The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1980s Creature Features. In this series of horror-themed articles, we’ll be reviewing the creepiest scenes from various creature feature films of each decade. Most films within this subgenre are often a combination of Animals Attack Films, Survival Horror Films and Eco-Horror Films and feature wildlife run amok (often through mutation) and aliens or monsters hunting humans. These articles will showcase some of the subtle (yet terrifying) scares when nature (or an extraterrestrial being) turns on mankind.
Our second article covers the 1980s, which was arguably the greatest decade for horror films. Despite being a decade known for a proliferation of Slasher Films in the early part of the decade, the 80s saw a continuation of 1970s creature features that leaned increasingly into themes of eco-horror and genetic engineering. Alligator (1980), The Boogens (1981), Savage Harvest (1981) and C.H.U.D. (1984) all explored various themes of man-made disasters from chemical waste to drought caused by climate change while The Fly (1986) and Monkey Shines (1988) told tales of genetic engineering gone wrong.
The decade was also well-known for its various monster-based creature features from alien creatures in Xtro (1982) and Aliens (1986) to some of the best werewolf films of all time including Wolfen (1981), An American Werewolf in London (1981), The Howling (1981) and Silver Bullet (1985).
After we get through each decade, we’ll have a cumulative article with the 25 Creepiest Scenes from Creature Features of All Time and you can find each article below as we post them over the following months:
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1970s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1980s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1990s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2000s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2010s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 2020s Creature Features
- The 25 Creepiest Scenes from Creature Features of All Time
For our rankings we’re going to use some criteria to help define and refine our list. First, what is considered ‘creepy’ is often subjective. What might be creepy to some people might come off as boring to others. For the list we’ve compiled, we narrowed down the Top 25 to scenes that genuinely scared older members of KBZ when they saw these films at a younger age to recent generations that still found some of these older horror films creepy.
Second, we’re going to use the broadest interpretation of ‘creature features’ as possible to include natural or mutated wildlife, insects and marine life to monsters or aliens that qualify as ‘creatures’. As an example, we will include Aliens (1986) due to the Xenomorph in the film being an alien ‘creature’. However, we will not be including most slasher films of the decade unless the ‘slasher’ is an actual monster or alien as shown in a film such as The Slayer (1982) which does feature a monster-based slasher.
Third, we won’t be including certain types of monster movies dealing with werewolves, vampires, mummies and zombies. We will include them if wolves are the main focus of Films About Werewolves and bats or vampire bats have significant screentime in Films About Vampires. We have our own lists for the remaining monster subgenres with Films About Mummies and Films About Zombies.
Fourth, though certain types of monsters or aliens do make up part of the Creature Feature film subgenre, we’re going to give priority to films that feature natural wildlife or marine life hunting humans.
Fifth, we will include some Films About Dinosaurs and Kaiju Films if their themes fit within this subgenre (i.e. man vs. beast).
And sixth, we had to follow our rule for all of KBZ’s film listings where we only list films that have a 4.0/10 or higher rating and were released between 1980 – 1989.
As we mentioned above, we’ll be releasing additional lists of the creepiest horror films of the decade over the next few months. You can refer to our schedule above or subscribe to our newsletter to get updated as we release each new article.
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The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1980s Creature Features
Ranks 25-1:
#25 The Boogens (1981) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#24 Savage Harvest (1981) Where to Stream / Buy: YouTube
#23 C.H.U.D. (1984) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#22 Alligator (1980) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#21 Wild Beasts (1984) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#20 The Beastmaster (1982) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#19 Of Unknown Origin (1983) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#18 Silver Bullet (1985) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#17 Q (1982) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#16 The Beast Within (1982) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#15 Xtro (1982) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#14 The Hidden (1987) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#13 Pumpkinhead (1988) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#12 Monkey Shines (1988) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#11 The Howling (1981) Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
Plot: 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.
Scene: The alien zombie breaks through the floor
KBZ’s Take: From the same mind that brought you The Monster Squad (1987) is another forgotten 80’s classic of the Alien Invasion subgenre. While it has campy humor throughout, it blends sci-fi and horror together perfectly for an often-scary tale.
As a creature feature, it features alien-based slugs that zombify their hosts leading to some very inventive carnage and gore.
Additional Lists: Top Films About Zombies You Haven’t Seen #5, Top Films About Alien Invasions You Haven’t Seen #8, The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1980s Horror Films #13
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#9
Creepshow
Plot: Inspired by the E.C. comics of the 1950s, George A. Romero and Stephen King bring five tales of terror to the screen.
Scene: The cockroaches
KBZ’s Take: Creepshow is a classic Horror Anthology from the 80s that features at least two stories in the creature feature realm (with “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” segment also arguably qualifying as a third).
Though “The Crate” segment is often cited as the most horrifying and creepy, we had to go with the “They’re Creeping Up on You!” segment which features an uncomfortable number of creepy crawlers that get their revenge on the cruel Upson Pratt (E.G. Marshal).
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#8
The Blob
Plot: Remake of the 1958 horror sci-fi about a deadly blob which is the spawn of a secret government germ warfare project which consumes everyone in its path. Teenagers try in vain to warn the townsfolk, who refuse to take them seriously, while government agents try to cover up the evidence and confine the creature.
Scene: The blob in the office
KBZ’s Take: It’s not often that a remake is often cited as superior to its original source film, but the 80s version of The Blob is arguably better than the 1958 film with superior special effects and gruesome kills.
As for the creepiest scene in the film, there’s no doubt it’s the office scene where Paul (Donovan Leitch) discovers the blob leading to a very gruesome death.
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#7
Gremlins
Plot: When Billy Peltzer is given a strange but adorable pet named Gizmo for Christmas, he inadvertently breaks the three important rules of caring for a Mogwai and unleashes a horde of mischievous gremlins on a small town.
Scene: Mrs. Peltzer discovers the Gremlins
KBZ’s Take: Gremlins is a classic Christmas film, and it’s usually near the top of any Christmas films list. However, as family-friendly horror, the film has some very dark elements and genuine scares and it’s a good time capsule film to see why the PG-13 rating was developed in 1984.
Gremlins was rated PG at the time, but even parents nowadays likely don’t let their youngsters watch the film until they are old enough. For those of us who grew up in the 80’s and saw this while we were younger, the answer is yes, we were scarred for life by the mother’s encounters with the gremlins.
Additional Lists: The Ultimate List of Christmas Horror Films #2, The 25 Creepiest Scenes from Christmas Horror Films #2
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#6
Cujo
Plot: A friendly St. Bernard named Cujo contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.
Scene: Cujo attacks
KBZ’s Take: Horror legend Stephen King ruled the 1980s with film adaptations of his novels from The Shining (1980) to Pet Sematary (1989). However, it’s his adapted works that qualify as creature features that made our Top 25 with Cujo and Silver Bullet (1985) – with Cat’s Eye (1985) just falling outside of our initial rankings.
As for Cujo, it’s a classic creature feature that’s inspired countless films with its take on a seemingly friendly canine that turns on humans.
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
Plot: Two American tourists in England are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Scene: The werewolf transformation
KBZ’s Take: The 80s had a great run of Werewolf Films and An American Werewolf in London is often cited as the best of the lot. Though the film also has a creepy scene involving a subway chase (that’s featured in our video for The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1980s Horror Films), we went with the werewolf transformation scene for this list which is arguably the best of the subgenre even 45 years later.
Additional Lists: The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1980s Horror Films #18
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#4
Predator
Plot: Dutch and his group of commandos are hired by the CIA to rescue downed airmen from guerillas in a Central American jungle. The mission goes well but as they return they find that something is hunting them. Nearly invisible, it blends in with the forest, taking trophies from the bodies of its victims as it goes along. Occasionally seeing through its eyes, the audience sees it is an intelligent alien hunter, hunting them for sport, killing them off one at a time.
Scene: The Predator confronts Dillon
KBZ’s Take: The initial 1987 film is a classic of the subgenre which spawned 4 sequels – Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), The Predator (2018) and Prey (2022) – and 2 crossover series films with Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). While the first film is still the best of the series, Predators and Prey are the next best sequels.
While every film in the series has varying degrees of monsters and aliens, there’s no doubt the initial entry is the best creature feature film of them all with the introduction to the invisible predator that hunts Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his special forces squad.
Additional Lists: Best Films About Special Forces #8, Best Alien Invasion Films #9
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#3
The Fly
Plot: When Seth Brundle makes a huge scientific and technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.
Scene: Seth becomes The Fly
KBZ’s Take: Cronenberg’s most mainstream and popular film, The Fly is considered a classic film within the entire horror genre. As a remake of the equally terrifying The Fly (1958), where the updated film differentiates itself from the original is with visual and disturbing body horror as Brundle’s condition deteriorates both mentally and physically.
It’s a classic creature feature that explores themes of unintended genetic engineering gone wrong.
Additional Lists: Best Body Horror Films of All Time #1, Best Cronenberg Body Horror Films #2, Best Films About Genetic Engineering #3, Best 1980’s Horror Film for Halloween #17
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#2
The Thing
Plot: Members of an American scientific research outpost in Antarctica find themselves battling a parasitic alien organism capable of perfectly imitating its victims. They soon discover that this task will be harder than they thought, as they don’t know which members of the team have already been assimilated and their paranoia threatens to tear them apart.
Scene: The Thing crawls away
KBZ’s Take: Another John Carpenter horror film that has evolved into a cult classic and is now considered one of the scariest films of all time. There are too many classic horror sequences in the film to list here, but we’ll always go with the ‘Spider Head’ scene as one of the truly scariest and creepiest moments in any horror film – period.
The Thing should be on your very short list of creature features to watch if you somehow haven’t yet seen (or haven’t developed the courage to see) this classic horror film.
Additional Lists: The 25 Creepiest Scenes from 1980s Horror Films #1, Best Alien Invasion Films #1, Best Body Horror Films of All Time #3, The Best 1980s Horror Films for Halloween #3
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
#1
Aliens
Plot: When Ripley’s lifepod is found by a salvage crew over 50 years later, she finds that terra-formers are on the very planet they found the alien species. When the company sends a family of colonists out to investigate her story, all contact is lost with the planet and colonists. They enlist Ripley and the marines to return and search for answers.
Scene: The marines find an incubated human
KBZ’s Take: Aliens trades the suspenseful dread of the first film for more action-oriented thrills in its sequel. And while Alien (1979) is first and foremost a horror film, Aliens still has a solid horror foundation even with the upgrade from blowtorches to pulse rifles.
Because Aliens is such an action-packed thrill ride from beginning to end, it’s easy to dismiss its horror cred. But make no mistake, Aliens has a different type of horror than its predecessor with swarms of unrelenting Xenomorphs, numerous alien acid baths and the appearance of the Queen Xenomorph herself.
Though the original Alien has arguably the creepiest creature feature scene of all time (via the infamous chest bursting sequence), it’s sequel does an admirable job of delivering numerous creepy moments including it’s own disturbing sequence within the Alien mythos with the marines discovering an incubated human before all hell breaks loose.
Additional Lists: Best Sci-Fi Military Films #2, Best Space Horror Films #3
Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon
