10 Most Underappreciated '80s Horror Movies

6. Critters

Pumpkinhead 1988
New Line Cinema

Is Critters one of the greatest movies of the 1980s? No, but that doesn't mean it's not an '80s picture that's massively underappreciated. Of course, a big reason for this is a certain 1984 film featuring Billy Peltzer and some Mogwai.

Released two years after Gremlins, and featuring some tiny, toothy, somewhat cute little beasties, clearly there are some similarities to be drawn between Critters and Joe Dante's '84 offering. What many may not realise, though, is Critters was actually in development before Gremlins, meaning it's not the Gremlins rip-off some lazily accuse it of being.

Again, Critters isn't exactly a bona fide classic, but some won't even give it the light of day due to those claims of it being a knock-off Gremlins. For those that do give Stephen Herek 1986 film a try, it's a whole bunch of dumb fun with some great creature designs, plenty of inventive deaths, a deliciously, devilish sense of humour, and anchored by some pitch-perfect performances from Dee Wallace, M. Emmet Walsh, and the always-brilliant Lin Shaye.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.