List of horror films of 1981

A list of horror films released in 1981.

Title	Director(s)	Cast	Country	Notes	Ref.
Absurd	Joe D'Amato	George Eastman, Annie Belle, Charles Borromel	Italy	Alternative title(s) Rosso Sangue Anthropophagus 2 The Grim Reaper 2 Zombie 6: Monster Hunter	[1]
The Alchemist	James Amante, Charles Band	Robert Ginty, Lucinda Dooling, John Sanderford	United States		[2]
Alison's Birthday	Ian Coughlan	Joanne Samuel, Margie McCrae, Martin Vaughan	Australia		[3]
An American Werewolf in London	John Landis	David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Agutter	United States United Kingdom		[4]
The Beyond	Lucio Fulci	David Warbeck, Catriona MacColl, Al Cliver	Italy	Alternative title(s) The Seven Doors of Death	[5]
The Black Cat	Lucio Fulci	Patrick Magee, Mimsy Farmer, David Warbeck	Italy United Kingdom		[6]
Blood Beach	Jeffrey Bloom	David Huffman, Marianna Hill, John Saxon	United States		[7]
Bloody Moon	Jesús Franco	Nadja Gerganoff, Otto Retzer, Jasmin Losensky	Germany		[8]
The Boogens	James L. Conway	Rebecca Balding, Fred McCarren, Anne-Marie Martin	United States		[9]
The Burial Ground	Andrea Bianchi		Italy		[10]
The Burning	Tony Maylam	Leah Ayres, Larry Joshua, Jason Alexander	United States		[11]
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker	William Asher, Michael Miller	Susan Tyrrell, Jimmy McNichol, Julia Duffy	United States	Alternative title(s) Night Warning Nightmare Maker	[12]
Cannibal Ferox	Umberto Lenzi	Danilo Mattei, Zora Kerova, John Bartha	Italy Spain	Alternative title(s) Make Them Die Slowly Woman From Deep River	[13]
Cataclysm	Phillip Marshak, Tom McGowan	Cameron Mitchell, Marc Lawrence	United States	Alternative title(s) Satan's Supper The Nightmare Never Ends	[14]
Dark Night of the Scarecrow	Frank De Felitta	Lane Smith, Jocelyn Brando, Charles Durning	United States	Television film	[15]
Dawn of the Mummy	Frank Agrama, Armand Weston	Brenda King, Barry Sattels, George Peck	United States		[16]
A Day of Judgment	Charles Reynolds	William T. Hicks, Harris Bloodworth, Deborah Bloodwoth	United States		[17]
Dead & Buried	Gary Sherman	James Farentino, Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson	United States		[18]
Deadly Blessing	Wes Craven	Maren Jensen, Susan Buckner, Sharon Stone	United States		[19]
Demonoid	Alfredo Zacarías	Samantha Eggar, Stuart Whitman, Roy Jenson	Mexico		[20]
Docteur Jekyll et les femmes	Walerian Borowczyk	Udo Kier, Marina Pierro, Howard Vernon	France		[21]
Don't Go Near the Park	Lawrence D. Foldes	Aldo Ray, Meeno Peluce, Barbara Bain	United States		[22]
Don't Go in the Woods	James Bryan	Nick McClelland, James P. Hayden, Mary Gail Artz	United States
The Evil Dead	Sam Raimi	Ellen Sandweiss, Bruce Campbell, Theresa Tilly	United States		[23]
Evilspeak	Eric Weston	Clint Howard, R. G. Armstrong, Lynn Hancock	United States		[24]
Eyes of a Stranger	Ken Wiederhorn	Lauren Tewes, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John DiSanti	United States		[25]
Fear No Evil	Frank LaLoggia	Stefan Arngrim, Elizabeth Hoffman, Kathleen Rowe McAllen	United States		[26]
Final Exam	Jimmy Huston	Sam Kilman, Cecile Bagdadi, DeAnna Robbins	United States		[27]
Friday the 13th Part 2	Steve Miner	Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King	United States		[28]
Full Moon High	Larry Cohen	Adam Arkin, Roz Kelly, Elizabeth Hartman	United States		[29]
The Funhouse	Tobe Hooper	Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, Largo Woodruff	United States		[30]
Galaxy of Terror	Bruce D. Clark	Robert Englund, Sid Haig, Grace Zabriskie	United States		[31]
Ghost Story	John Irvin	Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Alice Krige	United States		[32]
Ghostkeeper	Jim Makichuk	Riva Spier, Murray Ord, Sheri McFadden	Canada		[33]
Graduation Day	Herb Freed	Christopher George, Patch MacKenzie, E. Danny Murphy	United States		[34]
Halloween II	Rick Rosenthal	Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis	United States		[35]
The Hand	Oliver Stone	Michael Caine, Andrea Marcovicci, Annie McEnroe	United States		[36]
Happy Birthday to Me	J. Lee Thompson	Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Tracey E. Bregman	Canada		[37]
Hell Night	Tom DeSimone	Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Peter Barton	United States		[38]
Home Sweet Home	Nettie Peña	Peter de Paula, Vinessa Shaw, Jake Steinfeld	United States		[39]
The House by the Cemetery	Lucio Fulci	Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Kenneth A. Olsen	Italy		[40]
The Howling	Joe Dante	Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan	United States		[41]
Inseminoid	Norman J. Warren	Judy Geeson, Robin Clarke, Jennifer Ashley	United Kingdom		[42]
The Intruder Within	Peter Carter	Chad Everett, Joseph Bottoms, Jennifer Warren	United States	Television film	[43]
Just Before Dawn	Jeff Lieberman	Chris Lemmon, Deborah Benson, George Kennedy	United States		[44]
The Loch Ness Horror	Larry Buchanan	Sandy Kenyon, Miki MacKenzie	United States		[45]
Madhouse	Ovidio G. Assonitis	Trish Everly, Michael MacRae, Dennis Robertson	United States	Alternative titles And When She Was Bad Scared to Death There Was a Little Girl	[46]
The Monster Club	Roy Ward Baker	Vincent Price, John Carradine, Donald Pleasence	United Kingdom		[47]
Ms .45	Abel Ferrara	Zoe Tamerlis	United States
My Bloody Valentine	George Mihalka	Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck	Canada		[48]
Mystics in Bali	H. Tjut Djalil	Ilona Agathe Bastian, Yos Santo, Sofia W.D.	Indonesia		[49]
The Nesting	Armand Weston	Robin Groves, Christopher Loomis, Michael David Lally	United States		[50]
Night School	Ken Hughes	Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder	United States		[51]
Nightmare	Romano Scavolini	Baird Stafford, Sharon Smith, C. J. Cooke	United States	Alternative title(s) Nightmares in a Damaged Brain	[52]
Omen III: The Final Conflict	Graham Baker	Mason Adams, Lisa Harrow, Sam Neill	United Kingdom United States		[53]
Piranha II: The Spawning	James Cameron	Tricia O'Neil, Steve Marachuk, Lance Henriksen	Italy		[54]
The Pit	Lew Lehman	Sammy Snyders, Jeannie Elias, Laura Hollingsworth	Canada United States		[55]
Porno Holocaust	Joe D'Amato, Bruno Mattei	George Eastman, Annj Goren, Dirce Funari	Italy		[56]
Possession	Andrzej Zulawski	Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennent	France West Germany		[57]
The Prowler	Joseph Zito	Vicki Dawson, Christopher Goutman, Cindy Weintraub	United States		[58]
Scanners	David Cronenberg	Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Michael Ironside	Canada		[59]
Scared to Death	William Malone	John Stinson, Diana Davidson, Jonathon David Moses	United States
Strange Behavior	Michael Laughlin	Michael Murphy, Louise Fletcher, Dan Shor	Australia New Zealand		[60]
Suddenly at Midnight	Ko Young-nam	Kim Young-ae, Yoon Il-bong, Lee Ki-seon	South Korea		[61]
The Survivor	David Hemmings	Robert Powell, Jenny Agutter, Joseph Cotten	Australia		[62]
This House Possessed	William Wiard	Parker Stevenson, Lisa Eilbacher	United States	Television film	[63]
Venom	Piers Haggard	Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, Sterling Hayden, Sarah Miles	United Kingdom		[64]
Wolfen	Michael Wadleigh	Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Edward James Olmos	United States		[65]