Lots of great films in this decade, too.
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The Shining (1980)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Thing (1982)
First Blood (1982)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
The Terminator (1984)
The Fly (1986)
Near Dark (1987)
I remember seeing The Elephant Man for the first time when I was seven. My mum had a book about Joseph Merrick, the real 'Elephant Man', and I looked at that a bit, including photos. The film was shown a couple of weeks later and I asked my mum if I could watched it. I remember her saying something like, 'are you sure? Are you sure you won't get scared?' I said, no, watched it, and got scared. It was the bit in the film where the young nurse is asked to bring him up his breakfast. Looking at it now, you just now what's coming, lol. It's a great film. A few years later, when I was 12, me and my dad went to Blockbuster video.
'What do you want to watch, Phil?'
And I came back to him with The Elephant Man, lol.
I've included Near Dark here because I just love this film. It's hard to get a copy and it wasn't commercially successful at the box office. But it's a great vampire film, one of my favourites (either Near Dark or Let The Right One In, if we're talking vampire films).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg1zfnC7inE
Both The Thing and The Fly are great examples of body horror films featuring spectacular practical effects. They must be two of the best horror films ever, I think.
Got any good ones I've missed?
I know I must have missed loads ...