The Crypt Charts
The Top 31 Classic Horror Movies (Pre-1970)
Thirty-one titles from horror's black-and-white golden age and its first Technicolor terrors — everything before 1970 — ranked by the Crypt Score.
Ranked by Crypt Score · Updated weekly · captured Jul 20, 2026
Eligibility: a title needs at least 2 rating sources and 1,000+ votes to chart — no thin-data entries.
Rosemary's Baby
R1968 · Drama, Horror, Thriller · 138m · Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer
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.
King Kong
1933 · Adventure, Fantasy, Horror · 100m · Robert Armstrong, Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher
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.
Bride of Frankenstein
NR1935 · Horror, Science Fiction · 75m · Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger
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.
Night of the Living Dead
NR1968 · Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction · 96m · Judith O'Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman
A ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962 · Drama, Horror, Thriller · 135m · Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Wesley Addy
A former vaudeville child star viciously torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1956 · Science Fiction, Horror, Thriller · 80m · Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
NR1939 · Drama, Romance, Horror · 117m · Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell, Maureen O'Hara
Paris, France, 1482. Frollo, Chief Justice of benevolent King Louis XI, gets infatuated by the beauty of Esmeralda, a young Romani girl. The hunchback Quasimodo, Frollo's protege and bell-ringer of Notre Dame, lives in peace among the bells in the heights of the immense cathedral until he is involved by the twisted magistrate in his malicious plans to free himself from Esmeralda's alleged spell, which he believes to be the devil's work.
The Unknown
NR1927 · Drama, Thriller, Romance · 68m · Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford, Nick De Ruiz
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.
Frankenstein
1931 · Drama, Horror, Science Fiction · 70m · Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Boris Karloff
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.
Repulsion
NR1965 · Drama, Thriller, Horror · 105m · Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Yvonne Furneaux
Beautiful young manicurist Carole suffers from androphobia (the pathological fear of interaction with men). When her sister and roommate, Helen, leaves their London flat to go on an Italian holiday with her married boyfriend, Carole withdraws into her apartment. She begins to experience frightful hallucinations, her fear gradually mutating into madness.
Freaks
NR1932 · Drama, Horror · 64m · Harry Earles, Olga Baclanova, Daisy Earles, Henry Victor
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.
Peeping Tom
NR1960 · Horror, Thriller, Crime · 101m · Karlheinz Böhm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley
Loner Mark Lewis works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen, the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making.
The Innocents
NR1961 · Horror, Mystery, Drama · 100m · Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins, Michael Redgrave
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.
Wait Until Dark
NR1967 · Thriller, Horror · 108m · Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
After a flight back home, Sam Hendrix returns with a doll he innocently acquired along the way. As it turns out, the doll is actually stuffed with heroin, and a group of criminals led by the ruthless Roat has followed Hendrix back to his place to retrieve it. When Hendrix leaves for business, the crooks make their move -- and find his blind wife, Susy, alone in the apartment. Soon, a life-threatening game begins between Susy and the thugs.
The Birds
NR1963 · Horror, Thriller · 119m · Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette
Thousands of birds flock into a seaside town and terrorize the residents in a series of deadly attacks.
The Invisible Man
NR1933 · Horror, Science Fiction · 71m · Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan, Henry Travers
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.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
NR1931 · Horror, Science Fiction, Drama · 96m · Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert
Dr. Henry Jekyll believes that there are two distinct sides to men: one that is good and one that is evil. He believes that by separating the two, man can become liberated. He succeeds in his experiments with chemicals to accomplish this and transforms into Hyde to commit horrendous crimes. When he discontinues use of the drug, it is already too late.
Night of the Demon
NR1957 · Fantasy, Horror, Mystery · 96m · Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham
American professor John Holden arrives in London for a conference on parapsychology only to discover that the colleague he was supposed to meet was killed in a freak accident the day before. It turns out that the deceased had been investigating a cult lead by Dr. Julian Karswell. Though a skeptic, Holden is suspicious of the devil-worshiping Karswell. Following a trail of mysterious manuscripts, Holden enters a world that makes him question his faith in science.
Dead of Night
NR1945 · Horror, Thriller · 103m · Mervyn Johns, Roland Culver, Mary Merrall, Googie Withers
An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.
The Phantom of the Opera
NR1925 · Horror · 107m · Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Mary Philbin, Arthur Edmund Carewe
The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.
Seconds
R1966 · Science Fiction, Thriller, Horror · 107m · Rock Hudson, Salome Jens, John Randolph, Will Geer
An unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity; one that comes with its own price.
The Incredible Shrinking Man
NR1957 · Science Fiction, Adventure, Horror · 81m · Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton
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.
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964 · Horror, Mystery, Thriller · 133m · Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.
The Hound of the Baskervilles
NR1939 · Mystery, Crime, Horror · 80m · Richard Greene, Basil Rathbone, Wendy Barrie, Nigel Bruce
When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.
Island of Lost Souls
NR1932 · Science Fiction, Horror · 71m · Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi
An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations.
Seance on a Wet Afternoon
1964 · Crime, Thriller, Drama · 116m · Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough, Margaret Lacey, Marie Burke
Working-class British housewife Myra Savage reinvents herself as a medium, holding seances in the sitting room of her home with the hidden assistance of her under-employed, asthmatic husband, Billy. In an attempt to enhance her credibility as a psychic, Myra hatches an elaborate, ill-conceived plot to kidnap a wealthy couple's young daughter so that she can then help the police "find" the missing girl.
Mad Love
1935 · Horror, Romance · 68m · Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive, Ted Healy
An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace her wounded pianist husband's hands with those of a knife-throwing murderer.
Hold That Ghost
NR1941 · Comedy, Horror · 86m · Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Richard Carlson, Joan Davis
Two bumbling service station attendants are left as the sole beneficiaries in a gangster's will. Their trip to claim their fortune is sidetracked when they are stranded in a haunted house along with several other strangers.
Dracula
1931 · Horror · 74m · Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye
A British estate agent travels to Transylvania to meet the mysterious Count Dracula, who is interested in leasing a London castle. After Dracula enslaves the agent and drives him to insanity, the pair return to London together, where Dracula, a secret bloodsucker, begins preying on socialites.
The Haunting
G1963 · Horror · 112m · Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn
Dr. John Markway recruits three strangers for a sleep-disorder study at the eerie and isolated Hill House. It soon becomes clear his real interest lies in the mansion itself and its sinister history, as they are forced to confront the nature of its horror…