Most Influential Made-for-TV Horror Movies

There have been hundreds of made-for-TV horror movies over the years. There are certain ones that pushed their perspective subgenres of horror to new heights. Make sure that you catch these movies if you have a chance.

Meet Kolchak

"The Night Stalker" came out in 1972 and ended up leading to "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." The show is considered to be one of the most influential horror TV shows of all time. The movie follows newspaper reporter, Carl Kolchak, as he tries to convince the police that the killer that they are chasing after is actually a vampire.

FOX's Wolf

"Werewolf" came out in 1987 when the FOX Network was still on training wheels. While it is not the best movie, it did spawn a TV show with the same characters. At the same time, it pointed out that FOX was willing to take chances with horror TV. If it were not for taking this chance, we might not have ever gotten "The X-Files" or any of the other great horror shows from FOX.

Stephen King's Best

There have been many made-for-TV interpretations of Stephen King's work over the years. By far, the best was "Salem's Lot." This creepy vampire movie inspired many of the vampires that would come out in the 1980s and continues to scare us to this day. Note the fact that "Salem's Lot" led to many other made-for-TV interpretations of King's work and helped him up to the top of the ladder where he has stood ever since.

Jack Palance at His Best

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" hit TVs across the country in 1968. While the movie might not live up to many people's standards today, it started a trend of actors playing opposing characters at the same time on TV shows. Jack Palance set the stage and showed everyone how it was done. Dual roles became a standard of soap operas for many years.

The Inspiring Vampire

1977 saw the release of "Count Dracula" starred Louis Jourdan as the vampire and Frank Finlay as Van Helsing. The movie was more sensual and brutal than any other vampire movie before. This movie inspired the split in the vampire subgenre that led to the sensual portrayal of the vampire in Frank Langella's portrayal in "Dracula" and the brutal and gory versions of vampire movies in the 1980s like "The Lost Boys."