15 Best B-Movies of the 1980s, Ranked (2024)

The term “B-movie” proves surprisingly difficult to define, and what constitutes such a film has kind of shifted over the years. Some definitions will say they’re simply movies that were cheap to produce, others will emphasize that such films are often of poor quality, and others specify that B-movies tended to be the second part of a double feature, with the first movie shown being the higher quality – or “A” – picture of the two.

Taking the term into the 1980s, B-movies here might not have often been part of double features, but were generally made for little money and belonged to genres like sci-fi, horror, or action more often than not. Also, as these films (or at least some of them) show, ‘80s B-movies weren’t all of poor quality. What follows are some of the best B-grade movies of the 1980s, starting with the stupidly fun and ending with the genuinely great; films that transcend their budgetary limitations to be exceedingly effective no matter how you categorize them.

15 'Cyborg' (1989)

Director: Albert Pyun

Dropping right at the tail end of the 1980s, Cyborg is perhaps the best-known film directed by Albert Pyun, who’s a fairly big name among fans of B-movies. Jean-Claude Van Damme starring in this one does bring it some prestige, at least in hindsight, given he was still relatively new to the acting scene (especially lead roles) in the 1980s, before finding increased success as a leading man in the 1990s.

Just like a good many B-grade films, Cyborg has a straight-to-the-point title and a fairly simple premise, following a martial arts master clashing with a vicious killer in a particularly cheap-looking dystopian setting. Cyborg is kind of trashy and might well feel empty to most viewers, but those in the mood for something ridiculously simple, low-grade, and action-packed from this era will likely find things to enjoy here.

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14 'King Kong Lives' (1986)

Director: John Guillermin

At a glance, sure, the King Kong series is filled with movies that involve a big monkey going on big rampages and destroying big things, but it did also begin with a revolutionary and perhaps even powerful movie back in 1933. That one’s never quite been equaled, as far as groundbreaking effects or emotional resonance go, but that doesn’t mean sequels/spin-offs/remakes involving the Eighth Wonder of the World aren’t fun.

Case in point, King Kong Lives, the existence of which might be a little offensive to aficionados of the series, but anyone wanting some dumb, schlocky fun will be entertained. It does feel more like a B-movie than just about any other King Kong film, ensuring it feels dangerously close to a self-parody, but with sufficiently low expectations, there is something to be gained from watching it.

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13 'Invasion U.S.A.' (1985)

Director: Joseph Zito

Lovers of B-grade action movies are likely well-acquainted with Chuck Norris, because the guy really carved out a niche for himself back in the 1980s as a reliable star who was capable of shooting people and beating them up and then shooting them again and sometimes doing both at once. Invasion U.S.A. might not be one of the actor’s best movies overall, but it is one of the B-movie-est, and one of the most action-packed.

The premise of Invasion U.S.A.centers on one man taking on numerous enemy combatants who are wrapped up in a plot to invade the U.S., only they didn’t take into account the fact that Chuck Norris lives there. It might well go without saying that Invasion U.S.A., but it’s also mindlessly entertaining in a way that certainly has its charms.

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12 'Hard Ticket to Hawaii' (1987)

Director: Andy Sidaris

The best word to describe Hard Ticket to Hawaii is probably “gonzo,” because it just never lets up as an action/adventure movie, and refuses to let low production values get in the way of providing non-stop fights, shootouts, and explosions. As for the plot, who really cares? There are some criminals and the main characters want to stop the criminals from doing criminal things. What more do you need?

Hard Ticket to Hawaii seems a little aware of what it is, but not to the point where you can entirely dismiss it of qualifying for “so bad it’s good” status. It’s a sleazy time and the action isn’t exactly well-choreographed or anything, but there is a lot of it, and that’s more than enough to make it surprisingly entertaining, even if you might spend a good chunk of the film’s runtime laughing at what’s going on.

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11 'The Stuff' (1985)

Director: Larry Cohen

As a blend of horror, comedy, and science fiction, The Stuff is far from perfect, but it does manage to deliver some social commentary and a few unsettling scares along the way. The titular “the Stuff” is a strange product of unknown origin that seems to become an obsession for anyone who comes into contact with it, and there’s an inevitably dark secret behind its sudden appearance and capacity to alter people’s personalities.

Director Larry Cohen proved himself capable of making some interesting and offbeat stuff throughout the 1980s, with 1982’s Q: The Winged Serpent also being worth checking out for anyone after something different. But The Stuff does feel a little closer to the traditional B-movie in spirit, and though it doesn’t rewrite the rules surrounding any of the genres it belongs to, it certainly gets the job done for what it is.

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10 'Chopping Mall' (1986)

Director: Jim Wynorski

Few people seemed to be as involved with the world of B-movie production as Roger Corman, as he began producing/directing his own films in the 1950s and then into the 1960s, and then later focused on producing or executive producing numerous movies, often with lowish budgets. Of the 1980s movies he was involved with, few are quite as well known as the expertly titled Chopping Mall.

Its plot sees several young people get trapped in a shopping mall that’s patrolled by robotic security guards, and they find themselves in danger when the system controlling these malfunctions, and the robots start getting murderous. It’s no surprise that Chopping Mall is silly with a premise like that and a title like Chopping Mall, but it’s a good set-up, in any event, for a B-movie, and it all just works/comes together surprisingly well.

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9 'The Toxic Avenger' (1984)

Directors: Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz

Ranking among the strangest superhero movies of all time, The Toxic Avenger also predated many of the iconic superhero movies that came to dominate pop culture in the decades following the 1980s. Still, those who prefer their superhero movies MCU-flavored might not love what’s on offer in The Toxic Avenger, given this film’s schlocky, crude, intentionally gross, and charmingly sloppy presentation-wise.

The story follows a young man who gains strange powers after falling into a container filled with toxic waste; powers he uses to take on various criminals that plague his town, becoming an unlikely vigilante. It was produced by Troma Entertainment, so The Toxic Avenger is naturally violent and crass, but such qualities are in line with certain B-movie sensibilities, making this film successful in the sense that it executes what it’s going for. Whether viewers will actually like what it’s going for is another story altogether.

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8 'Class of Nuke ’Em High' (1986)

Directors: Lloyd Kaufman, Richard W. Haines

Why not mention one more well-known Troma Entertainment film, perhaps the most famous from the 1980s that isn’t The Toxic Avenger? Enter Class of Nuke ’Em High which, like that aforementioned 1984 film, also ended up spawning a series of sequels, all revolving around a chaotic high school that’s forever changed after numerous students take some contaminated substances.

Serving as a potential parody of anti-drug PSAs, or perhaps just being an excuse to have lots of gross-out comedy, Class of Nuke ‘Em High has fun with a stupid, broad, and crass premise, and maybe you, as a viewer, will as well. One might have to enter into a film like this with a particular frame of mind, but if low-budget anarchy is your cup of tea, it’s probably worth venturing into this series by at least checking out the first of the bunch.

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7 'Miami Connection' (1987)

Directors: Y.K. Kim, Richard Park Wu-sang

Is Miami Connection good? Would people who call it bad be onto something? To quote Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, who is right, who can tell, and who gives a damn right now? Such binaries surrounding good and bad probably aren’t necessary when a movie is as fun as Miami Connection, which is entertaining, thrilling, silly, spectacular, and odd all at once. Not even calling it “so bad it’s good” feels appropriate.

Definitely not to be mixed up with that Gene Hackman movie about the Connection that’s French, Miami Connection is another kind of action/crime movie, featuring a good deal more musical numbers and ninjas while telling a story about taking down drug dealers. It’s ridiculous in all the best ways, and Miami Connection deserves its status as one of its decades' best B-movies/cult classics.

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6 'Bad Taste' (1987)

Director: Peter Jackson

As can be seen from some of the aforementioned titles, plenty of 1980s B-movies belonged to the science fiction genre, with Bad Taste being one of the best (and most underrated) of these B-grade sci-fi flicks. It’s most noteworthy today for being an early film directed by Peter Jackson, and it’s thrilling to see the young director make something with what sometimes looks like no budget, all the while knowing how much money he’d later be given to make films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and 2005’s King Kong.

Bad Taste is a comedic alien invasion movie with a ton of unrealistic gore, and the plot admittedly feels borderline nonsensical – or at least not too important – at times. Set in some particularly sparse New Zealand locales, it’s fun seeing aliens try to take over an area that isn’t a densely populated city, and Jackson’s style shines through in some moments. The film’s rough, sure, but also oddly charming.

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5 'Five Element Ninjas' (1982)

Director: Chang Cheh

Though it might not quite be a perfect martial arts movie, Five Element Ninjas is a perfectly entertaining one that blends elaborate fight choreography with a simple yet satisfying story. Like a good many martial arts movies, Five Element Ninjas is largely about getting revenge, and also having to undertake an arduous training process to become sufficiently awesome enough to enact said revenge.

Produced by the legendary Shaw Brothers Studio, Five Element Ninjas came at a time when the heyday of the martial arts genre was perhaps nearing its end (these sorts of flicks really thrived during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s). As such, there are some budgetary limitations that become rather apparent, but these help add to the sense that Five Element Ninjas is kind of a B-movie. And, honestly, so long as the fighting is fun, most viewers won’t care (or even notice) some of the cost-cutting measures in play throughout the film.

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4 'Voyage of the Rock Aliens' (1984)

Director: James Fargo

Though Voyage of the Rock Aliens is cheesy and stupid, it’s also undoubtedly aware of what it is and achieves what it’s going for, so why not label it as one of the best sci-fi movies of all time? Seriously, why not? It’s about aliens coming to Earth and failing to fit in, but that’s understandable, given they pick a very strange town to visit: the fictional Speelburgh, where teen gangs roam freely and people break into synth-backed songs every five to ten minutes.

So, yes, this means Voyage of the Rock Aliensis also a musical, and a supremely ‘80s one at that, but those who ironically or unironically like the music from that decade will surely get a kick out of all the songs on offer. It’s a film that homages/parodies the B-movies of decades past while also itself being low-budget and a B-movie in most ways, but it all just works very well, and ensures this film is supremely underrated overall.

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3 'Re-Animator' (1985)

Director: Stuart Gordon

Though it had a disappointing sequel some years later, 1985’s Re-Animator remains a decade-defining B-movie; indeed, one of those that transcends B-grade cinema in the traditional sense. It’s a comedic horror/sci-fi movie largely set inside a medical college, revolving around one student’s eventually disastrous attempts to reanimate dead tissue.

If you ever watched one of the old Frankenstein movies from the 1930s or 1940s and thought it was good, but a little tame when it came to violence, then Re-Animator might well be the movie for you. The level of gore on offer here feels borderline obscene at times, but it also pushes things far enough that certain moments may well wrap back around and become funny again, depending on the viewer. Like Bad Taste, Re-Animator is a B-movie of somewhat bad taste, but that’s something that also makes it nearly impossible to forget.

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2 'The Return of the Living Dead' (1985)

Director: Dan O’Bannon

George A. Romero’s zombie movies had already become widely appreciated by the mid-1980s for their satirical elements, but then a non-Romero zombie movie came along and felt like it pushed things even further. Beyond having social commentary, Return of the Living Deadalso feels like a very gentle parody of the sort of zombie movie Romero popularized and defined, being a little silly while also not skimping on horror and gory violence.

The plot of Return of the Living Dead is expected stuff in many regards, centering on a toxic gas that accidentally gets unleashed and begins to bring the dead back to life. Unfortunately for the living, said dead also have an unending appetite for brains. It’s wild and all over the place, but in a way that feels more like a feature than a bug, ensuring Return of the Living Dead is one of the most enjoyable zombie films of all time.

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1 'The Evil Dead' (1981)

Director: Sam Raimi

Establishing Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell as cult figures who are still beloved to this day while kicking off an iconic horror movie series, The Evil Dead was a real game-changer for its genre, and for B-movies as a whole. The Evil Dead was certainly an inexpensive movie, and had a small cast, limited setting, and sometimes cheap-looking special effects… but despite all that, it still works surprisingly well as a scary movie.

Time might have diluted its impact a little, and it’s easier to see some aspects of it as camp in the wake of more comedic sequels, but for viewers in 1981, The Evil Dead was surely shocking. It turned production limitations into strengths, becoming the gold standard for “cabin in the woods” type horror movies while showing how well the genre could work if the cast and crew were dedicated enough to excel beyond the allocated budget. It’s beyond iconic, as a horror film, and deserves to be considered the best B-movie of the entire 1980s.

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