MY TOP 21 70's HORROR MOVIES
These are all American horror movies from the 1970's. "Nosferatu The Vampire", "Suspiria", "The Other", and "Eraserhead" are some honorable mentions from the 1970's not made in the US. Anything by directors Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento you got to love.
I was born in the 80's, so for me this was a list completely out of respect for what horror used to be. I almost forgot how many good horror movies came from the 70's while creating this list. It was hard to not be able to include movies like "The Omega Man" or "The Stepford Wives" for if they weren't primarily thrillers. Hopefully other horror fans are familiar with at least half of my favorite choices lol. If not then I hope my recommendations help :).
Welcome to my top 21 horror movies from the 70's, in order by year of release, fun facts included. Enjoy!
I was born in the 80's, so for me this was a list completely out of respect for what horror used to be. I almost forgot how many good horror movies came from the 70's while creating this list. It was hard to not be able to include movies like "The Omega Man" or "The Stepford Wives" for if they weren't primarily thrillers. Hopefully other horror fans are familiar with at least half of my favorite choices lol. If not then I hope my recommendations help :).
Welcome to my top 21 horror movies from the 70's, in order by year of release, fun facts included. Enjoy!
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- DirectorJohn D. HancockStarsZohra LampertBarton HeymanKevin O'ConnorA recently institutionalized woman has bizarre experiences after moving into a supposedly haunted country farmhouse and fears she may be losing her sanity once again.This movie was really a shot out of the dark when I first heard about it. I'm not familiar with the director or actors anywhere other than this movie. So for me, that made it a rare gem to find. I only recently heard about it in a Stephen King tribute. Loved it. And I don't remember what movie I last watched where a recently institutionalized girl scared me in the same way.
FUN FACT: One of Stephen King's favorite horror films. - DirectorRobert AltmanStarsSusannah YorkRene AuberjonoisMarcel BozzuffiWhilst writing a children's book, a woman interrupted by images unsure if they may, or may not be realLate director Robert Altman has made some of my most favorite dramas. And drama is usually the hardest genre for me to jump straight into. "3 Women" being another Altman favorite from the 70's starring Sissy Spacek(Carrie) and Shelley Duvall(The Shining).
"Images" is an amazing example that Altman was a director of many talents. His usage of horror becomes very psychological to watch. Altman will surely be missed in the movie industry.
FUN FACT: Every character name is the real first name of another actor in this movie. - DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsJoan CollinsPeter CushingRalph RichardsonFive strangers get lost in a crypt and, after meeting the mysterious Crypt Keeper, receive visions of how they will die.Late director Freddie Francis had a knack for his cinematography work, winning two Oscars in the 80's. It shows here in one of my favorite horror anthologies. I want to say this movie is superior to the "Trilogy of Terror" and "Vault of Horror" anthologies from the 70's. All great films, but nothing beats the holiday horror stories of 'And All Through The House' and 'Poetic Justice'. Even 'Blind Alleys' made me think twice about blind people being scary lol. The best collection of horror stories before "Creepshow"(Stephen King) in the 80's.
FUN FACT: Peter Cushing is said to "act as himself" in this movie: Cushing's wife had died recently and he was very depressed; while Cushing's character in 'Poetic Justice' is a widower who uses a ouija to talk with his dead wife. - DirectorJohn NewlandStarsKim DarbyJim HuttonBarbara AndersonA young couple inherits an old mansion inhabited by small demon-like creatures who are determined to make the wife one of their own.Warner Brothers in recent years released a huge collection of DVD's part of an archive collection. It's the only way to get some of these amazing horror movies on DVD. "Bad Ronald", and "Cromhaven Farm" being a couple other great made-for-TV horror movies of the 70's. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" was recently remade with Katie Holmes, but I recommend you watching this much more original movie if you want to forget about CGI. Aging gems.
FUN FACT: The total time of filming, including script approval by Lorimar, casting, special effects, voice-over and exterior shots were all completed in slightly over two weeks, one of the quickest made-for-television movies ever made; this was due mainly to a writers strike that had begun just before the script was completed. - DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsEllen BurstynMax von SydowLinda BlairWhen a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.What could I say that hasn't already been said about this movie. It's bonerific! Lol. Sometimes it's hard to do a really good exorcism in a movie. The fact that Linda Blair was only 13 at the time of filming, made movie history. Not to mention just everything else. I think most people will say this is one of the best horror movies ever made.
FUN FACT: The first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. - DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.This is one of those classic movies that got remade, that never should've been. Nobody in this generation could do what Christopher Lee did for this movie. "The Wicker Man" gives you many insights to what people will do in a ritual. Much like "Rosemary's Baby"(Mia Farrow), the feel of this movie is eerie. I feel bad on how many kids today have probably skipped out on watching this movie because they didn't get it. It's nice to catch a few extra viewings of this movie when you can.
FUN FACT: Christopher Lee agreed to appear in this film for free. - DirectorBob ClarkStarsOlivia HusseyKeir DulleaMargot KidderDuring their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.I can't believe I watched this movie at the age of only like 5. I forgot it's title name for the following 15 years and was beyond words to finally be able to watch it again once discovering it again. The murders and the dialogue re-shocked me at how explicit it was. This movie reminds me of the 1979 movie "When A Stranger Calls"(Carol Kane), but just much more diluted with horror.
FUN FACT: Reportedly, writer Roy Moore took inspiration for the story from an actual series of murders that took place in Montreal, Quebec around the Christmas season. - DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.Directed by Tobe Hooper(Poltergeist), one of my favorite horror directors. He gives us a movie that introduces us to new ranges of horror, and to iconic characters like Leatherface. "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" never scared me, but more or less inspired me to appreciate a good horror movie. It's still a success over the remake, but the Texas story never gets old.
FUN FACT: During the dinner scene towards the end of the film, when Leatherface cuts Sally's finger, he actually does cut her finger because they couldn't get the fake blood to come out of the tube behind the blade. - DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard DreyfussWhen a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.Steven Spielberg is probably one of my favorite versatile directors since I've been alive. I can't even count how many times I've watched "Jaws", "Jurassic Park", "Saving Private Ryan", and every other movie of his. There's something eye-catching about how well his movies capture your fear, whether it be in a comedy movie, or action movie. You know when you're watching a Spielberg movie. "Jaws" being his 70's 'Psycho'.
FUN FACT: When it was initially released in the summer 1975, over 67 million Americans went to see the movie, making it the first summer "blockbuster". - DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsSissy SpacekPiper LaurieAmy IrvingCarrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.Director Brian De Palma has made a lot of movies, that I didn't think I would love over time. "Carrie" has become at the top of that list. "Raising Cain"(John Lithgow) for another under-appreciated gem by De Palma. "Sisters"(Margot Kidder), and "The Fury"(Kirk Douglas) are some of his other greats from the 70's. I wish they made teen revenge movies as good as Carrie nowadays.
FUN FACT: This was the first Stephen King novel adapted into a movie. Stephen King based Carrie White on two girls he knew while at school, both were social outcasts from deeply religious families and both died while still in their twenties. - DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsJohn AmplasLincoln MaazelChristine ForrestA young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a Pennsylvania small town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges.George A. Romero is a zombie God. And arguably, this is his best movie outside of his 'Dead' series. It's an interesting take of the vampire world, of a kid who believes himself to be a vampire. It's scenes are graphic and bloodletting. Vampires were having some interesting movies coming out in the 70's. It was a real close race with "Martin" or the made-for-TV classic, "The Night Stalker" for this eleventh slot. But I got to go with Romero.
FUN FACT: Often said to be George A. Romero's personal favorite of his films. - DirectorRichard DonnerStarsGregory PeckLee RemickHarvey StephensMysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?"The Omen" is that classic tale of an evil kid syndrome. This has to be one of the more earlier well-known movies like it around, after "The Bad Seed" from the early 60's. If kids who kill catch your attention you can try other 70's movies like "Who Can Kill A Kid?" or "The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane"(Jodie Foster). Gosh now I'm starting to remember how great of a director Richard Donner was back in the day, "Superman", "The Goonies", "Lethal Weapon" etc etc.
FUN FACT: The film seemed to fall victim to a sinister curse. Star Gregory Peck and screenwriter David Seltzer took separate planes to the UK...yet BOTH planes were struck by lightning. While producer Harvey Bernhard was in Rome, lightning just missed him. Rottweilers hired for the film attacked their trainers. A hotel at which director Richard Donner was staying got bombed by the IRA; he was also struck by a car. After Peck cancelled another flight, to Israel, the plane he would have chartered crashed...killing all on board. On day one of the shoot, several principal members of the crew survived a head-on car crash. The jinx appeared to persist well into post-production... when special effects artist John Richardson was badly injured while his girlfriend was beheaded in an accident on the set of 'A Bridge Too Far'. - DirectorWes CravenStarsSusan LanierRobert HoustonJohn SteadmanOn the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack.Long before horror director Wes Craven created the "Nightmare On Elm Street" and "Scream" franchises. He had directed this classic 70's movie, which almost feels forgotten 30+ years later. The remake of "The Hills Have Eyes" is actually a remake I like a lot, mostly due to special make-up artist Greg Nicotero. But you can't forget about the original movies. Even "The Last House on the Left" by Wes Craven is still an interesting horror from the 70's.
FUN FACT: The movie is based on the legend of Sawney Beane and his family (a wife, eight sons and six daughters), a feral clan who inhabited and roamed the highlands of Scotland's East Lothian County, in the early 1400s. They captured, tormented and ate several transients. They were eventually captured on the order of Scotland's King James, were judged to be insane, and executed without trial. The executions of the Beane clan all allegedly involved grotesque tortures, inspiring the aspect of the film that the Carter family become as brutal as their attackers when they seek revenge. - DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDavid EmgeKen ForeeScott H. ReinigerDuring an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.My favorite Zombie movie of all-time, Zombies being my most common nightmare as a child. I don't know what kind of movie fan I'd be without zombie movies. I don't know if books or now TV shows like "The Walking Dead" could've ever been created. Say what you want about zombies, they're the modern movie monster of the 2000's. And it all started with the 'Dead' series by George A. Romero. My favorite movie on this list, just ahead of "Halloween" and "Alien".
FUN FACT: The two zombie children who attack Peter in the airport chart house are played by Donna Savini and Mike Savini, the real-life niece and nephew of Tom Savini. Incidently, these are the only zombies in all of Romero's "Dead" films that spontaneously run and never do the trademark "Zombie shuffle". - DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceJamie Lee CurtisTony MoranFifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.I think I finally learned the term scream queen, while watching Jamie Lee Curtis(The Fog) in the early 80's. True there's been a lot of actresses known for their horror movies, including Janet Leigh(Psycho). But I can't remember an actress in her first movie, who's actually a teen playing a virgin teen victim, that could capture my attention as fast as Curtis in "Halloween". When I don't get to watch this movie on Halloween night I know I had a boring Halloween. Holiday traditions all the way!
FUN FACT: According to an additional scene in the extended television version, Michael Myers' middle name is Audrey. - DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsDonald SutherlandBrooke AdamsJeff GoldblumWhen strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.One of those 70's remakes that I love. I saw bits and pieces of this movie as a kid, it wasn't until I got older I completely respected the age in this film. Donald Sutherland like son Kiefer Sutherland(The Lost Boys), I've grown much respect for over the decades. Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Brooke Adams, Veronica Cartwright.. amazing. "Body Snatchers" and "The Invasion" from the following decades had some moments, but none as great as the 115 mins of this movie.
FUN FACT: Only actor Donald Sutherland knew how the film was going to end. When filming the ending in front of San Francisco City Hall the reaction of cold fear is authentic. - DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsAnthony HopkinsAnn-MargretBurgess MeredithA ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.Before his transformations into the Elephant Man, and Hannibal Lector, Anthony Hopkins is the mad ventriloquist. Fans will refer to this movie as a killer doll movie, though I think it's a psychological horror. The dummy 'Fats' will give you some haunting images while watching the movie. But you have to watch this just for the performance of future Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins.
FUN FACT: The "Fats" dummy was created specifically to look like Anthony Hopkins. - DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtThe crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.This movie as my dad would describe, was a movie ahead of it's time when it came out. Legendary director Ridley Scott and brother Tony Scott have made some powerful films over 3 decades. "Alien" is Jaws in space, it's Halloween in space, it's your worst fear of being all alone at the end of nowhere. Sigourney Weaver like Jamie Lee Curtis is one of those female heroines I'll never get tired of watching in horror movies.
FUN FACT: Among some of the ingredients of the alien costume are Plasticine and Rolls Royce motor parts. Shredded condoms were used to create tendons of the beast's ferocious jaws. - DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsJames BrolinMargot KidderRod SteigerNewlyweds and their three children move into a large house where a mass murder was committed. They start to experience strange, inexplicable manifestations which have strong effects on everyone living in or visiting the house.This is that kind of movie that can go both ways. For most people it's not scary, but it's creepy. James Brolin is probably one of the most creepiest actors with a full beard. There's 70's movies like "The Legend of Hell House"(Roddy McDowell), "The Evil", or "Burnt Offerings". But none of them offer the same appeal as the Amityville Horror house. There's always been something scary about your new house you move into. Sleeping at a new house could be haunting let alone one you move all of your personal things into.
FUN FACT: James Brolin said he didn't get a job for two years after doing this movie because of the cruelty of his character. - DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsOliver ReedSamantha EggarArt HindleA man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.Horror director David Cronenberg has done some very interesting horror movies. From "Videodrome", to "The Fly", "The Dead Zone", "Dead Ringers" and the list goes on and on. "The Brood" was a movie he did in the 70's that scared me as a kid. It kind of reminds me of his movie from the 70's "They Came From Within" aka 'Shivers'. Maybe it's just Cronenberg's madness for horror, he captivates images that stick with you for years to come. I still can't get over the birthing scene from "The Fly".
FUN FACT: David Cronenberg wrote the film following the tumultuous divorce and child-custody battle he waged against Margaret Hindson. Cronenberg also said that Samantha Eggar's character, Nola Carveth, possessed some of the characteristics of his ex-wife. - DirectorDon CoscarelliStarsA. Michael BaldwinBill ThornburyReggie BannisterA teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.I probably shouldn't have been allowed to watch this movie at the early age of 7. But it's sure stuck with me over the years. There's things I can't even describe. I just know "Phantasm" is what the 70's were made of. Cemeteries, evil dwarfs, clueless kids, sex on the grass, flying balls, a middle finger, and a tall man lol. Highly recommended, and the best way I could've ended this list of 70's movies. Enjoy! ;)
FUN FACT: The dwarves were played by children.