The '80s were one of the greatest decades ever for sci-fi, horror and fantasy films. What made this decade so special, and what were its best offerings?

By Don Kaye
Special to MSN Movies

Many of us -- those of a certain age who actually attended the movies, and those who came later and found them on VHS -- remember the '80s as a superb decade for fan culture movies, if not perhaps the greatest ever. This was the 10-year period in which many visionary filmmakers, getting their start in the previous decade, blossomed fully with some of their finest works. This was also the decade in which the bold, provocative filmmaking values of the '70s trickled down into genre pictures -- quite a few independently made -- with many of them taking risks that the consortium behind today's average summer tentpole films wouldn't dare imagine.

So here they are, our picks for the best sci-fi, horror and fantasy films of the '80s (comic book movies were not quite in vogue yet). Some of them you'll recognize, while others may surprise you -- like the crazy, unpredictable decade itself.

(SNAP/Rex Features/Lucasfilm/Everett/Warner Bros.)