The 50 best and most obscure horror and thriller movies worth watching by Melpomene
by a5093461 | created - 05 Jun 2014 | updated - 05 Jun 2014 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
In 1961, a divorced Catholic couple's life is turned upside-down when one of their two adolescent daughters is suspected of her younger sister's brutal murder during her First Holy Communion and a series of subsequent stabbings.
Director: Alfred Sole | Stars: Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton, Paula E. Sheppard, Niles McMaster
Votes: 12,962
2. Bad Ronald (1974 TV Movie)
Unrated | 74 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A perverted teenage boy who lives in the walls of a house finds the house sold to a family after his mother dies, then he falls for one of the new residents.
Director: Buzz Kulik | Stars: Scott Jacoby, Pippa Scott, John Larch, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 2,415
3. 10 Rillington Place (1971)
GP | 111 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
What happened to the women at 10 Rillington Place? The story of British serial killer John Christie, who committed most or all of his crimes in the titular terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving Timothy Evans.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt, Pat Heywood
Votes: 9,794
4. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
PG | 91 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A thirteen-year-old girl, who lives with her absentee father, befriends a disabled teenage amateur magician and invites him, gradually, into her tenuous struggle against a predatory local neighbor.
Director: Nicolas Gessner | Stars: Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, Alexis Smith, Mort Shuman
Votes: 18,097
5. Hotel Fear (1978)
92 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A mother and her daughter run a hotel during the late stages of WWII. The mother suddenly dies, and the daughter finds herself alone with her sleazy guests.
Director: Francesco Barilli | Stars: Luc Merenda, Leonora Fani, Francisco Rabal, Jole Fierro
Votes: 924
6. The Mephisto Waltz (1971)
R | 115 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An old, dying satanist arranges to transfer his soul into the body of a young concert pianist.
Director: Paul Wendkos | Stars: Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Parkins, Bradford Dillman
Votes: 3,272
7. The Fury (1978)
R | 118 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A former CIA agent uses the talents of a young psychic to help retrieve his telekinetic son from a shadowy secret government agency.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Durning
Votes: 17,335
8. In the Folds of the Flesh (1970)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Thriller, Horror
The guests of a villa are killed off one by one by their hosts. Incest, decapitations and a cyanide bath feature amongst the other bizarre delights.
Director: Sergio Bergonzelli | Stars: Eleonora Rossi Drago, Pier Angeli, Fernando Sancho, Alfredo Mayo
Votes: 771
9. A Reflection of Fear (1972)
PG | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A disturbed young girl starts believing that there is something very sinister at work after her estranged father visits her at her mother and grandmother's house with the woman he plans to marry.
Director: William A. Fraker | Stars: Robert Shaw, Sally Kellerman, Mary Ure, Sondra Locke
Votes: 1,028
10. Race with the Devil (1975)
PG | 88 min | Action, Horror, Thriller
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Director: Jack Starrett | Stars: Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Lara Parker
Votes: 7,340 | Gross: $12.64M
11. Private Parts (1972)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Young Cheryl moves into her estranged aunt Martha's rundown King Edward Hotel. One of its offbeat residents, disturbed photographer George, takes special interest in her. Cheryl begins suspecting that a resident was murdered.
Director: Paul Bartel | Stars: Ayn Ruymen, Lucille Benson, John Ventantonio, Laurie Main
Votes: 1,872
12. The Killing Kind (1973)
R | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A young Terry Lambert returns home after serving a prison sentence for a gang rape he was forced to participate in. He seeks revenge on his lawyer and the girl who framed him.
Director: Curtis Harrington | Stars: Ann Sothern, John Savage, Ruth Roman, Luana Anders
Votes: 1,264
13. Rituals (1977)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
Five doctors on a wilderness outing are stalked by disfigured, crazed killers.
Director: Peter Carter | Stars: Hal Holbrook, Lawrence Dane, Robin Gammell, Ken James
Votes: 3,071
14. Deranged (1974)
R | 84 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A deranged rural farmer becomes a grave robber and murderer after the death of his possessive mother, whose corpse he keeps, among others, as his companion in a decaying farmhouse.
Directors: Jeff Gillen, Alan Ormsby | Stars: Roberts Blossom, Cosette Lee, Leslie Carlson, Robert Warner
Votes: 5,763 | Gross: $0.05M
15. What the Peeper Saw (1972)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A wealthy author's second wife begins to suspect that her 12-year-old stepson may have murdered his mother, who mysteriously died in a bathtub accident.
Directors: James Kelley, Andrea Bianchi | Stars: Mark Lester, Britt Ekland, Hardy Krüger, Lilli Palmer
Votes: 1,695
16. Together Forever (1975)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
The titular medallion is a gift presented to young Nicole Elmi. Once the girl places the gift around her neck, she is possessed by the spirit of a dead child who was a murderess.
Director: Massimo Dallamano | Stars: Richard Johnson, Joanna Cassidy, Lila Kedrova, Ida Galli
Votes: 846
17. The House That Screamed (1969)
GP | 94 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A strict headmistress runs a secluded school for wayward girls in 19th century France, whose students are disappearing under mysterious circumstances.
Director: Narciso Ibáñez Serrador | Stars: Lilli Palmer, Cristina Galbó, John Moulder-Brown, Maribel Martín
Votes: 4,128
18. Who Can Kill a Child? (1976)
R | 112 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A couple of English tourists arrive on an island where all the children have gone crazy and are murdering the adults.
Director: Narciso Ibáñez Serrador | Stars: Lewis Fiander, Prunella Ransome, Antonio Iranzo, Miguel Narros
Votes: 8,037
19. The Baby (1973)
PG | 84 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A social worker, still reeling from the loss of her architect husband, investigates the eccentric, psychedelic Wadsworth Family, consisting of a mother, two daughters, and an adult son with the apparent mental capacity of an infant.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill, Susanne Zenor
Votes: 4,386
20. Just Before Dawn (1981)
R | 90 min | Horror, Thriller
Five young people venture into the backwoods of Oregon to claim a property, and find themselves being stalked by a hulking, machete-wielding psychopath.
Director: Jeff Lieberman | Stars: George Kennedy, Mike Kellin, Chris Lemmon, Gregg Henry
Votes: 7,144
21. The Strange Vengeance of Rosalie (1972)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Thriller
A traveling salesman gives a pretty female hitchhiker a ride to her home, a run-down shack in the desert. She then injures his leg in order to hold him captive.
Director: Jack Starrett | Stars: Bonnie Bedelia, Ken Howard, Anthony Zerbe, Sebastian
Votes: 226
22. The Killer of Dolls (1975)
98 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A groundskeeper's son, who is mentally unstable due to childhood trauma, goes on a murdering spree where his perception of reality is distorted by imagining people as mannequins and vice versa.
Director: Miguel Madrid | Stars: David Rocha, Inma de Santis, Helga Liné, Elisenda Ribas
Votes: 392
23. Dead of Night (1974)
PG | 88 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A young soldier killed in the Vietnam War inexplicably shows up at his family home on the night of his death.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: John Marley, Lynn Carlin, Richard Backus, Henderson Forsythe
Votes: 6,005 | Gross: $0.03M
24. Twisted Nerve (1968)
M | 118 min | Drama, Thriller
Martin Durnley (Hywel Bennett) is a troubled young man. With a mother who insists on treating him like a child, a stepfather who can't wait to see the back of him, and a brother with Down's... See full summary »
Director: Roy Boulting | Stars: Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Billie Whitelaw, Phyllis Calvert
Votes: 2,416
25. Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
115 min | Crime, Drama
A medium and her husband stage a kidnapping in order for her to pretend to solve the crime and achieve fame.
Director: Bryan Forbes | Stars: Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough, Margaret Lacey, Marie Burke
Votes: 7,478
26. Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 74 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A sculptor hires young college girls to take care of his elderly mother and his supposedly insane sister, both of whom live in the old family mansion with him.
Director: Gordon Hessler | Stars: Ted Bessell, Bette Davis, Sian Barbara Allen, Charles Drake
Votes: 1,191
27. Julie Darling (1982)
R | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
A teenage girl whose inaction caused her mother's death arranges a similarly gruesome fate for her stepmother and brother.
Director: Paul Nicholas | Stars: Anthony Franciosa, Sybil Danning, Isabelle Mejias, Paul Hubbard
Votes: 825
28. Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
R | 96 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An orphaned teenager finds himself being dominated by his aunt who's hell-bent on keeping him with her...at all costs.
Director: William Asher | Stars: Jimmy McNichol, Susan Tyrrell, Bo Svenson, Marcia Lewis
Votes: 4,850
29. Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1973)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A young woman, rendered mute after a childhood sexual assault, is trained to seek violent revenge on those who kidnapped and forced her into prostitution.
Director: Bo Arne Vibenius | Stars: Christina Lindberg, Heinz Hopf, Despina Tomazani, Per-Axel Arosenius
Votes: 8,530
30. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Approved | 81 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
After Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton
Votes: 19,982
31. Kissed (1996)
R | 78 min | Drama, Romance
Over the years, a child's romantic ideals about death blossom into necrophilia, the study of embalming and the most profound relationship of her life.
Director: Lynne Stopkewich | Stars: Molly Parker, Peter Outerbridge, Jay Brazeau, Natasha Morley
Votes: 3,995 | Gross: $0.47M
32. The Grilling (1981)
87 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A police inspector, suspecting an attorney of two child sex murders, has him held for a questioning session that goes on for hours.
Director: Claude Miller | Stars: Lino Ventura, Michel Serrault, Romy Schneider, Guy Marchand
Votes: 5,349
33. Death of a Corrupt Man (1977)
Not Rated | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
One early morning deputy Philippe Dubaye wakes up his old friend Xavier Maréchal with disturbing news: he has just killed Serrano, a racketeer with extant political connections. Serrano ... See full summary »
Director: Georges Lautner | Stars: Alain Delon, Ornella Muti, Stéphane Audran, Mireille Darc
Votes: 2,565
34. The Professional (1981)
Not Rated | 108 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Victim of a plot which has resulted in his imprisonment in a Central African jail for two years, a French secret agent arrives in Paris to settle accounts.
Director: Georges Lautner | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Desailly, Cyrielle Clair, Marie-Christine Descouard
Votes: 17,281
35. Farewell, Friend (1968)
M/PG | 115 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After an overseas deployment, two former French Foreign Legion members plan to break into the vault of a French corporation.
Director: Jean Herman | Stars: Alain Delon, Charles Bronson, Brigitte Fossey, Olga Georges-Picot
Votes: 4,093
36. Two Men in Town (1973)
Not Rated | 100 min | Crime, Drama
A former bank robber is released after 10 years in prison. He gets help from a social-worker, but gets harassed by an old cop from his past.
Director: José Giovanni | Stars: Alain Delon, Jean Gabin, Mimsy Farmer, Victor Lanoux
Votes: 5,041
37. The Sicilian Clan (1969)
GP | 122 min | Crime, Drama
An ambitious young mobster plans an elaborate diamond heist while seducing the daughter of a ruthless mob patriarch as a determined police commissioner closes in on all of them.
Director: Henri Verneuil | Stars: Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Lino Ventura, Irina Demick
Votes: 9,161 | Gross: $3.00M
38. I... For Icarus (1979)
120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Conspiracy thriller inspired by the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of JFK. After a fictional president is assassinated, a determined, tough prosecutor investigates the emerging conspiracy behind it.
Director: Henri Verneuil | Stars: Yves Montand, Michel Albertini, Roland Amstutz, Jean-Pierre Bagot
Votes: 4,570
39. The Parallax View (1974)
R | 102 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Walter McGinn
Votes: 21,790 | Gross: $2.15M
40. Sorcerer (1977)
PG | 121 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, Amidou
Votes: 27,712 | Gross: $12.00M
41. The Prize of Peril (1983)
98 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic society, contestants pit their survival skills against each other in a fight to the death for cash prizes, and the contest is aired live on television.
Director: Yves Boisset | Stars: Gérard Lanvin, Michel Piccoli, Marie-France Pisier, Bruno Cremer
Votes: 1,327
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