# List of horror films of 1981

A list of horror films released in 1981.
| Title | Director(s) | Cast | Country | Notes |
| Absurd | Joe D'Amato | George Eastman, Annie Belle, Charles Borromel | Italy | Alternative title(s) Rosso SangueAnthropophagus 2The Grim Reaper 2Zombie 6: Monster Hunter |
| The Alchemist | James Amante, Charles Band | Robert Ginty, Lucinda Dooling, John Sanderford | United States | |
| Alison's Birthday | Ian Coughlan | Joanne Samuel, Margie McCrae, Martin Vaughan | Australia | |
| An American Werewolf in London | John Landis | David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Agutter | United States United Kingdom | |
| The Beyond | Lucio Fulci | David Warbeck, Catriona MacColl, Al Cliver | Italy | Alternative title(s) The Seven Doors of Death |
| The Black Cat | Lucio Fulci | Patrick Magee, Mimsy Farmer, David Warbeck | Italy United Kingdom | |
| Blood Beach | Jeffrey Bloom | David Huffman, Marianna Hill, John Saxon | United States | |
| Bloody Moon | Jesús Franco | Nadja Gerganoff, Otto Retzer, Jasmin Losensky | Germany | |
| The Boogens | James L. Conway | Rebecca Balding, Fred McCarren, Anne-Marie Martin | United States | |
| The Burial Ground | Andrea Bianchi | | Italy | |
| The Burning | Tony Maylam | Leah Ayres, Larry Joshua, Jason Alexander | United States | |
| Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker | William Asher, Michael Miller | Susan Tyrrell, Jimmy McNichol, Julia Duffy | United States | Alternative title(s) Night WarningNightmare Maker |
| Cannibal Ferox | Umberto Lenzi | Danilo Mattei, Zora Kerova, John Bartha | Italy Spain | Alternative title(s) Make Them Die SlowlyWoman From Deep River |
| Cataclysm | Phillip Marshak, Tom McGowan | Cameron Mitchell, Marc Lawrence | United States | Alternative title(s) Satan's Supper The Nightmare Never Ends |
| Dark Night of the Scarecrow | Frank De Felitta | Lane Smith, Jocelyn Brando, Charles Durning | United States | Television film |
| Dawn of the Mummy | Frank Agrama, Armand Weston | Brenda King, Barry Sattels, George Peck | United States | |
| A Day of Judgment | Charles Reynolds | William T. Hicks, Harris Bloodworth, Deborah Bloodwoth | United States | |
| Dead & Buried | Gary Sherman | James Farentino, Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson | United States | |
| Deadly Blessing | Wes Craven | Maren Jensen, Susan Buckner, Sharon Stone | United States | |
| Demonoid | Alfredo Zacarías | Samantha Eggar, Stuart Whitman, Roy Jenson | Mexico | |
| Docteur Jekyll et les femmes | Walerian Borowczyk | Udo Kier, Marina Pierro, Howard Vernon | France | |
| Don't Go Near the Park | Lawrence D. Foldes | Aldo Ray, Meeno Peluce, Barbara Bain | United States | |
| 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 | |
| Evilspeak | Eric Weston | Clint Howard, R. G. Armstrong, Lynn Hancock | United States | |
| Eyes of a Stranger | Ken Wiederhorn | Lauren Tewes, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John DiSanti | United States | |
| Fear No Evil | Frank LaLoggia | Stefan Arngrim, Elizabeth Hoffman, Kathleen Rowe McAllen | United States | |
| Final Exam | Jimmy Huston | Sam Kilman, Cecile Bagdadi, DeAnna Robbins | United States | |
| Friday the 13th Part 2 | Steve Miner | Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King | United States | |
| Full Moon High | Larry Cohen | Adam Arkin, Roz Kelly, Elizabeth Hartman | United States | |
| The Funhouse | Tobe Hooper | Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, Largo Woodruff | United States | |
| Galaxy of Terror | Bruce D. Clark | Robert Englund, Sid Haig, Grace Zabriskie | United States | |
| Ghost Story | John Irvin | Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Alice Krige | United States | |
| Ghostkeeper | Jim Makichuk | Riva Spier, Murray Ord, Sheri McFadden | Canada | |
| Graduation Day | Herb Freed | Christopher George, Patch MacKenzie, E. Danny Murphy | United States | |
| Halloween II | Rick Rosenthal | Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis | United States | |
| The Hand | Oliver Stone | Michael Caine, Andrea Marcovicci, Annie McEnroe | United States | |
| Happy Birthday to Me | J. Lee Thompson | Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Tracey E. Bregman | Canada | |
| Hell Night | Tom DeSimone | Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Peter Barton | United States | |
| Home Sweet Home | Nettie Peña | Peter de Paula, Vinessa Shaw, Jake Steinfeld | United States | |
| The House by the Cemetery | Lucio Fulci | Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Kenneth A. Olsen | Italy | |
| The Howling | Joe Dante | Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan | United States | |
| Inseminoid | Norman J. Warren | Judy Geeson, Robin Clarke, Jennifer Ashley | United Kingdom | |
| The Intruder Within | Peter Carter | Chad Everett, Joseph Bottoms, Jennifer Warren | United States | Television film |
| Just Before Dawn | Jeff Lieberman | Chris Lemmon, Deborah Benson, George Kennedy | United States | |
| The Loch Ness Horror | Larry Buchanan | Sandy Kenyon, Miki MacKenzie | United States | |
| Madhouse | Ovidio G. Assonitis | Trish Everly, Michael MacRae, Dennis Robertson | United States | Alternative titles And When She Was BadScared to DeathThere Was a Little Girl |
| The Monster Club | Roy Ward Baker | Vincent Price, John Carradine, Donald Pleasence | United Kingdom | |
| Ms .45 | Abel Ferrara | Zoe Tamerlis | United States | |
| My Bloody Valentine | George Mihalka | Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck | Canada | |
| Mystics in Bali | H. Tjut Djalil | Ilona Agathe Bastian, Yos Santo, Sofia W.D. | Indonesia | |
| The Nesting | Armand Weston | Robin Groves, Christopher Loomis, Michael David Lally | United States | |
| Night School | Ken Hughes | Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder | United States | |
| Nightmare | Romano Scavolini | Baird Stafford, Sharon Smith, C. J. Cooke | United States | Alternative title(s) Nightmares in a Damaged Brain |
| Omen III: The Final Conflict | Graham Baker | Mason Adams, Lisa Harrow, Sam Neill | United Kingdom United States | |
| Piranha II: The Spawning | James Cameron | Tricia O'Neil, Steve Marachuk, Lance Henriksen | Italy | |
| The Pit | Lew Lehman | Sammy Snyders, Jeannie Elias, Laura Hollingsworth | Canada United States | |
| Porno Holocaust | Joe D'Amato, Bruno Mattei | George Eastman, Annj Goren, Dirce Funari | Italy | |
| Possession | Andrzej Zulawski | Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennent | France West Germany | |
| The Prowler | Joseph Zito | Vicki Dawson, Christopher Goutman, Cindy Weintraub | United States | |
| Scanners | David Cronenberg | Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Michael Ironside | Canada | |
| 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 | |
| Suddenly at Midnight | Ko Young-nam | Kim Young-ae, Yoon Il-bong, Lee Ki-seon | South Korea | |
| The Survivor | David Hemmings | Robert Powell, Jenny Agutter, Joseph Cotten | Australia | |
| This House Possessed | William Wiard | Parker Stevenson, Lisa Eilbacher | United States | Television film |
| Venom | Piers Haggard | Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, Sterling Hayden, Sarah Miles | United Kingdom | |
| Wolfen | Michael Wadleigh | Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Edward James Olmos | United States | |