Best Historical Horror
Period set Horror films and series, and vintage Horror. "List Order" is organized by the year they take place, old to new. I capped it at 1989.
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- DirectorGary ShoreStarsLuke EvansDominic CooperSarah GadonAs his kingdom is being threatened by the Turks, young prince Vlad Tepes must become a monster feared by his own people in order to obtain the power needed to protect his own family, and the families of his kingdom.15th Century
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceBarbara SteeleJohn KerrIn the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.1547
- DirectorLeigh JaniakStarsKiana MadeiraAshley ZukermanGillian JacobsThe origins of Sarah Fier's curse are finally revealed as history comes full circle on a night that changes the lives of Shadysiders forever.1666
- DirectorJohn Llewellyn MoxeyStarsPatricia JesselDennis LotisChristopher LeeA young college student arrives in a sleepy Massachusetts town to research witchcraft; during her stay at an eerie inn, she discovers a startling secret about the town and its inhabitants.1692 and 1960
- CreatorPhillip IscoveAlex KurtzmanRoberto OrciStarsTom MisonLyndie GreenwoodNicole BeharieIchabod Crane is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers.1781
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppChristina RicciMiranda RichardsonIchabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people; the culprit is legendary apparition The Headless Horseman.1799
- DirectorBurr SteersStarsLily JamesSam RileyJack HustonFive sisters in 19th century England must cope with the pressures to marry while protecting themselves from a growing population of zombies.19th Century
- DirectorTommy WirkolaStarsJeremy RennerGemma ArtertonPeter StormareBrother/sister duo Hansel and Gretel are professional witch-hunters who help innocent villagers. One day they stumble upon a case that could hold the key to their past.19th Century
- DirectorDavid CasademuntStarsInma CuestaRoberto ÁlamoAlejandra HowardThe tranquil lives of a family isolated from the rest of society are disturbed by a terrifying creature, testing the ties that bind them together.19th Century
- DirectorScott CooperStarsChristian BaleHarry MellingSimon McBurneyA world-weary detective is hired to investigate the murder of a West Point cadet. Stymied by the cadets' code of silence, he enlists one of their own to help unravel the case - a young man the world would come to know as Edgar Allan Poe.1830
- DirectorPaul Urkijo AlijoStarsKandido UrangaUma BracagliaEneko SagardoyA quiet village is thrown into turmoil upon disturbing a reclusive and feared blacksmith rumored to be in league with the devil.1835 and 1843
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.1840s
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppHelena Bonham CarterAlan RickmanThe legendary tale of a barber who returns from wrongful imprisonment to 1840s London, bent on revenge for the rape and death of his wife, and resumes his trade while forming a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.1846
- DirectorSean EllisStarsBoyd HolbrookKelly ReillyAlistair PetrieIn rural 19th-century France, a mysterious, possibly supernatural menace threatens a small village. John McBride, a pathologist, comes to town to investigate the danger - and exorcise some of his own demons in the process.1882
- DirectorAlbert HughesAllen HughesStarsJohnny DeppHeather GrahamIan HolmAfter five ritualistic murders are committed in 1888 London, Inspector Abberline's assignment is to investigate the "Jack the Ripper" murders. Along with a string of mutilated prostitutes, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the government.1888
- DirectorAndré ØvredalStarsCorey HawkinsAisling FranciosiLiam CunninghamA crew sailing from Varna (Bulgaria) by the Black Sea to England find that they are carrying very dangerous cargo.1897
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsKate BeckinsaleJim SturgessDavid ThewlisAn Oxford graduate takes up a job in a mental asylum, only to discover that the "revolutionary" new treatments are inhumane, and that there is more going on than meets the eye.1899
- DirectorAndré De TothStarsVincent PriceFrank LovejoyPhyllis KirkAn associate burns down a wax museum with the owner inside, but he survives only to become vengeful and murderous.Early 1900s
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsMia WasikowskaJessica ChastainTom HiddlestonIn the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds - and remembers.1901
- DirectorJames WatkinsStarsDaniel RadcliffeJanet McTeerCiarán HindsA young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.1906
- DirectorMichael SpierigPeter SpierigStarsHelen MirrenSarah SnookFinn Scicluna-O'PreyEnsconced in her sprawling San Jose, California mansion, eccentric firearm heiress Sarah Winchester (Dame Helen Mirren) believes she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.1906
- DirectorTi WestStarsMia GothDavid CorenswetTandi WrightIn 1918, a young woman on the brink of madness pursues stardom in a desperate attempt to escape the drudgery, isolation, and lovelessness of life on her parents' farm.1918
- DirectorRahi Anil BarveAnand GandhiAdesh PrasadStarsSohum ShahJyoti MalsheAnita Date-KelkarA mythological story about a goddess who created the entire universe. The plot revolves around the consequences when humans build a temple for her first-born.1918-1947
- DirectorBrian O'MalleyStarsCharlotte VegaBill MilnerEugene SimonA family curse confines orphaned twins Rachel and Edwards to their home, in punishment for their ancestors' sins. Bound to the rules of a haunting childhood lullaby, the twins must never let any outsiders inside the house.1920
- DirectorNick MurphyStarsRebecca HallDominic WestImelda StauntonIn 1921, England is overwhelmed by the loss and grief of World War I. Hoax exposer Florence Cathcart visits a boarding school to explain sightings of a child ghost. Everything she believes unravels as the 'missing' begin to show themselves.1921
- DirectorZak HilditchStarsThomas JaneMolly ParkerDylan SchmidA simple yet proud farmer in the year 1922 conspires to murder his wife for financial gain, convincing his teenage son to assist. But their actions have unintended consequences.1922
- DirectorJohn IrvinStarsCraig WassonAlice KrigeFred AstaireTwo generations of men find themselves haunted by the presence of a spectral woman. When the son of one of the elderly men returns to his hometown after his brother's mysterious death, they attempt to unravel her story.1929 and 1979
- DirectorCharles LaughtonStarsRobert MitchumShelley WintersLillian GishA self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.1930s
- DirectorChristopher SmithStarsJessica Brown FindlayJohn HeffernanAnya McKenna-BruceThe Banishing tells the story of the most haunted house in England. In the 1930s, a young reverend, his wife and daughter move into a manor with a horrifying secret.1935 --- I'm absolutely befuddled by the low rating; this movie was a unique period piece with a strong storyline.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsMarisa ParedesEduardo NoriegaFederico LuppiAfter Carlos - a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War - arrives at an ominous boys' orphanage, he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets which he must uncover.1939
- DirectorPaco PlazaStarsAria BedmarMaru ValdivielsoLuisa MerelasAfter a childhood marked by a miracle, Narcisa, a novice nun joins a school to teach young girls.1939 and 1949
- DirectorTom HarperStarsHelen McCroryJeremy IrvinePhoebe Fox40 years after the first haunting at Eel Marsh House, a group of children evacuated from WWII London arrives, awakening the house's darkest inhabitant.1941
- StarsSuranne JonesTom EllisDouglas HenshallA year after their son goes missing, a family moves to Crickley Hall. When supernatural events begin to take place, Eve feels the house is somehow connected to her lost son.1943
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.1944
- DirectorTakashi YamazakiStarsMinami HamabeRyunosuke KamikiSakura AndôPost war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.1945
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsNicole KidmanChristopher EcclestonFionnula FlanaganIn 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.1945
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghMichelle YeohJamie DornanIn post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.1947
- DirectorStacie PassonStarsTaissa FarmigaAlexandra DaddarioCrispin GloverMerricat, Constance and their Uncle Julian live in isolation after experiencing a family tragedy six years earlier. When cousin Charles arrives to steal the family fortune, he also threatens a dark secret they've been hiding.1950s
- DirectorCorin HardyStarsDemián BichirTaissa FarmigaJonas BloquetA priest with a haunted past and a novice on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun.1952
- DirectorAdam RobitelStarsLin ShayeLeigh WhannellAngus SampsonParapsychologist Dr. Elise Rainier faces her most fearsome and personal haunting yet, as she is drawn back to her ghostly childhood home where the terror began.1953
- DirectorDavid F. SandbergStarsAnthony LaPagliaSamara LeeMiranda OttoTwelve years after the tragic death of their little girl, a doll-maker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, where they become the target of the doll-maker's possessed creation, Annabelle.1955
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSimone SignoretVéra ClouzotPaul MeurisseThe wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.1955
- DirectorMichael ChavesStarsTaissa FarmigaJonas BloquetStorm Reid1956 - France. A priest is murdered. An evil is spreading. The sequel to the worldwide smash hit follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face-to-face with Valak, the demon nun.1956
- DirectorDon SiegelStarsKevin McCarthyDana WynterLarry GatesA small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.1956
- DirectorIrvin S. Yeaworth Jr.Russell S. Doughten Jr.StarsSteve McQueenAneta CorsautEarl RoweAn alien lifeform consumes everything in its path as it grows and grows.1957
- DirectorKurt NeumannStarsDavid HedisonPatricia OwensVincent PriceA scientist has a horrific accident when he tries to use his newly invented teleportation device.1958
- DirectorJoseph GreenStarsJason EversVirginia LeithAnthony La PennaA doctor experimenting with transplant techniques keeps his girlfriend's head alive when she is decapitated in a car crash, then goes hunting for a new body.1959
- DirectorGeorges FranjuStarsPierre BrasseurAlida ValliJuliette MaynielA surgeon causes an accident which leaves his daughter disfigured and goes to extreme lengths to give her a new face.1959
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.1959
- CreatorAmr SalamaStarsRazane JammalPhilip ShahbazKarla MaatoukSet in the 1960s, the series, packed with mystery and suspense, depicts the adventures of Doctor Refaat Ismail, a single hematologist who finds himself faced with a series of supernatural events.1960s
- DirectorHerk HarveyStarsCandace HilligossFrances FeistSidney BergerAfter a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.1962
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie HarrisClaire BloomRichard JohnsonHill House has stood for about 90 years and appears haunted: its inhabitants have always met strange, tragic ends. Now Dr. John Markway has assembled a team of people who he thinks will prove whether or not the house is haunted.1963
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRod TaylorTippi HedrenJessica TandyA wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.1963
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsJoan CrawfordDiane BakerLeif EricksonAfter a twenty-year stay at an asylum for a double murder, a mother returns to her estranged daughter where suspicions arise about her behavior.1964
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsThomasin McKenzieAnya Taylor-JoyMatt SmithAspiring fashion designer Eloise is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s, where she encounters dazzling wannabe singer Sandie. But the glamour is not as it seems, and the dreams of the past crack and splinter into something darker.Mid 1960s
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.1966
- DirectorMike FlanaganStarsElizabeth ReaserLulu WilsonAnnalise BassoIn 1967 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her daughters add a new stunt to bolster their seance scam business by inviting an evil presence into their home, not realizing how dangerous it is.1967
- DirectorJohn R. LeonettiStarsWard HortonAnnabelle WallisAlfre WoodardA couple begins to experience terrifying supernatural occurrences involving a vintage doll shortly after their home is invaded by satanic cultists.1967
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDuane JonesJudith O'DeaKarl HardmanA ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.1968
- DirectorAndré ØvredalStarsZoe CollettiMichael GarzaGabriel RushIn 1968, the night of Halloween brings mayhem in a small town when a group of friends discovers a notebook written by a mysterious girl that foretells terrifying events.1968
- DirectorSergio G. SánchezStarsGeorge MacKayAnya Taylor-JoyCharlie HeatonA young man and his three younger siblings, who have kept secret the death of their beloved mother in order to remain together, are plagued by a sinister presence in the sprawling manor in which they live.1968
- DirectorJames WanStarsPatrick WilsonVera FarmigaRon LivingstonParanormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.1971
- DirectorArkasha StevensonStarsNell Tiger FreeRalph InesonSonia BragaA young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, but encounters a darkness that causes her to question her faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.1971
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsGregory PeckLee RemickHarvey StephensMysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?1971 and 1976
- DirectorGary DaubermanStarsVera FarmigaPatrick WilsonMckenna GraceWhile babysitting the daughter of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a teenager and her friend unknowingly awaken an evil spirit trapped in a doll.1972
- DirectorMichael ChavesStarsLinda CardelliniRaymond CruzPatricia VelasquezIgnoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother suspected of child endangerment, a social worker and her own small kids are soon drawn into a frightening supernatural realm.1973
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsEllen BurstynMax von SydowLinda BlairWhen a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.1973
- DirectorCorinna FaithStarsMark SmithMarley CheshamRose WilliamsIn 1974 a young nurse is forced to work the night shift in a crumbling hospital as striking miners switch off the power across Britain; inside the walls lurks a terrifying presence that threatens to consume her and everyone around her.1974
- DirectorJohn PogueStarsJared HarrisSam ClaflinOlivia CookeA university professor and a team of students conduct an experiment on a young woman, uncovering terrifyingly dark, unexpected forces in the process.1974
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.1975
- DirectorAndrew DouglasStarsRyan ReynoldsMelissa GeorgeJimmy BennettNewlyweds are terrorized by demonic forces after moving into a large house that was the site of a grisly mass murder a year before.1975
- DirectorNicolas GessnerStarsJodie FosterMartin SheenAlexis SmithA 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.1976
- DirectorJames WanStarsVera FarmigaPatrick WilsonMadison WolfeEd and Lorraine Warren travel to North London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by a supernatural spirit.1977
- DirectorCameron CairnesColin CairnesStarsDavid DastmalchianLaura GordonIan BlissA live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms.1977
- DirectorElliot SilversteinStarsJames BrolinKathleen LloydJohn MarleyA small desert town is terrorized by a powerful, seemingly possessed car, and the local sheriff may be the only one who can stop it.1977
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKeith GordonJohn StockwellAlexandra PaulA nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.1978
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceJamie Lee CurtisTony MoranFifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.1978
- DirectorRick RosenthalStarsJamie Lee CurtisDonald PleasenceCharles CyphersWhile Dr. Loomis hunts for Michael Myers, a traumatized Laurie is rushed to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, and The Shape is not far behind her.1978
- DirectorScott DerricksonStarsMason ThamesMadeleine McGrawEthan HawkeAfter being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer's previous victims.1978
- DirectorLeigh JaniakStarsSadie SinkEmily RuddRyan SimpkinsShadyside, 1978. School's out for summer and the activities at Camp Nightwing are about to begin. But when another Shadysider is possessed with the urge to kill, the fun in the sun becomes a gruesome fight for survival.1978
- DirectorTed GeogheganStarsAndrew SensenigBarbara CramptonLarry FessendenIn the cold, wintery fields of New England, a lonely old house wakes up every thirty years - and demands a sacrifice.1979
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsGeorge C. ScottTrish Van DevereMelvyn DouglasAfter the death of his wife and daughter in a car crash, a music professor staying at a long-vacant Seattle mansion is dragged into a decades-old mystery by an inexplicable presence in the mansion's attic.1979
- DirectorTi WestStarsMia GothJenna OrtegaBrittany SnowIn 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the crew find themselves fighting for their lives.1979
- DirectorBill PaxtonStarsBill PaxtonMatthew McConaugheyPowers BootheA mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to destroy people who were in fact "demons."1979
- DirectorAlejandro HidalgoStarsRuddy RodríguezGuillermo GarciaRosmel BustamanteDulce is a mother of two who experiences terrifying encounters with apparitions inside her old house, a place where a tragedy occurs. Thirty years later, an elderly Dulce returns home to decipher the mystery that has tormented her for so long.Early 1980s
- DirectorSean S. CunninghamStarsBetsy PalmerAdrienne KingJeannine TaylorA group of teenage camp counselors attempt to re-open an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past, but they are stalked by a mysterious, relentless killer.1980
- DirectorWes CravenStarsHeather LangenkampJohnny DeppRobert EnglundTeenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.1981
- DirectorMichael ChavesStarsPatrick WilsonVera FarmigaRuairi O'ConnorArne Cheyenne Johnson stabs and murders his landlord, claiming to be under demonic possession while Ed and Lorraine Warren investigate the case and try to prove his innocence.1981
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.1982
- DirectorEgor AbramenkoStarsOksana AkinshinaFedor BondarchukPyotr FyodorovThe lone survivor of an enigmatic spaceship incident hasn't returned home alone - hiding inside his body is a dangerous creature.1983
- DirectorTi WestStarsJocelin DonahueTom NoonanMary WoronovIn 1983, financially struggling college student Samantha Hughes takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.1983
- DirectorSteve MinerStarsBetsy PalmerAmy SteelJohn FureyFive years after the events of the first film, a summer camp next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is preparing to open, but the legend of Jason is weighing heavy on the proceedings.1984
- DirectorJulius AveryStarsRussell CroweDaniel ZovattoAlexandra EssoeFollow Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's leading exorcist, as he investigates the possession of a child and uncovers a conspiracy the Vatican has tried to keep secret.1986
- DirectorPeter CornwellStarsVirginia MadsenMartin DonovanElias KoteasAfter a family is forced to relocate for their son's health, they begin experiencing supernatural behavior in their new home, and uncover a sinister history.1986
- CreatorMike FlanaganStarsVictoria PedrettiOliver Jackson-CohenAmelia EveAfter an au pair’s tragic death, Henry hires a young American nanny to care for his orphaned niece and nephew who reside at Bly Manor with the chef Owen, groundskeeper Jamie and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose.1987
- DirectorAndy MuschiettiStarsBill SkarsgårdJaeden MartellFinn WolfhardIn the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shape-shifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town.1989
- DirectorMary LambertStarsDale MidkiffDenise CrosbyFred GwynneAfter tragedy strikes, a grieving father discovers an ancient burial ground behind his home with the power to raise the dead.1989