Best Thriller Movies of the 1980s

1. 1
   The Shining 1980

   Directed by Stanley Kubrick · Streaming on HBO Max
   8.2

   8.2 · 20K votes
2. 2
   Michael Jackson's Thriller 1983

   Directed by John Landis
   8.1

   8.3 · 808 votes
3. 3
   Aliens 1986

   Directed by James Cameron · Streaming on Netflix, fuboTV, Philo
   8.0

   8.0 · 11K votes
4. 4
   Blade Runner 1982

   Directed by Ridley Scott
   7.9

   7.9 · 16K votes
5. 5
   Die Hard 1988

   Directed by John McTiernan · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, YouTube TV
   7.8

   7.8 · 13K votes
6. 6
   The Untouchables 1987

   Directed by Brian De Palma · Streaming on fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
   7.7

   7.8 · 6.4K votes
7. 7
   The Terminator 1984

   Directed by James Cameron · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, The Roku Channel
   7.7

   7.7 · 15K votes
8. 8
   Mississippi Burning 1988

   Directed by Alan Parker · Streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
   7.6

   7.7 · 2K votes
9. 9
   Blue Velvet 1986

   Directed by David Lynch · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla
   7.6

   7.6 · 4K votes
10. 10
    Predator 1987

    Directed by John McTiernan · Streaming on fuboTV, YouTube TV, FXNow
    7.6

    7.6 · 9.6K votes
11. 11
    First Blood 1982

    Directed by Ted Kotcheff · Streaming on AMC+, Kanopy, YouTube TV
    7.5

    7.5 · 7.2K votes
12. 12
    The Killer 1989

    Directed by John Woo · Streaming on fuboTV, Kanopy, Shout! Factory TV
    7.5

    7.6 · 955 votes
13. 13
    The Name of the Rose 1986

    Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, The CW
    7.5

    7.5 · 3.4K votes
14. 14
    After Hours 1985

    Directed by Martin Scorsese · Streaming on Howdy
    7.4

    7.5 · 1.9K votes
15. 15
    Mad Max 2 1981

    Directed by George Miller · Streaming on YouTube Free
    7.4

    7.4 · 4.4K votes
16. 16
    RoboCop 1987

    Directed by Paul Verhoeven · Streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
    7.4

    7.4 · 6K votes
17. 17
    The Abyss 1989

    Directed by James Cameron · Streaming on Disney Plus, Philo, BBC America
    7.3

    7.4 · 3.6K votes
18. 18
    Blow Out 1981

    Directed by Brian De Palma · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Hoopla
    7.3

    7.3 · 1.8K votes
19. 19
    Lethal Weapon 1987

    Directed by Richard Donner · Streaming on Fawesome
    7.3

    7.3 · 5.3K votes
20. 20
    The Vanishing 1988

    Directed by George Sluizer
    7.3

    7.4 · 902 votes
21. 21
    They Live 1988

    Directed by John Carpenter · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
    7.3

    7.3 · 3.7K votes
22. 22
    The Inquisitor 1981

    Directed by Claude Miller · Streaming on France Channel
    7.2

    7.5 · 295 votes
23. 23
    Blood Simple 1985

    Directed by Joel Coen · Streaming on HBO Max, Cinemax
    7.2

    7.2 · 1.7K votes
24. 24
    Thief 1981

    Directed by Michael Mann · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Hoopla
    7.1

    7.2 · 918 votes
25. 25
    Midnight Run 1988

    Directed by Martin Brest
    7.1

    7.2 · 1.4K votes
26. 26
    The Lost Boys 1987

    Directed by Joel Schumacher · Streaming on Philo, AMC+, AMC
    7.1

    7.1 · 2.4K votes
27. 27
    The Professional 1981

    Directed by Georges Lautner · Streaming on Kanopy
    7.1

    7.2 · 621 votes
28. 28
    Missing 1982

    Directed by Costa-Gavras
    7.1

    7.2 · 448 votes
29. 29
    Witness 1985

    Directed by Peter Weir · Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, Tubi TV
    7.1

    7.1 · 2K votes
30. 30
    Dead Ringers 1988

    Directed by David Cronenberg · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla
    7.0

    7.1 · 1.1K votes
31. 31
    WarGames 1983

    Directed by John Badham · Streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
    7.0

    7.1 · 2.3K votes
32. 32
    Lethal Weapon 2 1989

    Directed by Richard Donner
    7.0

    7.1 · 3.9K votes
33. 33
    Santa Sangre 1989

    Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Kanopy
    7.0

    7.2 · 528 votes
34. 34
    The Long Good Friday 1980

    Directed by John Mackenzie · Streaming on HBO Max, Shout! Factory TV, YouTube Free
    7.0

    7.2 · 458 votes
35. 35
    Escape from New York 1981

    Directed by John Carpenter · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Plex
    7.0

    7.0 · 3.7K votes
36. 36
    Violent Cop 1989

    Directed by Takeshi Kitano · Streaming on Kanopy, Cineverse
    7.0

    7.2 · 428 votes
37. 37
    To Live and Die in L.A. 1985

    Directed by William Friedkin · Streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
    7.0

    7.1 · 854 votes
38. 38
    Police Story 2 1988

    Directed by Jackie Chan · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel, Shout! Factory
    7.0

    7.1 · 667 votes
39. 39
    The Dead Zone 1983

    Directed by David Cronenberg · Streaming on Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Philo
    7.0

    7.0 · 1.9K votes
40. 40
    Manhunter 1986

    Directed by Michael Mann · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Plex Channel
    7.0

    7.0 · 1.6K votes
41. 41
    Terrorizers 1986

    Directed by Edward Yang
    7.0

    7.4 · 183 votes
42. 42
    Runaway Train 1985

    Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky · Streaming on The Roku Channel, History Vault, YouTube Free
    6.9

    7.0 · 692 votes
43. 43
    Body Heat 1981

    Directed by Lawrence Kasdan · Streaming on FlixHouse
    6.9

    7.0 · 729 votes
44. 44
    Law of Desire 1987

    Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
    6.9

    7.1 · 340 votes
45. 45
    Angst 1983

    Directed by Gerald Kargl · Streaming on Night Flight Plus, Midnight Pulp
    6.9

    7.0 · 450 votes
46. 46
    A Better Tomorrow II 1987

    Directed by John Woo · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Kanopy
    6.9

    7.1 · 334 votes
47. 47
    Escape from Sobibor 1987

    Directed by Jack Gold · Streaming on Philo, The Roku Channel, FlixHouse
    6.9

    7.2 · 220 votes
48. 48
    Dressed to Kill 1980

    Directed by Brian De Palma · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Hoopla
    6.9

    6.9 · 1.2K votes
49. 49
    Hellraiser 1987

    Directed by Clive Barker · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo
    6.9

    6.9 · 3K votes
50. 50
    Righting Wrongs 1986

    Directed by Corey Yuen
    6.9

    7.6 · 91 votes

Smart score = (votes × rating + 82 × 6.03) ÷ (votes + 82): the TMDB rating, pulled toward the catalog average as if every film had 82 extra average votes.

1. 1
   Kisapmata 1981

   Directed by Mike de Leon · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Plex, Plex Channel
   6.6

   8.1 · 32 votes
2. 2
   Dangerous Charm 1984

   Directed by Ivan Andonov
   6.5

   8.3 · 20 votes
3. 3
   Mirch Masala 1987

   Directed by Ketan Mehta
   6.4

   7.9 · 21 votes
4. 4
   Aaahh Belinda 1986

   Directed by Atıf Yılmaz
   6.5

   7.4 · 41 votes
5. 5
   Last Days of the Victim 1982

   Directed by Adolfo Aristarain
   6.4

   7.4 · 30 votes
6. 6
   Baywatch: Panic at Malibu Pier 1989

   Directed by Richard Compton
   6.4

   7.5 · 25 votes
7. 7
   The Kiss 1981

   Directed by Bruno Barreto
   6.4

   7.2 · 40 votes
8. 8
   Karz 1980

   Directed by Subhash Ghai
   6.3

   7.5 · 23 votes
9. 9
   School on Fire 1988

   Directed by Ringo Lam Ling-tung · Streaming on Criterion Channel, Shout! Factory
   6.4

   7.2 · 33 votes
10. 10
    Aparan 1988

    Directed by P. Padmarajan
    6.3

    8.0 · 11 votes