Horror movies are tricky business. It's hard to genuinely scare the audience, as they know that what they're watching is not real. It takes exceptional filmmaking and acting to genuinely unnerve an audience and have them feel fear.
Also, filmmakers need to strike a delicate balance between topicality and universality. What scared audiences back in the day may not be nearly as scary today. Some horror movies from the 80s have aged exceptionally well and may forever remain timeless. Some, unfortunately, are stuck in the decade.
Not Well: The Lost Boys (1987)
Stranger Things where Eleven meets up with the punk misfits. The outfits and hairstyles are all gloriously late 80s, it contains a very nostalgic "80s" cast, and there's even prominent saxophone music throughout the entire movie (played by a constantly shirtless Tim Cappello).
Timeless: Aliens (1986)
Is James Cameron proved that he was a master filmmaker with this movie, crafting an gloriously excessive and highly ambitious film whose visual effects and action sequences still hold up to this day.
Not Well: The Terminator (1984)
Before Aliens, James Cameron gave us The Terminator. It's not exactly a horror movie, but it was made with the slasher format in mind.
While Terminator is undoubtedly a fantastic movie, it hasn't aged particularly well. It's still very effective in its action and the Terminator's physical threat, but it screams 80s. The punks, the Terminator's outfit, Sarah's mullet, the nightclub - everything just reeks of '80s excess. The visual effects are also highly questionable, including the famous "surgery" sequence that looks genuinely terrible today.
Timeless: The Shining (1980)
Stanley Kubrick seemingly future-proofed all of his movies, because very few - if any - of them have been dated.
There is very little about Jack Nicholson is one of the greatest actors of all time, and Kubrick is one of the greatest directors. Combine their talents with a great Stephen King story with universal themes and some fantastic set design, and The Shining is born.
Not Well: Poltergeist (1982)
Like The Terminator, Poltergeist dies through its dated visual effects. For the most part, Poltergeist is a very well made and effective horror film. The more subtle aspects and scares are still fantastic to this day. But when the movie goes big, it fails hard. The clown attack looks a little silly and unintentionally hilarious, and the iconic face-peeling sequence looks truly horrendous. What impact it had in 1982 is entirely lost in 2020.
Timeless: The Thing (1982)
grotesque to this day. It's a testament to the unbelievable talent on display.
Not Well: The Evil Dead (1981)
Most people genuine horror film.
The film certainly has a certain low budget, cheesy charm to it. But taken at face value as a serious horror film, it's pretty terrible. Perhaps Raimi and company knew how ridiculous the whole thing was, which is why they sort-of remade it as a comedy in Evil Dead II.
Timeless: An American Werewolf In London (1981)
Just sneaking into the '80s is perhaps the greatest comedy-horror ever made - John Landis's iconic werewolf attack sequences (particularly the one at the beginning) are grotesque and horrifying. The movie also contains a timeless soundtrack involving the likes of Van Morrison, Bobby Vinton, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Not Well: Return Of The Living Dead (1985)
Return of the Living Dead shared a similar fate as The Lost Boys. Punk was very much in in the mid-to-late 80s, and both The Lost Boys and Return of the Living Dead embrace the punk aesthetic in all its kinda cheesy, definitely dated glory. The movie even contains a very punk-heavy soundtrack, including bands like The Cramps, 45 Grave, and The Flesh Eaters. It's arguably the most "punk" movie ever made, which makes it one of the most "80s" movies ever made.
Timeless: A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Many A Nightmare on Elm Street. This is when the slasher genre truly took form - a brilliant combination of modern pacing, convincing acting, and genuinely unnerving gore and visual effects. It's a masterpiece.
