The 50 Greatest Horror Movies of the 1970s

While we officially ranked our Top 50 of the 1980s list, we’re going to utilize a different approach to our breakdown of the 1970s. Each year in the decade will feature the five best films to see release and an overall grade of the picture in addition to a brief rundown of the story itself. So sit back and enjoy our picks for the 50 greatest horror movies of the 1970s.

1970

Count Dracula

Verdict: Unique in the idea of reversing age for the titular monster, Count Dracula isn’t the greatest film in existence, but Christopher Lee slays and the original spin is refreshing.

Jess Franco’s version of the Bram Stoker classic has Count Dracula as an old man who grows younger whenever he dines on the blood of young maidens.

Cry of the Banshee

Verdict: A surprisingly unforgiving tale of witches and power, Vincent Price is stellar in a very atypical role. He’s not quite the sweetheart we all love to think of him as.

In Elizabethan England, a wicked lord massacres nearly all the members of a coven of witches, earning the enmity of their leader, Oona. Oona calls up a magical servant, a “banshee”, to destroy the lord’s family. (The “banshee” of this tale bears no resemblance to the normal usage of the term!)

House of Dark Shadows

Verdict: Dark Shadows… Barnabas Collins and all sorts of gorgeous goth sets. Simply cannot lose!

Vampire Barnabas Collins is accidentally released from his centuries-long confinement at his family’s estate in Maine. He targets his clueless descendants who live there now and pursues Maggie, the incarnation of his lost love.

Taste the Blood of Dracula

Verdict: Again Christopher Lee dons the cape, but this time around he rises with revenge on his mind, and it’s beautiful to behold.

Three middle-aged distinguished gentlemen are searching for some excitement in their boring bourgeois lives and get in contact with one of Count Dracula’s servants, Lord Courtley. In a nightly ceremony, they restore the count to life. However, the three men killed Courtley and, in revenge, the count ensures that the gentlemen are killed one by one by their own children.

The Dunwich Horror

Verdict: In a day and age when Dracula and Frankenstein ruled the big screen, the world got a much deserved break in the form of this awesome adaptation of a H.P. Lovecraft tale.

H.P. Lovecraft meets Hollywood: Wilbur Whateley wants to help the Old Ones break through by consulting the Necronomicon, and Armitage must stop him. Attractive females are added to fill out the plot.

Continue the list on the next page.