In no particular order, the real top 10...

Bad Taste
Psycho 2
Return of the Living Dead
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Creepshow
Day of the Dead
Halloween 2
Nightmare on Elm Street
Pet Sematary
The 'Burbs


Honorable Mention

Evil Dead 2
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th 2
Gremlins
The Thing
An American Werewolf in London

Most of the members here will list an often-repeated top 10 of the 1980s, and they will be correct because the 70s and 80s produced the best horror films.
I will go ahead and list top 10 slashers from the 1980s, just to be different and to give you a better range of films to choose from :-

Friday the 13th
Nightmare on Elm Street
Tenebrae
Maniac
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Intruder
Clownhouse
The Burning
I, Madman
The Initiation

Top 10 Horror Movies of the 80s
 

As a child of the 1980s I still hold the decade in high regard for its quality horror movies. I've put together a few thoughts on the genre at the time and listed my top 10 horror movies of the 1980s here:
http://www.squidoo.com/tophorrormovies1980

creepshow
evil dead 1and2
elmstreet1,2,3,4,5and6
creepshow2

My Top Ten 80's Horror Films Are

1. Friday The 13th Part 2
2. Friday The 13th
3. Friday The 13th VI Jason Lives
4. Nightmare On Elm Street
5. Friday The 13th Part 3
6. Nightmare On Elm Street 3
7. Friday The 13th VII
8. The Shining
9. Friday The 13th VIII
10. Nightmare On Elm Street 4

You can't go wrong with:

1) John Carpenter's The Thing- landmark special effects, eerie score, and the frozen landscape still gives me the creeps. My favorite remake of all time

2) Cannibal Holocaust- brutal, brutal, brutal.....the ultimate exploitation film..everyone is exploited here, the actors, the animals, the audience...makes my list for sheer jaw-dropping,
stomach-lurching shock value.

3) Re-Animator- This film has held up amazingly well. Funny,
dark, shocking and twisted.

4) The Evil Dead/Evil Dead II- yeah, I know, 2 films, but they are pretty much the same movie and I like them both.

5) Nightmare on Elm Street- the remakes have probably hurt the reputation and impact of this one, but when it was first released it scared the hell out of me.

6) Day of the Dead- Romero keeps to a small scale for this sequel. An underated film in my opinion.

7) The Hunger- I'm a big Bowie fan so I may be a little biased on this one......also contains a memorable love scene between Susan Sarandan and Catherine Deneuve:)

8) The Beyond- Fulci may not be able to carry a narrative, but
he always creates a few stunning scenes and great atmosphere. This may be his best..

9) Aliens- "action" horror doesn't get much better than this.

10) Humanoids from the Deep- this one was just too much fun to leave off my list.

also loved: The Stepfather, The Hitcher, Santa Sangre, The Funhouse, Near Dark, Alligator, Videodrome, The Fly, Fright Night, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Hellraiser, Return of the Living Dead, Poltergeist, The Howling and Cannibal Ferox.

I always liked that episode of The Simpsons, though it came out in 1994, so about five years too late for this list. ;)



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Groundskeeper Willy: [gasps] Boy... you read my thoughts! You've got the Shinning.
Bart Simpson: You mean "Shining".
Groundskeeper Willy: Shh! You want to get sued?