Absolution (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
Catholic Boys’ Boarding School Psycho-Thriller
Director: Anthony Page
Actors: Richard Burton, Billy Connolly, Dominic Guard
Category: Horror
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Modern Werewolf
Director: John Landis
Actors: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine, …
Category: Horror
Bells (1981)
Rating: ★
Exploding Telephone Calls
Director: Michael Anderson
Actors: Richard Chamberlain, John Houseman, Sara Botsford, Gary Reineke, …
Category: Science Fiction
The Beyond (1981)
Rating: ★★
Italian Zombie Film/Gateway to Hell
Director: Lucio Fulci
Actors: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Veronica Lazar, Al Cliver, …
Category: Horror
The Black Cat (1981)
Rating: ★
Black Cat Murders/Italian Horror
Director: Lucio Fulci
Actors: Patrick Magee, Mimsy Farmer, David Warbeck
Category: Horror
Bloody Birthday (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Evil Children Slasher
Director: Ed Hunt
Actors: Lori Lethin, Billy Jacoby, Julie Brown, K.C. Martel, …
Category: Horror
Bloody Moon (1981)
Rating: ★★
Slasher Film
Director: Jess Franco
Category: Horror
Blow Out (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
Psycho-Thriller
Director: Brian De Palma
Actors: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Category: Horror
The Boogens (1981)
Rating: ★★
Creatures Lurking Underground
Director: James L. Conway
Category: Horror
Burial Ground (1981)
Rating: ★★
Italian Zombie Film
Director: Andrea Bianchi
Actors: Maria Angela Giordano, Peter Bark
Category: Horror
The Burning (1981)
Rating: 0
Slasher Film
Director: Tony Maylam
Actors: Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter, Fisher Stevens, Lou David, …
Category: Horror
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Psycho Stepmother
Director: William Asher
Actors: Susan Tyrrell, Bo Svenson, Jimmy McNichol, Marcia Lewis, …
Category: Horror
Cannibal Ferox (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
Italian Cannibal Film
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Actors: Lorraine De Salle, John Morghen, Zora Kerova, Robert Kerman
Category: Horror
Caveman (1981)
Rating: ★★
Prehistoric Spoof
Director: Carl Gottlieb
Actors: Ringo Starr, Shelley Long, Dennis Quaid, Barbara Bach, …
Category: Science Fiction
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Rating: ★★
Greek Mythology Adventure
Director: Desmond Davis
Actors: Harry Hamlin, Laurence Olivier, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, …
Category: Fantasy
The Coming (1981)
Rating: ½
Possession by a Salem Witch
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Actors: Susan Swift, Guy Stockwell, Tisha Sterling, Beverly Ross, …
Category: Horror
Condorman (1981)
Rating: ★
Comic-Book Artist in a Spy Caper
Director: Charles Jarrott
Actors: Michael Crawford, Barbara Carrera, Oliver Reed, James Hampton, …
Category: Science Fiction
Conquest of the Earth (1981)
Rating: 0
Battlestar Galactica Movie
Director: Barry Crane, Sidney Hayers, Sigmund Neufeld Jr
Actors: Lorne Greene, Kent McCord, Barry Van Dyke, Wolfman Jack, …
Category: Science Fiction
The Creature Wasn’t Nice (1981)
Rating: ½
Alien Parody
Director: Bruce Kimmel
Actors: Cindy Williams, Leslie Nielsen, Patrick MacNee, Gerrit Graham, …
Category: Science Fiction
Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
Rating: ★★
Scarecrow Enacts Supernatural Retribution
Director: Frank De Felitta
Actors: Charles Durning, Claude Earl Jones, Lane Smith, Larry Drake
Category: Horror
Dawn of the Mummy (1981)
Rating: ★
Revived Mummies/Italian Gore
Director: Frank Agrama
Category: Horror
The Day of the Triffids (1981)
Rating: ★★★★½
The Downfall of Civilisation/Lethal Plants Amok
Director: Ken Hannam
Actors: John Duttine, Emma Relph, Maurice Colbourne, Stephen Yardley, …
Category: Science Fiction
Dead & Buried (1981)
Rating: ★★
Town of Zombies
Director: Gary Sherman
Actors: James Farentino, Jack Albertson, Melody Anderson, Christopher Allport, …
Category: Horror
Deadly Blessing (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Religious Cult Killings
Director: Wes Craven
Actors: Ernest Borgnine, Maren Jensen, Sharon Stone, Jeff East, …
Category: Horror
Death Wish II (1981)
Rating: ★
Vigilante Film
Director: Michael Winner
Actors: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Vincent Gardenia, Robin Sherwood, …
Category: Horror
The Demon (1981)
Rating: ★½
Slasher Film
Director: Percival Rubens
Actors: Jennifer Holmes, Cameron Mitchell
Category: Horror
The Devil and Max Devlin (1981)
Rating: 0
Pacts with the Devil/Disney Comedy
Director: Steven Hilliard Stern
Actors: Bill Cosby, Elliott Gould, Susan Anspach
Category: Fantasy
Don’t Go in the Woods (1981)
Rating: ★
Slasher Film
Director: James Bryan
Category: Horror
Double Exposure (1981)
Rating: ★
Psychic Link with a Killer
Director: William Byron Hillman
Actors: Michael Callan, Joanna Pettet, Pamela Hensley, James Stacy, …
Category: Horror
Dr Jekyll and His Women (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Erotic Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Adaptation
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Actors: Udo Kier, Patrick Magee, Marina Pierro, Gerald Zalcberg, …
Category: Horror
Dragonslayer (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Sorcerer’s Apprentice vs Dragon
Director: Matthew Robbins
Actors: Peter MacNichol, Ralph Richardson, Caitlin Clarke, Peter Eyre, …
Category: Fantasy
Escape from New York (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Action/New York as a Future Prison
Director: John Carpenter
Actors: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, …
Category: Science Fiction
The Evil Dead (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Backwoods Possession/Splatter Comedy
Director: Sam Raimi
Actors: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss
Category: Horror
Evilspeak (1981)
Rating: 0
Bullied Underdog’s Satanic Revenge
Director: Eric Weston
Actors: Clint Howard, Richard Moll, Charles Tyner, Joe Cortese, …
Category: Horror
Excalibur (1981)
Rating: ★★★★★
Arthurian Legends
Director: John Boorman
Actors: Nigel Terry, Nicol Williamson, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, …
Category: Fantasy
Eyes of a Stranger (1981)
Rating: ★★
Slasher Film
Director: Ken Wiederhorn
Actors: Lauren Tewes, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Di Santi
Category: Horror
The Fan (1981)
Rating: ★★
Psycho Celebrity Stalker
Director: Edward Bianchi
Actors: Lauren Bacall, Michael Biehn, James Garner, Maureen Stapleton, …
Category: Horror
Fear No Evil (1981)
Rating: ★★
Teenage Anti-Christ
Director: Frank LaLoggia
Actors: Stefan Arngrim, Elizabeth Hoffman
Category: Horror
The Final Conflict (1981)
Rating: ★★½
The Anti-Christ/The Omen Sequel
Director: Graham Baker
Actors: Sam Neill, Lisa Harrow, Rosanno Brazzi, Don Gordon
Category: Horror
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Disney Animation/Talking Animals
Director: Ted Berman, Richard Rich, Art Stevens
Actors: Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Jack Albertson, Jeanette Nolan, …
Category: Fantasy
Frankenstein Island (1981)
Rating: 0
Frankenstein Film
Director: Jerry Warren
Actors: Robert Clarke, Katherine Victor, Cameron Mitchell, John Carradine, …
Category: Horror
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Rating: ★★
Slasher Film
Director: Steve Miner
Actors: Amy Steel, Adrienne King, Warrington Gillette, John Furey, …
Category: Horror
The Funhouse (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
Carnival Horror House Slasher
Director: Tobe Hooper
Actors: Elizabeth Berridge, Kevin Conway, Sylvia Miles, Cooper Huckabee, …
Category: Horror
Galaxy of Terror (1981)
Rating: ★★½
Enigmatic Alien Planet
Director: Bruce D. Clark
Actors: Edward Albert, Erin Moran, Ray Walston, Zalman King, …
Category: Science Fiction
Ghost Story (1981)
Rating: ★★
Supernatural Retribution
Director: John Irvin
Actors: Fred Astaire, Alice Krige, Melvyn Douglas, Craig Wasson, …
Category: Horror
Graduation Day (1981)
Rating: ★½
Slasher Film
Director: Herb Freed
Actors: Christopher George, Patch McKenzie, Michael Pataki, Carmen Argenziano, …
Category: Horror
The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Muppet Movie
Director: Jim Henson
Actors: Diana Rigg, Charles Grodin, Jack Warden, Peter Falk, …
Category: Fantasy
Halloween II (1981)
Rating: ★★½
Slasher Film
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Actors: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Lance Guest, Charles Cyphers, …
Category: Horror
The Hand (1981)
Rating: ★★
Disembodied Hand
Director: Oliver Stone
Actors: Michael Caine, Annie McEnroe, Andrea Marcovicci, Bruce McGill, …
Category: Horror
Happy Birthday to Me (1981)
Rating: ★
Slasher Film
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Actors: Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Matt Craven, …
Category: Horror
Heartbeeps (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Robot Romance
Director: Allan Arkush
Actors: Andy Kaufman, Bernadette Peters, Jack Carter, Ron Gans, …
Category: Science Fiction
Heavy Metal (1981)
Rating: ★★½
Adult Animation Anthology
Director: Gerald Potterton, Harold Whitaker, Pino Van Lamsweerde, Jack Stokes, …
Actors: John Candy, Jackie Burroughs, Eugene Levy, John Vernon, …
Category: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Hell Night (1981)
Rating: ★★
Slasher/Old Dark House
Director: Tom De Simone
Actors: Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Peter Barton, Kevin Brophy, …
Category: Horror
The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Gonzo SF
Actors: Simon Jones, David Dixon, Mark Wing-Davey, Sandra Dickinson, …
Category: Science Fiction
The House By the Cemetery (1981)
Rating: ★★
Haunted House/Italian Zombie Splatter
Director: Lucio Fulci
Category: Horror
The Howling (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
Werewolves/Genre Spoof
Director: Joe Dante
Actors: Dee Wallace, Christopher Stone, Patrick MacNee, Dennis Dugan, …
Category: Horror
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
Miniaturised Housewife Comedy
Director: Joel Schumacher
Actors: Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Mark Blankfield, Ned Beatty, …
Category: Science Fiction
Inseminoid (1981)
Rating: ★
Alien Impregnation
Director: Norman J. Warren
Actors: Judy Geeson, Stephanie Beacham, Victoria Tennant, Robin Clarke, …
Category: Science Fiction
Jaws of Satan (1981)
Rating: ½
Satanically Empowered Killer Snakes
Director: Bob Claver
Actors: Fritz Weaver, Gretchen Corbett, Jon Korkes, Norman Lloyd, …
Category: Horror
Just Before Dawn (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
Backwoods Brutality
Director: Jeff Lieberman
Actors: Gregg Henry, Deborah Benson, Jamie Rose, Chris Lemmon, …
Category: Horror
Kill and Kill Again (1981)
Rating: ★★
Martial Arts Film/Mind Control Drug
Director: Ivan Hall
Actors: James Ryan, Anneline Kriel, Michael Mayer, Ken Gampu
Category: Science Fiction
Kung Fu Zombie (1981)
Rating: ★
Hong Kong Comedy/Kung Fu vs Supernatural
Director: Hwa I Hung
Actors: Billy Chong
Category: Fantasy
Lady, Stay Dead (1981)
Rating: ★★
Psycho Film
Director: Terry Bourke
Actors: Chard Hayward, Louise Howitt, Deborah Coulls, Roger Ward
Category: Horror
The Last Chase (1981)
Rating: ★★
Car Chase in a Dystopian Future
Director: Martyn Burke
Actors: Lee Majors, Burgess Meredith, Chris Makepeace, George Touliatos, …
Category: Science Fiction
The Last Shark (1981)
Rating: ★★
Killer Shark
Director: Enzo G. Castellari
Actors: James Franciscus, Vic Morrow, Stefania Girolami, Timothy Brent
Category: Horror
Looker (1981)
Rating: ★★½
Virtual Models
Director: Michael Crichton
Actors: Albert Finney, Susan Dey, James Coburn, Leigh Taylor-Young
Category: Science Fiction
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Rating: ★★★★½
Post-Holocaust Action
Director: George Miller
Actors: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Vernon Wells, Mike Preston
Category: Science Fiction
Malevil (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Nuclear War
Director: Christian de Chalonge
Category: Science Fiction
Memoirs of a Survivor (1981)
Rating: ★½
Decayed Future
Director: David Gladwell
Actors: Julie Christie, Leonie Mellinger, Christopher Guard
Category: Science Fiction
Monster Island (1981)
Rating: 0
Desert Island Adventures
Director: Juan Piquer Simon
Actors: Peter Cushing, Terence Stamp, Ian Sera, Blanca Estrada, …
Category: Science Fiction
Ms 45 (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Raped Woman on a Killing Spree
Director: Abel Ferrara
Actors: Zoe Tamerlis
Category: Horror
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Rating: ★★½
Slasher Film
Director: George Mihalka
Actors: Lori Hallier, Don Francks, Keith Knight, Helene Udy
Category: Horror
Mystics in Bali (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Indonesian Witchcraft
Director: H. Tjut Djalil
Category: Horror
New Year’s Evil (1981)
Rating: ★★
Slasher Film
Director: Emmett Alston
Actors: Roz Kelly, Chris Wallace, Grant Cramer, Taaffe O'Connell, …
Category: Horror
Night of the Zombies (1981)
Rating: ★
Nazi Zombies
Director: Joel M. Reed
Actors: Jamie Gillis, Ryan Hilliard, Samantha Grey, Ron Dorfman, …
Category: Horror
Night School (1981)
Rating: ★★
Slasher Film
Director: Kenneth Hughes
Actors: Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder
Category: Horror
Nightmares in a Damaged Brain (1981)
Rating: ★
Psycho Film
Director: Romano Scavolini
Category: Horror
Oasis of the Zombies (1981)
Rating: ★
Nazi Zombies
Director: Jess Franco
Actors: Manuel Gelin, Eduardo Fajardo
Category: Horror
Outland (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Action Set on One of Jupiter’s Moons
Director: Peter Hyams
Actors: Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen, James B. Sikking, …
Category: Science Fiction
Per Aspera Ad Astra (1981)
Rating: ★★
Soviet Science-Fiction/Female Alien Visitor
Director: Richard Viktorov
Category: Science Fiction
Piranha II: Flying Killers (1981)
Rating: 0
Killer Fish
Director: James Cameron
Category: Horror
Possession (1981)
Rating: ★
Marriage Breakdown/Surrealism/Monsters
Director: Andrzej Zulawski
Actors: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennett, Margit Carstensen, …
Category: Fantasy
The Prowler (1981)
Rating: ★★
Slasher Film
Director: Joseph Zito
Actors: Farley Granger, Cindy Weintraub, Lawrence Tierney
Category: Horror
Quest for Fire (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Prehistory/Caveman Adventure
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Actors: Everett McGill, Rae Dawn Chong, Ron Perlman
Category: Science Fiction
Raggedy Man (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
WWII Smalltown Romance/Hick Psychos
Director: Jack Fisk
Actors: Sissy Spacek, Eric Roberts, Henry Thomas, William Sanderson, …
Category: Horror
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Rating: ★★★★½
Tomb Raiding Adventures
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, …
Category: Fantasy
The Return (1981)
Rating: ★★
UFO Contact and Cattle Multilations
Director: Greydon Clark
Actors: Jan-Michael Vincent, Cybill Shepherd, Martin Landau, Raymond Burr, …
Category: Science Fiction
Roadgames (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Road Movie Psycho-Thriller
Director: Richard Franklin
Actors: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Grant Page
Category: Horror
Rollover (1981)
Rating: ★★½
Western Economic Collapse
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Actors: Kris Kristofferson, Jane Fonda, Hume Cronyn, Bob Gunton, …
Category: Science Fiction
Saturday the 14th (1981)
Rating: ★★
Genre Parody
Director: Howard R. Cohen
Actors: Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, Kari Michaelsen, Kevin Brando, …
Category: Horror
Scanners (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Psychic Powers
Director: David Cronenberg
Actors: Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Michael Ironside, Jennifer O'Neill, …
Category: Science Fiction
Shock Treatment (1981)
Rating: ★★½
Rocky Horror Sequel
Director: Jim Sharman
Actors: Jessica Harper, Barry Humphries, Cliff De Young, Richard O'Brien, …
Category: Fantasy
Southern Comfort (1981)
Rating: ★★★★
Backwoods Brutality
Director: Walter Hill
Actors: Powers Boothe, Keith Carradine, Fred Ward, Lewis Smith, …
Category: Horror
Strange Behavior (1981)
Rating: ★★★
Mad Scientist/Mind Control Experiments
Director: Michael Laughlin
Actors: Michael Murphy, Fiona Lewis, Louise Fletcher, Dan Shor, …
Category: Horror
The Survivor (1981)
Rating: ★
Haunting/Deathdream
Director: David Hemmings
Actors: Robert Powell, Jenny Agutter, Ralph Cotterill, Joseph Cotten
Category: Horror
Tarzan the Ape Man (1981)
Rating: ★
Softcore Tarzan Adaptation
Director: John Derek
Actors: Bo Derek, Richard Harris, Miles O'Keeffe, John Phillip Law
Category: Fantasy
Threshold (1981)
Rating: ★★½
World’s First Artificial Heart
Director: Richard Pearce
Actors: Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Mare Winningham, Michael Lerner, …
Category: Science Fiction
Time Bandits (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
Gonzo Adventures Throughout Time
Director: Terry Gilliam
Actors: Craig Warnock, David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, David Warner, …
Category: Fantasy
Time Slip (1981)
Rating: ★★★½
Soldiers Thrown Back in Time to Feudal Japan
Director: Kosei Saito
Actors: Sonny Chiba
Category: Science Fiction
Under the Rainbow (1981)
Rating: 0
Comedy During the Making of The Wizard of Oz
Director: Steve Rash
Actors: Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, Billy Barty, Cork Hubbert, …
Category: Fantasy