I don’t claim to like the best and scariest horror movies, but I do love some B-Horror films, and with that comes so many films from the 1980’s. What are some of the best 80’s Horror films, probably not the ones that I’m recommending, but the ones I’m talking about, they might be some of the most fun.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Freddy Krueger is such an iconic bad guy, and if you wanted to see a young Johnny Depp before he just started playing Johnny Depp in various roles, this is a good chance. This one definitely is not a pure B-horror film, but it has some of those elements because of the time it was created and just how it’s aged. It still have a wonderfully terrifying slasher in it, and it hits on that peak slasher feel. Probably my favorite slasher franchise out there.

Hellraiser

I think what is so interesting to me about this one is the premise. This idea of people putting themselves through torture to feel basically, and this puzzle box and really Pinhead just make it an iconic horror film. The first one, especially does a good job of not just being about the world of the Cenobites but about the people who go there, eventually it becomes a bit more about the world and about the torture as you watch through the series, but overall quite enjoyable and interesting.

Friday the 13th

Another one that spawned a franchise, you think about the iconic character of Jason Voorhees, but he isn’t actually the villain in the first one. This is one that it’s been a while since I’ve watched it, but I need to go back and see it again. But it is one of the iconic horror films, and really spun out not only it’s on franchise but so many others that have that camp as the backdrop as well as a very good episode of Psych.

Re-Animator

This is a B-movie through and through based loosely off of Lovecraftian lore, and Frankenstien-esque monster, it is about a man who decides to bring someone back to life. Another series that it’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but I remember it fondly as some glorious horror fun that isn’t too horrific and falls more in the line of just an interesting idea and B-execution and a good time. The main character portrayal is amazing as well, Jeffrey Combs is great as Herbert West and in that B movie role.

Sleepaway Camp

I don’t know that I’d as highly recommend this one as some. When I talk about how Friday the 13th spawned some other films, this is one. I think that this one, as compared to others on the list, takes itself a bit more seriously. With that said, it was well done film with a twist at the end, which I don’t know if it was shocking, I kind of figured it out, but it was interesting, though fairly well lead up to.

The Evil Dead

Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell.

If you need more reason than that, this movie is just a classic B-Horror film, it blends in a lot of horror with comedy as well. As compared to other of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s work together, this one is a whole lot more about the gore and horror than future installments. Still, The Evil Dead is one of the iconic 80’s horror films and worth checking out.

Gremlins

I feel like Gremlins is another amazing horror trope, where you get something that looks maybe a little bit cute, or at least not dangerous and then something happens and everything goes insane. Which of course is wonderfully fun, and as I’m looking at it, so many of these spawned franchises, whether or not any of the sequels were that great, but definitely checkout Gremlins for a weird spin on a creature feature.

They Live

Is this horror, kind of, but ultimately I would say that this is a wonderfully dystopian 80’s story with some horror elements, kind of in line with something like Soylent Green (which was from the 70’s so not on this list). They Live is just incredibly B as the try and pull in a popular wrestler to do some acting, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and while his performance isn’t horrible, this film is just all over the place and so much fun. It has several iconic scenes for something that critically can’t be called that good.

Now, there are a lot of great other horror films out there from the 80’s that are much more actual horror that I could talk about. These are just some of the weirder and what I would call iconic Halloween ones. While horror always gets associated with Halloween, these are the ones that people so often talk about. What are some of your favorite Halloween horror films, not the ones that are amazing horror but that blend that goofiness of Halloween together with the dark side of Halloween?

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