Horror before 1970: the best movies
24 horror films before 1970, ranked by audience rating. The best of the decade, and it still holds up tonight. Updated September 25, 2026
Psycho leads with 8,4 out of 10, ahead of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (7,9). Ratings range from 7,5 to 8,4. The oldest, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, goes back to 1920.
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Psycho
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
A former vaudeville child star viciously torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
Faust
God and Satan wager on the soul of a learned and prayerful alchemist as part of their eternal war over Earth.
Rosemary's Baby
A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.
The Cremator
In 1930s Prague, a Czech cremator who firmly believes cremation relieves one from earthly suffering is drawn inexorably to Nazism.
Freaks
A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
The Phantom Carriage
An alcoholic, abusive ne'er-do-well is shown the error of his ways through a legend that dooms the last person to die on New Year's Eve before the clock strikes twelve to take the reins of Death's chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year.
Kwaidan
Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.
Onibaba
While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.
Nosferatu
The mysterious Count Orlok summons a happily married real estate agent to his castle, located up in the Transylvanian mountains, to finalise a terrifying deal.
Godzilla
Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.
Häxan
Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious-- instead it's a witches' brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.
Night of the Living Dead
A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.
Eyes Without a Face
Dr. Génessier is riddled with guilt after an accident that he caused disfigures the face of his daughter, the once beautiful Christiane, who outsiders believe is dead. Dr. Génessier, along with accomplice and laboratory assistant Louise, kidnaps young women and brings them to the Génessier mansion. After rendering his victims unconscious, Dr. Génessier removes their faces and attempts to graft them on to Christiane's.
King Kong
Adventurous filmmaker Carl Denham sets out to produce a motion picture unlike anything the world has seen before. Alongside his leading lady Ann Darrow and his first mate Jack Driscoll, they arrive on an island and discover a legendary creature said to be neither beast nor man. Denham captures the monster to be displayed on Broadway as King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world.
The Unknown
On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder—a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's desperation to remain with Nanon will only end in tragedy.
The Invisible Man
After experimenting on himself and becoming invisible, scientist Jack Griffin, now aggressive due to the drug's effects, seeks a way to reverse the experiment at any cost.
The Birds
Thousands of birds flock into a seaside town and terrorize the residents in a series of deadly attacks.
Bride of Frankenstein
Dr. Frankenstein and his monster both turn out to be alive after being attacked by an angry mob. The now-chastened scientist attempts to escape his past, but a former mentor forces him to assist with the creation of a new creature.
The Innocents
In a mid-19th century Essex country house, a young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.
The Incredible Shrinking Man
A dangerous combination of radiation and insecticide causes the unfortunate Scott Carey to shrink, slowly but surely, until he is only a few inches tall. His home becomes a wilderness where he must survive everything from spiders living in the cellar to his beloved cat.
Frankenstein
Henry Frankenstein pieces together body parts in the hope of bringing a human-like creature to life. The mad scientist’s dreams are shattered by his monstrous creation awakening with rage to a world that hates and fears him.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
What to know before choosing
Horror is the worst-rated genre in the catalog, and that has almost nothing to do with its quality. Its films are seen by audiences who did not choose them — the dragged-along friend, the curious — and those rate low. A horror film at 6.8 out of 10 is already very good, which is why the rating floor is lowered here. Watch the year too: the genre reinvents itself in roughly ten-year waves, and two films a decade apart do not frighten in the same way.
Before 1970 the selection stops being a sample and becomes a canon. What still circulates in streaming has passed sixty years of sorting, and the ratings show it: high and tightly clustered. The real criterion is therefore no longer the rating but the pace and the running time, which have nothing in common with today’s. A classic asks for an attention you do not have every evening.
Frequently asked questions
How were these 24 films chosen?
They come from the TMDB catalog, filtered on audience rating and on a minimum number of votes — without that second filter, a film rated 9 out of 10 by eleven people would outrank a classic. No place is for sale: no platform, distributor or studio can enter this list other than by being well rated.
Which film in this list is rated highest?
Psycho (1960), with 8,4 out of 10 from 11,270 audience votes.
Where can I watch these films?
Taro eira shows, film by film, which platforms carry it in the US and at what price — subscription, rental or purchase. The per-platform lists are further down this page.
How often does this list change?
It is recomputed every day. Ratings move slowly, catalogs move fast: availability is what mostly pushes titles in and out.
Do I need an account?
No. Taro eira is free, asks for no account and no subscription, and the two-or-three-question flow works without installing anything.
See also
- Horror
- Horror from the 2020s
- Horror from the 2010s
- Horror from the 2000s
- Horror from the 1990s
- Horror from the 1980s
- Horror from the 1970s
- Action before 1970
- Adventure before 1970
- Animation before 1970
- Comedy before 1970
- Crime before 1970
- Documentary before 1970
- Drama before 1970
- Family before 1970
- Fantasy before 1970
- Biopic before 1970
- Musical before 1970
- Romance before 1970
- Sci-fi before 1970
- Thriller before 1970
- War before 1970
- Western before 1970
How this list is built
Films come from the TMDB catalog, filtered on audience rating and vote count, then cross-checked against real availability in the country. No paid placement, no partnerships. How we choose the films.
Film data and posters: TMDB. This app uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.