Best Horror Movies of 1971, Ranked

Two Egyptologists, Professor Fuchs and Corbeck, are instrumental in unleashing unmitigated horror by bringing back to England the mummified body of Tara, the Egyptian Queen of Darkness. Fuchs’s daughter becomes involved in a series of macabre and terrifying incidents, powerless against the forces of darkness, directed by Corbeck, that are taking possession of her body and soul to fulfill the ancient prophesy that Queen Tara will be resurrected to continue her reign of unspeakable evil.

An erotic horror tale about a vixen vampiress seducing and killing women to appease her insatiable thirst for female blood.

Count Yorga continues to prey on the local community while living by a nearby orphanage. He also intends to take a new wife, while feeding his bevy of female vampires.

An ever evolving alien life-form arrives on a comet from the Dark Gaseous Nebula and proceeds to consume pollution. Spewing mists of sulfuric acid and corrosive sludge, neither humanity nor Godzilla may be able to defeat this toxic menace.

When socialite and heiress Julie Wardh begins receiving blackmail letters attributed to a mysterious serial killer, she suspects her cruel and sadistic former lover Jean is behind them. With her husband Neil frequently out of town, she falls into the arms of her friend's cousin George, and as the unknown assassin begins to make his move, she fears that one of the three men in her life may be the killer.

In foggy London Dr Jekyll experiments on newly deceased women determined to discover an elixir for immortal life. Success enables his spectacular transformation into the beautiful but psychotic Sister Hyde who stalks the dark alleys of Whitechapel for young, innocent, female victims, ensuring continuation of the bloodstained research. With each transformation Sister Hyde becomes the more dominant personality, determined to eventually suppress the frail, ineffectual Dr Jekyll forever.

Father Urbain Grandier’s unorthodox views of sex and religion make him a polarizing figure in 17th-century France. His outspokenness has amassed a passionate following of nuns and a respected reputation for protecting the city of Loudon from corruption. Grandier’s influence is then undermined following a sexually repressed nun’s accusation of witchcraft.

After a landsman in 18th century England discovers a corpse covered in fur buried in a field, the town becomes infected by "the devil's skin," leading the local children to engage in demonic rituals and criminal behavior.

When Dr. Frankenstein is killed by a monster he created, his daughter and his lab assistant continue his experiments.

Simon is a modern day warlock. Though he lives in a storm drain and sometimes talks to trees, he's deadly serious about his witchcraft. After being picked up for vagrancy, Simon spends a night in jail with Turk, a young hustler with connections to powerful people such as Hercules, an aging hipster who hires Simon to work one of his groovy parties. There he meets Linda, the DA's pill-popping daughter. In between romanic dalliances and colorful sex magic ceremonies, Simon must contend with those who dare to challenge his magical prowess causing him to summon the dark world for his revenge.

A newsman works with a blind puzzle-solver to uncover a deadly conspiracy linked to a genetic research facility.

Roberto, a drummer in a rock band, keeps receiving weird phone calls and being followed by a mysterious man. One night he manages to catch up with his persecutor and tries to get him to talk but in the ensuing struggle he accidentally stabs him. He runs away, but he understands his troubles have just begun when the following day he receives an envelope with photos of him killing the man. Someone is killing all his friends and trying to frame him for the murders.

Carol Hammond, daughter of a politician, has vivid nightmares involving sex orgies and LSD. In a dream, she murders a neighbor she envies and wakes up to a real investigation into her neighbor's murder.

A frustrated pianist himself, music journalist Myles Clarkson is thrilled to interview virtuoso Duncan Ely. Duncan, however, is terminally ill and not much interested in Myles until noticing that Myles' hands are ideally suited for piano. Suddenly, he can't get enough of his new friend, and Myles' wife, Paula, becomes suspicious of Duncan's intentions. Her suspicions grow when Duncan dies and Myles mysteriously becomes a virtuoso overnight.

Alan Foster, a professional American journalist, travels to London to meet with Edgar Allan Poe for an interview. While in London, Alan soon finds himself in the company of Lord Blackwood, and Alan accepts a bet to spend a night in his castle

A rich, mentally-unstable man with a penchant for playing deadly S&M games with women who resemble his dead wife, sparks off a chain of bizarre events after getting remarried.

In Paris, in the beginning of the Twentieth Century, Cesar Charron owns a theater at the Rue Morgue where he performs the play "Murders in the Rue Morgue" with his wife Madeleine Charron, who has dreadful nightmares. When there are several murders by acid of people connected to Cesar, the prime suspect of Inspector Vidocq would be Cesar's former partner Rene Marot. But Marot murdered Madeleine's mother many years ago and committed suicide immediately after.

In the English countryside, Sarah Rexton, recently blinded in a horse riding accident, moves in with her uncle's family and gallantly adjusts to her new condition, unaware that a killer stalks them.

An American journalist in Prague searches for his girlfriend who has suddenly disappeared.

A social misfit, Willard is made fun of by his co-workers, and squeezed out of the company started by his deceased father by his boss. His only friends are a couple of rats he raised at home, Ben and Socrates. However, when one of them is killed at work, he goes on a rampage using his rats to attack those who have been tormenting him.

A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house.

Hungary, XVII century. After being widowed, the old countess Elizabeth Nádasdy, of the Báthory lineage, fortunately discovers a way to become young again; but the price to be paid by those around her will be high and bloody.

An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all-out murder spree as relatives and friends attempt to reduce the inheritance playing field, complicated by some teenagers who decide to camp out in a dilapidated building on the estate.

Seven tourists sent by Satan to a castle are caught by a ghastly woman as they commit deadly sins.

While dabbling in Satanism, Count Karstein resurrects Mircalla Karnstein who initiates him into vampirism. As a rash of deaths afflicts the village, Gustav the head of Puritan group leads his men to seek out and destroy the pestilence. One of his twin nieces has become inflicted with the witchcraft but Gustav's zeal and venom has trapped the innocent Maria, threatening her with a tortuous execution, whilst Frieda remains free to continue her orgy of evil.

After a team of surgeons botches his beloved wife's operation, the distraught Dr. Phibes unleashes a score of Old-Testament atrocities on his enemies.

Ostend, Belgium. In a decadent seaside hotel, Stefan and Valerie, a newlywed couple, meet the mysterious Countess Báthory and Ilona, her secretary.

Newly released from a mental ward, Jessica hopes to return to life the way it was before her nervous breakdown. But when Jessica moves to a country house with her husband and a close friend, she finds a mysterious girl living in there. Jessica's terror and paranoia resurface as evil forces surround her.