The 17 Most Underrated Horror Films of the 1980s

When a small town is terrorized by a mysterious killer, it’s up to one wheelchair-bound boy to save them from a terror they can’t imagine.

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Silver Bullet (1985) is based on a (1983) Stephen King novella (Cycle of the Werewolf), this little gem often gets forgotten in the mix of all the other film adaptations of his work. Since the screenplay is actually written by King, though, you know you’re in for something good.

A teenage girl finds herself the center of attention, but of the two boys in her life, one just might be a killer.

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Far From Home (1989) was a massive hit not only because 13-year-old Barrymore is incredible in the spotlight, but because the whole film is snappy, dark, and clever.

When a teenage prank leads to the death of a young boy, the boy’s father sets out on a path of vengeance, summoning a dark creature from the very pits of Hell.

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Pumpkinhead (1988) is one film that probably a few more mainstream viewers have encountered, but it’s still one that too-frequently flies beneath the radar, considering just how darn cheesy and scary it is.

Something is wrong in a small New Zealand town… something alien. But four men with big guns are there to set things right.

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Bad Taste (1987) begins one of the strangest and wildest directorial careers in history. From this low budget cult-comedy gore-flick, to one of the largest and most expensive film franchises ever made, Peter Jackson’s career is unexplainable and wonderful.

A dark creature stalks the Australian outback, terrorizing and devouring all who encounter it.

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Razorback (1984) was based on a 1981 novel by Peter Brennan and carries a massive host of monstrous moments, not all to do with the supernatural creature at the story’s heart. After all, human monsters are the worst of all.

A necrophiliac killer is murdering the prostitutes at Madame Lan's brothel.

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Corpse Mania (1981) is an example of some seriously bleak and wickedly gory horror that arose out of the Hong Kong film industry. There’s a certain extremely darkly comic note at play here, but overall, it’s just-plain-messed-up. The atmosphere that this one creates is unforgettable, however.

Beverly Hills is built on the back of the poor, but the class divide might be even sharper than anyone knows. For young Billy, one thing is certain: these people aren’t who he thought they were… either that, or he’s losing his mind.

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Society (1989) is prime horror-satire, which is my preferred form of horror by far. Horror tackles real-world subjects incredibly well, and this little gem came at a time of great fracture in the world, when Regan and Thatcher policies were destroying the remaining social safety nets and things were looking bleak under threat of the Cold War. A little like now, actually. Anyway, horror took the angst of that era and distilled it, and in Society the distillation is superb.

A TV show host asks her viewers to send in home videos, but one of them sends her a snuff film, apparently shot in a nearby abandoned factory. Her film crew in tow, she sets out to investigate, but the scoop she finds may be more than she bargained for.

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Evil Dead Trap (1988) (Shiryō no wana in Japan), takes the Giallo genre, slaps it together with bloody slasher surrealism, and packages it all up to go amid an eerie landscape of half-hidden shots and a leering, hidden danger.

A mysterious train comes to town on the back of an autumnal wind; a mirror-maze whispers to all who enter it of their deepest desires, and two young boys find themselves up against forces beyond their comprehension.

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Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) is based on Ray Bradbury’s novel of the same name and, honestly, … go read the novel first. It’s one of his best, and you’ll get so much more of the original intensity and vibe from that than from this film. That said, if you’ve already read the book, you’ll likely find this early Disney foray into the dark and strange something fascinating.

A young woman and a mysterious man meet at a cabin in the woods. Neither is what they seem, both know the other is lying, but what they want from one another is the greatest unknown.

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The Caller (1987) is delightfully twisted and clever, doing more with two primary actors and a couple of simple locations than most do with blockbuster budgets. Of course, Malcolm McDowell brings his unique shade of unsettling to this piece, but Osborne’s no slouch either, and they play off one another beautifully.

A high school senior and her friends are having a slumber party, but someone’s planning on party crashing and giving the girls the last time of their life.

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The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)​ could have been one of the great early satirical horror films, if not for the lousy infestation of the studio producers who got in the way. They forced the satirical script to be shot like a standard slasher, cutting out the heart of what made the writing so great. Written by Rita Mae Brown, and directed by Amy Jones, this female-led production was a break in the patriarchal norm of that era’s horror films, and even though the producers messed things up, the wittiness of the original script shines through.

An ancient evil is released from a magical lamp, and the malevolent creature stalks a group of teenagers through the dark halls of a museum of natural history.

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The Outing (1987) was originally released as The Lamp in the United Kingdom, but received a new name and two minutes of weird cuts for the U.S. version. The film is basically 100% cheese, with enough titillation and ridiculous horror to satisfy anyone who needs a laugh and a few chills. It’s not the greatest film of all time, but it’s a perfect Grade-C horror film.

When a woman moves from her rural home to the big city, she purchases a new car, but quickly finds that her new ride harbors a dark secret.

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Mr. Wrong (1984) is whimsical, atmospheric, and honestly superb. It’s one of those little gems that doesn’t require a big budget to do something superb.

A woman is attacked by a man and fears for her life, but an even more alarming discovery awaits right around the corner.

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Windows (1980) is an admittedly bad film, so “underrated” hardly fits in the broadest sense. The fact that this film is basically a collection of outmoded and icky lesbian stereotypes, thrown together by a lackluster plot, means that its critics are spot-on. However, Gordon Willis was the director, and his eye is everywhere in the cinematography of this film. Added to that are some solid performances by the lead actors. This one might be underrated more in the sense of if you’re a film student, it’s worth watching, but that still bears repeating.

During World War II, in German-occupied Romania, Nazi soldiers have been sent to garrison a mysterious fortress. But something incomprehensible lurks at the heart of the Keep, and soon the soldiers realize that it was not built to keep something in, but to stop something from getting out.

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The Keep (1983) is based on the 1981 F. Paul Wilson novel of the same name and is easily one of the most underrated horror films of all time. Partly, that’s due to the massive productions problems that arose during filming, and the horrible decision by the studio executives to make unnecessary and damaging cuts to the final release. Despite the film originally being 3.5 hours long, the Paramount version was cut to 96 minutes. Sadly, we’ll probably never get a fully remastered version of the original material, but what we do have remains one of the most atmospheric and twisted dark WWII fairy tales to ever exist.

An American family move to a house in Japan, a house haunted by an affair and dark deeds done beneath the sway of lust and vengeance. Now, those demons are coming back to haunt the living.

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The House Where Evil Dwells (1982) offers a wild mix of blood, terror, and eroticism — all hallmarks of the horror genre — and weaves them into a clever ghost fable that never got the love it deserved.

Twenty years ago, mine supervisors abandoned their posts and let five miners die. Since then, no Valentine’s Day party has been held… until now. A group of teens sets out to enjoy the spark of a Valentine’s Day dance, only to find a wrathful figure stalking their every move.

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My Bloody Valentine (1981) is Quentin Tarantino’s favorite slasher film, which I’m not sure is a recommendation for or against. There is definitely something a little different about it, though; it’s more restrained in some ways, more violent in others, and it offers exactly what you paid for whilst still managing to offer you the bleakest slasher experience around.

Once upon a time, Netflix’s DVD library hosted well over 100,000 titles and sent out roughly 12 million DVDs per week. Now, with the advent of easy-to-use streaming services, the amount of content viewers have available has shrunk to the low thousands. Look up any list of “films to watch” and you’ll find a tiny selection of movies, usually curated by people all reading the same lists and commenting on the exact same hot new show or film.

But, is that all there is? With over a hundred years of incredible filmmaking on the planet, isn’t there something missed when we only pay attention to the latest and greatest? This series is dedicated to answering that question and to exploring a small handful of the unsung films from decades past. I’ll examine each decade in turn, all the way back to the earliest days of film, and I’ll be exploring every genre of film there is! From science fiction, to drama, to romance, to comedy—I’m going to cover the entirety of film history for you, bringing out the golden nuggets for you to enjoy.

As always, with these articles, I love hearing your feedback in the comments section, or on Twitter @indubitablyodin. Let me know what your favorite films of the decade were, which ones you think I should have included, and which you hope I’ll mention in one of my next decades!