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Best Horror Movies of the 1970s, Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDB
148 horror films from the 1970s are in our catalog; the 50 best are ranked below. Top of the list is Alien (1979), at 8.4 on IMDb. The average IMDb score across this list is 7.1. Biggest split between audiences and critics: The Devils, 7.7 on IMDb against 52 on Metacritic.
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| # | Movie | Genre | IMDb | Tomato | Meta | TMDB | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alien '1979 | Horror / Sci-Fi | 8.4 | 93% | 89 | 8.2 | Ridley Scott |
| 2 | Jaws '1975 | Horror / Thriller | 8.1 | 97% | 87 | 7.7 | Steven Spielberg |
| 3 | The Exorcist '1973 | Horror | 8.1 | 78% | 83 | 7.8 | William Friedkin |
| 4 | Dawn of the Dead '1978 | Horror / Sci-Fi | 7.8 | 92% | 71 | 7.5 | George A. Romero |
| 5 | Halloween '1978 | Horror / Thriller | 7.7 | 97% | 91 | 7.6 | John Carpenter |
| 6 | The Devils '1971 | Drama / Horror | 7.7 | 55% | 52 | 7.5 | Ken Russell |
| 7 | The Omen '1976 | Horror / Thriller | 7.5 | 76% | 63 | 7.4 | Richard Donner |
| 8 | The Wicker Man '1973 | Horror | 7.5 | 92% | 87 | 7.3 | Robin Hardy |
| 9 | Deep Red '1975 | Horror / Mystery / Thriller | 7.5 | 91% | 89 | 7.7 | Dario Argento |
| 10 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre '1974 | Horror | 7.4 | 85% | 92 | 7.3 | Tobe Hooper |
| 11 | The Rocky Horror Picture Show '1975 | Comedy / Sci-Fi / Horror | 7.4 | 82% | 65 | 7.4 | Jim Sharman |
| 12 | Carrie '1976 | Horror / Thriller | 7.4 | 94% | 86 | 7.3 | Brian De Palma |
| 13 | Frenzy '1972 | Crime / Thriller / Horror | 7.4 | 89% | 92 | 7.1 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 14 | Invasion of the Body Snatchers '1978 | Sci-Fi / Horror | 7.4 | 93% | 75 | 7.2 | Philip Kaufman |
| 15 | The Telephone Box '1972 | Drama / Horror | 7.8 | - | - | 7.3 | Antonio Mercero |
| 16 | Suspiria '1977 | Horror / Mystery | 7.3 | 94% | 79 | 7.5 | Dario Argento |
| 17 | Nosferatu the Vampyre '1979 | Drama / Horror | 7.3 | 93% | 79 | 7.3 | Werner Herzog |
| 18 | The Hourglass Sanatorium '1973 | Drama / Fantasy / Horror | 7.4 | - | - | 7.5 | Wojciech Has |
| 19 | Phantom of the Paradise '1974 | Drama / Horror / Musical | 7.3 | 83% | 67 | 7.5 | Brian De Palma |
| 20 | Eraserhead '1977 | Horror / Sci-Fi | 7.2 | 87% | 87 | 7.3 | David Lynch |
| 21 | The Night Stalker '1972 | Mystery / Horror / Thriller | 7.4 | 88% | - | 6.9 | John Llewellyn Moxey |
| 22 | Theatre of Blood '1973 | Comedy / Horror | 7.1 | 88% | 81 | 6.7 | Douglas Hickox |
| 23 | House '1977 | Comedy / Fantasy / Horror | 7.2 | 90% | 75 | 7.3 | Nobuhiko Obayashi |
| 24 | Don't Look Now '1973 | Thriller / Drama / Horror | 7.1 | 93% | 95 | 6.9 | Nicolas Roeg |
| 25 | The Bird with the Crystal Plumage '1970 | Horror / Mystery / Thriller | 7.1 | 85% | - | 7.1 | Dario Argento |
| 26 | Black Christmas '1974 | Horror / Mystery / Crime | 7.1 | 73% | 65 | 6.9 | Bob Clark |
| 27 | The Grandmother '1970 | Animation / Horror | 7.1 | - | - | 6.6 | David Lynch |
| 28 | Who Can Kill a Child? '1976 | Drama / Horror / Thriller | 7.2 | - | - | 7.0 | Chicho Ibáñez Serrador |
| 29 | The Abominable Dr. Phibes '1971 | Horror / Comedy | 7.0 | 88% | - | 6.9 | Robert Fuest |
| 30 | The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh '1971 | Horror / Mystery / Crime | 6.9 | - | - | 6.8 | Sergio Martino |
| 31 | A Lizard in a Woman's Skin '1971 | Horror / Thriller / Mystery | 6.8 | 100% | - | 6.5 | Lucio Fulci |
| 32 | Don't Torture a Duckling '1972 | Horror | 7.0 | 88% | - | 7.3 | Lucio Fulci |
| 33 | Images '1972 | Thriller / Mystery / Drama / Horror | 7.0 | 71% | - | 6.8 | Robert Altman |
| 34 | See No Evil '1971 | Thriller / Horror | 6.6 | 63% | - | 6.5 | Richard Fleischer |
| 35 | The House with Laughing Windows '1976 | Mystery / Thriller / Horror | 7.0 | - | - | 7.2 | Pupi Avati |
| 36 | The Vault of Horror '1973 | Horror | 6.5 | - | - | 6.4 | Roy Ward Baker |
| 37 | Twins of Evil '1971 | Horror | 6.6 | 79% | 62 | 6.7 | John Hough |
| 38 | Sisters '1973 | Thriller / Horror | 6.8 | 86% | 70 | 6.7 | Brian De Palma |
| 39 | What Have You Done to Solange? '1972 | Mystery / Thriller / Horror | 6.9 | 71% | - | 6.7 | Massimo Dallamano |
| 40 | Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter '1973 | Horror | 6.4 | - | - | 6.2 | Brian Clemens |
| 41 | The Stepford Wives '1975 | Sci-Fi / Horror / Thriller | 6.9 | 55% | 54 | 6.7 | Bryan Forbes |
| 42 | And Soon the Darkness '1970 | Thriller / Mystery / Crime / Horror | 6.6 | 38% | - | 6.5 | Robert Fuest |
| 43 | Torso '1973 | Horror / Thriller / Mystery | 6.5 | 60% | - | 6.6 | Sergio Martino |
| 44 | Daughters of Darkness '1971 | Drama / Horror / Thriller | 6.5 | 85% | 74 | 6.2 | Harry Kümel |
| 45 | The Legend of Hell House '1973 | Horror / Mystery | 6.6 | 72% | 56 | 6.7 | John Hough |
| 46 | The Other '1972 | Drama / Horror / Mystery | 6.8 | 83% | 65 | 6.5 | Robert Mulligan |
| 47 | The House That Dripped Blood '1971 | Horror / Mystery | 6.5 | 92% | 55 | 6.4 | Peter Duffell |
| 48 | Thriller: A Cruel Picture '1973 | Action / Thriller / Crime / Horror / Drama | 6.4 | 56% | - | 6.3 | Bo Arne Vibenius |
| 49 | Tales from the Crypt '1972 | Horror | 6.8 | 90% | - | 6.8 | Freddie Francis |
| 50 | Four Flies on Grey Velvet '1971 | Horror / Mystery / Thriller | 6.5 | 67% | - | 6.5 | Dario Argento |
Our catalog covers roughly the 8,800 most-rated films on TMDB, so lesser-known titles may be missing. Order uses a confidence-weighted IMDb score so a perfect score from a handful of votes does not beat a well-established classic; the scores shown are the raw ones.
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Other genres in the 1970s
Action of the 1970s Animation of the 1970s Comedy of the 1970s Crime of the 1970s Drama of the 1970s Fantasy of the 1970s Mystery of the 1970s Romance of the 1970s Sci-Fi of the 1970s Thriller of the 1970s War of the 1970s Western of the 1970s
Directors on this list
Ridley Scott Steven Spielberg William Friedkin George A. Romero John Carpenter Ken Russell Richard Donner Dario Argento Tobe Hooper Brian De Palma Alfred Hitchcock Philip Kaufman
Actors on this list
Tom Skerritt Sigourney Weaver Roy Scheider Robert Shaw Donald Pleasence Jamie Lee Curtis Oliver Reed Gregory Peck Lee Remick Christopher Lee Tim Curry Susan Sarandon