Serial killer movies in the 80s fell squarely into the horror movie genre with only a hint that they might be something else. These were films that held nothing back and were unapologetic about getting their hands dirty when it came to a body count and showing just how the many upon many people died. During this decade it was customary to see blood splash and coat the floor, the walls, and anyone that that happened to be in the vicinity. The killers were usually mad dog crazy and often they weren’t overly intelligent but were easily cunning enough to outwit their prey, who had a nasty habit of either tripping over their own two feet or simply falling down when the best option was to run away as fast as they could. The supernatural was at work in the 80s as well though, so perhaps falling down out of fear wasn’t too far out of line for some of these films.
Here are some of the best serial killer movies from the 80s.
5. My Bloody Valentine
Copycat killers are inherently disturbing since they can’t come up with their own thing and have to follow someone else, and because they decide to actually commit the act for reasons that are completely different than the first killer. When a miner that was trapped in a cave-in years before threatens to kill again if the Valentine’s dance is renewed the warning of course goes unheeded. But when the party is shut down after a murder within the town that seems to be related it’s moved to the mines, where the real horror ensues as a copycat killer posing as the original miner begins to take his ‘revenge’ on the party goers.
4. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Henry is the ultimate serial killer as there’s no other reason than ‘it’s them or us’ to motivate him. He’ll kill anyone be they men, women, children, just so long as he can get away with it and move on. Even when he finds an accomplice to help him out he doesn’t keep him around long, siding with the man’s sister after he tries to rape her. Along with the woman Henry cuts the guy up and disposes of him. And then, just when you think that there might be even a glimmer of redemption to him, he executes the woman at the end and dumps her suitcase, presumably with her dismembered corpse, before going on his way.
3. Friday the 13th
This is one of the most infamous serial killer movies since so many people have the legend wrong that it’s insane. So many people think that Jason Voorhees is the original killer of this franchise when in fact it was his mother, Mrs. Voorhees that started it all off. It came as a surprise to many back then no doubt since she seemed like such a sweet woman, but the death of her son at the hands of negligent camp counselors sent her right over the edge and then some. And then, once she was dead, Jason began to emerge and take over his mother’s role, and thus began the legend that turned into a never-ending franchise.
2. Child’s Play
There have been a lot of doll movies that have been inordinately creepy, but when this one came out it simply couldn’t be beaten since it was something you believed might be innocent, cute, and friendly, but turned out to be absolute insanity. Not only did Chucky come to life, but he went right back to doing what he’d been doing as a human before he transferred his consciousness into a doll. The trick was that he could only switch back into a human body by taking over the form of the first person he’d told his secret to, and thus Andy’s life became a living nightmare that didn’t seem to end for a while.
1. Nightmare on Elm Street
If Wes Craven had stopped at just one or two of these movies it might not have had the chance to become so watered down. The first one was absolutely terrifying since the idea of being attacked in your dreams is something that a lot of people could honestly admit is beyond anything they would have imagined. Unless you have absolute control over your dreams, and many people don’t, then you remain entirely vulnerable to a person that knows how to navigate the dreaming world and do whatever he pleases. Plus, the idea that whatever happens to you in the dream is going to happen in real life is just terrifying enough to give a lot of people pause when they think about the scare factor that goes with it.
The 80s were crazy for a lot of reasons, but the serial killer movies were simply off the chain.
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