While American cinema has produced some of the scariest and most important horror flicks, international horror movies contain an edge many U.S. films lack. Because American cinema dominates the film industry in general, most people are familiar with classics such as The Exorcist and Halloween, but international horror films follow an entirely different formula and explore the unpredictable even more than some U.S. scary movies.

The 1970s saw a boom in international horror cinema, where the world’s international anxieties, politics, and threats were explored in some of the most unnerving movies of all time. While the U.S. pumped out movies about slashers and supernatural possessions, the rest of the world developed horror flicks that confronted the scariest subjects of the decade. Here are the best international horror movies of the 1970s.

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The Wicker Man

     British Lion Films

This 1973 British folk horror film follows the investigation of a police sergeant and devout Christian, Neil Howie, on the rural Scottish island of Summerisle. There, a young girl has gone missing. When Neil begins his investigation, he discovers that the residents of Summerisle practice Paganism rather than Christianity. The Wicker Man has been named one of the best British horror films of all time by NME among other magazines.

Nosferatu the Vampire

     20th Century Fox 

German film director and screenwriter Werner Herzog released Nosferatu the Vampire in 1979. Based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the German horror flick follows Dracula’s move in the 19th century from Transylvania to Wismar. Dracula begins to spread The Black Plague among the people and only one local woman can stop him. The film maintains a high rating on Rotten Tomatoes and critic Roger Ebert included the movie in his Great Movies Collection.

Suspiria

     Produzinoni 

This 1977 supernatural horror film is an Italian production directed by “master of horror” Dario Argento. Suspiria’s screenplay is based upon Thomas De Quincy’s collection of essays called Suspiria de Profundis which explores how memory is impacted by hallucinogenic drug use.

The film tells the story of a US ballet student named Suzy, portrayed by Jessica Harper, who moves into a highly celebrated dance academy. After a rash of murders linked to the academy, Suzy finds that the academy is a part of a supernatural agenda. The film is the first in a trilogy called The Three Mothers which also includes the 1980 film Inferno and the 2007 film The Mother of Tears.

Deep Red

     Cineriz

Another horrifying Dario Argento project, this Italian horror film follows a musician named Marcus who looks into a series of mysterious murders committed by someone wearing black leather gloves. Marcus is portrayed by English actor David Hemmings, who became an arthouse sensation after Blow-Up. When Deep Red blew up on the big screen in 1975, it was a popular and commercial success because of the appetite for mystery horror at the time.

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

     Hallmark Releasing Corp. 

In 1974, this Spanish-Italian horror science fiction film starring premiered at Spain’s Sitges Film Festival. A year later, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie was also released in the UK and the US. This Spanish zombie flick recounts the story of two protagonists in the English countryside who are accused of some murders that were actually committed by zombies.

An English investigator begins to harass the two main characters even though the zombies were created by a farm tool that uses radiation. The film has maintained positive reviews from critics, although it has been accused of being close to The Night of the Living Dead. However, it has its own creepy aesthetic.

A Bay of Blood

     Nuova Linea

This movie, directed by the great Mario Bava, is another example of an Italian Giallo slasher film. In 1971, the appetite for mystery-thriller horror stories was abundant and Bava was a fan of gore. It has been called Bava’s most gruesome film. A Bay of Blood tells the story of a rich countess whose suicide sparks a series of murders around the local bay while many suspicious characters fight over her estate.

Horror Express

     Regia Films 

In this 1972 Spanish horror flick directed by Eugenio Martin, the story follows multiple passengers traveling on the Trans-Siberian Railway train. One by one, each traveler is stalked by an alien life form that possesses the body of a prehistoric humanoid which was preserved by being frozen. The frozen humanoid is carried on board by an anthropologist. Martin won the Critic’s Best Script Award for Horror Express.

The Blood on Satan’s Claw

     Tigon Pictures

This British supernatural horror film came onto the movie scene in 1971. Although it initially underperformed at the box office, over time The Blood on Satan’s Claw became a part of the folk horror genre, which includes The Wicker Man. The story takes place in 18th-century England when a farmer unearths an eerie-looking skull. After discovering the skull, the adolescents in the village fall into a trance in which they are controlled by a demonic presence.

International horror films of the 1970s still maintain a uniquely disturbing edge and are worth the watch if you have an appetite for some twisted narratives.