Top 18 Thriller Movies of the 1980s

Neo-noir seductions, paranoid conspiracies, and sleek shockers from cinema's most stylish decade of suspense. Blockbuster icons rub shoulders with arthouse cult picks. Which one wins?

1

Manhunter

Michael Mann's 1986 thriller introducing Hannibal Lecter as an FBI profiler hunts a serial killer.

1000pts

2

Blue Velvet

David Lynch's 1986 neo-noir thriller exposing the dark underbelly beneath a quiet American town.

943pts

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3

Dressed to Kill

De Palma's 1980 Hitchcockian thriller built around a brutal murder and a hunt for the killer.

943pts

4

Body Double

Brian De Palma's 1984 voyeuristic thriller about an actor who witnesses a murder.

692pts

5

The Untouchables

Brian De Palma's 1987 crime thriller dramatizing Eliot Ness's pursuit of Al Capone in Prohibition Chicago.

692pts

6

Die Hard

The 1988 action thriller stranding cop John McClane in a skyscraper seized by terrorists on Christmas Eve.

692pts

7

Angel Heart

Alan Parker's 1987 supernatural noir thriller following a private eye into a nightmarish investigation.

692pts

8

No Way Out

The 1987 political thriller trapping a naval officer in a Pentagon cover-up and a deadly manhunt.

600pts

9

The Vanishing

The 1988 Dutch psychological thriller about a man obsessively searching for his abducted girlfriend.

491pts

10

To Live and Die in L.A.

William Friedkin's 1985 thriller about a Secret Service agent's reckless hunt for a counterfeiter.

491pts

11

Witness

Peter Weir's 1985 thriller in which a city detective hides among the Amish to protect a child witness.

491pts

12

Sea of Love

The 1989 erotic thriller pairing a detective with a prime suspect in a string of murders.

491pts

13

After Hours

Martin Scorsese's 1985 dark comic thriller chronicling one man's nightmarish night in SoHo.

491pts

14

Jagged Edge

The 1985 courtroom thriller in which a lawyer falls for the client she's defending against a murder charge.

360pts

15

Fatal Attraction

The 1987 thriller about a married man stalked by a vengeful lover after a brief affair.

360pts

16

Body Heat

Lawrence Kasdan's 1981 erotic neo-noir of a lawyer ensnared in a murderous seduction.

360pts

17

Blow Out

De Palma's 1981 thriller about a sound technician who records evidence of a political assassination.

200pts

18

The Hitcher

The 1986 road thriller about a young driver terrorized by a murderous hitchhiker across the desert.

200pts