10 Great Horror Movies with Blood in the Title

A look at 10 fun and freaky horror films whose titles promise much blood

The cornerstone of every good horror movie is blood. Well, certainly not every horror film deals in our precious life-fluid leaking out of our bodies but most of them rely squarely on exploiting that innate revulsion, that primordial dread of getting opened and emptied.

We’re born in blood, some of us will die in blood. That’s the cold, hard, red fact. So it makes sense that savvy entertainers have tried to harness that horror for their filmed wares. Indeed, there are hundreds upon hundreds of movies that blast their promise of blood right there in the title. In the late 1960s and early 1970s especially, during the international exploitation film boom, blood was a solid hook to get the kids to drop their dollars and put their bums in seats.

RELATED: Discovering the dirty delights of Blood Feast

Here, in this little list designed to assist you in wasting some of your vital time left on this planet, we trot out 10 of our favorite “blood” movies. Some you may have seen, some you may have at least heard of and there might be one or two here that are new to you.

On with the show…

Blood Feast (1963)

The "blood" film that really made good on its titular promise, this H.G. Lewis/David Friedman grindhouse greaseball classic was the first "go for it" gore film, made in Florida on a shoestring and loaded with carnage and terrible acting. The first of many Lewis gore gems to come.

Blood and Black Lace (1964)

Mario Bava's color-crazy body count mystery is arguably the first slasher film and one of two films Bava made (the other being The Girl Who Knew Too Much) that set the template for the Italian "giallo" film. Not much blood on display but acres of style and cinematic ingenuity and suspense. We'd have to wait for Bava's much later Bay of Blood for the maestro to really unleash the red stuff.

Bloody Pit of Horror (1965)

Weightlifter, Eurohorror star and father to Mariska, Mickey Hargitay's other claim to fame is his rabid portrayal of a fading star who imagines that he's the reincarnation of the long dead "Crimson Executioner". Hargitay runs around shirtless with his army of sailors and tortures young models to death in his baroque basement. An insane, unforgettable '60s Italian exploitation masterwork that must be seen multiple times to be believed.

Blood Freak (1972)

A literal turkey in every sense, Blood Freak is indeed the only anti-drug were-turkey movie we're aware of. And with good reason. A vietnam vet gets hooked on pot while staying on a farm and becomes a gobbler ghoul. An absolutely confounding and awesome and bloody Z-grade classic.

Bloodsucking Freaks (1973)

Director Joel M. Reed's notorious exploitation classic is about as histrionic and unpleasant as American horror gets, with all manner of transgression and sloppy gore sequence trotted out for the pleasure of its counter-culture audience. The sickest scene is beyond a doubt the "brains sucked through a straw" gag. Gag indeed!

Blood for Dracula (1974)

Director Paul Morrissey and producer Carlo Ponti's follow-up to the successful Flesh for Frankenstein, once more drags the amazing Udo Kier back out to play a classic monster, this time Dracula, who is wasting away due to the dearth of virgin blood available.  Kier vomits torrents of blood endlessly and Roman Polanski (who also co-produced) shows up in an hilarious cameo.

Blood Beach (1980)

Marianna Hill and John Saxon star in this drive-in favorite about a monster living beneath the sand who sucks down its victims. Classic poster might be better than the movie itself but it's still loads of lurid fun. Love the severed dick on the beach bit (bit indeed!).

Blood Moon (1981)

German financed Jess Franco slasher is one of Jess' most accessible '80s offerings. Like all of Franco's films, the movie is delirious and weird, with tons of (unconvincing) gore and ample sleaze as well as a really off, Pink Floyd ripoff score (Franco was told Floyd were supposed to do the score...and he naively believed it, God bless him!). A tawdry, fast-paced and fun piece of trash.

Blood Diner (1987)

Jackie Kong's cult favorite is a loving nod to the work of gore guru H.G. Lewis, is getting a revival this year in the form of an impending Blu-ray release and national tour. It's a gonzo comedy shock freak-out with dollops of weirdness and of course, plenty of blood!

Blood Glacier (2013)

First-rate frozen Austrian horror film echoes The Thing but is definitely it's own, er, thing. In it, a pack of geologists encounter a massive ice slab in the alps that oozes blood and mutates wildlife into murderous monsters. One of a kind and eerie as all get out. And plenty of red stuff running everywhere.

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