Nothing says Fall like getting the bejesus scared out of you at home on your couch, watching movies and eating popcorn. (Unless you feel like going to the theater; there are a lot of good horror movies out this year!) Here are 13 of the best horror movies of the 1980s, just in time to get in the spooky Halloween spirit. Beware of the bad special effects.
This movie is the granddad of all modern scary movies. Jason Voorhees is the main bad guy, and he terrorizes a group of teenagers who tromp into the woods for adventure. All the same clichés of the genre exist, but this movie invented the tropes, so it's not derivative at all. This is the first in a long series of sequels and an overwhelming franchise.
Arguably the scariest movie of all time, The Shining will make you rethink that vacation — especially if you plan to stay in a hotel. Based on Stephen King's novel of the same name and directed by Stanley Kubrick, this movie is so iconic that you're probably familiar with a lot of the imagery, even if you've never seen the film itself. Jack Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, who goes crazy while he and his family are staying at the Overlook Hotel as he works as the Winter caretaker. Nicholson gives one hell of a scary performance, and the movie has become a classic.
Remember when I warned you about the special effects? This movie might test the limits of your suspension of disbelief, but if you can get past what you're used to when it comes to werewolf technology, you'll really enjoy it. If it makes you feel better, know that it was actually PRAISED for its special effects at the time of its release. It's your basic boy-turned-werewolf story, in which two American men go backpacking in a foreign country and one is bitten.
"Go into the light, Carol Anne" and "Theeeeyyyy're heeeerrrreee" are perhaps the two most frightening phrases in the American lexicon, and they both come from this movie. I still can't watch this movie at night. Written and produced by Steven Spielberg, Poltergeist is about a California family whose home is overrun by a bunch of superevil ghosts who torment the family and then wind up abducting the young daughter. This movie is so scary that some folks believe the entire franchise is cursed.
Full disclosure: this movie emotionally scarred me as a little girl, and I can barely look at the images without flashbacks. It could possibly be responsible for why I am a cat person and distrust dogs immensely. Cujo is about a mother and son who drive to a farm but then get stranded when their car breaks down. They are menaced by the farm's rabid St. Bernard, and things turn so ugly so quickly, I'm feeling my childhood PTSD returning as I type.
If America had an official villain, Freddy Krueger from the Elm Street movies would be it. He is the most iconic big bad, and just looking at him still makes me feel a little afraid. The original A Nightmare on Elm Street features a very young Johnny Depp in his first feature film and tells the story of a group of teenagers who are being stalked and killed in their dreams. They die in real life too, but the dream sequences will haunt your, well, dreams.
When it comes to zombies on film, you may think you know it all, but if you haven't checked into George Romero's Day of the Dead series, then you really just don't know anything about zombies. Day of The Dead is the third in the franchise, preceded by Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978). The movie is more a musing on the human condition, but with special effects by Tom Savini, you're gonna get your fair share of blood and gore.
If you like your horror movies with a fair amount of gross-out, then you'll love The Fly. Jeff Goldblum plays an adventurous scientist who accidentally turns himself into a fly through a series of experiments gone awry. Don't let my oversimplified description deter you. This is one of the most visually disturbing films in the history of moving pictures. It's just so grody.
Sigourney Weaver is a badass. That's really all you need to know about this movie. Aliens is the second installment in the franchise and was directed by James Cameron. Technically classified as a "military science fiction" film, it's really about Ellen Ripley (Weaver) kicking some alien ass and not taking any sh*t from them. Did I mention I love Sigourney Weaver?
Hellraiser's plot is a bit convoluted, but all you need to know is that there are some resurrections, some blood spilling, and a respectable amount of alternate dimensions. This was a British import and received a lot of mixed reviews for its cinematography and special effects, but discerning fans have made it part of the horror canon.
Every good horror movie list needs at least one movie that has its tongue firmly in its cheek. Known less for its scary elements and more for its plucky humor and unmitigated gore, Child's Play is the best scary movie about a doll come to life there is. Unbeknownst to the single mother who buys it, the doll, Chucky, is possessed by the soul of a serial killer and the mouth of a drunken sailor. The movie has spawned countless sequels and become a pulp classic.
OK, OK . . . Heathers isn't technically a horror movie, but it's unsettling in a bunch of other ways. Starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, this movie will validate you if you've ever been bullied by anyone, ever. Veronica and J.D. team up to murder and torture all the mean guys and girls in their school in varied ways, including poisoning by drain cleaner, sexual assault, and a bomb in the cafeteria. It has something for everyone. And you'll be quoting this movie for the rest of your life.
Because sometimes they come back. And by "they," I mean dead things, and by "back," I mean from the dead. Another Stephen King contribution, Pet Sematary is a cautionary tale about humans who get greedy with their own mortality. A family discovers a hallowed burial grown after their beloved cat returns from the grave, so they decide to use the space to reanimate their young son. Scariness ensues.
