The Best of... The 1980's!

Before we take a look at the 31 Best Horror Movies of the New Millennium during this year’s 31 Days of Horror, we thought we’d go back and try to figure out what the best movies of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s were first. For the sake of continuity.

With the movies of the 70's having laid the groundwork, the Horror Genre exploded into the 80's with a massive popularity that is unmatched to this day. The beginning of the decade saw The Golden Age of the Slasher Film in full swing, which lasted roughly from 1978-1984. That time period saw over 100 Slasher Movies released, most of which did their best to be the new Halloween or Friday the 13th. In this time period, the world came to know and love names like Michael, Jason, and Freddy (as well as countless other masked murderers) on fanatic levels.

The Horror Movies of the 1980’s also reflected the excessive times, by being excessive in gore and nudity, and crossing even more boundaries of ethical decency. Special Effects came to the forefront like never before, as people wanted bigger, better, and bloodier, and with films like An American Werewolf in London and The Thing, that's exactly what they got.

• We wen’t with 51 movies for this list instead of our normal 36, and even then we were forced to leave some great movies out in the cold. I promise you, none of those choices were easy.
• Aside from the Must See classics in the Top Six section, we heartily recommend that The Beyond, Demons, From Beyond, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Lost Boys, My Bloody Valentine, and Prince of Darkness, be at the top of your watch lists. 
• Then again, every movie on this list should absolutely be seen by any self-respecting Horror Fan, as the 80's was probably the best decade for Horror Cinema.

So here are the 50 Best Horror Movies of the 1980’s. If you’re looking to explore the genre, then these are the classic movies you start with. The movies in the Top Six are timeless and essential, but so are many of the ones that make up the rest of the 50. You should really explore them all.

*Most of the links go to Amazon so that you can stream or grab yourself a copy of the movies; or in the case of some of the older & more obscure titles, IMDB, because they simply aren't available to stream or purchase.