20 Greatest Horror Movies Of The 80s

20. Poltergeist

"They're here!"

One of the most successful horror movies of the early 1980s was Poltergeist, written and produced by Steven Spielberg, directed by Texas Chain Saw Massacre's Tobe Hooper and starring Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams as the parents of a young girl Carol (Heather O'Rourke) who is captured by malevolent spirits.

By horror standards Poltergeist is relatively tame (released before the introduction of the PG-13 rating, the filmmakers convinced the MPAA to grant it a PG instead of an R), but nevertheless highly effective in capturing the heightened sense of fear as the poltergeist haunting steadily escalates.

It features some iconic horror moments, not least Carol being sucked into a portal in her closet and a particularly gruesome scene in which a man's face is peeled off (certainly not something you'll see in a PG rated movie these days). It's also noted for its alleged curse, which posits that Heather O'Rourke's sad premature death at the age of 12 has become something of a cinematic urban legend.