The 21 best horror movies from the 1980s

We mentioned “Halloween,” the seminal slasher directed by John Carpenter, so why not start with another Carpenter movie? “The Fog” isn’t as good as “Halloween,” and it’s not as straightforward or well-realized, but in terms of vibes-based horror films, it’s one of the best. It’s atmospheric, and it has a killer score. If you’ve watched Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay” and you haven’t seen “The Fog,” give it a shot.

Back-to-back Jamie Lee Curtis movies! Again, as with “The Fog,” “Prom Night” isn’t as good as “Halloween,” which established Curtis in the horror genre en route to her rising to the level of scream queen. However, it’s a slasher film set at a high school prom, and so even solid execution was primed to work out well.

Sure, Stephen King despised this adaptation of his book “The Shining,” but have you checked out his bibliography? The guy’s taste is certainly questionable. Stanley Kubrick was no hired gun brought in to make a cheap haunted-house movie. “The Shining” has Jack Nicholson as the star and showcases all of Kubrick’s skills. That’s why it is considered a standout movie, much less a standout horror movie.

“An American Werewolf in London” arrived just in time to win the first Oscar for makeup, and rightfully so. The transformation scene in the middle of this gnarly horror-comedy is a tour de force of filmmaking. Maybe John Landis isn’t held in high esteem these days, but the quality in this werewolf flick is clear.

Tobe Hooper used his acumen in the horror genre to bring Steven Spielberg’s vision to life with “Poltergeist.” The film came out the same year as “E.T.,” which has a decidedly different feel to it, even if E.T. is pretty freaky himself. Haunted houses don’t get much nastier than the one in “Poltergeist.” Even the TV is in on it!

Unsurprisingly, there are multiple King adaptations on this list. The guy was incredibly prolific in his heyday, making it almost impossible to avoid at least one King adaptation a year. “Cujo” is as straightforward as a King story gets. A St. Bernard, once gentle, has gone mad with rabies, and now a woman and her son are trapped in a car because of his violent rage.

Before John Heard and Daniel Stern were in “Home Alone,” they were in “C.H.U.D.” It was clearly made on the cheap, but that is not to its detriment most of the time. It’s essentially “What if a zombie horde was growing underneath New York City?” and it really dives into the fringes of the city. Also, shout-out to the sequel, a silly horror-comedy only vaguely connected to the original.

There were a few “Elm Street” movies in the ‘80s, and a couple of the sequels are solid. However, none of the sequels are as good as the original “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Freddy Krueger is one of the slasher icons, so we probably don’t need to delve into the premise, right? At this point, even the fact that Johnny Depp had an early role in this movie is well-worn.

In terms of Christmas horror movies, none is better than “Gremlins.” Joe Dante’s anarchic spirit drives this story of malevolent but delightful little green monsters taking over a small town. That’s what you get for feeding them after midnight. “Gremlins” is also notable as one of the movies that helped usher in the PG-13 rating.

Punks not dead…or at least it’s the living dead. Owing to a creative split, writer John Russo got “Living Dead” from his partnership with George A. Romero, leading to this bananas horror-comedy. It’s a movie that posits the movie “Night of the Living Dead” was based on a real event, and then the fallout of that event leads to, well, a zombie outbreak right out of “Night of the Living Dead.” With a lot more punks and swearing and nudity, though.

“Re-Animator” is more of an acquired-taste horror movie, one that was always destined for “cult classic” status. Director Stuart Gordon wasn’t interested in subtlety, and “Re-Animator” is an anything-goes horror-comedy, one that had to be edited down to get an R rating. It’s just going for bonkers fun, and it delivers…if you get down with this kind of thing.

It’s tough enough being a teenager, but then a vampire moves in next door. Plus, the horror host you love who has played a vampire hunter turns out to just be, you know, an actor. “Fright Night” isn’t perfect, but in the way where the bones are so strong, and the execution is just a half-step off. It’s a good movie, but you can see a path to being a great movie.

“Chopping Mall” is junk-food cinema, and it rules. Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov are in it. A bunch of young revelers stow away in the mall overnight so they can party in the furniture store and have sex in said furniture store even though all their friends are also there. Oh, and there are killer security robots. Look, do you want every movie to make total sense, or do you want to have fun watching laser robots blow up the Barbara Cramptons of the world? Exactly.

The fact that this horror film is about a party at an estate over April Fool’s Day should let you know it’s not taking the whole slasher thing too seriously. The party is being held by a college student named Muffy St. John! We’ve gotten used to slasher comedies by this point, but in 1986 that was pretty bold, and even if “April Fool’s Day” flounders a bit at times, it’s got some good stuff going for it.

David Cronenberg’s body horror oeuvre reached its peak with “The Fly.” Based on an older horror film about a man and a fly entering a matter transport device together, this time around, the result is Jeff Goldblum going through it. It’s gross, naturally, but Cronenberg was somewhat restrained with “The Fly.” It’s even, at times, tragic.

Roger Corman’s horror-comedy from the 1960s became a stage musical, which in turn became a movie. This version of “Little Shop of Horrors” is decidedly better. It has a bigger budget, sure, but also an incredible cast. Even if you don’t like musicals, the surreal, winking nature of this film might allow you to enjoy this one.

The original “Evil Dead” was made for incredibly cheap by Sam Raimi, and while it made it clear why he was able to build up his career, it’s sparse and very nasty. So much so that even Raimi has said it’s a little much. “Evil Dead II” is both a sequel and, in a lot of ways, a remake of the original. It’s much more horror-comedy than the first one, but also much better. It’s no longer a proof of concept but rather the work of a director capable of fully realizing his vision.

One more John Carpenter movie for you. In the 1980s, we had a few choices from him. “Prince of Darkness” was under the radar in his filmography, but as is often the case with beloved directors, eventually every good movie (and even some not-so-good movies) gets reconsidered. This is essentially a movie about a container that holds Satan. Yeah, that’s all we needed to say, isn’t it?

The execution in “Return to Horror High” isn’t perfect. What it has is admirable ambition. Also, Marcia Brady gives an absolutely wild performance. It also has a premise that allows the movie to sort of pave over any mistakes or rough patches with assertions that they were intentional, which is kind of a copout. This is a low-budget horror movie about the making of a low-budget horror movie, and it cuts back and forth from the film and “reality,” but “reality” is also being presented to us in flashback. If you’re a horror fan, though, it’s one to see.

Slasher icons come in various forms. You might be a janitor turned dream killer. Or you might be a doll with a serial killer’s soul in you. That’s Chucky in the “Child’s Play” series. While the series would eventually get more comedic, and at its nadir too comedic, “Child’s Play” is more out-and-out horror. While it didn’t invent the killer toy, it may be the best example of the execution of that concept.

Well, owing to the calendar, we’re ending with maybe Nicolas Cage’s craziest performance, and that’s saying something. He was committed, unafraid, and a little unhinged. “Vampire’s Kiss” is funny at times, sometimes intentionally, but other times maybe not? Cage plays a man who thinks he has been turned into a vampire, but it’s also possible he’s just completely come untethered from reality and is now a danger to himself and others. Either way, Cage’s performance is mesmerizing.