Horror is a long chain of influences. Sometimes the connection is obvious. Sometimes it’s more of a mood or a visual idea passed from one filmmaker to another. If you loved any of these modern hits, here’s the deeper cut that quietly shaped it decades earlier.

Here are fifteen modern horror favorites paired with the films that inspired them.

If you liked: Hereditary (2018)

Watch: Don't Look Now (1973)

"Don't Look Now (1973)"

A grief-soaked psychological nightmare set in a maze-like Venice. The film moves with an eerie calm that makes every shadow feel important. Hereditary’s sense of dread, fractured family trauma, and devastating emotional payoff all trace back to this bleak masterpiece.

If you liked: The Conjuring (2013)

Watch: The Changeling (1980)

"The Changeling (1980)"

A pure haunted-house classic. Cold rooms, whispered voices, and a mystery that slowly tightens around the protagonist. The Conjuring borrows this exact flavor of elegant, old-school ghost storytelling.

If you liked: The Ring (2002)

Watch: Kwaidan (1964)

"Kwaidan (1964)"

A dreamlike anthology of Japanese ghost tales filmed like supernatural theater. Its influence is everywhere in J-horror, from visual pacing to folklore structure. The Ring’s icy atmosphere has roots in this film's luminous nightmares.

If you liked: Scream (1996)

Watch: Black Christmas (1974)

"Black Christmas (1974)"

One of the first slashers to use POV shots, obscene phone calls, and a final girl hunted in her own home. Scream modernizes the formula, but Black Christmas built the skeleton.

If you liked: Midsommar (2019)

Watch: The Wicker Man (1973)

"The Wicker Man (1973)"

Sunlit dread, ritualistic pageantry, and the slow realization that everyone is smiling for the wrong reasons. The Wicker Man is the folk horror template that Midsommar reimagined for a new era.

If you liked: It Follows (2014)

Watch: Carnival of Souls (1962)

"Carnival of Souls (1962)"

A drifting, dreamlike ghost story that feels disconnected from reality. Its lonely atmosphere, uncanny stares, and slow pacing directly echo through It Follows and its suburbia-as-nightmare vibe.

If you liked: The Witch (2015)

Watch: The Devils (1971)

"The Devils (1971)"

Religious panic, political cruelty, and hysteria turned into spectacle. The Devils is far louder and more chaotic than The Witch, but both tap into the terror of a community losing its grip on reality.

If you liked: Get Out (2017)

Watch: The Stepford Wives (1975)

"The Stepford Wives (1975)"

Suburban perfection hiding a sinister secret. A commentary on assimilation, control, and social masks. Get Out sharpens these ideas, but The Stepford Wives is the original smiling nightmare.

If you liked: The Babadook (2014)

Watch: The Tenant (1976)

"The Tenant (1976)"

A claustrophobic psychological breakdown set inside a single apartment building. The Babadook updates the emotional core for a grieving mother, but the unraveling of identity comes straight from Polanski’s paranoid spiral.

If you liked: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Watch: Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

"Cannibal Holocaust (1980)"

One of the earliest and most infamous found footage films. Blair Witch strips away the gore and controversy but keeps the raw documentary style and lost-in-the-wilderness panic that started here.

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If you liked: A Quiet Place (2018)

Watch: The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)

"The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)"

An overlooked Universal creature feature that plays more like a survival thriller than a monster movie. The tension, stalking, and vulnerability that define A Quiet Place have early roots here.

If you liked: Insidious (2010)

Watch: The Entity (1982)

"The Entity (1982)"

A brutal, relentless haunting inspired by a real case. The Entity mixes psychological horror with physical manifestations in ways that echo directly through Insidious and its supernatural assaults.

If you liked: Smile (2022)

Watch: Kairo (aka Pulse) (2001)

"Kairo (2001)"

A bleak, unforgettable J-horror about loneliness and despair spreading like a virus. Smile uses the “curse that jumps” concept, but none of its hopelessness hits as hard as Kairo's slow slide into oblivion.

If you liked: The Nun (2018)

Watch: Alucarda (1977)

"Alucarda (1977)"

A feverish, blood-soaked Mexican nun horror film that makes The Nun look tame. Rituals, screams, satanic frenzy. This is the wild, unhinged energy that The Nun tries to gesture at.

If you liked: Saw (2004)

Watch: Peeping Tom (1960)

"Peeping Tom (1960)"

A chilling portrait of a killer who treats murder like an experiment in filmmaking. Saw’s voyeuristic traps and moral games are modern echoes of Peeping Tom’s obsession with the camera and the act of watching.

Wrapping Up

Every modern scare has a cinematic ancestor lurking behind it. These older films are not just inspirations. They are the foundation of horror as we know it. If you want to understand where today’s nightmares come from, start here.