Decades
TopTenREVIEWS top Thriller movie of all time is Evil Dead.
Email to a friendTop 1981 Thriller Movies
Click on a movie title for more info and reviews
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| 1 |  | Evil Dead, The (1981) |  3.1519 152 reviews | NC-17 | Thriller, Fantasy, Horror |
$6.84
| Five college friends are forced to spend the night in a remote abandoned cabin. There they find the ...more about Evil Dead starring Bruce Campbell and Ellen Sandweiss |
| 2 |  | Body Heat (1981) | 3.1220 32 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller, Crime |
$8.68
| Ned Racine is a seedy small town lawyer in Florida. During a searing heatwave he's picked up by ...more about Body Heat starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner |
| 3 |  | American Werewolf in London, An (1981) | 3.0937 97 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror, Romance, Comedy |
$4.49
| A Werewolf attacks two American students on tour of England. The surviving student begins to have ...more about American Werewolf in London starring David Naughton and Jenny Agutter |
| 4 |  | Escape from New York (1981) | 3.0614 105 reviews | NA | Action, Adventure, Thriller, Sci-Fi |
$9.99
| In 1997 the island of Manhattan has been converted into a maximum security prison. When Air Force ...more about Escape from New York starring Kurt Russell and Lee Van Cleef |
| 5 |  | Howling, The (1981) | 3.0507 54 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror |
$4.76
| After a traumatizing incident with a serial killer and a series of nightmares, Karen checks herself ...more about Howling starring Patrick Macnee and Dennis Dugan |
| 6 |  | Blow Out (1981) | 3.0460 46 reviews | R | Thriller, Mystery |
$5.99
| This stylish Brian DePalma thriller plays off the theme of the unsuspecting witness who discovers a ...more about Blow Out starring John Travolta and Nancy Allen |
| 7 |  | For Your Eyes Only (1981) | 2.9532 49 reviews | NA | Action, Adventure, Thriller |
$9.27
| A British spy trawler is accidentally sunk off the coast of a Warsaw pact county. On board is a ...more about For Your Eyes Only starring Roger Moore and Carole Bouquet |
| 8 |  | Outland (1981) | 2.9065 28 reviews | NA | Action, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Crime | N/A | Marshal W.T. O'Niel is assigned to a mining colony on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. During his tenure ...more about Outland starring Sean Connery and Peter Boyle |
| 9 |  | Thief (1981) | 2.8994 21 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller, Crime |
$9.72
| Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specializing in high-profile diamond jobs. After ...more about Thief starring James Caan and Tuesday Weld |
| 10 |  | Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) | 2.8414 61 reviews | NA | Action, Thriller, Horror, Mystery |
$2.10
| After killing the crazy Mrs. Voorhees, who was avenging her son Jason's death, Alice can finally ...more about Friday the 13th Part 2 starring Amy Steel and John Furey |
| 11 |  | Scanners (1981) | 2.8357 50 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror, Sci-Fi |
$5.10
| Darryl Revok is the most powerful of all the scanners, and is the head of the underground scanner ...more about Scanners starring Jennifer O'Neill and Stephen Lack |
| 12 |  | Wolfen (1981) | 2.8005 24 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror |
$4.49
| A city cop is assigned to solve a bizarre set of violent murders where it appears that the victoms ...more about Wolfen starring Albert Finney and Diane Venora |
| 13 |  | Just Before Dawn (1981) |  2.7437 15 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror |
$12.28
| Five campers arrive in the mountains to examine some property they have bought, but are warned by ...more about Just Before Dawn starring George Kennedy and Chris Lemmon |
| 14 |  | My Bloody Valentine (1981) | 2.6854 44 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror |
$7.99
| There's a big valentine-party planned in the little miningtown Valentine's Bluff. It is the first ...more about My Bloody Valentine starring Paul Kelman and Lori Hallier |
| 15 |  | Hell Night (1981) | 2.6555 35 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror |
$13.49
| Before being able to join Alpha Sigma Rho fraternity and its sister sorority, four pledges must ...more about Hell Night starring Linda Blair and Vincent Van Patten |
| 16 |  | Halloween II (1981) | 2.5635 33 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror |
$3.92
| It's the same night as the original Halloween. Michael Myers is around the neighborhood, after ...more about Halloween II starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence |
| 17 |  | Incubus, The (1981) | 2.5587 20 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror |
$7.82
| In the small New England town of Galen, a young teenage boy claims he has dreams of young women ...more about Incubus starring John Cassavetes and John Ireland |
| 18 |  | Postman Always Rings Twice, The (1981) | 2.4650 11 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller, Crime, Romance |
$4.49
| This remake of the 1946 movie of the same name accounts an affair between a seedy drifter and a ...more about Postman Always Rings Twice starring Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange |
| 19 |  | Eye of the Needle (1981) |  2.0835 11 reviews | NA | War, Thriller |
$4.15
| A German spy carrying information that will reveal the target of Operation Overlord becomes ...more about Eye of the Needle starring Donald Sutherland and David Hayman |
| 20 |  | Final Conflict, The (1981) | 2.0368 17 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror |
$6.96
| Now come into his full knowledge and power, the Anti-Christ in the body of Damien Thorne is about ...more about Final Conflict starring Rossano Brazzi and Don Gordon |
| 21 |  | Eyewitness (1981) | 1.9131 8 reviews | NA | Thriller |
$4.86
| Manhattan janitor Daryll Deever is fixated on hard-charging TV commentator, Tony Sokolow; he tapes ...more about Eyewitness starring William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver |
| 22 |  | Amateur, The (1981) | 1.8765 3 reviews | NA | Thriller, Crime |
$6.06
| A researcher for the CIA who convinces his superiors to send him to the eastern bloc in order to ...more about Amateur starring Christopher Plummer and Marthe Keller |
| 23 |  | Strange Behavior (1981) | 1.8742 8 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror, Mystery |
$17.99
| ...more about Strange Behavior starring Louise Fletcher and Dan Shor |
| 24 |  | Southern Comfort (1981) | 1.8473 7 reviews | NA | Drama, War, Thriller |
$9.99
| A squad of National Guards on an isolated weekend exercise in the Louisiana swamp must fight for ...more about Southern Comfort starring Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe |
| 25 |  | Looker (1981) | 1.8400 5 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller, Horror, Sci-Fi |
$12.71
| A plastic surgeon gets suspicious when models he has operated on begin to die in mysterious ways. ...more about Looker starring Albert Finney and James Coburn |
| 26 | | Kirlian Witness, The (1981) | 1.8217 1 reviews | NA | Thriller | N/A | Laurie believes that it's possible to communicate with plants via telepathy and devotes all her ...more about Kirlian Witness starring Nancy Boykin and Joel Colodner |
| 27 | | Tattoo (1981) |  1.5234 7 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller | N/A | Karl Kinsky, an unbalanced tattoo artist, becomes dangerously obsessed with Maddy, a model he meets ...more about Tattoo starring Bruce Dern and Maud Adams |
| 28 |  | Eye for an Eye, An (1981) | 1.4549 18 reviews | NA | Action, Adventure, Thriller, Crime |
$4.02
| Sean Kane (Chuck Norris) is forced to resign from the San Francisco Police Department's Narcotics ...more about Eye for an Eye starring Christopher Lee and Richard Roundtree |
| 29 | | Deadline (1981) | 1.3925 1 reviews | NA | Action, Drama, Thriller, Horror | N/A | A horror film about a screenwriter who loses the ability to distinguish between his fantasy world ...more about Deadline starring Stephen Young and Sharon Masters |
| 30 | | Unseen, The (1981) | 1.3788 4 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror | N/A | Freelance reporter Jennifer and her two friends, Karen and Vicki, accept an invitation for cheap ...more about Unseen starring Stephen Furst and Barbara Bach |
| 31 |  | Roadgames (1981) | 1.3606 8 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller |
$2.74
| Pat Quid is driving a semi across Australia. On the way he encounters various other travellers, and ...more about Roadgames starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis |
| 32 |  | Ruckus (1981) | 1.3012 3 reviews | NA | Action, Drama, Thriller | N/A | Kyle Hanson is a Vietnam veteran whose traumatic war-time experiences have left him unable to ...more about Ruckus starring Dirk Benedict and Linda Blair |
| 33 |  | Salamander, The (1981) |  1.2373 1 reviews | NA | Thriller |
$9.99
| An Italian policeman investigates a series of murders involving people in prominent positions. Left ...more about Salamander starring Anthony Quinn and Martin Balsam |
| 34 |  | Graduation Day (1981) | 1.1300 11 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror |
$12.14
| After a high school track runner, named Laura, suddenly dies from a heart attack after finishing a ...more about Graduation Day starring Christopher George and Patch Mackenzie |
| 35 | | Killing of Angel Street, The (1981) | 1.0364 1 reviews | NA | Thriller | N/A | ...more about Killing of Angel Street starring Elizabeth Alexander and John Hargreaves |
| 36 | | Final Exam (1981) | 0.7990 6 reviews | NA | Action, Thriller, Horror | N/A | In a small college in North Carolina, only a select few students are left to take mid terms. But, ...more about Final Exam starring Cecile Bagdadi and Joel S. Rice |
| 37 |  | Fan, The (1981) |  0.4885 5 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller |
$17.99
| Douglas is a lonesome record salesman and a true fan of the actress Sally Ross. Every day he writes ...more about Fan starring Lauren Bacall and James Garner |
| 38 | | Reborn (1981) |  No Score 0 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller, Fantasy | N/A | A man discovers that his girlfriend is a "stigmata" (someone whose hands and feet mysteriously ...more about Reborn starring Dennis Hopper and Antonella Murgia |
| 39 |  | Dangerous Summer, A (1981) | No Score 0 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller |
$3.59
| ...more about Dangerous Summer starring Tom Skerritt and Ian Gilmour |
| 40 | | Blind Life, Blind Death (1981) | No Score 0 reviews | NA | Thriller | N/A | Peter comanda una banda di rapinatori. Una notte irrompono nella villa di Lord Oscar Da Ville, ma, ...more about Blind Life starring Nicholas Capoblanco and Paul B. Full |
| 41 | | Firecracker (1981) | No Score 0 reviews | NA | Action, Drama, Thriller | N/A | ...more about Firecracker starring Jillian Kesner and Darby Hinton |
| 42 | | Missile X - Geheimauftrag Neutronenbombe (1981) | No Score 0 reviews | NA | Adventure, Thriller | N/A | An American secret agent is sent to Iran to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and comes ...more about Missile X - Geheimauftrag Neutronenbombe starring Peter Graves and Curd Jürgens |
| 43 | | Fatal Encounter (1981) | No Score 0 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller | N/A | ...more about Fatal Encounter starring Clara Hernandez and Theodora Castellanos |
| 44 | | Lady Stay Dead (1981) | No Score 1 reviews | NA | Thriller | N/A | ...more about Lady Stay Dead starring Chard Hayward and Louise Howitt |
| 45 | | Sphinx (1981) | No Score 0 reviews | NA | Thriller, Mystery | N/A | ...more about Sphinx starring Lesley-Anne Down and Frank Langella |
| 46 | | Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981) | No Score 0 reviews | NA | Drama, War, Thriller, Biography | N/A | This biographical movie begins with a short blurb about Uganda, followed by the joyous scenes ...more about Rise and Fall of Idi Amin starring Joseph Olita and Thomas Baptiste |
| 47 | | Ghostkeeper (1981) | No Score 0 reviews | NA | Drama, Thriller, Horror | N/A | A couple on a skiing holiday take a motor sledge journey into nowhere and become lost. They locate ...more about Ghostkeeper starring Riva Spier and Murray Ord |
| 48 | | Subway Riders (1981) | No Score 0 reviews | NA | Thriller | N/A | ...more about Subway Riders starring Robbie Coltrane and Charlene Kaleina |
| 49 | | Home Sweet Home (1981) | No Score 3 reviews | NA | Thriller, Horror, Crime, Mystery | N/A | ...more about Home Sweet Home starring Jake Steinfeld and Vinessa Shaw |
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