5 Made-for-TV Horror Films You Might Have Forgotten 

Let’s start off strong with one of the best made-for-TV horror films that you probably haven’t heard of: a John Carpenter movie. Yes, Carpenter did indeed direct a TV film in the 1970s, and it’s not too shabby at all. 

The same year as the release of Halloween, he helmed this creepy apartment horror film starring Lauren Hutton as a TV director who finds herself as the object of obsession for someone who can come and go in her high-rise apartment building with terrifying ease. 

While the plot points might feel a bit well-tread these days (and a few questions linger even after the finale), there’s a palpable sense of dread throughout the film, and Hutton’s committed performance helps to elevate this from standard television fare of the time. 

There’s also queer representation in the form of Adrienne Barbeau’s super cool TV director Sophie, and considering this was 1978, it’s refreshing how it’s a genuinely positive and sympathetic depiction overall. (Just don’t expect a happy ending for many of our supporting characters.) 

So if you’re a John Carpenter fan—and seriously, who isn’t?—Someone’s Watching Me! is highly recommended viewing. 

I’ve sang the praises of this film before, but it bears repeating: When a Stranger Calls Back might be even better than its predecessor, When a Stranger Calls. In fact, when I first saw it, I didn’t even realize it was originally made-for-TV, but back in 1993, this slasher sequel premiered on Showtime.

 Both Carol Kane and Charles Durning return in their roles from the previous film, and beloved Scream Queen Jill Schoelen takes up the role of the terrorized babysitter. But what this film does best is to plumb the depths of what it means to be a survivor, delving into how trauma affects you long after a devastating experience.

 Plus, the killer is genuinely weird and unnerving in a way that’s at once outlandish but also oddly effective. If you’ve only seen the original, then definitely put this sequel on your radar; it’s absolutely worth your time. 

I’m going to be completely honest here: when I saw Gargoyles as a kid, it most definitely messed me up. Not to be confused with the 1990s animated series, this 1972 film starring Cornel Wilde and Jennifer Salt follows a father and daughter who find themselves in the middle of an unlikely battle between humans and gargoyles in the desolation of the desert. 

The way the creatures were filmed—in slow motion arrayed in some very strange and impressively detailed costumes—was at best uncanny and at worst deeply traumatizing, at least to a little kid. So with that vote of confidence, if you’re seeking a weird nostalgic monster movie, then Gargoyles might very well do the trick. 

One of the many Carrie imitators, The Initiation of Sarah follows—what else?—a female outcast with telekinetic abilities. While this one absolutely has the feel of a made-for-TV movie of that era, it’s also got its own sense of offbeat style that’s strangely endearing. Kay Lenz delivers a genuinely heartfelt performance as the eponymous Sarah, a young college student who was adopted into a family that doesn’t seem to want her. 

Besides her sweet sister Patty, Sarah’s on her own, and soon discovers that she doesn’t fit in on her new college campus. Lenz’s performance is far from the only memorable one, with Morgan Fairchild making an early career appearance as a vicious sorority girl. 

But it’s Shelley Winters that leaves the real mark: as the housemother for Sarah’s sorority of outcasts, she chews the scenery and spits it back in everyone’s face, and honestly, you’re either going to love her high camp performance or absolutely hate it. 

Either way, it’s worth watching just to marvel at an Oscar-winning actress turning her acting up to eleven for the sake of a television movie. Admittedly, the whole film goes entirely off the rails by the end, but when it comes to TV horror movies in the 1970s, do we really want it any other way? 

No, not the Francis Ford Coppola version from 1992; this is the 1974 version starring Jack Palance and directed by Dan Curtis of Dark Shadows fame. This is a genuinely decent adaptation overall, though my favorite part is and will always remain the fact that they used German Shepherds masquerading as wolves, which lends a humorous and uncanny effect. 

That being said, while not many people still talk about this version of Dracula, there are definitely devotees out there; I remember when I was posting about different iterations around the time of writing my own Dracula adaptation, Reluctant Immortals, numerous people cited this film as a longtime favorite. 

Truth be told, it absolutely feels like it belongs in the same world as Dark Shadows, so if you love the vibes of Barnabas Collins, then this Dracula might very well be for you.