1. "Ghosts Next Door"
   "Hellraiser"
2. "Poltergeist"
   "The Exorcist"

There are a lot of rumors flying around that the "Poltergeist" films are cursed in some way. However, this film doesn't require any additional hype, because it is terrifying enough when a five-year-old contacts evil spirits in the television set.

1. "A Nightmare on Elm Street"
   "Friday the 13th"
2. "Freddy Krueger"
   "Fright Night"

"A Nightmare on Elm Street" was released in 1984. The Wes Craven classic brought fear to our dreams and kept it there. There was nothing like teenagers doing everything they could to stay awake and not die.

1. "Friday the 13th"
   "Halloween"
2. "Pumpkinhead"
   "Skate Slashers"

Few people realize that the "Friday the 13th" franchise began with Jason's mother murdering camp counselors because her son drowned in the lake. Jason Voorhees doesn't kill anyone until the second movie.

1. "Storm of the Century"
   "The Thing"
2. "Christine"
   "The Shining"

When "The Shining" was released in 1980, people were appalled by what they saw. It wasn't necessarily a movie about murder and slashers — the storyline could happen to anyone. It was all about cabin fever and a haunted hotel that took over your mind.

1. "Chucky"
   "Child's Play"
2. "My Bloody Buddy"
   "Wanna Play?"

In 1988, we were introduced to the horror industry's smallest slasher: Chucky. In "Child's Play" we see that a terrible criminal has put his soul into a child's doll. The doll comes to life and things get pretty chaotic.

1. "The Boys' Club"
   "Boys on the Side"
2. "Vamp Night"
   "The Lost Boys"

"The Lost Boys" (1987) included some teen heartthrobs of the '80s. With both Coreys and a young and buff Jason Patric, who could forget this iconic teen horror movie? If you're thinking about this movie right now, you're probably not going to eat rice for a week.

1. "Goonies"
   "C.H.U.D."
2. "Gremlins"
   "Gizmo"

"Gremlins" is often looked upon as a horror film with a light twist. There are some comedic moments in the film that give you the sense that everything is going to be just fine ... that is, until the gremlins appear.

1. "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2"
   "Halloween II"
2. "Mike Returns"
   "Jason Goes to Hell"

After the success of the first "Halloween" movie in 1978, it only made sense to bring the characters back for another slash-tastic film. When the film begins, we see Laurie in a mental institution, which shows that the events from the first film truly affected her.

1. "Raising the Dead"
   "Dead Man Walking"
2. "The Evil Dead"
   "Into the Woods"

Anyone who has seen "The Evil Dead" (1981) probably did whatever they could to stay away from the woods and old books for a while. This movie is all about awakening the dead when reading certain words aloud. It teaches us not to mess with the Latin language ... ever.

1. "Aliens"
   "Deep Space"
2. "Lost In Space"
   "Alien Nation"

"Aliens" (1986) was the sequel to the 1979 film "Alien" that started the franchise. In this second film, we don't just see a single alien terrorizing a ship; we see hundreds of them, making us think that this crew will never see their home planet again.

1. "The Thing"
   "The Fly"
2. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
   "Re-Animator"

The majority of early-1980s horror films were about being secluded, far away from anything that could help you. "The Thing" (1982) shows us what happens when a creature can take on the form of its prey.

1. "The Others"
   "The Changeling"
2. "The Forbearance"
   "Forgoing Love"

Not to be confused with "Changeling" (2008), starring Angelina Jolie, "The Changeling" (1980) is about a man who lost his wife and daughter. He retreats to a secluded area and learns that there is a ghost living with him. He then tries to figure out how the ghost died.

1. "Village of the Damned"
   "The Burning"
2. "It"
   "Children of the Corn"

While there were sequels to this film later on, nothing was more terrifying than seeing children go absolutely crazy in the original "Children of the Corn" (1984). Unlike most Stephen King stories, this one is set in the Midwest instead of Maine.

1. "Halloween H20"
   "Halloween III: Season of the Witch"
2. "The Death of Michael Myers"
   "Halloween II: The Rendering"

The original concept of the "Halloween" movies was that each of them would be different and have different antagonists (or slashers). However, with the success of Michael Myers as a character, it was hard to keep that original concept.

1. "The Horn"
   "The Bells"
2. "The Fog"
   "The Fly"

"The Fog" (1980) is a John Carpenter classic that shows us that things aren't always as they seem. As strange things start happening in a small town, a fog settles over everything, and people start dying.

1. "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2"
   "Evil Dead II"
2. "Halloween 2"
   "The Return of the Living Dead"

"Evil Dead II" has the same main character as the first film. This time, the main character Ash Williams hears a tape of voices reading from the "Necronomicon," and his girlfriend gets possessed. Suddenly, he has to kill more demons.

1. "Judgment Day"
   "Animal Resurrection Land"
2. "Pet Cemetery"
   "Pet Sematary"

While the actual spelling is "cemetery," we have to remember that in both the book and the film, the name of this magical place is the "Pet Sematary," which King addresses in his novel. We all seem fine with the incorrect spelling, as the place was created by children.

1. "Cabin Fever"
   "Cabin in the Woods"
2. "Camp Nowhere"
   "Sleepaway Camp"

If you weren't afraid of going to camp before you saw this movie, everything changed as soon as you hit the play button. The movie shows a stabber who likes to kill teenagers in their bunks and showers while they're at camp.

1. "Fright Night"
   "Vamps Among Us"
2. "Vampire Chronicles"
   "The Shining"

"Fright Night" (1985) could be considered the first horror film that is a little self-aware. It starts out about a teenage boy that absolutely loves horror films. After he notices his new neighbors are a little weird, he finds out he's right about them.

1. "Night of the Creeps"
   "Creepshow"
2. "Creepy Crawlers"
   "Campus Creep"

"Night of the Creeps" (1986) was about a couple of fraternity pledges who wanted to make a name for themselves. They get a frozen body and try to play a prank. Unbeknownst to them, they accidentally set a plague of slugs onto campus, and chaos ensues.

1. "The Full Moon"
   "The Howling"
2. "The Following"
   "Report Me"

Its special effects weren't necessarily the best thing to hit the big screen. However, "The Howling" did some different things with horror creatures than any other movie of its time, showing the creature in closeups and full-length shots.

1. "Rocky Horror Picture Show"
   "Friday the 13th"
2. "Creepshow"
   "Night of the Demons"

"Creepshow" (1982) gave us five terrifying stories. With every concept, from the boogeyman to monsters to revenge plots, "Creepshow" is all about getting creepy on a Friday night with friends.

1. "Dawn of the Dead"
   "28 Days Later"
2. "Night of the Living Dead"
   "Day of the Dead"

"Day of the Dead" (1985) gets to the heart of the human reaction to chaos. As the zombie apocalypse is upon them, a team of scientists and soldiers argue over the best ways to salvage the human race.

1. "Pumpkinhead"
   "The Thing"
2. "It"
   "More Where That Came From"

This movie includes witchcraft, a terrifying monster and a revenge plot. Though it was a low-budget film, it essentially encapsulated everything that a 1980s horror movie fan could ever want.

1. "The Other Side"
   "Darkside Tales"
2. "From Beyond"
   "More Than You Know"

"From Beyond" (1986) was adapted from an H.P. Lovecraft novel and directed by Stuart Gordon. It is about a scientist who is obsessed with reaching a parallel universe. This movie shows what happens when obsession and terror meet up.

1. "The Seance"
   "Ouija"
2. "Across the Planes"
   "Night of the Demons"

If you're into teen horror movies, this one is a must. It's about a couple of crazy teenage girls who want to scare their friends. On Halloween night, they go to an old funeral parlor and hold a seance. Then things get ugly.

1. "Summer Camp"
   "Sleepers"
2. "The Burning"
   "Cropsy"

If you took Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees and made them into one slasher, you'd have Cropsy from "The Burning" (1981). He carries around shears, stalks campers and kills them out of vengeance. He's a classic slasher who has sadly been forgotten.

1. "Christine"
   "Sampson"
2. "Cujo"
   "Murphy's Law"

In another Stephen King classic film of the 1980s, we see a dog that has gone off the deep end. In "Cujo" (1983), a St. Bernard is bitten by a bat and starts getting a little crazy with the people around town.

1. "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors"
   "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Child"
2. "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Warriors"
   "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: The Dream Child"

There were some intense moments throughout the Nightmare on Elm Street series, but when you are supposed to be in a safe space like a psychiatric ward, things get a little crazy. Luckily, a member of the original cast comes along to help.

1. "The Human Fly"
   "The Transporter"
2. "All Gone"
   "The Fly"

When a scientist believes that he has solved the mystery of teleportation, something terrible happens. He doesn't realize that a fly was in his transporter with him, and he takes on the characteristics of said fly. That's when things get weird.

1. "The Stuff"
   "The Ooze"
2. "The Booze"
   "Trippers"

Of course someone is going to capitalize on a sweet dessert-like treat that magically oozes from the Earth. However, when it turns people into addicted zombies, things take a turn for the worse.

1. "Worlds Apart"
   "Basket Case"
2. "Back Together"
   "Get Rid of Him"

In 1982, horror movies didn't necessarily need a great plot — they just needed a memorable terrorizing element. With "Basket Case" (1982), that element was a man carrying around his twin who had been surgically separated from him.

1. "Cowboy Killer"
   "Beneath the Moon"
2. "Near Dark"
   "Wishing Star"

"Near Dark" (1987) shows a love story between a cowboy and a beautiful woman. However, that woman turns out to be a vampire, and things get complicated when she bites her boyfriend and changes him.

1. "Under the Sheets"
   "Our Home"
2. "National Sausage"
   "Motel Hell"

If you ever stop at a small-town motel for the night, you should probably ask what's in the food. In this movie, we see motel guests being ground into sausage and cooked for patrons and travelers.

1. "The Tree"
   "The Gate"
2. "The Party"
   "The Seance"

Anyone who has watched the horror movies of the 1980s knows that when you see a teen having a party, things are about to go south. In "The Gate" (1987), we see just how far south, as the teen's little brother discovers something evil in a hole in their backyard.

1. "Friday the 13th Part 2"
   "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives"
2. "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter"
   "Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan"

A total of eight "Friday the 13th" movies were released in the 1980s, including the fourth one, "The Final Chapter," which was released in 1984. This led to audiences not believing that there could be four more films with Jason in the coming five years, but they were wrong.

1. "The Fly"
   "An American Werewolf in London"
2. "C.H.U.D."
   "Psycho"

As horror films transitioned away from monsters, we did get to see the internal struggle of a man who is turned into a werewolf while abroad. When director Edgar Wright was asked about creating a remake, he said, "It's a perfect movie as far as I'm concerned, and I have nothing to add to it."

1. "Friday the 13th Part 2"
   "Friday the 13th Part III"
2. "Jason X"
   "Friday the 13th"

As if the stigma of Friday the 13th wasn't enough, director Sean S. Cunningham brings a little more terror to the night with his memorable slasher film series Friday the 13th. Starting with Part 2, Jason was one of the original slashers that brought buckets of blood to the big screen.

1. "Christine 2"
   "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2"
2. "Pumpkinhead 2"
   "The Chainsaw Massacre II"

A full 12 years after the original movie, Leatherface and his band of maniacs are ready to go on another killing spree. Let's not forget Chop Top's role in all of this; after all, he was just as crazy as Leatherface.

1. "Pinhead"
   "Hellraiser"
2. "Pandora's Box"
   "Raise Hell"

"Hellraiser" (1987) is the first installment of the series. It shows a man named Frank who accidentally unleashes hell when he messes around with a toy. As with a lot of horror films of the time, the main character is a sexual deviant.