Best '70s horror movies
The 1970s have been referred to as a 鈥攁nd with good reason. This is the decade that birthed the slasher franchise as we know it with the debut of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and "Halloween." It gave us horror blockbusters like "Jaws" and "Alien," both of which inspired franchises of their own. On the whole, horror captured the feeling of the era, delivering paranoid thrillers like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Don't Look Now," along with the sharp social satire of "Dawn of the Dead" and "The Stepford Wives."
These films continue to be talked about, analyzed, and revived. In honor of its 50th anniversary, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is through November 2025 with some of the original cast in attendance. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of "Jaws," which enjoyed a of its own, along with . Other '70s horror films live on in different ways: The story of "Alien" has continued with the FX on Hulu series "," which wrapped up its first season on Sept. 23, 2025. The well-received show between the original "Alien" and the 1986 sequel "Aliens."
But which of these beloved movies are the best of the best? When it comes to the greatest horror films of the 1970s, there's almost too much to choose from. To figure out which titles truly rise to the top, 黑料社 compiled a list of the best '70s horror movies of all time based on our own 黑料社 score, a weighted index split evenly between user rating and . To qualify, the film had to have horror as one of its genres on IMDb, have a Metascore, and have at least 5,000 IMDb user votes. Ties were broken by votes.
#50. God Told Me To (1976)
- Director: Larry Cohen
- 黑料社 score: 71.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#49. Demon Seed (1977)
- Director: Donald Cammell
- 黑料社 score: 72.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 94 minutes
#48. Rabid (1977)
- Director: David Cronenberg
- 黑料社 score: 73.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 56
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#47. Burnt Offerings (1976)
- Director: Dan Curtis
- 黑料社 score: 73.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 48
- Runtime: 116 minutes
#46. Phase IV (1974)
- Director: Saul Bass
- 黑料社 score: 73.4
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 49
- Runtime: 84 minutes
#45. The Fury (1978)
- Director: Brian De Palma
- 黑料社 score: 73.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 118 minutes
#44. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
- Director: Wes Craven
- 黑料社 score: 73.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 90 minutes
#43. Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
- Director: John D. Hancock
- 黑料社 score: 74.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 89 minutes
#42. When a Stranger Calls (1979)
- Director: Fred Walton
- 黑料社 score: 74.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 97 minutes
#41. Shivers (1975)
- Director: David Cronenberg
- 黑料社 score: 74.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 87 minutes
#40. The Vampire Lovers (1970)
- Director: Roy Ward Baker
- 黑料社 score: 74.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#39. The House That Dripped Blood (1971)
- Director: Peter Duffell
- 黑料社 score: 75.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 102 minutes
#38. Asylum (I) (1972)
- Director: Roy Ward Baker
- 黑料社 score: 75.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 88 minutes
#37. Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
- Director: Alfred Sole
- 黑料社 score: 75.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 67
- Runtime: 107 minutes
#36. Race with the Devil (1975)
- Director: Jack Starrett
- 黑料社 score: 75.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 53
- Runtime: 88 minutes
#35. Dracula (1979)
- Director: John Badham
- 黑料社 score: 76.4
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 67
- Runtime: 109 minutes
#34. Horror Express (1972)
- Director: Eugenio Mart铆n
- 黑料社 score: 76.5
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 88 minutes
#33. Long Weekend (1978)
- Director: Colin Eggleston
- 黑料社 score: 76.8
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 61
- Runtime: 97 minutes
#32. Twins of Evil (1971)
- Director: John Hough
- 黑料社 score: 76.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 87 minutes
#31. The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971)
- Director: Dario Argento
- 黑料社 score: 77.0
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 112 minutes
#30. Daughters of Darkness (1971)
- Director: Harry K眉mel
- 黑料社 score: 77.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 74
- Runtime: 87 minutes
#29. The Legend of Hell House (1973)
- Director: John Hough
- 黑料社 score: 77.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 56
- Runtime: 95 minutes
#28. Magic (1978)
- Director: Richard Attenborough
- 黑料社 score: 77.6
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 49
- Runtime: 107 minutes
#27. Phantasm (1979)
- Director: Don Coscarelli
- 黑料社 score: 78.0
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 72
- Runtime: 89 minutes
#26. Zombie (1979)
- Director: Lucio Fulci
- 黑料社 score: 78.2
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 54
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#25. The Medusa Touch (1978)
- Director: Jack Gold
- 黑料社 score: 78.7
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 49
- Runtime: 109 minutes
#24. The Brood (1979)
- Director: David Cronenberg
- 黑料社 score: 79.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 92 minutes
#23. The Stepford Wives (1975)
- Director: Bryan Forbes
- 黑料社 score: 79.2
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 54
- Runtime: 115 minutes
#22. The Other (1972)
- Director: Robert Mulligan
- 黑料社 score: 79.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 108 minutes
#21. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
- Director: Nicolas Gessner
- 黑料社 score: 80.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 53
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#20. Sisters (1972)
- Director: Brian De Palma
- 黑料社 score: 80.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 70
- Runtime: 93 minutes
#19. Martin (1976)
- Director: George A. Romero
- 黑料社 score: 81.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 95 minutes
#18. Black Christmas (1974)
- Director: Bob Clark
- 黑料社 score: 82.5
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 98 minutes
#17. Theater of Blood (1973)
- Director: Douglas Hickox
- 黑料社 score: 84.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 104 minutes
#16. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
- Director: Brian De Palma
- 黑料社 score: 84.9
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 67
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#15. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
- Director: Jim Sharman
- 黑料社 score: 85.7
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 100 minutes
#14. Suspiria (1977)
- Director: Dario Argento
- 黑料社 score: 86.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 79
- Runtime: 92 minutes
#13. The Omen (1976)
- Director: Richard Donner
- 黑料社 score: 86.5
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 111 minutes
#12. Don't Look Now (1973)
- Director: Nicolas Roeg
- 黑料社 score: 86.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 95
- Runtime: 110 minutes
#11. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
- Director: Philip Kaufman
- 黑料社 score: 86.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 115 minutes
#10. Eraserhead (1977)
- Director: David Lynch
- 黑料社 score: 87.0
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 89 minutes
#9. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
- Director: Tobe Hooper
- 黑料社 score: 87.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 78
- Runtime: 83 minutes
#8. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
- Director: Werner Herzog
- 黑料社 score: 87.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 79
- Runtime: 107 minutes
#7. Carrie (1976)
- Director: Brian De Palma
- 黑料社 score: 87.9
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 85
- Runtime: 98 minutes
#6. The Wicker Man (1973)
- Director: Robin Hardy
- 黑料社 score: 89.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 88 minutes
#5. Deep Red (1975)
- Director: Dario Argento
- 黑料社 score: 89.4
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 89
- Runtime: 127 minutes
#4. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
- Director: George A. Romero
- 黑料社 score: 90.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 127 minutes
#3. Halloween (1978)
- Director: John Carpenter
- 黑料社 score: 91.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#2. The Exorcist (1973)
- Director: William Friedkin
- 黑料社 score: 94.9
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 122 minutes
#1. Alien (1979)
- Director: Ridley Scott
- 黑料社 score: 100.0
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Metascore: 89
- Runtime: 117 minutes
