爆料TV

Best '70s horror movies

路爆料TV

Compass International Pictures/Sunset Boulevard // Corbis via Getty Images
Compass International Pictures/Sunset Boulevard // Corbis via Getty Images

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, 爆料TV compiled a list of the best '70s horror movies of all time based on our own 爆料TV 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.

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1 / 50

#50. God Told Me To (1976)

- Director: Larry Cohen
- 爆料TV score: 71.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 91 minutes

2 / 50

#49. Demon Seed (1977)

- Director: Donald Cammell
- 爆料TV score: 72.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 94 minutes

3 / 50

#48. Rabid (1977)

- Director: David Cronenberg
- 爆料TV score: 73.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 56
- Runtime: 91 minutes

4 / 50

#47. Burnt Offerings (1976)

- Director: Dan Curtis
- 爆料TV score: 73.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 48
- Runtime: 116 minutes

5 / 50

#46. Phase IV (1974)

- Director: Saul Bass
- 爆料TV score: 73.4
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 49
- Runtime: 84 minutes

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6 / 50

#45. The Fury (1978)

- Director: Brian De Palma
- 爆料TV score: 73.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 118 minutes

7 / 50

#44. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

- Director: Wes Craven
- 爆料TV score: 73.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 90 minutes

8 / 50

#43. Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

- Director: John D. Hancock
- 爆料TV score: 74.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 89 minutes

9 / 50

#42. When a Stranger Calls (1979)

- Director: Fred Walton
- 爆料TV score: 74.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 97 minutes

10 / 50

#41. Shivers (1975)

- Director: David Cronenberg
- 爆料TV score: 74.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 87 minutes

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11 / 50

#40. The Vampire Lovers (1970)

- Director: Roy Ward Baker
- 爆料TV score: 74.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 91 minutes

12 / 50

#39. The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

- Director: Peter Duffell
- 爆料TV score: 75.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 102 minutes

13 / 50

#38. Asylum (I) (1972)

- Director: Roy Ward Baker
- 爆料TV score: 75.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 88 minutes

14 / 50

#37. Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

- Director: Alfred Sole
- 爆料TV score: 75.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 67
- Runtime: 107 minutes

15 / 50

#36. Race with the Devil (1975)

- Director: Jack Starrett
- 爆料TV score: 75.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 53
- Runtime: 88 minutes

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16 / 50

#35. Dracula (1979)

- Director: John Badham
- 爆料TV score: 76.4
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 67
- Runtime: 109 minutes

17 / 50

#34. Horror Express (1972)

- Director: Eugenio Mart铆n
- 爆料TV score: 76.5
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 88 minutes

18 / 50

#33. Long Weekend (1978)

- Director: Colin Eggleston
- 爆料TV score: 76.8
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 61
- Runtime: 97 minutes

19 / 50

#32. Twins of Evil (1971)

- Director: John Hough
- 爆料TV score: 76.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 87 minutes

20 / 50

#31. The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971)

- Director: Dario Argento
- 爆料TV score: 77.0
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 112 minutes

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21 / 50

#30. Daughters of Darkness (1971)

- Director: Harry K眉mel
- 爆料TV score: 77.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 74
- Runtime: 87 minutes

22 / 50

#29. The Legend of Hell House (1973)

- Director: John Hough
- 爆料TV score: 77.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 56
- Runtime: 95 minutes

23 / 50

#28. Magic (1978)

- Director: Richard Attenborough
- 爆料TV score: 77.6
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 49
- Runtime: 107 minutes

24 / 50

#27. Phantasm (1979)

- Director: Don Coscarelli
- 爆料TV score: 78.0
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 72
- Runtime: 89 minutes

25 / 50

#26. Zombie (1979)

- Director: Lucio Fulci
- 爆料TV score: 78.2
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 54
- Runtime: 91 minutes

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26 / 50

#25. The Medusa Touch (1978)

- Director: Jack Gold
- 爆料TV score: 78.7
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 49
- Runtime: 109 minutes

27 / 50

#24. The Brood (1979)

- Director: David Cronenberg
- 爆料TV score: 79.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 92 minutes

28 / 50

#23. The Stepford Wives (1975)

- Director: Bryan Forbes
- 爆料TV score: 79.2
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 54
- Runtime: 115 minutes

29 / 50

#22. The Other (1972)

- Director: Robert Mulligan
- 爆料TV score: 79.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 108 minutes

30 / 50

#21. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)

- Director: Nicolas Gessner
- 爆料TV score: 80.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 53
- Runtime: 91 minutes

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31 / 50

#20. Sisters (1972)

- Director: Brian De Palma
- 爆料TV score: 80.9
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 70
- Runtime: 93 minutes

32 / 50

#19. Martin (1976)

- Director: George A. Romero
- 爆料TV score: 81.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 95 minutes

33 / 50

#18. Black Christmas (1974)

- Director: Bob Clark
- 爆料TV score: 82.5
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 98 minutes

34 / 50

#17. Theater of Blood (1973)

- Director: Douglas Hickox
- 爆料TV score: 84.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 104 minutes

36 / 50

#15. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

- Director: Jim Sharman
- 爆料TV score: 85.7
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 100 minutes

37 / 50

#14. Suspiria (1977)

- Director: Dario Argento
- 爆料TV score: 86.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 79
- Runtime: 92 minutes

38 / 50

#13. The Omen (1976)

- Director: Richard Donner
- 爆料TV score: 86.5
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 111 minutes

39 / 50

#12. Don't Look Now (1973)

- Director: Nicolas Roeg
- 爆料TV score: 86.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 95
- Runtime: 110 minutes

40 / 50

#11. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

- Director: Philip Kaufman
- 爆料TV score: 86.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 115 minutes

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41 / 50

#10. Eraserhead (1977)

- Director: David Lynch
- 爆料TV score: 87.0
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 89 minutes

42 / 50

#9. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

- Director: Tobe Hooper
- 爆料TV score: 87.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 78
- Runtime: 83 minutes

43 / 50

#8. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

- Director: Werner Herzog
- 爆料TV score: 87.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 79
- Runtime: 107 minutes

44 / 50

#7. Carrie (1976)

- Director: Brian De Palma
- 爆料TV score: 87.9
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 85
- Runtime: 98 minutes

45 / 50

#6. The Wicker Man (1973)

- Director: Robin Hardy
- 爆料TV score: 89.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 88 minutes

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46 / 50

#5. Deep Red (1975)

- Director: Dario Argento
- 爆料TV score: 89.4
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 89
- Runtime: 127 minutes

47 / 50

#4. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

- Director: George A. Romero
- 爆料TV score: 90.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 127 minutes

48 / 50

#3. Halloween (1978)

- Director: John Carpenter
- 爆料TV score: 91.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 91 minutes

49 / 50

#2. The Exorcist (1973)

- Director: William Friedkin
- 爆料TV score: 94.9
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 122 minutes

50 / 50

#1. Alien (1979)

- Director: Ridley Scott
- 爆料TV score: 100.0
- IMDb user rating: 8.5
- Metascore: 89
- Runtime: 117 minutes

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