Worst '80s slashers
by Coventry | created - 13 Jan 2015 | updated - 11 May 2021 | PublicAre you also addicted to slashers from the 1980's? Can't you resist to watch anything that answers to the slasher description even though you know from beforehand that it will be horrible? Hereby a list of the absolute worst-of-the-worst slashers from the 1980's (rated 3/10 and less)... Even though you'll still watch them anyway!
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1. Cardiac Arrest (1979)
PG | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A serial killer is plaguing San Francisco, surgically removing the hearts of his victims. Assigned to the case is a weak-stomached homicide detective who investigates the possibility of black market organ transplants.
Director: Murray Mintz | Stars: Garry Goodrow, Michael Paul Chan, Max Gail, Susan O'Connell
Votes: 269
2. Stage Fright (1980)
82 min | Horror, Thriller
A stage actress - who is hiding a deep trauma over the car accident that killed her mother - finds herself living a new nightmare when her fellow cast members are butchered by a glass-wielding killer.
Director: John D. Lamond | Stars: Jenny Neumann, Gary Sweet, Nina Landis, Max Phipps
Votes: 876
3. Final Exam (1981)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
A psycho killer shows up on college campus to slash up pretty co-eds and dumb jocks.
Director: Jimmy Huston | Stars: Cecile Bagdadi, Joel S. Rice, Ralph Brown, DeAnna Robbins
Votes: 4,623
4. Don't Go in the Woods (1981)
R | 82 min | Horror, Thriller
Four friends camping in the woods inadvertently stumble upon the domain of a maniacal killer.
Director: James Bryan | Stars: Nick Cleland, Mary Gail Artz, James P. Hayden, Angie Brown
Votes: 3,500
5. Delusion (1981)
R | 82 min | Horror
A nurse goes to a house to care for a crippled old man. Then people in the house start being murdered.
Director: Alan Beattie | Stars: Patricia Pearcy, David Hayward, John Dukakis, Leon Charles
Votes: 290
6. Home Sweet Home (1981)
TV-PG | 85 min | Horror
An escaped mental patient steals a station wagon and makes his way to the Bradleys' Thanksgiving celebration, where he plans to make them a little less thankful...
Director: Nettie Peña | Stars: Jake Steinfeld, Vinessa Shaw, Peter De Paula, Don Edmonds
Votes: 890
7. Boogeyman II (1983)
Not Rated | 79 min | Horror
Lacey travels to Hollywood, to the home of a film director, where she brings along the last surviving haunted mirror shard from the end of the first movie as proof to her horrifying experiences.
Directors: Bruce Pearn, Ulli Lommel, Paul Willson | Stars: Suzanna Love, Ulli Lommel, Shannah Hall, Sholto von Douglas
Votes: 1,208
8. The Stay Awake (1988)
R | 85 min | Horror
The ghost of a serial killer, executed for murdering students at a Catholic girls' school, returns to the school to take revenge on the current student body.
Director: John Bernard | Stars: Shirley Jane Harris, Tanya Gordon, Jayne Hutton, Heath Porter
Votes: 367
9. Appointment with Fear (1985)
R | 96 min | Fantasy, Horror
A man under the influence of an ancient Egyptian curse uses astral projection to kill those who protect his baby son from him. A woman and a shady cop try to stop him before he can get to the child and transfer the curse.
Director: Ramsey Thomas | Stars: Michele Little, Michael Wyle, Kerry Remsen, Douglas Rowe
Votes: 348
10. Blood Lake (1987)
Not Rated | 82 min | Horror
6 teenagers are partying one weekend. One couple disappears, only to be found brutally murdered. A blood thirsty killer is stalking them. One by one bodies begin to show up, as they become prey to the vengeance-seeking maniac.
Director: Tim Boggs | Stars: Doug Barry, Angela Darter, Mike Kaufman, Andrea Adams
Votes: 683
11. Death by Dialogue (1988)
R | 89 min | Horror
A guy and four of his friends visit his crippled uncle, a taxidermist who lives with his housekeeper next to a movie set. Pretty soon people start being killed in the manner they are in the script of the movie being filmed next door.
Director: Thomas Dewier | Stars: Ken Sagoes, Laura Albert, Lenny Delducca, Kelly Sullivan
Votes: 385
12. The Demons of Ludlow (1983)
Unrated | 92 min | Horror
A murderous demon lurks inside an antique piano in a picturesque coastal town.
Director: Bill Rebane | Stars: Paul Bentzen, Stephanie Cushna, Carol Perry, C. Dave Davis
Votes: 915
13. Hollow Gate (1988)
Not Rated | 76 min | Horror
At a Halloween party, a young boy is almost killed by his drunken, alcoholic father. Ten years afterward, the boy goes on a murder spree.
Director: Ray Di Zazzo | Stars: Addison Randall, Katrina Alexy, Richard Dry, Patricia Jacques
Votes: 413
14. Splatter University (1984)
R | 78 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A sociology instructor finds her new teaching duties at a private college interrupted by the presence of a killer mental hospital patient.
Director: Richard W. Haines | Stars: Forbes Riley, Ric Randig, Dick Biel, Kathy LaCommare
Votes: 1,947
15. Shadows Run Black (1984)
88 min | Crime, Horror
A detective investigates a series of killings committed by a serial killer known as "The Black Angel." He begins to suspect that it might not be just a random group of murders.
Director: Howard Heard | Stars: Elizabeth Trosper, William J. Kulzer, Shea Porter, George Engelson
Votes: 527
16. Slaughterhouse Rock (1987)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Horror
A man visits Alcatraz prison after having dreams about all the people who died there. When he gets there, his brother is possessed by an evil cannibal demon. The ghost of a female heavy ... See full summary »
Director: Dimitri Logothetis | Stars: Toni Basil, Nicholas Celozzi, Tom Reilly, Donna Denton
Votes: 1,491
17. The Prey (1983)
R | 80 min | Horror
Three couples go on a camping trip in the woods of southern California during the summer, where a deformed man is stalking their camp.
Director: Edwin Brown | Stars: Debbie Thureson, Steve Bond, Lori Lethin, Robert Wald
Votes: 1,861
18. Breeders (1986)
R | 77 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The Manhattan General Hospital admitted a string of young women raped by something otherworldly. Dr. Pace and Detective Andriotti try and isolate the strange organic material found on the victims to find the fiend.
Director: Tim Kincaid | Stars: Teresa Farley, Lance Lewman, Frances Sherman, Natalie Savage
Votes: 2,641
19. Fatal Pulse (1988)
90 min | Crime, Thriller, Horror
A girl is killed and raped minutes after fighting with her boyfriend (Jeff) and he left her. Jeff is the assistant of professor Caldwell at the university, and he wanted to return with his ... See full summary »
Director: Anthony J. Christopher | Stars: Michelle McCormick, Ken Roberts, Joe Estevez, Alex Courtney
Votes: 369
20. Memorial Valley Massacre (1988)
R | 93 min | Horror, Thriller
A newly opened campsite is terrorized by a primitive young man who begins killing campers to defend his territory.
Director: Robert Hughes | Stars: John Kerry, Mark Mears, Mark Caso, Lesa Lee
Votes: 1,362
21. Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
R | 88 min | Horror, Thriller
The now-adult Ricky talks to a psychiatrist about how he became a murderer after his brother, Billy, died, which leads back to Mother Superior.
Director: Lee Harry | Stars: Eric Freeman, James Newman, Elizabeth Kaitan, Jean Miller
Votes: 9,059 | Gross: $0.15M
22. Microwave Massacre (1979)
Not Rated | 76 min | Comedy, Horror
Fed up of his wife's bad cooking, Donald kills her and turns to cannibalism to satisfy his appetite.
Director: Wayne Berwick | Stars: Jackie Vernon, Loren Schein, Al Troupe, Marla Simon
Votes: 3,205
23. The Forest (1982)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
A cannibal hermit living in the woods preys on campers and hikers for his food supply.
Director: Don Jones | Stars: Dean Russell, Gary Kent, Tomi Barrett, John Batis
Votes: 1,576
24. Dreamaniac (1986)
Not Rated | 82 min | Horror
A heavy-metal musician makes a deal with a satanic succubus to make him successful with women, in return for the succubus being able to feed on the girls.
Director: David DeCoteau | Stars: Thomas Bern, Ashlyn Gere, Sylvia Summers, Lauren Peterson
Votes: 660
25. The Head Hunter (1988)
R | 92 min | Horror
Miami cop Pete is having a tough time: first he learns his wife is having an affair with another woman (they split up), then him and his partner Kat are pitted against a shape-shifting ... See full summary »
Director: Francis Schaeffer | Stars: Kay Lenz, Wayne Crawford, Steve Kanaly, June Chadwick
Votes: 564
26. Trick or Treats (1982)
R | 91 min | Horror
A baby sitter is stuck watching over a young brat on Halloween night who keeps playing vicious pranks on her. To add to her trouble the boy's deranged father has escaped from an asylum and is planning on making a visit.
Director: Gary Graver | Stars: Jacqueline Giroux, Peter Jason, Chris Graver, David Carradine
Votes: 1,528
27. Curfew (1989)
R | 86 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Two escaped brothers track down the people who sentenced them to death row, including a doctor and the judge. But when they get to the D.A. and his family they have an especially lengthy revenge plot in mind for them.
Director: Gary Winick | Stars: Kyle Richards, Wendell Wellman, John Putch, Frank Miller
Votes: 674
28. Blood Tracks (1985)
Unrated | 81 min | Horror, Thriller
A film crew producing a rock music video decides to shoot at an abandoned factory above the snow line. When an avalanche strands them, a murderous family living in the factory attacks and kills many of them.
Directors: Mats Helge Olsson, Derek Ford | Stars: Jeff Harding, Michael Fitzpatrick, Naomi Kaneda, Brad Powell
Votes: 691
29. Terror on Tour (1980)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Horror, Music
A rock band called "The Clowns" comes under suspicion of murder when several prostitutes are killed by individuals made up like members of the band.
Director: Don Edmonds | Stars: Rick Styles, Chip Greenman, Rich Pemberton, Dave Galluzzo
Votes: 443
30. Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)
R | 86 min | Horror, Mystery
Somebody with very little Christmas spirit is killing anyone in a Santa suit one London holiday season, and Scotland Yard has to stop him before he makes his exploits an annual tradition.
Director: Edmund Purdom | Stars: Edmund Purdom, Alan Lake, Belinda Mayne, Mark Jones
Votes: 3,046
31. Horror House on Highway Five (1985)
Not Rated | 87 min | Comedy, Horror
A van full of college students traveling down a highway is terrorized by a psycho killer in a Richard Nixon mask.
Director: Richard Casey | Stars: Phil Therrien, Max Manthey, Irene Cagen, Michael Castagnolia
Votes: 626
32. Deadly Games (1982)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery
A woman falls to her death after getting attacked by a black-clad assailant. Her sister arrives in town and starts dating a police detective, who's friends with a strange movie theater curator, as other women fall prey to the killer.
Director: Scott Mansfield | Stars: Alexandra Morgan, Jo Ann Harris, Sam Groom, Saul Sindell
Votes: 721
33. Berserker (1987)
R | 85 min | Horror
Six people renting a cabin in the woods of Utah run afoul of a legendary viking warrior who dons the claws and mouth of a bear, with no help in sight.
Director: Jefferson Richard | Stars: Joseph Alan Johnson, Greg Dawson, Valerie Sheldon, Shannon Engemann
Votes: 1,071
34. Bloody Wednesday (1987)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
Harry is unable to hold a job due to his mental illness and lives in an abandoned Hollywood hotel haunted by friendly ghosts of the long dead staff. The lines of his mental illness and reality become extremely blurred as some of his strangest events are indeed witnessed by others. As Harry becomes more frustrated by not being able to distinguish fact from delusion he turns to violence.
Director: Mark G. Gilhuis | Stars: Raymond Elmendorf, Pamela Baker, Navarre Perry, Teresa Mae Allen
Votes: 546
35. Open House (1987)
R | 95 min | Horror, Thriller
Someone is killing off nubile real estate agents. A psychologist doing a therapy talk show begins getting calls from the perpetrator, and cooperates with the police to try and stop him. ... See full summary »
Director: Jag Mundhra | Stars: Joseph Bottoms, Adrienne Barbeau, Rudy Ramos, Mary Stavin
Votes: 723
36. Return to Horror High (1987)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Horror
In the early 1980s, a series of gruesome murders occurred at Crippen High School. A few years later, a film crew uses the now-abandoned Crippen High as the set for a film. But an uninvited guest makes an appearance on the set.
Director: Bill Froehlich | Stars: Lori Lethin, Brendan Hughes, Alex Rocco, Scott Jacoby
Votes: 3,810 | Gross: $1.19M
37. Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)
R | 77 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
Courtney Bates, the younger sister of Valerie, and her friends go to a condo for a weekend getaway, but Courtney can't get rid of the haunting feeling that a supernatural rockabilly driller killer is coming to murder them all.
Director: Deborah Brock | Stars: Crystal Bernard, Jennifer Rhodes, Kimberly McArthur, Patrick Lowe
Votes: 7,414
38. Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare (1987)
R | 83 min | Comedy, Horror, Music
At a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, a hopeful hair-metal band seeking inspiration to record their upcoming new LP will soon find themselves in a furious confrontation against the Prince of Darkness himself.
Director: John Fasano | Stars: Cindy Cirile, Jesse D'Angelo, Chris Finkel, Jon Mikl Thor
Votes: 2,083
39. Bloody New Year (1987)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
A group of friends take refuge in an island hotel that is decorated for New Years. The problem is, it's early summer, and soon enough, even the walls themselves are striking out against them.
Director: Norman J. Warren | Stars: Suzy Aitchison, Nikki Brooks, Colin Heywood, Mark Powley
Votes: 2,274
40. Backwoods (1988)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
A hillbilly father and his idiot son terrorize and murder campers.
Director: Dean Crow | Stars: Christine Noonan, Jack O'Hara, Brad Armacost, Dick Kreusser
Votes: 413
41. Wacko (1982)
PG | 87 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Thirteen years after the "Lawnmower Killer" killed her sister, high school student Mary Graves and obsessed detective Dick Harbinger are on the lookout for the killer to reappear during the annual Halloween Pumpkin Prom.
Director: Greydon Clark | Stars: Joe Don Baker, Stella Stevens, George Kennedy, Julia Duffy
Votes: 1,434
42. Offerings (1989)
R | 95 min | Horror
Ten years after he was pushed down a well, a young man kills off the neighborhood bullies who tormented him and leaves their body parts as presents for the one girl who was kind to him.
Director: Christopher Reynolds | Stars: Loretta Leigh Bowman, Elizabeth Greene, G. Michael Smith, Jerry Brewer
Votes: 1,107
43. The Nesting (1981)
R | 103 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A writer suffering from agoraphobia rents an isolated house so she can concentrate on her writing. She doesn't know that the house is a former brothel, and is inhabited by the ghosts of dead prostitutes.
Director: Armand Weston | Stars: Robin Groves, Christopher Loomis, Michael David Lally, John Carradine
Votes: 1,657
44. Death Screams (1982)
R | 88 min | Horror
In a small town in North Carolina, a group of friends are stalked by a mysterious, machete wielding maniac.
Director: David Nelson | Stars: Susan Kiger, Martin Tucker, William Hicks, Jennifer Chase
Votes: 1,209
45. The Carpenter (1988)
R | 87 min | Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
A mad woman and her cheating husband hire men to fix up their new house. Mysterious carpenter, Ed, becomes her guardian angel, but he is actually an executed killer whose spirit has returned to finish the dream house he once started.
Director: David Wellington | Stars: Wings Hauser, Lynne Adams, Pierre Lenoir, Barbara Jones
Votes: 675
46. Iced (1989)
Unrated | 86 min | Horror
A group of childhood friends are invited to the opening of a posh ski resort, unaware that an old nemesis has murderous plans in mind for them.
Director: Jeff Kwitny | Stars: Debra De Liso, Doug Stevenson, Ron Kologie, Elizabeth Gorcey
Votes: 738
47. Killer Party (1986)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Horror
In order to join a sorority, three friends go to a hazing party in an old house where a sadistic bloodthirsty demonic spirit is lying in wait.
Director: William Fruet | Stars: Martin Hewitt, Ralph Seymour, Elaine Wilkes, Paul Bartel
Votes: 2,648 | Gross: $0.68M
48. Ogroff (1983)
90 min | Horror
A masked lumberjack stalks anyone who enters his woods. Throughout the film we get a variety of people who come in contact with the killer and they don't live to regret it.
Director: Norbert Moutier | Stars: Robert Alaux, Françoise Deniel, Pierre Pattin, Alain Petit
Votes: 387
49. The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Four college students are stalked by an unknown assailant while staying on campus over the Christmas holidays to help clear out a dormitory which is to be demolished.
Directors: Stephen Carpenter, Jeffrey Obrow | Stars: Laurie Lapinski, Stephen Sachs, David Snow, Pamela Holland
Votes: 2,464
50. Killer Workout (1987)
R | 85 min | Horror
Two years ago, a young woman named Valerie was burned after entering a tanning salon. Now, her twin sister, Rhonda, runs a local gym where, all of a sudden, people are being murdered.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: Marcia Karr, David Campbell, Fritz Matthews, Ted Prior
Votes: 2,739
51. Destroyer (1988)
R | 98 min | Horror, Thriller
A prison riot breaks out at the moment of a serial murderer's execution by electrocution, 18 months later, a team of filmmakers converge on the prison to film a women-in-prison exploitation flick.
Director: Robert Kirk | Stars: Deborah Foreman, Clayton Rohner, Lyle Alzado, Anthony Perkins
Votes: 1,031
52. To All a Goodnight (1980)
R | 87 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of teenagers at a party find themselves being stalked by a maniacal killer in a Santa Claus costume.
Director: David Hess | Stars: Jennifer Runyon, Forrest Swonsen, Linda Gentile, William Lauer
Votes: 2,355
53. Hell High (1987)
R | 84 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
A teacher still haunted by the death of two teens that she accidentally caused as a young girl goes beserk when four teens start harassing her and then attack her in her home.
Director: Douglas Grossman | Stars: Maureen Mooney, Christopher Stryker, Christopher Cousins, Millie Prezioso
Votes: 1,389 | Gross: $0.19M
54. Christmas Evil (1980)
R | 100 min | Horror, Thriller
A toy factory worker, mentally scarred as a child upon learning Santa Claus is not real, suffers a nervous breakdown after being belittled at work, and embarks on a Yuletide killing spree.
Director: Lewis Jackson | Stars: Brandon Maggart, Jeffrey DeMunn, Dianne Hull, Andy Fenwick
Votes: 8,573
55. Unmasked Part 25 (1988)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
Jackson is a lonely serial killer who is really beginning to question the point of all his killing. He is losing focus on why he started to kill in the first place. The future looks bleak ... See full summary »
Director: Anders Palm | Stars: Gregory Cox, Fiona Evans, Edward Brayshaw, Debbie Lee London
Votes: 893
56. Hide and Go Shriek (1988)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
A group of teenagers spend the night in a furniture store for a graduation party. A psycho killer starts hunting them down one by one.
Director: Skip Schoolnik | Stars: Bunky Jones, Brittain Frye, Annette Sinclair, George Thomas
Votes: 2,021
57. Shocker (1989)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
After being sent to the electric chair, a serial killer uses electricity to come back from the dead and carry out his vengeance on the football player who turned him in to the police.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Michael Murphy, Mitch Pileggi, John Tesh, Heather Langenkamp
Votes: 17,708 | Gross: $16.55M
58. Effects (1979)
R | 84 min | Horror, Thriller
While a small film crew are shooting a low budget horror movie in a house in the woods, the lines between reality and fiction start to blur, and the movie slowly starts to turn into a "snuff" film.
Director: Dusty Nelson | Stars: Joseph Pilato, Susan Chapek, John Harrison, Bernard McKenna
Votes: 987
59. Next of Kin (1982)
Not Rated | 89 min | Horror, Mystery
In a rest home for elderly people, a daughter reads her mother's diary. Soon events that are mentioned in the mother's diary begin to happen to the daughter.
Director: Tony Williams | Stars: Jacki Kerin, John Jarratt, Alex Scott, Gerda Nicolson
Votes: 4,236
60. Scream (1981)
R | 82 min | Horror, Mystery
A group of friends on a rafting trip down a river stop in at an old ghost town to spend the night. Soon their rafts disappear, and then they begin to be eliminated one by one by a mysterious killer.
Director: Byron Quisenberry | Stars: Pepper Martin, Hank Worden, Ethan Wayne, Ann Bronston
Votes: 909 | Gross: $1.08M
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