The 1980s was the start of a new technological era, with different developments in special effects and the electronic music (mostly cheesy synthesizer) offering a piquant musical accompaniment. American cinema has dominated the film industry over time and some of the scariest, most horrifyingly brilliant horror movies have come from American filmmakers. This means that international horror has unfortunately not been as widely appreciated until more recently, as it has a totally different formula that brings us an edge which many American films might lack. With 80s horror movies often being more terrifying than any preceding decade, let’s take a look at some of the best international horror movies released in that era.
Inferno (1980)
20th Century Fox
Inferno is an Italian supernatural horror film from the great Dario Argento, which follows Rose Elliot, a young American poet living in a New York City apartment building that she quickly becomes suspicious of. In its dark and eerie basement, Rose discovers a leather-bound book and calls on her brother Mark to help her investigate what she believes to be an ancient coven for Mater Tenebrarum, the malevolent Mother of Darkness.
As they delve deeper and deeper into the occult, Rose disappears, leaving Mark to investigate her mysterious disappearance, which leads him to discover a series of grotesque killings and draws him into a big scary living nightmare. Part of Argento’s Three Mothers Trilogy after his masterpiece Suspiria, Inferno is a bold, atmospheric, and extremely fun giallo classic.
The Beyond (1981)
Medusa Distribuzione
The Italian supernatural horror film The Beyond follows Liza, who inherits an old hotel in Louisiana. Little does she know that the cellar of the hotel is built on top of a door to the beyond, allowing the dead to cross into the world of the living. Determined to restore the hotel, Liza begins renovations only to experience a string of strange supernatural incidents. From gory mastermind Lucio Fulci, The Beyond is totally terrifying, gloriously gruesome, and definitely not one to miss.
Possession (1981)
Gaumont
Andrzej Żuławski’s psychological horror film Possession, an international co-production between France and West Germany, is a controversial, surreal masterpiece that combines eroticism, bleak industrial imagery, and absolutely disgusting visuals. The film follows the relationship between Mark and his wife Anna, who has asked for a divorce.
Convinced she is having an affair, Mark hires a private investigator to follow her, but they soon discover that it is not a traditional love affair that is causing Anna’s increasingly disturbing behavior. Sam Neill stars alongside an absolutely magnetic Isabelle Adjani, who won numerous Best Actress awards for her deranged intensity, in one of the greatest horror film performances of all time.
Angst (1983)
Les Films Jacques Leitienne
Angst is an Austrian horror film that is loosely based on the real mass murderer Werner Kniesek. The extremely disturbing plot follows a killer who suffered an abusive and troubled childhood at the hands of his mother and grandmother. After serving ten years in prison for the murder of an elderly woman, he is released into society, but it doesn’t take him long to feel the urge to kill again and soon picks up where he left off.
After fleeing from a failed murder attempt of a taxi driver, he takes refuge in a secluded rural home occupied by a woman, her sick mother and disabled brother, where he unleashes the awful psychopathic tendencies that he can’t suppress. Angst is a sometimes sickening, sometimes darkly humorous, and always viciously misanthropic film that feels like the Austrian equivalent of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.
Demons (1985)
Titanus
Demons is an extremely fun Italian horror film from 1985, directed by Lamberto Bava, that chronicles the terror an audience experiences at a mysterious movie screening after receiving complimentary tickets from a masked stranger. They attend the isolated cinema to watch a violent and disturbing horror film. After becoming trapped, they soon realize that the events of the film become their reality when a horde of ravenous demons descend and begin infecting them. The film is a weird meta commentary on horror cinema itself, but has enough fun practical effects and wild sequences to never feel confusing or pretentious.
Bad Taste (1987)
Endeavour Productions
In this New Zealand science-fiction comedy horror film from Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, Bad Taste, we follow Derek and his friends as they investigate the mysterious disappearance of people from a small town, Kaihoro. They discover the town has been overrun by bizarre aliens that have been harvesting the humans for their fast food franchise in outer space. Armed with his chainsaw, Derek sets off on a quest to save the whole planet and face off against the flesh-eating aliens. Like all of Jackson’s early splatter-horror films, Bad Taste is gross, demented, and hilarious.
The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
Vestron Pictures
A British horror comedy film from provocateur Ken Russell, The Lair of the White Worm is loosely based on the Bram Stoker novel of the same name and draws upon the English legend of the Lambton Worm. We follow the story of Angus, a Scottish archeologist who is carrying out some excavating at an old convent.
After discovering an odd skull in the ruins, he teams up with Lord James D’Ampton who has inherited some land next to a mansion, Temple House; together, they stumble upon a horrific cult that worships a worm-like monster. Now, horror lovers can’t turn away from a good cult story, and they soon find out that the worm somehow survived its destruction but can Angus and James stop the creature from being freed?
The Vanishing (1998)
Argos Films
The disturbing Dutch movie The Vanishing is a 1988 thriller that was adapted from the novel The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbé. In this compelling and chilling movie we follow Rex and Saskia, a young couple on holiday in France. After stopping at a busy service station, Saskia randomly disappears. A confused and heartbroken Rex searches everywhere but is unsuccessful in his quest.
Three years on and Rex is still obsessed with finding her; after publicly pleading his case, he is given the opportunity to put himself in Saskia’s shoes and accompany a clinical, manipulative serial killer who knows where she is. As Rex’s desire to learn the truth behind Saskia’s disappearance compels him to dig a deeper and deeper grave, The Vanishing becomes a claustrophobic masterpiece of existential dread.
