rebound for a franchise already starting to succumb to sequelitis.
#38
Adjusted Score: 77.196%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#37
Adjusted Score: 77.247%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#36
Adjusted Score: 77.469%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#35
Adjusted Score: 78.699%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#34
Adjusted Score: 79.025%
Critics Consensus: Flawed but eminently watchable, Joel Schumacher's teen vampire thriller blends horror, humor, and plenty of visual style with standout performances from a cast full of young 1980s stars.
#33
Adjusted Score: 80.112%
Critics Consensus: Scanners is a dark sci-fi story with special effects that'll make your head explode.
#32
Adjusted Score: 80.123%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#31
Adjusted Score: 81.196%
Critics Consensus: Sleepaway Camp is a standard teen slasher elevated by occasional moments of John Waters-esque weirdness and a twisted ending.
#30
Adjusted Score: 81.878%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#29
Adjusted Score: 83.16%
Critics Consensus: Visually audacious, disorienting, and just plain weird, Videodrome's musings on technology, entertainment, and politics still feel fresh today.
#28
Adjusted Score: 83.322%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#27
Adjusted Score: 83.445%
Critics Consensus: Predator: Part sci-fi, part horror, part action -- all muscle.
#26
Adjusted Score: 84.577%
Critics Consensus: Dead Ringers serves up a double dose of Jeremy Irons in service of a devilishly unsettling concept and commandingly creepy work from director David Cronenberg.
#25
Adjusted Score: 85.086%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#24
Adjusted Score: 85.304%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#23
Adjusted Score: 86.953%
Critics Consensus: Brilliantly bizarre and overflowing with ideas, Beetlejuice offers some of Michael Keaton's most deliciously manic work - and creepy, funny fun for the whole family.
#22
Adjusted Score: 87.68%
Critics Consensus: Those unfamiliar with Alejandro Jodorowsky's style may find it overwhelming, but Santa Sangre is a provocative psychedelic journey featuring the director's signature touches of violence, vulgarity, and an oddly personal moral center.
#21
Adjusted Score: 87.865%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#20
Adjusted Score: 88.045%
Critics Consensus: A politically subversive blend of horror and sci fi, They Live is an underrated genre film from John Carpenter.
#19
Adjusted Score: 88.58%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Directed By:
#18
Adjusted Score: 88.604%
Critics Consensus: Grimmer and more terrifying than the 1950s take, John Carpenter's The Thing is a tense sci-fi thriller rife with compelling tension and some remarkable make-up effects.
#17
Adjusted Score: 88.947%
Critics Consensus: Whether you choose to see it as a statement on consumer culture or simply a special effects-heavy popcorn flick, Gremlins is a minor classic.
#16
Adjusted Score: 89.804%
Critics Consensus: Extraordinarily daring for a Hollywood film, Altered States attacks the viewer with its inventive, aggressive mix of muddled sound effects and visual pyrotechnics.
#15
Adjusted Score: 91.5%
Critics Consensus: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is an effective, chilling profile of a killer that is sure to shock and disturb.
#14
Adjusted Score: 91.604%
Critics Consensus: Smartly filmed, tightly scripted, and -- most importantly -- consistently frightening, Poltergeist is a modern horror classic.
#13
Adjusted Score: 91.741%
Critics Consensus: Near Dark is at once a creepy vampire film, a thrilling western, and a poignant family tale, with humor and scares in abundance.
#12
Adjusted Score: 91.863%
Critics Consensus: Terrifying and funny in almost equal measure, John Landis' horror-comedy crosses genres while introducing Rick Baker's astounding make-up effects.
#11
Adjusted Score: 93.155%
Critics Consensus: Though it deviates from Stephen King's novel, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a chilling, often baroque journey into madness -- exemplified by an unforgettable turn from Jack Nicholson
#10
Adjusted Score: 93.304%
Critics Consensus: A punk take on the zombie genre, Return of the Living Dead injects a healthy dose of '80s silliness to the flesh consuming.
#9
Adjusted Score: 93.304%
Critics Consensus: Fright Night deftly combines thrills and humor in this ghostly tale about a man living next to a vampire.
#8
Adjusted Score: 93.501%
Critics Consensus: The Dead Zone combines taut direction from David Cronenberg and and a rich performance from Christopher Walken to create one of the strongest Stephen King adaptations.
#7
Adjusted Score: 94.619%
Critics Consensus: Remixing Roger Corman's B-movie by way of the Off-Broadway musical, Little Shop of Horrors offers camp, horror and catchy tunes in equal measure -- plus some inspired cameos by the likes of Steve Martin and Bill Murray.
#6
Adjusted Score: 97.5%
Critics Consensus: David Cronenberg combines his trademark affinity for gore and horror with strongly developed characters, making The Fly a surprisingly affecting tragedy.
#5
Adjusted Score: 97.7%
Critics Consensus: Wes Craven's intelligent premise, combined with the horrifying visual appearance of Freddy Krueger, still causes nightmares to this day.
#4
Adjusted Score: 99.287%
Critics Consensus: Perfectly mixing humor and horror, the only thing more effective than Re-Animator's gory scares are its dry, deadpan jokes.
#3
Adjusted Score: 99.446%
Critics Consensus: This classic low budget horror film combines just the right amount of gore and black humor, giving The Evil Dead an equal amount of thrills and laughs.
#2
Adjusted Score: 102.531%
Critics Consensus: Evil Dead 2's increased special effects and slapstick-gore makes it as good -- if not better -- than the original.
#1
Adjusted Score: 105.382%
Critics Consensus: While Alien was a marvel of slow-building, atmospheric tension, Aliens packs a much more visceral punch, and features a typically strong performance from Sigourney Weaver.
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