5 Best Horror films of the '70's

I just revisited "Tourist Trap" tonight with my teenage kids and thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the creepiest scary movies ever.

My Top 5

1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
2. Dawn of the Dead (1979)
3. Halloween (1978)
4. Tourist Trap (1979)
5. Suspiria (1977)

.....and yours?

 

Nice thread idea.

1. The Wicker Man (1973)
2. From Beyond The Grave (1973)
3. Blood On Satan's Claw (1970)
4. Tales From The Crypt (1972)
5. Theatre of Blood (1973)

 

1. The Exorcist
2. Halloween
3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
4. Alien
5. Dawn Of The Dead

 

1. Dawn Of The Dead
2. Alien
3. The Wicker Man
4.Halloween
5.The Omen

 

Can I add psychomania (it was called the death wheelers in America). It's a wonderful film of its time and I can never understand why it isn't more loved. It has the hammer house vibe and it very much the Brits trying to do biker gangs and failing the funeral scene is just fantastic. It isn't the scariest horror film but it has so much charm.

So my list would be:

1) psychomania
2) dawn of the dead
3) the wicker man
4) Dracula ad
5) Texas chainsaw massacre

 

Black Christmas I'll add

 

Good call! The John Cameron soundtrack is a peach too.

 

The Wicker Man
Theatre of Blood
The Abominable Dr Phibes
The Omen
Malpertuis

Honourable shout-outs:

Asylum
The Beast Must Die
Lust for a Vampire

All British, or co-British, productions, except for Malpertuis. That's how I like my horror.

 

Jaws
Evil Dead (was made in 1979 but not released until 1981)
Halloween
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Alien ( I consider it horror)

 

Just thought of 'Don't Look Now'. Can that be considered horror?

 

Horror Express (1972)
Tales From The Crypt (1972)
The Legend of Hell House (1973)
The Omen (1976)
The Sentinel (1977)

 

Kinda sorta. I considered including it in my list, but left it out, as I've always thought of it as a psychological thriller, rather than a straightforward horror. Fine line, though.

 

I think Alien is absolutely a horror movie. It's setting is outer space, but the premise and plot is very much horror.

 

1. The Wicker Man
2. Alien
3. The Omen
4. The Exorcist
5. Captain Kronos

I can remember Record Collector doing a few pieces on the Wicker Man soundtrack which eventually led me to picking up a copy, absolutely stunning imo. Captain Kronos gets included solely because of Caroline Munro <sighs>

 

Phantasm
Legend of Hell House
Halloween
Salem's Lot
The Incredible Melting Man

"Best" is relative. There are certainly better made horror movies from the 70s than Melting Man, but these are the top 5 that I am most happy to revisit, for better or worse.

 

I'm almost with you. I would replace Tourist Trap with The Exorcist and that's my list. I obviously need to see Tourist Trap if you rank it alongside those other films.

I would agree that Alien is a horror movie for sure, but I still classify it as sci-fi by default.

 

The 70s....

Hmmm

The Omen
The Wicker Man
Halloween (despite the slew of crap it unleashed - and continues to unleash)
The Exorcist
Alien
Blood on Satan's Claw
Jaws (yeah, yeah, I know, but many of the generic elements are front and centre)
The Abominable Dr Phibes
The Dunwich Horror (a noble failure)
Carrie
Don't Look Now
To The Devil a Daughter
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Demon Seed
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Nosferatu

No love for Twins of Evil...?

 

I love both of them!

 

"Phantasm" was 70's? I thought it was very early 80's. I loved that movie.

 

I love a LOT of 70s horror films (including the Twins), but we can only pick 5.

 

I know, but my cup runneth over (especially when thinking about the twins...)

 

Very much 70s. It was released in 79, but Coscarelli began shooting it about 3 years before that. It was made on weekends.

 

I love all four!

 

Okay. Five only. And no sci-fi pr borderline stuff like Jaws

The Omen
The Wicker Man
Blood on Satan's Claw
Don't Look Now
Nosferatu

 

My Top Five:

1. Dawn of the Dead
2. Halloween
3. Carrie
4. Suspiria
5. Messiah of Evil

Honorable Mentions:

-- Don't Look Now
-- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
-- Phantasm
-- The Last House on the Left
-- Black Christmas

Some of these I haven't seen in many years, so the order is subject to change, but my top three are all-time faves, so they're pretty much locked in.