A Glean movie guide
80s Horror: The Deep Cuts
10 essential underrated gems.
Beyond the blockbusters lies a decade of cult classics and forgotten nightmares.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Near Dark
A gritty, neon-soaked Western that reinvents vampire lore with visceral style and a nomadic edge.
A farm boy reluctantly becomes a member of the undead when a girl he meets turns out to be part of a band of vampires who roam the highways in stolen cars.
- 02
The Changeling
A masterclass in slow-burn dread and atmospheric supernatural suspense that relies on chills over jump scares.
After a tragic event happens, composer John Russell moves to Seattle to try to overcome it and build a new and peaceful life in a lonely big house that has been uninhabited for many years. But, soon after, the obscure history of such an old mansion and his own past begin to haunt him.
- 03
The Hitcher
A relentless road thriller that turns a simple ride into a waking nightmare through minimalist, high-tension staging.
On a stormy night, young Jim, who transports a luxury car from Chicago to California to deliver it to its owner, feeling tired and sleepy, picks up a mysterious hitchhiker, who has appeared out of nowhere, thinking that a good conversation will help him not to fall asleep. He will have enough time to deeply regret such an unmeditated decision.
- 04
Possession
An intense, surreal descent into psychological madness featuring a legendary, visceral lead performance.
A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspects that a man is involved. But gradually, he finds out more and more strange behaviors and bizarre incidents that indicate something more than a possessed love affair.
- 05
Night of the Creeps
A witty, genre-mashing tribute to B-movies that perfectly captures the playful 80s horror-comedy spirit.
In 1959, an alien experiment crashes to earth and infects a fraternity member. They freeze the body, but in the modern day, two geeks pledging a fraternity accidentally thaw the corpse, which proceeds to infect the campus with parasites that transform their hosts into killer zombies.
- 06
Prince of Darkness
John Carpenter blends theoretical physics with ancient evil in this claustrophobic and apocalyptic chiller.
A priest discovers an ancient canister containing a strange liquid in an abandoned church. When a group of graduate students and scientists are tasked with studying it, they unknowingly unleash an evil force waiting to destroy all of humanity.
- 07
The Blob
A rare remake that surpasses the original with jaw-dropping practical effects and mean-spirited thrills.
In Arborville, California, three high school students try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches.
- 08
Society
A biting social satire that culminates in one of the most bizarre and grotesque finales in cinema history.
Bill Whitney is worried that he is different to his sister and parents. They mix with other upper-class people while Bill is more down to earth. Even his girlfriend seems a bit odd. All is revealed when Bill returns home to find a party in full swing.
- 09
Dead & Buried
A small-town mystery with a macabre twist, written by the creative minds behind Alien.
After a series of gory murders commited by mobs of townspeople against visiting tourists, the corpses appear to be coming back to life and living normally as locals in the small town.
- 10
Pumpkinhead
A dark, atmospheric folk tale featuring one of the most impressive creature designs of the decade.
When a group of teenagers inadvertently kill his only son, Ed Harley seeks the powers of a backwoods witch to bring the child back to life.