10 Awesome Horror Movies Under 80 Minutes

Val Lewton's Cat People remains one of the most distinctive and unforgettable horror films to merge from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

And truly, the title is a totally accurate summation of what the movie is: a newly married woman, Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon), comes to believe she's descended from an ancient tribe of people who turn into black panthers when sexually aroused.

Despite the era of its production forcing director Jacques Tourneur to rely on implication and innuendo, this is nevertheless a deeply sensual, sexually charged piece of work for its period, using genre trimmings to tap into fear of intimacy and generational trauma.

At just 73 minutes, it's paced like a whip, and bleeds atmosphere from every single frame, courtesy of both Simon's seductive performance and Nicholas Musuraca's excellent cinematography.

It's also worth checking out Paul Schrader's considerably more out-there 1982 remake, though at 118 minutes it certainly doesn't fit the requirements of this list.