The 1970s were a phenomenal decade for Horror moviesBut not every great scary film of the era got its just desserts. of The Exorcist to the original alien, The 70’s are responsible for the origin of some of​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​greatest horror movies of all time, creating franchise after franchise of blood-curdling tales. The same era offers many more films that have yet to receive the widespread recognition they deserve as phenomenal masterpieces of the genre, which are relatively unknown even today.
It’s hard to say why these hidden gems were never able to reap the same benefits as the most iconic 70s horror films. Like many of its peers, these films channeled the turbulent political climate of the time through some striking new visual effects capabilities and cinematic techniques to create ambitious works of art, projecting sheer terror on their meager audiences. In a perfect world, every great scary movie of the decade would have the proper recognition, but as it stands, many of the best of the 70s have fallen by the wayside.
10
Do not go into the house
1979
The slasher movie really started to come into its own in the 70s, with films like Black Christmas And The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Set the stage for later ’80s franchises to sweep moviegoers by surprise. But by the late 70s, clever variations on the simple slasher movie formula were already being made, with Do not go into the house Do with flames and burn what slashers have perfected with blades and cuts. The film follows a terrible murderer who, after his mother was horribly burned as a child, stabs and burns women with a flamethrower.
Do not go into the house is often described as a particularly “nasty” movie, pulling none of its gruesome punches about child abuse, Freudian psychosexual trauma, or horrifying impersonation scenes. In fact, the film made it to the elusive list of “video nasties” as determined by Britain’s censorship laws in the 70s, a testament to its shocking material. Even if it reads like something of a pathetic version of Psycho, don’t go in the house is well-worth watching for its unique blend of pyromania and bleak dissections of a troubled mind.
9
The Sentinel
1977
Demonic horror has been done in modern years, with franchises like The Conjuring And Insidious Establishing a firm pattern for the supernatural subgenre. However, in the 70s and late 60s, films like Rosemary’s baby And The Exorcist They are just beginning to unleash the demonic incursion of possession on horror movie audiences. The Sentinel was an early iteration on this theme, telling the story of a young model who learns that her new apartment complex is harboring a gateway into Hell itself.
While the cast list of The Sentinel It may not be household names by modern standards, it was quite star-studded for the time, with the likes of Martin Basalm, Jose Ferrer, and Ava Gardner all taking up the quirky residence of the apartment buildings. They all do a fantastic job of selling the hellish reality of the film’s premise, along with some impressively hellish setpieces, especially the scene in which the very armies of hell terrorize the hapless protagonist. Even if it has to put a lot of pseudo-Catholic lore, The Sentinel Is worth a watch for its craftsmanship alone.
8
Phantasm
1979
1979 was a particularly rich year for horror fans, as proven by even fantastic releases like Phantasm Falling by the wayside. On paper, the plot of Phantasm Seems too wild to work as a true horror classic, weaving the tale of the mysterious undertaker known as The Tall Man, who turns human corpses into dwarf zombies so they can be sold into slave labor on an alien planet. It’s no wonder that the film’s child protagonist, Mike, has a hard time convincing his family of the threat of the being.
The tall man and his deadly sentinel orbs left a terrifying influence that can only be described as quietly iconic, inspiring a whole series of Phantasm Sequels. For what it’s worth, the first movie is easily the best of them all, from the weird, nightmarish imagery to the airy presence Angus Scrimm has as the otherworldly tall man. Combining childlike curiosity with scaring fear and a supernatural sense of dread, Phantasms tall man deserves to stand among the most iconic horror movie villains such as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees.
7
I drink your blood
1971
The 70s are often associated with the hippie subculture, with peace signs, tassels, and long hair all being familiar pop culture iconography to the decade. It is difficult to associate such images with something terrible, however I drink your blood Manages to examine the dark side of hippies, clearly from the perspective of those who saw them as alien or evil. After his sister is assaulted by a roving pack of satanic hippies, a small-town baker gets revenge by purposely infecting them with madness, only for the plan to go horribly wrong.
I drink your blood Delivers shock value more professionally than almost any other horror film of the 70s, with even the very first opening moments being difficult to watch. The depravity only spirals out of control from the opening darkness when the Manson-like cult descends on the city, murdering, lovemaking and distributing powerful hallucinogenic drugs. I drink your blood Certainly has flaws, but the effective scariness certainly outweighs them.
6
Orca
1977
Since then Jaws Created the blockbuster movie in 1975, the horror scene has seen countless Jaws Copy coming and going. One of the earliest, and easily the best of them, in 1977s Orke, Which follows a hunter in pursuit of a terrifying killer whale seeking revenge on a local fishing village for killing his mate. As far as aquatic horror villains go, orcas are a great choice, being hauntingly intelligent and capable of easily taking down great white sharks in real life.
Orca Demonstrates as much by including a scene in which the titular whale viciously kills a shark, almost touting its superiority over its apparent inspiration. While Orca doesn’t quite reach the same heights of greatness as chin, It’s more of a worthy follow than any of these Jaws Sequels are, included Jaws 4, which hatches a similar plot featuring vengeful predators. Richard Harris is excellent as the salty Captain Nolan, and the black-and-white food chain topper he squares off against is even more terrifying than a single shark could ever hope to be.
5
Late night trains
1975
Movies that take place in a single confined space, often referred to as flash movies, make great hunting grounds for horror movie villains, who can weaponize the claustrophobic quarters of the setting to their advantage. Enter late night train, whose story unfolds in the course of a train ride from Germany to Italy. The Italian-made revenge film ramps up the scares when it introduces a trio of criminals who brutalize the traveling female protagonists along the way, only to end up in their family homes.
Taking clear cues from both Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring and Wes Craven’s The last house on the link, Late night trains Has some of the most sickening cases of sexually motivated violence ever portrayed on a projector. The film is particularly bleak due to the fact that it largely uses its antagonists as viewpoint characters, introducing victims only to invisibly kill them off as the story progresses, much like its obvious predecessors. A sick experience through and through, Late night trains is terrible in the true sense of the word.
4
Martin
1977
Even the scariest movie vampires are subject to some intricate rules of the undead curse in one form or another, but Martin Takes quite the refreshing approach to a blood-letting villain. Rather than actually being a vampire, the titular antagonist of Martin Only believes that he is, and the film itself remains unambiguous about the truth of his supposedly supernatural affliction. The story follows Martin in his efforts to integrate into “human” society despite his thirst for blood.
The question of whether or not Martin is a real vampire quickly becomes irrelevant as his reprehensible actions become more and more outrageous. The legendary horror director George A. Romero pilots dizzying hallucination sequences and blood-curdling crimes with ease, culminating in a visually engrossing story that Romero himself claims is his personal favorite from his own filmography. Martin’s final fate serves as a warning to those who might want to live vicariously through myths and stories.
3
Alice, sweet Alice
1979
The female slasher villain is something of an endangered species, and that goes double for those who have yet to hit puberty. Alice, sweet Alice presents a haunting case for a murderer that checks both boxes, resulting in one of the most alarming children in movie history. The film centers around the murder of the eponymous child’s younger sister. As unlikely as it may seem, the supposedly innocent young girl is the prime suspect of the killer’s identity, which leads to a trepidatious investigation in the series of stabbings that follow.
The sense of mystery and melodrama that Alice, sweet Alice is able to build is nothing short of world-class, soaking the viewer in its corrupt, gothic trappings. The revelation of the killer’s true identity is nothing short of shocking, aided by the film’s authentic dialogue and character development, especially strong for a straightforward slasher movie. Weakening religious institutions and the innocence of childhood alike, no line is too far Alice, sweet Alice To cross in the name of delectable psychological horror.
2
Invasion of the body snatchers
1978
While Invasion of the body snatchers Bears quite the recognizable title, in fact, most people think of the 1956 science fiction classic when they see it. In fact, the 1978 remake of the same name deserves much more recognition than the best version of the story. Just like in the original, Invasion of the body snatchers Describes an insidious alien invasion in which extraterrestrials slowly kidnap and assume the identities of their victims, despite obvious changes in personality.
Among the various Invasion of the body snatchers Films, the 1978 installment is easily the strongest, with chilling performances that sell the inhuman evil behind the eyes of the mysterious “pod men.” While the first film was a metaphor for the Red Scare and the infiltration of communist paranoia into American society, the remake instead deals with the isolation that fast-paced life in a big city can bring, leading to deep social isolation. The stomach-churning special effects of the embryonic pods and the half-formed clones that emerge from them make the reboot also double as effective as a scary movie.
1
Sister
1972
Sister is a cutting psychological horror film reminiscent of the work of Alfred Hitchcock, with several overt references to Hitchcock’s other films over the course of its runtime. The movie centers on a pair of adult conjoined twins who have recently been surgically separated, with one of them passing away while under the knife. It soon becomes clear that this could have been a lie as the gentle Danielle covers for the psychotic and bloodthirsty Dominic.
Loosely based on a real-life case of conjoined twins, Sister Might not be the most finely-crafted film in terms of its demonization of medical conditions. However, the filmmaking mastery on display is hard to pin down, with genius split-screen compositions and a lavish score by Bernard Herrmann, the mind behind the infamous theme of The Twilight Zone. With a really surprising payoff to its mystery and some gut-wrenching gory setpieces, Sister Deserves much more recognition as one of the best Horror movies From the 70s.