The Best Grindhouse Movies Of All-Time
“What are the best Grindhouse movies?” We looked at 187 of the top Grindhouse films, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 21 films, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Grindhouse ” movie lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 150+ movies, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
Top 21 Best Grindhouse Movies Ever Made
21 .) Abby (1974) directed by William Girdler
Lists It Appears On:
- List Challenges
- Wicked Horror
When a minister’s wife becomes posessed by Eshu, the Nigerian god of sexuality, an exorcist is called in to drive the evil spirit away.
20 .) Bloodsucking Freaks directed by Joel M. Reed
Lists It Appears On:
- List Challenges
- Wicked Horror
Sardu, master of the Theatre of the Macabre, and his assistant Ralphus run a show in which, under the guise of ‘magic’, they torture and murder people in front of their audience. But what the punters see as a trick is actually real.
19 .) City of the Living Dead (1980) directed by Lucio Fulci
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- List Challenges
A young woman has visions that suggest the eruption of the living dead into the world through a portal, spurred on by the suicide of a priest.
18 .) Death Race 2000 (1975) directed by Paul Bartel
Lists It Appears On:
- Den of Geek
- List Challenges
In a boorish future, the government sponsors a popular, but bloody, cross-country race in which points are scored by mowing down pedestrians. Five teams, each comprised of a male and female, compete using cars equipped with deadly weapons. Frankenstein, the mysterious returning champion, has become America’s hero, but this time he has a passenger from the underground resistance.
17 .) Equinox directed by Dennis Muren, Jack Woods
Lists It Appears On:
- List Challenges
- Wicked Horror
Four friends are attacked by a demon while on a picnic, due to possession of a tome of mystic information, and find themselves pitched into a world of evil which overlaps our own. Incorporates a 16mm amateur short film by Dennis Muren and Mark Thomas McGee, featuring author Fritz Leiber Jr., filmed in 1965.
16 .) Escape from New York (1981) directed by John Carpenter
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- List Challenges
In 1997, the island of Manhattan has been walled off and turned into a giant maximum security prison within which the country’s worst criminals are left to form their own anarchic society. However, when the President of the United States crash lands on the island, the authorities turn to a former soldier and current convict to rescue him.
15 .) Fight for Your Life (1976) directed by Robert A. Endelson
Lists It Appears On:
- BFI
- List Challenges
A minister dispenses justice on three convicts who take his family hostage
14 .) Hobo with a Shotgun directed by Jason Eisener
Lists It Appears On:
- Cinema Nerdz
- Fandango
A vigilante homeless man pulls into a new city and finds himself trapped in urban chaos, a city where crime rules and where the city’s crime boss reigns. Seeing an urban landscape filled with armed robbers, corrupt cops, abused prostitutes and even a pedophile Santa, the Hobo goes about bringing justice to the city the best way he knows how – with a 20-gauge shotgun. Mayhem ensues when he tries to make things better for the future generation. Street justice will indeed prevail. ×
13 .) House on the Edge of the Park (1980) directed by Ruggero Deodato
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- Wicked Horror
Alex (David Hess) is a darkly sinister thug driving around New York City at night when he spots a young woman (Karoline Mardeck) driving alongside him. He follows the woman to a nearby park where he cuts her off, gets out of his car, and runs into hers where he throws her into the back seat and proceeds to savagely rape her before strangling her to death. He takes her locket as a trophy to another one of his many killings.
12 .) I Spit on Your Grave (1978) directed by Meir Zarchi
Lists It Appears On:
- Anti Film School Site
- IGN
An aspiring writer is repeatedly gang-raped, humiliated, and left for dead by four men whom she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.
11 .) Please Don’t Eat My Mother! (1973) directed by Carl Monson
Lists It Appears On:
- IGN
- NME
A middle-aged man buys a plant with a sexy voice that develops a craving for insects, frogs, dogs, humans…
10 .) Shogun Assassin (1980) directed by Robert Houston
Lists It Appears On:
- BFI
- IMDB
A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to avenge the death of his wife and roams the countryside with his toddler son in search of vengeance.
9 .) The Exterminator (1980) directed by James Glickenhaus
Lists It Appears On:
- IMDB
- List Challenges
A man’s best friend is killed on the streets of New York. The man (Robert Ginty) then transforms into a violent killer, turning New York into a great war zone and Christopher George is the only one to stop him.
8 .) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) directed by Tobe Hooper
Lists It Appears On:
- Anti Film School Site
- Den of Geek
Five friends visiting their grandfather’s house in the country are hunted and terrorized by a chain-saw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.
7 .) Vampyros Lesbos (1971) directed by Jesús Franco
Lists It Appears On:
- IGN
- NME
An erotic horror tale about a vixen vampiress seducing and killing women to appease her insatiable thirst for female blood.
6 .) Vanishing Point (1971) directed by Richard C. Sarafian
Lists It Appears On:
- IGN
- NME
Kowalski works for a car delivery service, and takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to drive from Colorado to San Francisco. Shortly after pickup, he takes a bet to get the car there in less than 15 hours.
5 .) Coffy (1973) directed by Jack Hill
Lists It Appears On:
- BFI
- IGN
- List Challenges
After her younger sister gets involved in drugs and is severely injured by contaminated heroin, a nurse sets out on a mission of vengeance and vigilante justice, killing drug dealers, pimps, and mobsters who cross her path.
4 .) Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975) directed by Don Edmonds
Lists It Appears On:
- Anti Film School Site
- Den of Geek
- IGN
Ilsa is a warden at a Nazi death camp that conducts experiments on prisoners. Ilsa’s goal is to prove that woman can withstand more pain and suffering than men and should be allowed to fight on the front lines
3 .) The Baby (1972) directed by Ted Post
Lists It Appears On:
- BFI
- List Challenges
- Wicked Horror
A social worker who recently lost her husband investigates the strange Wadsworth family. The Wadsworths might not seem too unusual to hear about them at first – consisting of the mother, two grown daughters and the diaper-clad, bottle-sucking baby. The problem is, the baby is twenty-one years old.
2 .) Cannibal Holocaust (1980) directed by Ruggero Deodato
Lists It Appears On:
- Anti Film School Site
- IGN
- IMDB
- NME
A New York University professor returns from a rescue mission to the Amazon rainforest with the footage shot by a lost team of documentarians who were making a film about the area’s local cannibal tribes.
1 .) Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) directed by Russ Meyer
Lists It Appears On:
- Anti Film School Site
- Den of Geek
- IGN
- List Challenges
- NME
Three strippers seeking thrills encounter a young couple in the desert. After dispatching the boyfriend, they take the girl hostage and begin scheming on a crippled old man living with his two sons in the desert, reputedly hiding a tidy sum of cash. They become house guests of the old man and try and seduce the sons in an attempt to locate the money, not realizing that the old man has a few sinister intentions of his own.
The 150+ Additional Best Grindhouse Films
| # | Movies | Directors | Lists |
| 22 | 2,001 Maniacs | Fandango | |
| 23 | Aakrosh (1980) | Govind Nihalani | IMDB |
| 24 | Absence of Malice (1981) | Sydney Pollack | IMDB |
| 25 | Absurd (1981) | Joe D’Amato | IMDB |
| 26 | Across 110th Street | Den of Geek | |
| 27 | Alligator (1980) | Lewis Teague | IMDB |
| 28 | Altered States (1980) | Ken Russell | IMDB |
| 29 | Amer | Helene Cattet & Bruno Forzani | Cinema Nerdz |
| 30 | American Gigolo (1980) | Paul Schrader | IMDB |
| 31 | Antropophagus (1980) | Joe D’Amato | IMDB |
| 32 | Bad Timing (1980) | Nicolas Roeg | IMDB |
| 33 | Battle Royale | Kinji Fukasaku | Cinema Nerdz |
| 34 | Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens | Den of Geek | |
| 35 | Big Doll House | List Challenges | |
| 36 | Billy Jack | Den of Geek | |
| 37 | Birdemic | James Nguyen | Cinema Nerdz |
| 38 | Black Caesar (1973) | List Challenges | |
| 39 | Black Christmas (1974) | List Challenges | |
| 40 | BLACK GESTAPO | List Challenges | |
| 41 | Blood Freak (1972) | List Challenges | |
| 42 | Blow Out (1981) | Brian De Palma | IMDB |
| 43 | Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976) | List Challenges | |
| 44 | Body Heat (1981) | Lawrence Kasdan | IMDB |
| 45 | Brand Upon the Brain! | Guy Maddin | Cinema Nerdz |
| 46 | Cannibals in the Streets (1980) | Antonio Margheriti | IMDB |
| 47 | Chinese Super Ninjas | List Challenges | |
| 48 | Christmas Evil (1980) | Lewis Jackson | IMDB |
| 49 | Class of 1984 (1982) | List Challenges | |
| 50 | Contamination (1980) | Luigi Cozzi | IMDB |
| 51 | Contraband (1980) | Lucio Fulci | IMDB |
| 52 | Crazy Thunder Road (1980) | Gakuryû Ishii | IMDB |
| 53 | Cruising (1980) | William Friedkin | IMDB |
| 54 | Cutter’s Way (1981) | Ivan Passer | IMDB |
| 55 | Danger Diabolik | List Challenges | |
| 56 | Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980) | Hark Tsui | IMDB |
| 57 | Darktown Strutters (1975) | List Challenges | |
| 58 | Dawn of the Dead (1978) | List Challenges | |
| 59 | Day of Resurrection (1980) | Kinji Fukasaku | IMDB |
| 60 | Dead Hooker in a Trunk | Fandango | |
| 61 | Death Hunt (1981) | Peter R. Hunt | IMDB |
| 62 | Death Proof | Fandango | |
| 63 | Death Watch (1980) | Bertrand Tavernier | IMDB |
| 64 | Deep Throat (1972) | List Challenges | |
| 65 | Detroit 9000 (1973) | List Challenges | |
| 66 | Dogtooth | Yorgos Lanthimos | Cinema Nerdz |
| 67 | Dolemite | List Challenges | |
| 68 | Dragon Princess | List Challenges | |
| 69 | Dressed to Kill (1980) | Brian De Palma | IMDB |
| 70 | Eaten Alive! (1980) | Umberto Lenzi | IMDB |
| 71 | Effects (1980) | Dusty Nelson | IMDB |
| 72 | El Topo (1970) | Anti Film School Site | |
| 73 | Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) | Sammo Kam-Bo Hung | IMDB |
| 74 | Enter the Dragon (1973) | List Challenges | |
| 75 | Escape from Hell (1980) | Edoardo Mulargia | IMDB |
| 76 | Excalibur (1981) | John Boorman | IMDB |
| 77 | Eyes of a Stranger (1981) | Ken Wiederhorn | IMDB |
| 78 | Fade to Black (1980) | Vernon Zimmerman | IMDB |
| 79 | Father’s Day | Fandango | |
| 80 |
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)
|
List Challenges | |
| 81 | Five Deadly Venoms | List Challenges | |
| 82 | Five Fingers of Death (1972) | List Challenges | |
| 83 | Flash Gordon (1980) | Mike Hodges | IMDB |
| 84 | Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1973) | List Challenges | |
| 85 | For Your Eyes Only (1981) | John Glen | IMDB |
| 86 | Forbidden Zone (1980) | Richard Elfman | IMDB |
| 87 | Four Lions | Christopher Morris | Cinema Nerdz |
| 88 | Foxy Brown (1974) | List Challenges | |
| 89 | Freaks | Den of Geek | |
| 90 | Friday the 13th (1980) | Sean S. Cunningham | IMDB |
| 91 | Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) | Steve Miner | IMDB |
| 92 | Funeral Home (1980) | William Fruet | IMDB |
| 93 | Gator Bait | List Challenges | |
| 94 |
Girls at the Gynecologist (Mädchen beim Frauenarzt, 1971)
|
BFI | |
| 95 | Gloria (1980) | John Cassavetes | IMDB |
| 96 | Golem (1980) | Piotr Szulkin | IMDB |
| 97 | Grizzly | Wicked Horror | |
| 98 | Halloween (1978) | Anti Film School Site | |
| 99 | Halloween II (1981) | Rick Rosenthal | IMDB |
| 100 | Hammer House of Horror (1980) | Nicholas Ball | IMDB |
| 101 | Happy Birthday to Me (1981) | J. Lee Thompson | IMDB |
| 102 | Harlequin (1980) | Simon Wincer | IMDB |
| 103 | Heavy Metal (1981) | Gerald Potterton | IMDB |
| 104 | Hex (1980) | Chih-Hung Kuei | IMDB |
| 105 | Hollywood Shuffle | Den of Geek | |
| 106 | House of the Devil | Ti West | Cinema Nerdz |
| 107 | Humanoids from the Deep (1980) | Barbara Peeters | IMDB |
| 108 | I Drink Your Blood (1971) | BFI | |
| 109 |
In the Jungle: The Making of Cannibal Holocaust (2003)
|
List Challenges | |
| 110 | Inferno (1980) | Dario Argento | IMDB |
| 111 | Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973) | BFI | |
| 112 | Kamilla (1981) | Vibeke Løkkeberg | IMDB |
| 113 | Kill Bill Volume I and II | Fandango | |
| 114 | Knightriders (1981) | George A. Romero | IMDB |
| 115 | La nuit de la mort! (1980) | Raphaël Delpard | IMDB |
| 116 | Lady Stay Dead (1981) | Terry Bourke | IMDB |
| 117 | Looker (1981) | Michael Crichton | IMDB |
| 118 | Lust for a Vampire | Den of Geek | |
| 119 | Macabre (1980) | Lamberto Bava | IMDB |
| 120 | Machete | Fandango | |
| 121 | Madhouse (1981) | Ovidio G. Assonitis | IMDB |
| 122 | Maniac (1980) | William Lustig | IMDB |
| 123 | Motel Hell (1980) | Kevin Connor | IMDB |
| 124 | Mother’s Day (1980) | Charles Kaufman | IMDB |
| 125 | Ms .45 (1981) | Abel Ferrara | IMDB |
| 126 | Mystics in Bali (1981) | H. Tjut Djalil | IMDB |
| 127 | Night of the Juggler (1980) | Robert Butler | IMDB |
| 128 | Night of the Living Dead | Den of Geek | |
| 129 | Nightkill (1980) | Ted Post | IMDB |
| 130 | Nightmare City (1980) | Umberto Lenzi | IMDB |
| 131 | Outland (1981) | Peter Hyams | IMDB |
| 132 | Planet Terror | Fandango | |
| 133 | Porky’s (1981) | Bob Clark | IMDB |
| 134 | Prom Night (1980) | Paul Lynch | IMDB |
| 135 | Rhythm of a Crime (1981) | Zoran Tadic | IMDB |
| 136 | Rubber | Quentin Dupieux | Cinema Nerdz |
| 137 | Savage Hunt of King Stakh (1980) | Valeri Rubinchik | IMDB |
| 138 | Scanners (1981) | David Cronenberg | IMDB |
| 139 | Schizoid (1980) | David Paulsen | IMDB |
| 140 | Shanty Tramp (1967) | BFI | |
| 141 | Si yiu (1981) | Chih-Hung Kuei | IMDB |
| 142 | Spider Baby | Wicked Horror | |
| 143 |
SS Hell Camp aka The Beast in Heat (1977)
|
BFI | |
| 144 | Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song | IGN | |
| 145 | Terror Train (1980) | Roger Spottiswoode | IMDB |
| 146 | The Abductors (1972) | BFI | |
| 147 | The Attic (1980) | George Edwards | IMDB |
| 148 | The Beasts’ Carnival (1980) | Paul Naschy | IMDB |
| 149 | The Beyond (1981) | List Challenges | |
| 150 |
The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970)
|
List Challenges | |
| 151 | The Boogey Man (1980) | Ulli Lommel | IMDB |
| 152 | The Boss (1973) | List Challenges | |
| 153 | The Burning (1981) | List Challenges | |
| 154 | The Changeling (1980) | Peter Medak | IMDB |
| 155 | The Children (1980) | Max Kalmanowicz | IMDB |
| 156 | The Chinese Boxer (1970) | List Challenges | |
| 157 | The Devil’s Rejects | Fandango | |
| 158 | The Doom Generation | Fandango | |
| 159 | The Elephant Man (1980) | David Lynch | IMDB |
| 160 | The Fan (1981) | Ed Bianchi | IMDB |
| 161 | The Fog (1980) | John Carpenter | IMDB |
| 162 | The G.I. Executioner | List Challenges | |
| 163 | The Last Hunter (1980) | Antonio Margheriti | IMDB |
| 164 | The Long Good Friday (1980) | John Mackenzie | IMDB |
| 165 | The Night of the Hunted (1980) | Jean Rollin | IMDB |
| 166 | The Ninth Configuration (1980) | William Peter Blatty | IMDB |
| 167 | The Other Hell (1981) | Bruno Mattei | IMDB |
| 168 | The Road Warrior (1981) | George Miller | IMDB |
| 169 | The Shining (1980) | Stanley Kubrick | IMDB |
| 170 | The Streetfighter (1974) | Anti Film School Site | |
| 171 | The Stunt Man (1980) | Richard Rush | IMDB |
| 172 | The Undertaker and His Pals | Wicked Horror | |
| 173 | The Unseen (1980) | Danny Steinmann | IMDB |
| 174 | The War of the Worlds: Next Century (1981) | Piotr Szulkin | IMDB |
| 175 | The Watcher in the Woods (1980) | John Hough | IMDB |
| 176 | Thief (1981) | Michael Mann | IMDB |
| 177 | Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1974) | Anti Film School Site | |
| 178 | To All a Goodnight (1980) | David Hess | IMDB |
| 179 | Tucker & Dale vs. Evil | Eli Craig | Cinema Nerdz |
| 180 | Videodrome | Den of Geek | |
| 181 | We’re Going to Eat You (1980) | Hark Tsui | IMDB |
| 182 | Without Warning (1980) | Greydon Clark | IMDB |
| 183 | X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes | Den of Geek | |
| 184 | Zigeunerweisen (1980) | Seijun Suzuki | IMDB |
| 185 | Zombi 2 | IGN | |
| 186 | Zombie (1979) | Anti Film School Site | |
| 187 | Zombie Holocaust (1980) | Marino Girolami | IMDB |
10 Best Grindhouse Film Sources/Lists
| Source | Article |
| Anti Film School Site | Anti-Film School’s 10 Best Grindhouse Movies Ever! |
| BFI | BFI | Sight & Sound | 10 Picks from the Grindhouse |
| Cinema Nerdz | Ten Great Summer Grindhouse Movies |
| Den of Geek | 13 Grindhouse Movies to Mourn the Loss of Blood Drive |
| Fandango | The Grindiest of All Grindhouse Movies |
| IGN | Top 10 Grind House Films |
| IMDB | Greatest 80’s Horror, Thriller, Cult, Grindhouse & Exploitation Films |
| List Challenges | 100 Grindhouse Classics – How many of these classic grindhouse |
| NME | Five Grindhouse Films You Really Should’ve Seen By Now |
| Wicked Horror | Eight Grindhouse Movies That Need To Be Rediscovered |
