Top Movies of 1981


The top movies of 1981 list is calculated by community movie ratings and members' "Top Movies List". Lists are updated daily.

121. Tim

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Romance
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Michael Pate
Actors: Piper Laurie, Mel Gibson, Alwyn Kurts, Pat Evison, Peter Gwynne, Deborah Kennedy

122. Scream

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Horror/Thriller
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Byron Quisenberry
Actors: Pepper Martin, Hank Worden, Ethan Wayne, Ann Bronston, Julie Marine, Nancy St. Marie
Plot: On a river rafting trip, a group of friends make a pit stop at a ghost town. When they get back, the raft has disappeared, and soon they are being killed off one by one...

123. Enter the Ninja

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Action/Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Menahem Golan
Actors: Franco Nero, Susan George, Shô Kosugi, Christopher George, Alex Courtney, Constantine Gregory
Plot: After just completing his training at a ninja school, an army vet travels to the Philippines and finds himself battling a land grabber who wants his war buddy's property.

124. Hell Night

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Horror/Thriller
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Tom DeSimone
Actors: Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Peter Barton, Kevin Brophy, Jenny Neumann, Suki Goodwin
Plot: A group of fraternity pledges brave a night of hazing in creepy old Garth
Manor, where a crazed killer still roams the halls.

125. The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Ronald F. Maxwell
Actors: Kristy McNichol, Dennis Quaid, Mark Hamill, Sunny Johnson, Don Stroud, Arlen Dean Snyder

126. Happy Birthday to Me

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Horror/Mystery
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Jack Lee Thompson
Actors: Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Matt Craven, Frances Hyland
Plot: Virginia has just survived a tragic accident that's blacked out parts of her memory. But now she's back at school with her popular friends, and she's glad to start over. Days before she turns 18, however, the trauma resurfaces as her friends die off one by one, victims of an as-yet-unknown killer.

127. The Fan

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Horror
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Ed Bianchi
Actors: Lauren Bacall, James Garner, Maureen Stapleton, Hector Elizondo, Michael Biehn, Anna Maria Horsford
Plot: A fan takes an extreme interest in a Broadway actress and will go to great lengths to get what he wants: her.

128. Zoot Suit

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.3 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Musical
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Luis Valdez
Actors: Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos, Charles Aidman, Tyne Daly, John Anderson, Abel Franco

129. Basket Case

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Horror/Comedy
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Frank Henenlotter
Actors: Kevin Van Hentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner, Robert Vogel, Diana Browne, Lloyd Pace
Plot: Duane Bradley seems to be a charming redneck but the basket he carries hides a deadly secret: his deformed Siamese twin, who wants nothing more than vengeance against the doctors who cruelly separated them years before.

130. True Confessions

Year of Release: 1981
Overall Rating: 2.2 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Crime/Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Ulu Grosbard
Actors: Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Charles Durning, Kenneth McMillan, Dan Hedaya, Ed Flanders

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?