Here are Cinephile Corner’s picks for the 15 best horror movies of the 1970s, ranked:
15. Eraserhead (1977)
Eraserhead is unlike anything you’ll ever see – both a testament to David Lynch’s early adoption of idiosyncratic, dreamlike imagery and his interest in turning the usual into the surreal. It’s no wonder the acclaimed director’s 1977 debut breakthrough still stands among the best first films ever made and a canonical entry in 1970s filmmaking; an era that saw decades of boundary-pushing auteurs establish themselves in the industry. While David Lynch‘s career arch wouldn’t take the form of a traditional blockbuster filmmaker, there was clearly enough in Eraserhead to hand him the car keys for whatever passion projects he decided to tackle in the future.
Read our full review of Eraserhead
14. House (1977)
13. The Devils (1971)
12. Don’t Look Now (1973)
11. The Omen (1976)
10. Suspiria (1977)
9. Carrie (1976)
8. Deep Red (1975)
7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
6. The Brood (1979)
5. The Exorcist (1973)
While The Exorcist may feel like a dated recollection of visual ideas from a newer generation of filmmakers, William Friedkin’s daring and mannered horror film is still about as sturdy as anything made since. A tentpole movie release that paved the way for every audacious genre picture that came after it.
Read our full review of The Exorcist
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
3. Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter’s Halloween is one of those films that is so baked into horror DNA that it can be hard to look at it with fresh eyes, but even almost 50 years later it still works like gangbusters. You can trace nearly every slasher you love back to what Carpenter did here. The masked, wordless killer in Michael Myers. The suburban setting that looks safe until it is not. The calmly unraveling psychiatrist in Donald Pleasence’s Dr. Loomis. The smart, alert, deeply sympathetic final girl in Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode. All of that starts here, and very few of the imitators matched its patience, its clarity, or its eerie sense of watching something evil drift slowly toward you from across the street.
2. Alien (1979)
1. Jaws (1975)
