The 1980s were full of genre films that birthed some of the most enduring franchises in Hollywood history and great films from great directors that have been rightly celebrated. But the decade also gave us many movies that haven’t received their due.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many films that deserve more attention are also brilliant genre movies and movies from beloved directors that have languored in relative obscurity outside of cinephile circles.
1. Maniac (1980)
Maniac may have been part of the first wave of slashers in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Still, its shocking brutality and focus on psychological portraiture over disposable teenage characters may have made it difficult for fans of the often fun genre to get on board. Written by star Joe Spinell, the film centers on a serial killer who hunts women in New York City while battling an inner monologue from a projection of his mother. It’s a disturbing film and one of the best horror movies of the decade.
2. Psycho II (1983)
Another movie about a serial killer with mommy issues, this sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is often forgotten despite being one of the earliest and best legacy sequels. Psycho II follows Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) after he’s deemed cured of his mental illness and re-enters society. When murders begin around Norman, and he starts hearing his mother’s voice again, he struggles to keep sane. Psycho II offers a shockingly empathetic look at the eponymous killer from the first film while also delivering the slasher goods we expect from the 1980s.
3. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
Slashers weren’t the only horror subgenre of the 1980s that delivered classics and underappreciated gems. Tetsuo: The Iron Man followed in the footsteps of David Cronenberg’s body horror films and melded them with industrial aesthetics to offer one of the most unique and thought-provoking explorations of the relationship between humanity and machines ever set to film. The film’s narrative is so loose that it’s challenging to follow at times, but it centers on two men who begin to transform into, well, iron men.
4. Roar (1981)
Surprisingly, Roar isn’t more of a big deal based on its production history alone. The film, which centers on a family attacked by the big cats the father cares for, has been called “the most dangerous movie ever made” for the many injuries sustained by the cast and crew in the film’s making. There’s excitement and tension from watching a movie you know is fictional, and then there’s the excitement and tension of watching a movie where you know the big cats can and did hurt people. Whether that’s appealing is a different question, but Roar still deserves more attention.
5. Born in Flames (1983)
Not just one of the best science fiction films of the 1980s but one of the best science fiction films of all time, Born in Flames has never received the large-scale celebration it deserves. The film, shot in a semi-documentary style, tells the story of several women’s groups organizing in a future where a socialist revolution claims to have solved all social problems. But issues of racism, sexism, and homophobia still run rampant. It’s a brilliant movie that’s also formally and narratively thrilling.
6. Birdy (1984)
Nicolas Cage and Matthew Modine star in this adaptation of William Wharton’s novel of the same name, which offers some of both actors’ best work. The film tracks the friendship between the two characters during their time in Philadelphia before they’re sent into combat in the Vietnam War and afterward as they both struggle with PTSD. It’s a strange and beautiful movie that should be talked about more.
7. Steel Magnolias (1989)
Robert Harling adapted his play of the same for the screen with Steel Magnolias, and it remains one of the best stage-to-screen adaptations ever made for its narrative structure and incredibly witty dialogue. The film tells the story of a group of women over several years in the 1980s as they fight with and support one another through romances, financial hardships, and illness. It’s another film that’s surprisingly not a huge deal given its phenomenal cast, including Julia Roberts (Oscar-nominated for the film), Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, and more.
8. The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
Based on Bram Stoker’s novel of the same name, The Lair of the White Worm brings English folk horror into the late 20th century with humor and formal creativity from director Ken Russell. The movie follows the inhabitants of a small town after the discovery of a giant snake skull and its theft by a woman who seems to worship it. The film balances silliness with horror and real thematic heft to perfect effect. It has unfairly failed to earn the same attention as Stoker’s more often adapted novel.
9. Road House (1989)
We all know Patrick Swayze can dance, but Road House proved he can fight just as gracefully. The film centers on Swayze’s “cooler” James, who’s brought in by roadhouse owner Frank (Kevin Tighe), who wants to turn his place into something better than it has been. But upscaling the business isn’t the only obstacle in James’s way; there’s also a businessman intent on taking over the club, leading to a modern Western narrative of the town against the businessman. Road House isn’t just an update of a classic Western history, though; it’s also one of the best action movies of the 1980s.
10. Windows (1980)
The first and only film directed by Gordon Willis, the cinematographer of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Windows met with controversy upon its release for the plot that some found homophobic. The film follows a young woman who discovers that her seemingly kind lesbian neighbor is, in fact, dangerously obsessed with her. It’s an unnerving psychological thriller that, courtesy of Willis as director, looks incredible and can now safely be appreciated for its artistry in a world where we know not all lesbians are predators.
11. Deadbeat at Dawn (1988)
Low-budget genre films sprouted at a fantastic rate in the 1980s, and Deadbeat at Dawn is one of the best. The film’s narrative, about a gang leader seeking revenge, isn’t entirely original. But writer, director, and star Jim Van Bebber makes the low budget an asset and makes the film feel real, dirty, and riveting.
12. Son of the White Mare (1981)
One of the most beautiful animated films of all time, Son of the White Mare brings Hungarian folklore to life in jaw-dropping images. The film tells the story of the eponymous son as he journeys into the underworld to save princesses and fight dragons. It’s classic folklore stuff with Hungarian cultural specificity in the details and rendered in gorgeous animation.
13. Society (1989)
The late 1980s delivered an array of films critiquing the Reagan-era obsession with wealth and class. But none of them come anywhere near the insanity of Society. The film follows a teen who believes he may be adopted and that the other members of his wealthy family are, in fact, a different species from him. Society is a biting satire that also happens to be one of the most squelchy body horror films of all time, whether that’s a warning or an enticement.
14. Scanners (1981)
While David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and The Fly are rightly celebrated masterpieces, some of his other work from the decade deserves just as much love. Scanners follows a young man who discovers he is a “scanner,” a person with telekinetic powers and finds himself in an ongoing battle between a corporation and a rogue scanner. The film combines influences from the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s with high-concept science fiction to deliver an exciting and thought-provoking film that offers some iconic practical gore effects moments that may be better known than the film itself.
15. Dead Ringers (1988)
Cronenberg’s follow-up to The Fly, his most icky and gooey body horror film, includes almost no scenes of bodily mutilation or transformation, but that doesn’t make it any less troubling. Based on the novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, the film centers on identical twin gynecologists who often pretend to be one another. Their symbiotic relationship grows chaotic when one of the twins develops a serious relationship with a woman. It’s a psychological horror movie that’s heavy on the “psychological” aspect, which may just make it more scary.
16. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
Cronenberg isn’t the only celebrated horror auteur whose 80s oeuvre hasn’t been correctly appreciated. Wes Craven, creator of A Nightmare on Elm Street, ended his 1980s with two unfairly forgotten films. The first of them, The Serpent and the Rainbow, follows an anthropologist sent by a drug company to explore the science behind the Haitian practice of Voodoo and the creation of zombies. Unsurprisingly, science can’t explain it all. Based loosely on the nonfiction book by Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow draws its audience into a beautifully spooky and atmospheric world of magic and deserves just as much attention as Craven’s most famous films.
17. Shocker (1989)
There’s no denying that Shocker isn’t quite as great as The Serpent and the Rainbow, but it’s one of the most fun films Craven ever made. Like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Shocker includes several fantastical elements, including a football player who can see through the eyes of a killer in his dreams, and a killer who becomes pure electricity, capable of possessing other’s bodies. Shocker is a silly movie, but it’s also one of Craven’s most creative and gonzo outings as a writer and director, and that’s very much a good thing.
18. Prince of Darkness (1987)
Like Craven, horror legend John Carpenter’s final films of the 1980s have fallen by the wayside in favor of his widely-loved masterpieces The Thing and Halloween, even though they’re arguably just as good as those films and certainly more unique. Prince of Darkness follows a group of physics graduate students whom a Catholic priest recruits to investigate a mysterious tube of liquid beneath a Los Angeles church. It’s a brilliant mix of science and religion in a film unlike anything else.
19. They Live (1988)
They Live is a certified cult classic, but the film isn’t as widely known outside of genre film fan circles as it should be. Based on the short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning” by Ray Nelson, They Live centers on a man who discovers, with the help of magical sunglasses, that the world is run by an alien species constantly sending subliminal messages to humans. Another Reagan-era satire, They Live, is an equally exciting and hilarious sci-fi comedy that pulls no punches.
20. One From the Heart (1981)
Francis Ford Coppola followed up Apocalypse Now with this semi-musical romantic drama that takes place entirely on soundstages. One From the Heart is a visually striking film full of big sets and emotions as it tells the story of a struggling couple. The film was a flop and financially ruined Coppola, probably why it’s not remembered like his Godfather films and Apocalypse Now. It’s a stunning and moving film that stands alongside them as one of Coppola’s best.
21. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
Another Coppola film from the ’80s that deserves more love, Peggy Sue Got Married, was a success upon release and garnered three Academy Award nominations. Still, it’s been largely forgotten by most audiences today. The film tells the story of the eponymous Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner), who is transported twenty-five years into the past after hitting her head at her 25th high school reunion. With all the knowledge of her life and the choices she made before, Peggy Sue explores other options, leading to a mix of funny and revelatory scenes in a film that’s a beautiful celebration of life.
22. The King of Comedy (1982)
Martin Scorsese’s filmography is full of so many great films that some are bound to get lost in the shuffle. While The King of Comedy received some overdue attention after the release of Joker because of its significant influence on that film, it’s still relatively unknown in Marty’s oeuvre. In the movie, a struggling comedian grows obsessed with a talk show host and hatches a plan to kidnap him. The King of Comedy is a pitch-black comedy that skewers celebrity culture and may only be more relevant today.
23. After Hours (1985)
Scorsese’s next film after The King of Comedy has similarly fallen into relative obscurity compared to his most well-known films, and like The King of Comedy, it’s a comedy. After Hours follows the “one crazy night” formula as it follows office worker Paul (Griffin Dunne), who does his best to return home after midnight in New York City. After Hours is a black comedy just as often anxiety-inducing as it is funny, a balancing act that Scorsese masterfully pulls off.
24. Blood Simple (1984)
The Coen brothers’ first film melds horror and noir film aesthetics with an almost Shakespearean story of betrayal and murder to fantastic effect. Blood Simple centers on a cheating wife whose husband hires a private investigator to kill her and his friend that she’s sleeping with. But when the murder attempt goes wrong, things grow far more complicated. Blood Simple is a delightfully twisty story that plays significantly with dramatic irony and offers some of the best suspense sequences in the Coens’ career.
25. Shogun Assassin (1980)
Remarkably, Shogun Assassin is as good as it is, given that it was compiled from footage from existing films. American filmmakers Robert Houston and his partner David Weisman edited together pieces of two films from the Japanese Lone Wolf and Cub series to create Shogun Assassin for American audiences. In a cinematic miracle, the film succeeds. From its solid dubbing to the equal emphasis on action sequences and atmosphere, Shogun Assassin is a cult classic that should just be a classic.
26. Inferno (1980)
A semi-sequel to 1977’s iconic Suspiria, Dario Argento’s follow-up Inferno warrants the same status but has yet to achieve it. The film follows a young man who investigates his sister’s disappearance from her apartment and discovers that the apartment may be connected to witches. Like Suspiria, Inferno offers a sumptuous and sometimes overwhelming look into a supernatural world interspersed with shocking practical gore.
27. Phenomena (1985)
Argento’s 1980s output is full of phenomenal films that deserve more, among them: Phenomena. Released the year before Labyrinth, the film stars Jennifer Connelly as Jennifer Corvino, a newly arrived student at a boarding school in Switzerland. Shortly after Jennifer’s arrival, she witnesses a murder and becomes the killer’s target. Things are more complicated than a simple whodunit slasher (as fun as those often are); Jennifer can telepathically communicate with insects and uses this ability to discover the killer. Phenomena is a somewhat silly movie, but its commitment to playing it straight makes it a wonderfully unique horror movie.
28. Opera (1987)
Argento’s final film of the ’80s may be the best Giallo film of his career. Opera follows a young opera singer who becomes the center of a deranged fan’s obsession. The fan repeatedly binds the singer and forces her to watch them kill her friends and colleagues in striking set pieces that directly comment on the act of viewing horror movies. Opera is an incredibly stylish film from a master stylist.
29. Body Double (1984)
Master stylist Brian De Palma combines two plots from his favorite filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock, in Body Double to create something thrillingly new. Body Double sees a struggling actor house sit for a new friend and spy on the attractive woman next door, but when he sees her murdered, questions arise. Body Double is equal parts Rear Window and Vertigo but adds a more explicitly salacious element that brings those Hollywood classics crashing into the 1980s. It may be De Palma’s best film, but it doesn’t get the same attention as Carrie or Scarface.
30. Commando (1985)
Arnold Schwarzenegger was undoubtedly an icon of the 1980s. But with time, some of his films from the decade have been sidelined in favor of franchise starters like The Terminator and Predator. Just because Commando doesn’t have a sequel doesn’t mean it should be forgotten. The film offers some of the biggest fights and silliest one-liners in Arnold’s filmography as his special forces character must fight through hoards of bad guys to save his daughter. The movie has more plot involving revenge and politics, but what matters is that Arnold mows evildoers (or at least their henchmen) down like crazy, and it’s a joy to watch.
31. The Running Man (1987)
Loosely based on the pseudonymous Stephen King novel of the same name, The Running Man is another joyous ’80s Arnold outing. The movie takes place in a dystopian future and follows Arnold as his character is framed for a crime and forced to participate in a television show where criminals run from themed killers to earn pardons. The Running Man is a ridiculous movie that commits to its silly costumes and high concept so well that it’s also one of the best movies in Arnold’s career.
32. Anguish (1987)
Anguish is a horror movie that’s scarier for its atmosphere and the, well, vibe that it gives off more than any particular sequence. The film centers on an ophthalmologist’s assistant who is regularly hypnotized by his mother into killing people and bringing her their eyeballs. It’s icky stuff, but Anguish has more in store with a twist that makes its initial premise somehow more and less frightening.
33. Angel’s Egg (1985)
Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell is one of the most iconic anime films ever, though few of his other films get anywhere near the same kind of attention. At the very least, the director’s 1985 film Angel’s Egg should be in the same canon as Ghost in the Shell for its stunning visuals, unnerving and cozy atmosphere, and ambiguous narrative that asks viewers to interpret its meaning.
34. Pieces (1982)
Spanish-American co-production Pieces knows what slasher fans want and delivers. The film follows a pair of detectives investigating a series of gory killings on a college campus. It’s not the plot that makes Pieces such a delight for horror fans; it’s the film’s commitment to over-the-top practical gore effects, salacious scenes involving coeds, and never taking too long alternating between the two.
35. Eyes of Fire (1983)
A distinctly American folk horror film, Eyes of Fire follows a preacher accused of adultery and his supporters who leave their colonial settlement in 1750 to discover that the frontier isn’t any kinder than the society that cast them out. The film engages seriously with questions about colonialism and its consequences while enveloping the audience in an atmosphere of impending doom.
36. The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris directed one of the best and most overlooked trilogies of films with her trio of Decline of Western Civilization documentaries that document music and their surrounding scenes in Los Angeles. The first movie centers on the punk scene in the early 1980s. It offers interviews with fans and band members, as well as some of the most perfectly unvarnished concert footage. The doc is particularly special because Spheeris documents the various actions and viewpoints shown in the film without celebrating or condemning them.
37. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
Made seven years after the first entry, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years shifts focus from punk to metal, particularly the hair metal scene of Los Angeles’s Sunset Strip in the late 1980s. Spheeris’ approach remains largely the same, with a mix of interviews and concert footage, but the scenes could not be more different. Some of the musicians interviewed in The Metal Years, including Kiss’s Paul Stanley and Odin’s Randy O, are surrounded by scantily clad women while others talk about their excessive drug and alcohol use. It’s a documentary that’s equally ridiculous and heartbreaking.
38. Walker (1987)
Based on the true story of William Walker (played in the film by Ed Harris), who was sent to Nicaragua by millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt to secure Vanderbilt’s access to a shipping route, Walker is a furiously anti-colonialist Western. The film tracks Walker’s ascendancy to president of Nicaragua and his erratic and often violent actions while sprinkling in anachronisms, including Coca-Cola products, to highlight that the then ongoing US-backed Contra War existed in the same lineage as Walker.
39. Desert Hearts (1985)
Unsurprisingly, a Neo-Western lesbian romance didn’t make a huge splash in 1985. And while audiences have slowly reevaluated Desert Hearts, it hasn’t received nearly the same acclaim as its Neo-Western cousin Brokeback Mountain. The film, set in late 1950s Reno, Nevada, and based on the novel Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule, follows the blossoming relationship of a somewhat uptight professor and a more liberated young sculptor. It’s a beautiful and profoundly affecting film that deserves classic status.
40. Re-Animator (1985)
Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “Herbert West–Reanimator,” Re-Animator, as one might guess, tells the story of Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) as he experiments with reanimating the dead. The film is consciously silly and turns West into a hilariously broad character with a singular vision that inevitably gets him and his colleagues into trouble. Like many of the other great horror movies of the decade, Re-Animator offers fantastic practical effects, but here, those effects are just as often used for humor as horror.
41. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Another 1985 film about reanimated dead that combines humor and horror with great practical effects, The Return of the Living is the feature directorial debut of Alien screenwriter Dan O’Bannon and proves that he’s got just as much talent behind the camera as behind a typewriter (to be clear, he did also write the film). The movie tells the story of an accidentally human-caused zombie outbreak centered mainly around a warehouse (where the reanimating chemicals originated) and a nearby cemetery (where the corpses originated). The comic tone and the cast of punks who hang out in the cemetery have made the film a cult classic.
42. Married to the Mob (1988)
Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs and Stop Making Sense are celebrated classics, and his 1988 crime comedy Married to the Mob belongs in the same category. The film stars Michelle Pfeiffer in one of her most charming performances as a woman who decides to leave behind her life as a mob wife. She’s tracked down by both a powerful mafioso and the FBI, who hope to get her snitch. Despite the subject matter, it’s a sweet movie, and Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine, as the FBI agent meant to surveil her who falls for her, have terrific chemistry.
43. Troop Beverly Hills (1989)
Troop Beverly Hills succumbed to brutal reviews upon its release in 1989 and hasn’t yet recovered. But those who have sought out the film in recent years have discovered a delightfully funny and uplifting story of female friendship. The movie tells the story of the eponymous Troop Beverly Hills group of Girl Scout-esque Wilderness Girls who are led by the glamorous but not exactly outdoorsy Phyllis (Shelley Long). It’s a movie that’s just as much a coming-of-age story for the tweens as Phyllis, who discovers what’s important to her through her experiences with her charges.
44. Lady Beware (1987)
Lady Beware is one of the best thrillers of the decade but hardly gets any attention. The film stars Diane Lane as Katya, a window display designer who pushes the envelope with provocative displays that get people talking. Those windows get the attention of a psychopath who begins to stalk and terrorize Katya, who can only take so much before she makes a plan to turn the tables. Lady Beware is a nail-bitingly tense movie that uses the thriller genre to insightfully explore gender relationships.
45. River’s Edge (1986)
It makes no sense that people ever accused Keanu Reeves of being a bad actor when movies like River’s Edge exist. Reeves stars as one of a group of friends who grapple with the murder of one of their friends by another and delivers a soulful and tormented performance as his character considers going to the police. River’s Edge isn’t an easy movie to watch, but it is a fascinating one, and it also features brilliant, if idiosyncratic, performances from Dennis Hopper and Crispin Glover.
46. Manhunter (1986)
Similarly hard to watch is the first film to bring Hannibal Lecter (or “Lecktor” as it’s spelled in Manhunter) to the screen. Manhunter, adapted from the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, sees detective Will Graham (William Peterson) investigate the serial killer known only as “the Tooth Fairy” and request the help of psychologist and cannibal Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox) for the investigation. Manhunter offers a thrilling adaptation of the novel, with phenomenally stylish direction from Michael Mann, that’s much better than the better-known Red Dragon film from 2002.
47. The Dark Crystal (1982)
Jim Henson’s Labyrinth remains a favorite for families and children of the 1980s. His previous film, the Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie-less The Dark Crystal, has been somewhat left behind. The film, which features no human actors and takes place in a fantastical world populated entirely by characters created with puppets, tells an adventure story of two young “Gelfling” creatures who seek to save their world from the evil “Skeksis.” It’s a stunningly imaginative film that’s a must-watch for fans of puppets and high fantasy, and it’s very much worth seeking out for anyone interested in good movies, too.
48. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
Even though Desperately Seeking Susan stars Madonna and was a massive hit upon its release in 1985, it’s seemingly fallen out of the larger cultural consciousness. The movie centers on the eponymous free-spirited Susan (Madonna) and bored housewife Roberta (Rosanna Arquette), who grows fascinated by Susan after reading about her in the personals section of a local paper. When Roberta responds, in person, to an ad titled “Desperately Seeking Susan,” she’s mistaken for Susan by the mob. Desperately Seeking Susan offers a hilarious and touching film in the context of organized crime in 1980s New York City and a female-friendship classic.
49. Christmas Evil (1980)
The 1980s offered us various Christmas horror movies, from Gremlins to Silent Night, Deadly Night. But Christmas Evil remains both the best and the most underappreciated. The film centers on a toy factory worker who goes on a killing spree dressed as Santa Claus because people do not adequately appreciate Christmas or Santa. It’s a troubling movie, but it also offers a shockingly hopeful ending about the Christmas spirit and has been called “the best seasonal film of all time” by beloved filmmaker John Waters.
50. Deadly Games [aka Dial Code Santa Claus, Game Over, Hide and Freak] (1989)
The French didn’t want to be left out of the Christmas horror game in the ’80s and offered up this incredibly fun and not very scary movie that sees a child create a series of traps to combat an intruder around Christmas time. Yes, it sounds a lot like Home Alone, which is why filmmaker René Manzor threatened to sue Fox for plagiarism. Despite its more famous alleged ripoff, Deadly Games stands on its own as a darker, more violent film, where the intruding antagonist is dressed up as Santa. Whether that means it’s better than Home Alone is up to individual viewers, but there’s no denying that the movie deserves more attention.
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