# The best horror movies of the 1970s

The Exorcist, Halloween and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: the decade that reinvented horror (IndieWire, Collider, The Playlist, Rotten Tomatoes).

- 51 votes · 12 items
- Nov 5, 2025 · couchpotato_yyc
- https://even.best/en/l/2001/the-best-horror-movies-of-the-1970s

## Top 12

1. **The Exorcist (1973)** (8 · ▲8 ▼0) — One of the most iconic horror films ever made.
2. **Halloween (1978)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — John Carpenter founds the slasher as we know it.
3. **Don't Look Now (1973)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Nicolas Roeg, grief and a red coat in Venice.
4. **The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Few films make you so uncomfortable.
5. **Jaws (1975)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Spielberg's shark terrorises a beach town.
6. **Suspiria (1977)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Dario Argento's technicolor witches.
7. **The Wicker Man (1973)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — A policeman on a Scottish island with pagan rites.
8. **The Omen (1976)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Pulpy horror classed up by its A-list cast.
9. **Alien (1979)** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — Ridley Scott's haunted house in space.
10. **Black Christmas (1974)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — The underrated film that set the slasher's rules.
11. **Dawn of the Dead (1978)** (-1 · ▲1 ▼2) — George A. Romero's zombies in a shopping mall.
12. **Carrie (1976)** (-2 · ▲0 ▼2) — Brian De Palma's prom night from Stephen King.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.