Best Horror Films of 1973
- HaHa Horrors
- May 4
- 9 min read
Updated: Jun 20
1973 didn't just push horror forward — it blew the doors wide open. This was the year horror became mainstream news and audiences fainted, fled theaters, and clutched their rosaries. Thanks to The Exorcist, horror was no longer just a genre but a cultural reckoning. But 1973 wasn't a one-film wonder but a landmark year packed with dread, innovation, and international terror.
The Horror Landscape in 1973
The Exorcist Changed Everything
William Friedkin's adaptation of William Peter Blatty's novel was not only successful but seismic. With Oscar nominations, massive box office returns, and widespread moral panic, The Exorcist proved horror could be prestige cinema.
Folk Horror's Flourish
Following The Wicker Man and other occult-influenced tales, 1973 saw a blossoming of rural dread, ritual sacrifice, and pagan terror.
Global Terror Takes Root
Italy, Spain, and Japan released some unique and unsettling films. European horror was lush, symbolic, and deeply disturbing.
Slow-Burn Psychological Horror
Not everything was demons and gore. Many 1973 horrors played with ambiguity, unreliable narrators, and creeping dread, building unease rather than unleashing it all at once.
Top 10 Horror Films of 1973
1. The Exorcist
Runtime: 2hr 2min
It is still among the most iconic and terrifying films ever made. Demonic possession, a crisis of faith, and landmark special effects cemented its status as a game-changer.
The Exorcist (1973) is a landmark in horror cinema, delivering a harrowing tale of faith, possession, and the battle between good and evil. When young Regan MacNeil begins exhibiting violent, unexplainable behavior, her desperate mother turns to the church for help, leading to a chilling exorcism conducted by two priests. As the demon inside Regan tightens its grip, both men confront their deepest fears and doubts. With its groundbreaking special effects, haunting atmosphere, and powerful performances, The Exorcist shocked audiences, stirred controversy, and redefined horror, becoming one of the most influential and terrifying films ever made.
2. The Wicker Man
Runtime: 1hr 34min
A British cult classic drenched in sunshine and dread. Ritual, sex, sacrifice — all wrapped in a folk music soundtrack and a shocking finale.
The Wicker Man (1973) is a haunting and unconventional folk horror masterpiece that explores the clash between pagan ritual and Christian morality. When devout police sergeant Neil Howie travels to the remote Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate a young girl’s disappearance, he finds a seemingly idyllic community steeped in ancient fertility rites and eerie customs. As he digs deeper, the villagers’ secrecy and strange behavior lead to a shocking revelation and a chilling final sacrifice. With its hypnotic folk soundtrack, sun-drenched landscapes, and slow-building dread, The Wicker Mansubverts traditional horror tropes to deliver a uniquely unsettling experience—culminating in one of cinema’s most unforgettable endings.
3. Don't Look Now
Runtime: 1hr 50min
Grief becomes horror in Nicolas Roeg's slow-burn masterpiece. An eerie Venice, psychic warnings, and a haunting climax make this unforgettable.
Don’t Look Now (1973) is a haunting meditation on grief, fate, and perception, wrapped in the guise of a psychological thriller with supernatural overtones. Following the accidental death of their daughter, a married couple travels to Venice, where the grieving father begins experiencing strange visions and unsettling coincidences. As the labyrinthine city mirrors his fractured state of mind, past and present begin to blur, leading to a chilling and tragic revelation. Directed by Nicolas Roeg, Don’t Look Now is celebrated for its disorienting editing, atmospheric tension, and emotional depth—delivering a slow-burn horror experience where the true terror lies not in ghosts, but in memory, loss, and the inevitability of death.
4. The Legend of Hell House
Runtime: 1hr 35min
A stylish haunted house tale blending science and the supernatural. Think The Haunting with a '70s attitude.
The Legend of Hell House (1973) is a chilling blend of gothic atmosphere and scientific inquiry, exploring the limits of belief and the persistence of evil. A team of investigators—composed of a physicist, his wife, and two mediums—is hired to spend a week in the notorious Belasco House, a mansion with a dark history of murder, perversion, and unexplained deaths. As the house begins to reveal its malevolent power, tensions rise and reality unravels. Based on a novel by Richard Matheson (who also wrote the screenplay), The Legend of Hell House combines cerebral tension with supernatural terror, delivering a claustrophobic and stylish haunted house story where science and the paranormal collide with devastating force.
5. The Spirit of the Beehive
Runtime: 1hr 35min
Spanish post-war melancholy meets Frankenstein imagery—a quiet, haunting look at childhood, fantasy, and isolation.
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) is a poetic and haunting Spanish film that explores childhood, imagination, and the lingering shadows of war through a dreamlike lens. Set in rural Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, the story follows a quiet, sensitive girl named Ana who becomes obsessed with the 1931 film Frankenstein after a traveling cinema visits her village. As Ana wanders through the desolate landscape and internalizes the film’s themes, she begins to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Directed by Víctor Erice, The Spirit of the Beehive is a subtle yet deeply emotional meditation on innocence, repression, and the ghosts that live not just in haunted houses, but in memory and silence.
6. Ganja & Hess
Runtime: 1hr 18min
A poetic, sensual, and surreal vampire story, it is a black cinema landmark that mixes addiction, identity, and immortality.
Ganja & Hess (1973) is a radical, artful reimagining of the vampire myth, blending horror with themes of addiction, race, and spiritual transcendence. Directed by Bill Gunn, the film follows Dr. Hess Green, an affluent anthropologist who becomes immortal and bloodthirsty after being stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger. As he grapples with his violent urges and existential despair, he begins a complicated, sensual relationship with Ganja, the widow of the man who cursed him. Surreal, poetic, and deeply symbolic, Ganja & Hess defies genre conventions, using vampire lore as a metaphor for cultural trauma and the search for salvation. Long overlooked, the film has since been recognized as a groundbreaking work of Black independent cinema and one of the most unique horror films of its era.
7. Torso
Runtime: 1hr 35min
Sergio Martino's proto-slasher is part giallo, part body-count thriller. It is stylish and violent and had a huge influence on 1980s slashers.
Torso (1973), directed by Sergio Martino, is a stylish and brutal Italian giallo that helped pave the way for the modern slasher film. The story centers on a series of sexually charged murders targeting university students, prompting a group of young women to escape to a remote villa — only to find that the killer has followed them. With its blend of psychological suspense, voyeurism, and graphic violence, Torso crafts a tense and lurid atmosphere, where sexuality and death are inextricably linked. Featuring masked killers, vivid cinematography, and a haunting score, the film distills the essence of giallo while foreshadowing the American slasher boom that would follow later in the decade.
8. Sisters
Runtime: 1hr 33min
Brian De Palma's Hitchcockian thriller contains split personalities, voyeurism, and surgical shock.
Sisters (1973), directed by Brian De Palma, is a suspenseful and twisted psychological horror-thriller that blends Hitchcockian style with gory exploitation. The film follows a young model named Danielle, whose seemingly innocent exterior hides a dark and deadly secret connected to her conjoined twin. After a brutal murder is witnessed by an investigative journalist across the street, a tangled web of cover-ups, mistaken identity, and repressed trauma begins to unravel. With split-screen techniques, Bernard Herrmann’s chilling score, and nods to Rear Window and Psycho, Sisters marked De Palma’s emergence as a bold new voice in horror — delivering a tale of madness, voyeurism, and fractured identity that still disturbs and captivates.
9. Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural
Runtime: 1hr 53min
A gothic, low-budget fairytale of vampirism, innocence, and corruption. Dreamlike and unsettling.
Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1973) is a haunting, dreamlike gothic horror film that unfolds like a fevered fairy tale steeped in decay, innocence, and corruption. The story follows Lila Lee, a devout young girl who receives a mysterious letter about her dying father and journeys into a shadowy, plague-ridden town to find him. There, she encounters Lemora, a seductive and eerie vampire-like figure who lures her into a strange underworld populated by ghouls and lost souls. With its eerie atmosphere, stylized visuals, and themes of sexual awakening and religious repression, Lemora blurs the lines between nightmare and fable. Though initially obscure and controversial, it has since gained cult status for its unique tone and unsettling beauty.
10. House of Whipcord
Runtime: 1hr 42min
Sadistic authority, repression, and punishment in a British exploitation classic from Pete Walker.
House of Whipcord (1974) is a grim and provocative British horror-thriller that mixes exploitation with sharp social commentary. Directed by Pete Walker, the film follows a young French model lured to a remote country estate, only to find herself imprisoned in a sadistic private correctional facility run by a fanatical ex-prison warden and his puritanical wife. Under the guise of moral reform, women deemed “immoral” are subjected to brutal punishment and psychological torture. With stark visuals, oppressive atmosphere, and a biting critique of authoritarianism and moral hypocrisy, House of Whipcord stands out as one of Walker’s most unsettling and politically charged films — a cautionary tale wrapped in horror and exploitation.
Underrated Picks Worth Your Time
Messiah of Evil
Runtime: 1hr 30min
Surreal, ocean-side horror filled with undead weirdness and dreamlike terror.
Messiah of Evil (1973) is a surreal, atmospheric descent into seaside madness, blending Lovecraftian dread with arthouse horror aesthetics. The film follows Arletty, a young woman who travels to a remote California beach town in search of her missing father, only to uncover a strange and silent community harboring a dark, ancient secret. As night falls, the town becomes overrun by pale-skinned, zombie-like townsfolk awaiting the return of a mysterious messianic figure. Directed by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, Messiah of Evil conjures a hypnotic mood through dreamlike pacing, eerie sound design, and unforgettable set pieces — including an infamous grocery store massacre — making it a cult gem that feels like a waking nightmare from which there is no escape.
The Baby
Runtime: 1hr 29min
Part psychodrama, part exploitation, and unpredictable.
The Baby (1973) is a disturbing and unconventional psychological horror-drama that defies genre expectations with its shocking premise and slow-burning tension. The film centers on a social worker who becomes involved with the eccentric Wadsworth family, whose adult son—known only as “Baby”—has been kept in a permanent infantile state by his domineering mother and two sadistic sisters. As the social worker digs deeper, she uncovers unsettling truths about the family's motivations and Baby's condition, leading to a dark and unexpected twist. With its eerie suburban setting, off-kilter tone, and themes of control, infantilization, and maternal obsession, The Baby is a truly bizarre and unsettling entry in 1970s horror — equal parts exploitation, psychological thriller, and twisted family melodrama.
A Reflection of Fear
Runtime: 1hr 29min
A gender-twisting, psychological horror tale that gets under your skin.
A Reflection of Fear (1973) is a chilling and melancholic psychological horror film that blurs the line between gothic mystery and familial dysfunction. The story follows Marguerite, a reclusive and emotionally fragile teenage girl living in a decaying mansion with her overbearing mother and grandmother. When her estranged father returns with hopes of reconnecting, the family’s dark secrets begin to unravel — and Marguerite’s strange behavior intensifies. Haunted by hallucinations, dolls, and whispered voices, she slips further into a twisted inner world that leads to a shocking and tragic revelation. With its dreamlike pacing, eerie atmosphere, and themes of gender, identity, and repression, A Reflection of Fear is an unsettling portrait of madness and isolation that lingers long after the final frame.
Vengeance of the Zombies
Runtime: 1hr 27min
Paul Naschy blends slasher, voodoo, and vampire themes in this Spanish horror cocktail.
Vengeance of the Zombies (1973) is a wild and delirious blend of gothic horror, exploitation, and Euro-sleaze, starring Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy in a triple role that includes a sadistic Satanist, a masked killer, and even the Devil himself. Set in swinging 1970s London, the film follows a series of gruesome murders targeting young women, who are then resurrected as zombie slaves by a mysterious cult. As an occult investigator tries to uncover the truth, the narrative spirals into a surreal mix of voodoo rituals, eroticism, and supernatural revenge. With its vivid colors, pulpy score, and over-the-top plot twists, Vengeance of the Zombies is a prime example of Spanish horror’s anything-goes attitude in the '70s — chaotic, stylish, and unapologetically bizarre.
Horror Highlights & Trivia
The Exorcist was the first horror film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
Folk horror became a genre, with The Wicker Man becoming the high altar.
Split personalities and psychodrama were common, with Sisters, The Baby, and Reflection of Fear tapping into psychological disturbance.
International horror made major waves, especially in Italy and Spain, often mixing sex, politics, and horror in ways Hollywood wouldn't dare.
Where to Watch These Today
Streaming:
The Exorcist – Max, Prime Video
Don't Look Now – Paramount+, Criterion Channel
The Wicker Man – Shudder, Tubi
Sisters – Criterion Channel, AMC+
Physical Media: Seek out Arrow Video, Vinegar Syndrome, and Scream Factory editions for restorations, commentary tracks, and uncut versions.
Closing Thoughts
1973 was a landmark year that proved horror had no ceiling. Between The Exorcist, which terrorized the world, and The Wicker Man, which redefined the boundaries of folklore in film, horror became more than exploitation—it became art, fear, and a cultural flashpoint. It's a year that continues to influence filmmakers, frighten audiences, and demand critical attention.
