A collage of B-movie posters "The Raven," "The Hills Have Eyes," "Cat People," "Invaders from Mars" and "The Blob."
Compiled by Julia Hatmaker | [email protected]
Blobfest kicks off July 14 at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville. It's a multi-day celebration of B-movies and so, in its honor we've compiled a list of the 25 best B-movie horror films of the 20th century.
To make our list, we pulled the 75 most popular horror films from the 20th century with the b-movie tag from IMDB. Then, we cross referenced that with Rotten Tomatoes scores, where the higher the percentage the better the film. The highest-scoring films appearing higher in the ranks, obviously.
Here is a countdown of the films that made our top 25.
Screenshot of a promotional poster for "Forbidden World."
25. "Forbidden World" (1982)
60 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 39th most popular on IMDB
A genetic experiment gone awry slowly begins eating the scientists that made it… and this all goes down in space.
- Stars Jesse Vint, Dawn Dunlap
- Directed by Allan Holzmann
24. "It Came from Beneath the Sea" (1955)
63 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 73rd most popular on IMDB
The North American Pacific Coast is terrorized by a humongous radioactive octopus.
- Stars Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue
- Directed by Robert Gordon
23. "Ben" (1972)
63 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 35th most popular on IMDB
The leader of a pack of killer rats befriends a lonely boy.
- Stars Lee Montgomery, Joseph Campanella
- Directed by Phil Karlson
22. "The Hills Have Eyes" (1977)
64 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 2nd most popular on IMDB
A family’s car breaks down, leaving them stranded in a desert filled with savages.
- Stars Suze Lanier-Bramlett, Robert Houston
- Directed by Wes Craven
21. "Ninja III: The Domination" (1984)
67 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 24th most popular on IMDB
A woman is possessed by an evil ninja intent on avenging his death.
- Stars Sho Kosugi, Lucinda Dickey
- Directed by Sam Firstenberg
20. "The Blob" (1958)
68 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 23rd most popular on IMDB
An alien lands on earth and begins to grow, absorbing and killing everything and everyone in its path.
- Stars Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut
- Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
19. "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" (1988)
71 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 5th most popular on IMDB
Scary clowns are actually revealed to be aliens -- and they’re intent to terrify a small town.
- Stars Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder.
- Directed by Stephen Chiodo
18. "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" (1958)
75 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 48th most popular on IMDB
A woman is nearly murdered, and instead grows to an enormous size. That spells bad news for her cheating husband.
- Stars Allison Hayes, William Hudson
- Directed by Nathan Juran
17. "The Brood" (1979)
78 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 18th most popular on IMDB
A man realizes that a series of murders are somehow linked to his wife’s therapy sessions.
- Stars Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar
- Directed by David Cronenberg
16. "20 Millions Miles to Earth" (1957)
80 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 75th most popular on IMDB
A lizard-like alien from Venus arrives on Earth and begins to grow.
- Stars William Hopper, Joan Taylor
- Directed by Nathan Juran
15. "The Sword and the Sorcerer" (1982)
80 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 11th most popular on IMDB
A warrior teams up with a princess to defeat an evil tyrant.
- Stars Lee Horsley, Kathleen Beller
- Directed by Albert Pyun
14. "Invaders from Mars" (1953)
82 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 42nd most popular on IMDB
Aliens slowly begin to take over the minds of humans.
- Stars Helena Carter, Arthur Franz
- Directed by William Cameron Menzies
13. "Day of the Dead" (1985)
82 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 9th most popular on IMDB
Abandoning the world above to zombies, military officers and scientists hide out in an underground bunker.
- Stars Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander
- Directed by George Romero
12. "Pit and the Pendulum" (1961)
83 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 46th most popular on IMDB
A woman mysteriously dies after marrying the son of a Spanish Inquisitor -- and her brother is determined to find out how.
- Stars Vincent Price, Barbara Steele
- Directed by Roger Corman
11. "Alice Sweet Alice" (1976)
83 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 25th most popular on IMDB
A young teen is the prime suspect in the horrific murder of her younger sister.
- Stars Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton
- Directed by Alfred Sole
10. "Sleepaway Camp" (1983)
83 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 4th most popular on IMDB
After a young girl is sent to summer camp her fellow campers start to become murdered in grisly ways.
- Stars Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Mike Kellin
- Directed by Robert Hiltzik
9. "Carnival of Souls" (1962)
85 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 30th most popular on IMDB
A woman narrowly escapes death during a car crash, only to be mysteriously drawn to an abandoned carnival pavilion.
- Stars Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist
- Directed by Herk Harvey
8. "Dead Alive" (1992)
88 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 3rd most popular on IMDB
A mother is bitten by a rat-monkey and dies -- only to come back to life hungrier than ever.
- Stars Timothy Balme, Diana Penalver
- Directed by Peter Jackson
7. "House of Usher" (1960)
90 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 53rd most popular on IMDB
A man is terrified that his fiancee’s brother has buried her while she was still alive.
- Stars Vincent Price, Mark Damon
- Directed by Roger Corman
6. "The Raven" (1963)
92 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 65th most popular on IMDB
A magician seeks help in breaking a curse that has him turning into a raven.
- Stars Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff
- Directed by Roger Corman
5. "Dawn of the Dead" (1978)
92 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 1st most popular on IMDB
Philly S.W.A.T members and reporters try to stave off a horde of hungry zombies while hiding out inside a mall.
- Stars David Emge, Ken Foree
- Directed by George A. Romero
4. "Cat People" (1942)
93 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 34th most popular on IMDB
A man and his lover are threatened by a mysterious cat creature that they believe could be his wife.
- Stars Simone Simon, Tom Conway
- Directed by Jacques Tourneur
3. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956)
98 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 21st most popular on IMDB
Aliens slowly take over the population of a town.
- Stars Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter
- Directed by Don Siegel
2. "Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told" (1967)
100 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 58th most popular on IMDB
Murderous and demented siblings go crazy after distant relatives turn up to take their home.
- Stars Lon Chaney Jr., Carol Ohmart
- Directed by Jack Hill
1. "Them!" (1954)
100 percent from Rotten Tomatoes
Ranked 19th most popular on IMDB
Giant man-eating ants threaten to destroy the world as we know it.
- Stars James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn
- Directed by Gordon Douglas
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