15 Classic ’70s Horror Movies That You Can Stream Right Now
The ’70s weren’t just a time to put on your boogie shoes, or journey to a galaxy far, far away — it was also one of the greatest eras in cinematic horror history. After over a decade of studios considering horror movies “kid stuff” and exiling them to drive-in theaters, the runaway success of 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby gave the genre a shot in the arm. Studio green-lit horror films and gave them bigger budgets, and exhibitors gave enterprising indie productions a shot, leading to an era packed with classics like The Exorcist, Halloween, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as well as smaller but influential films like The Wicker Man.
So if you want to spend your Halloween week with evil tweens, put-upon priests, and a bucket of pig’s blood, you’re in the right place.
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By 1979, it was established — if you’re an innocent young family looking for a new house, just assume that anyplace you buy probably has a portal to Hell in it. But this film, which stars James Brolin as the dad slowly being possessed by a killer spirit and Margot Kidder as the mom trying to get her family out alive, still thrills — not least of all because the film is (at least partially) based on a true story.
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Black Christmas
Considered one of the first teen slasher films (it predates Halloween by four years!), Black Christmas follows a group of sorority sisters plagued by threatening phone calls … that spill over into real life, once a mysterious killer begins taking them out. The film was directed by Bob Clark, who got his start in horror, before going on to direct Porky’s and the far more upbeat Christmas film A Christmas Story.
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Burnt Offerings
Karen Black and Bette Davis star in this chilling 1976 story about a family who find a vacation house that seems too good to be true…and is. The film was directed by Dan Curtis, who is best known as the creator of Dark Shadows and the director of the Black-starring Trilogy of Terror.
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Carrie
This tale of an abused high school misfit with terrifying psychic powers was a breakthrough both for star Sissy Spacek and director Brian De Palma, and helped turn Stephen King (who wrote the novel the film is based on) into a household name. You’ll never look at prom night (or John Travolta) the same way again.
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The Exorcist
The original 1971 novel was already a hit, but The Exorcist was a phenomenon when it was released in 1973. Still often considered the most frightening film ever made, stand-out performances by Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, and Linda Blair as possessed tween Regan make this not just a great scary movie, but a great movie — which is why it was the first horror movie ever nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
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Halloween
Though this 1978 John Carpenter film may not be the first slasher, it was the first slasher mega-hit, creating the classic genre tropes of the slow-moving, menacing killer and the wholesome, quick-witted “final girl” in the process.
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Before he created the relatively more family-friendly Freddy Krueger, Wes Craven wrote and directed this disturbing flick about a pair of average parents who take bloodthirsty revenge on the psychopaths who killed their daughter. And even if you know all about this movie, you may not know that it was inspired by the 1960 art film The Virgin Spring, directed by Ingmar Bergman.
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The Omen
And you thought your kids misbehaved! Young Damien turns the lives of parents Gregory Peck and Lee Remnick upside down — the kind of thing that seems to happen when you accidentally adopt the Antichrist. The Omen is made even spookier due to its reputation as a “cursed movie.” Numerous cast members were almost struck by lightning during production, stuntment were attacked by animal actors, and one member of the crew even died in a way that paralleled a film character’s death.
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The Sentinel
Is The Sentinel, a tale of a haunted New York City apartment building, kind of a rip-off of Rosemary’s Baby, Burnt Offerings, and other ’70s films that have to do with evil real estate? Yes. Is it also a rip-off of The Exorcist and other ’70s films about Satan infesting the lives of average Americans? Yes. But is it worth a watch simply for some bonkers scenes, and fun late-career performances by Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith, and John Carradine? Also yes.
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Before the classic ’90s HBO show, the Cryptkeeper dished out ironic punishments to a rogue’s gallery of foolish mortals, including Joan Collins, who gather in (where else?) a crypt. Fans of the series will note that three of the film’s segments were later turned into episodes of the series.
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This oft-copied, genre-defining film pioneered the idea of the frenzied, masked killer, as well as the classic horror trope of teens who head to a rural area outside of town, and find nothing but trouble. Shot for under $150,000, the film became a worldwide sensation — helped along by an ad campaign that suggested the film was based on a true story (it was loosely based on the crimes of both Ed Gein and the Houston Mass Murders, in which 28 teen boys were killed in the early ’70s by a group of three serial murderers).
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Trilogy of Terror
Trilogy of Terror is compelling throughout all three of its segments, each of which stars Karen Black as a troubled young woman (who is often less innocent than she seems). But if you’ve ever seen the film, you’re likely only thinking of one thing: “Amelia,” the chilling final segment, in which Black does battle with an evil figurine that comes to life.
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Four years after her Academy Award nomination for Hester Street, and one year before her star-making turn as Simka on Taxi, Carol Kane starred as a young woman receiving calls from a psychotic killer in this film. The film’s famous opening sequence — where Kane plays a young babysitter who takes increasingly terrifying phone calls from a stranger — inspired the opening of the movie Scream 27 years later. Fun fact: Kane doesn’t like horror movies and has said she found this one too scary to watch!
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The Wicker Man
This 1973 film about a cop who goes in search of a missing girl — and finds himself trapped on an isolated Scottish island, surrounded by creepy locals who practice ancient pagan rites — is considered the first major “folk horror” film. Don’t miss Christopher Lee as the island’s deranged aristocrat leader, who has come up with a very unusual way to help the island produce more crops.
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Willard
Young misfit Willard can’t catch a break — after all, life is tough when your only friends are a pack of rats. But after the death of his mother leaves him in debt and his bullying boss has him fired, Willard seeks revenge … fuzzy, squeaking revenge! Though many reviewers found the premise silly, it was a huge box office draw, the 11th most popular film of 1971, and spawned a legion of sequels and imitators.