Vengeance in the Horror/Supernatural Vein - The Best and the Worst on the Big and Small Screen
by Tony-Scheinman | created - 18 Oct 2011 | updated - 28 May 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 96 min | Horror
In a small Southern town, four vigilantes wrongfully execute a mentally-challenged man, but after the court sets them free mysterious "accidents" begin to kill them off one by one.
Director: Frank De Felitta | Stars: Charles Durning, Robert F. Lyons, Claude Earl Jones, Lane Smith
Votes: 8,212
2. High Plains Drifter (1973)
R | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Western
A gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan
Votes: 64,558 | Gross: $15.70M
3. The Crow (1994)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée's murder.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson
Votes: 203,294 | Gross: $50.69M
4. The Crow: Salvation (2000)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Fantasy
Alex Corvis returns to the world of the living to solve the murder of a young woman that he was wrongly accused of.
Director: Bharat Nalluri | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, William Atherton, Debbie Fan, Eric Mabius
Votes: 12,409
In my opinion, the best of "The Crow" sequels.
5. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
R | 91 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
After killing his disciple, three English gentlemen unwittingly resurrect Count Dracula, who seeks to avenge his servant by making the trio die by the hands of their own children.
Director: Peter Sasdy | Stars: Christopher Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Gwen Watford, Linda Hayden
Votes: 6,885
6. Black Cat (1968)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Horror
Two women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.
Director: Kaneto Shindô | Stars: Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Satô, Rokkô Toura
Votes: 8,584
7. Tales from the Crypt (1972)
PG | 92 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Five strangers get lost in a crypt and, after meeting the mysterious Crypt Keeper, receive visions of how they will die.
Director: Freddie Francis | Stars: Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Ralph Richardson, Geoffrey Bayldon
Votes: 13,022 | Gross: $1.70M
In Segment #3, "Poetic Justice", Peter Cushing stars as a retired garbage man who is eventually driven to suicde by a vicious smear campaign by his heartless neighbor in order to get rid of what they think of as a blight on the neighborhood and who, a year later, comes back from the dead to take a gruesome revenge.
8. The Vault of Horror (1973)
R | 87 min | Horror, Thriller
An anthology of five horror stories shared by five men trapped in the basement of an office building.
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: Curd Jürgens, Terry-Thomas, Tom Baker, Dawn Addams
Votes: 6,256
Tom Baker in Segment #5, "Drawn and Quartered", is an artist who uses voodoo in his art to avenge himself on the three men who have cheated him into believing his work is worthless.
9. The Ghoul (1933)
Approved | 77 min | Action, Drama, Horror
An Egyptologist returns from the dead to take revenge on those who have violated his tomb.
Director: T. Hayes Hunter | Stars: Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger, Dorothy Hyson
Votes: 3,249
10. The Wraith (1986)
PG-13 | 93 min | Action, Horror, Romance
In a small town in Arizona, a mysterious man/spirit descends from the sky and manifests in a sports car and targets a local violent road-racing gang of motor heads, headed by a ruthless bully who'll do anything to get what he wants.
Director: Mike Marvin | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes, Sherilyn Fenn, Randy Quaid
Votes: 19,256 | Gross: $3.50M
11. The Crow: City of Angels (1996)
R | 84 min | Action, Crime, Fantasy
The spirit of the Crow resurrects another man seeking revenge for the murder of his son.
Director: Tim Pope | Stars: Vincent Perez, Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks, Iggy Pop
Votes: 21,708 | Gross: $17.88M
12. J.D.'s Revenge (1976)
R | 96 min | Action, Horror, Thriller
Murdered on Bourbon Street in 1942 New Orleans, a gangster returns from the dead 34 years later possessing the body of a young, black law student in his quest for revenge.
Director: Arthur Marks | Stars: Glynn Turman, Louis Gossett Jr., Joan Pringle, Carl W. Crudup
Votes: 1,448
13. The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
On his way to becoming an immortal demon, a gang leader orchestrates the murder of an ex-con and his girlfriend.
Director: Lance Mungia | Stars: Yuji Okumoto, Marcus Chong, Tito Ortiz, Tara Reid
Votes: 9,653
This sequel should never have been made.
14. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Horror
Doctor, scientist, organist, and biblical scholar Anton Phibes seeks revenge on the nine doctors he considers responsible for the death of his wife.
Director: Robert Fuest | Stars: Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Virginia North, Terry-Thomas
Votes: 16,683 | Gross: $0.55M
One of the absolute best of the horror revenge films. In this film, Vincent Price relies mostly on his physical acting (his dialogue was all pre-recorded), and he hits almost every note perfectly.
15. Theater of Blood (1973)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
A Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.
Director: Douglas Hickox | Stars: Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry, Harry Andrews
Votes: 12,285
In this film, one of the victims describes Price's character's acting as "a ham sandwich". In this case, even with a somewhat similar plot to his earlier "Dr. Phibes", the sandwich is absolutely delicious!
16. Buried Alive (1990 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
A husband finds out that his wife and her lover are trying to kill him.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Matheson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, William Atherton, Hoyt Axton
Votes: 5,140
17. Buried Alive II (1997 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 97 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
Inspired by what happened to Clint Goodman, the protagonist of the first film, an adulterous husband from Clint's small town plans to do the same things to his wife, Laura.
Director: Tim Matheson | Stars: Ally Sheedy, Stephen Caffrey, Tracey Needham, Tim Matheson
Votes: 1,084
Unfortunately, although nominally a sequel, pretty much a re-make of the 1990 film with a few gender switches. This revenge doesn't grip as hard as the 1990 one.
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