Best Movies of 1981

These are the 25 best-rated movies released in 1981, led by From the Old Earth, They Don't Wear Black Tie and Will. Ranked by audience score, with cast, trailers and legal places to watch on every page.

1. From the Old Earth (1981)

★ 9.0/10

As William Jones digs in the garden of his council house he finds a strange looking stone head. During the night his wife has horrible dreams, forcing William to move the head out of the house. In turn, he takes the…
2. They Don't Wear Black Tie (1981)

★ 8.3/10

Otavio is an idealistic union leader trying to organize workers at a factory to resist the company's exploitative practices. His son, Tião, one of the employees, is more of a realist and doesn't want to risk losing his…
3. Will (1981)

★ 8.0/10

A girls’ basketball coach battles a heroin addiction while mentoring a 12-year-old street kid adopted by Will and his wife.
4. Trickster (1981)

★ 7.5/10

Rıfkı, who lives in Germany, returns to his village, which he left years ago, to sell the properties inherited from his late father. A few coincidences that occur upon his arrival in the village lead to his name being…
5. La Cenerentola (1981)

★ 7.4/10

The Prince, Don Ramiro (who has changed places with his valet, Dandini), meets Cenerentola and they are instantly attracted to each other. When the Philosopher, Alidoro, later takes Cenerentola (dressed in magnificent…
6. Urgh! A Music War (1981)

★ 7.3/10

Urgh! A Music War is a British film released in 1982 featuring performances by punk rock, new wave, and post-punk acts, filmed in 1980. Among the artists featured in the movie are Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark…
7. The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1981)

★ 7.0/10

When Unico, a young unicorn, is banished from his family by a pantheon of manipulative gods, his powers of joy and happiness are tested as he explores the lands with his friends Beezle and Katy.
8. Ambitious Kung Fu Girl (1981)

★ 7.0/10

Spoiled Yuen Si Si, the naive daughter of an affluent merchant, lives her cosseted life dreaming of meeting her idol, the heroic Qin Ge. When her father decides to marry her off, she runs away in search of Qin Ge, with…
9. Filming 'The Trial' (1981)

★ 7.0/10

An unfinished 1981 essay-documentary project by Orson Welles, based on a filmed Q&A session at USC following a screening of The Trial, intended as a reflective companion piece to the film but never edited or completed…
10. High School Memories (1981)

★ 7.0/10

A group of friends from High School reminisce about their early sexual conquests when they get together again years later.
11. Wrong Side of the Road (1981)

★ 7.0/10

Port Adelaide to Point Pearce. Cars, cops, cattle stations and driving rock and reggae. Two days in the lives of Aboriginal bands, US MOB and NO FIXED ADDRESS. These were two of the first Aboriginal bands to be writing…
12. Bumpy (1981)

★ 6.8/10

Brother and sister Kusti and Iti get lost in a forest while picking strawberries and are captured by an evil forest hag. They are made to work for her. The hag has a son called Bumpy whom Iti befriends. When they get a…
13. Programmed for Pleasure (1981)

★ 6.8/10

Nicolas, a sci-fi writer, having experienced a tragedy in his life, is only able to find solace through sex. No woman can completely satisfy him. Then he creates her - a robot that he programs to obey his will. The…
14. Enchanted Journey (1981)

★ 6.7/10

Enthralled with tales of the Great North Forest conveyed to him by friendly carrier pigeon Pippo, young chipmunk Glikko leaves the safety of his comfortable cage to explore the world.
15. Child Bride of Short Creek (1981)

★ 6.5/10

A dramatization of the true account of a fundamentalist sect in Arizona that practices polygamy, and a returning Korean War veteran's rebellion against his father when he learns that the latter plans to increase his…
16. Girgiriye (1981)

★ 6.4/10

A bear-leading gypsy from the slums struggles to get back his sweetheart who works for a pavilion runner in the city, until she feels a wistful longing for where she thinks she is belong to and turns recalcitrant…
17. Model (1981)

★ 6.4/10

MODEL shows male and female models at work on TV commercials, fashion shows, magazine covers, and advertising for a variety of products, including designer collections, fur coats, sports clothes and automobiles. The…
18. Kamilla (1981)

★ 5.8/10

A young girl growing up in Bergen, Norway just after the 2nd world war, is trying to deal with the father's adultery and mother's deep depression, as she befriends a boy.
19. Christmas in Vigala (1981)

★ 5.5/10

The Christmas of 1905 in Vigala is not a peaceful holiday. The manor house has just been pillaged during the peasant's revolt; the air is full of smoke of fire and there is the premonition of inevitable punishment…
20. Erotic Passion (1981)

★ 5.2/10

Since her parents' death, 19-year old Della lives with her aunt Marsha and Andrew, her old husband. One morning Marsha has sex with Alex, her husband's doctor. Right afterwords, Della seduces him at the beach while…
21. Love Beast: Attack! (1981)

★ 5.0/10

A high school girl gets molested by her mother’s current lover. He is a sleazy detective working on the yakuza drug trade. The girl runs away from home but returns five years later with a newspaper article describing…
22. Uniform Virgin Pain (1981)

★ 4.0/10

After school two virginal high school girls, Mari and Emi, decide to visit a disco club in the red light district. While Mari is dancing to the beat Emi is picked up by two men and sexually assaulted. The next day the…
23. Born to Be Sold (1981)

★ 3.8/10

A social worker tries to break up a ring of crooks who buy newborn babies from teenaged mothers and sell them to couples who can't obtain them through legal adoption channels.
24. Belles, blondes et bronzées (1981)

★ 3.6/10

Mistaken for bank robbers, two friends stumble into a group of beautiful girls and follow them to Morocco for a dance show.
25. Duan pan zi de gu niang (1981)

★ 0.0/10

Little Fanzi, a waitress in a restaurant, is a girl who is not at ease with her job and is full of fantasies. She fantasizes that one day she will be able to take off her "unprofitable waitress uniform" and become a…