The 1970s was a hugely important decade for horror cinema. The Exorcist, Jaws, Carrie, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Alien, and Halloween are all deemed absolute top-tier examples of the genre. But it was also the decade of quite a few unsung (or at least under-sung) creepy, crawly, hair-raising standouts. Those are the scary movies that follow: those that very much deserve to have their fanbase expanded. In other words, no Don’t Look Now, The Last House on the Left, The Wicker Man, Black Christmas, The Omen, Eraserhead, The Hills Have Eyes, The Crazies, Suspiria, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Amityville Horror, Phantasm, or When a Stranger Calls here. Those films have already reached a macro-scale audience to varying degrees.
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Just missing the cut were Audrey Rose, Damien – Omen II, Trilogy of Terror, It’s Alive, the goofy Sssssss, and the equally goofy Frogs. They’re not ranked or listed in any particular order, because all of these under-sung scary flicks are equally worth your time.
7) The Brood
Body horror master David Cronenberg has seen a few of his movies reach classic status, like The Fly. The Brood is very much in line with that masterpiece.
This is an intriguing movie about psychiatry and dealing with a greater power than you can understand. It’s also genuinely scary, with excellent work by Oliver Reed, Art Hindle, and Samantha Eggar.
Stream The Brood on HBO Max.
6) Tourist Trap
Tourist Trap is supposedly set for the remake treatment, and it will be interesting to see how they go about that. The main key to Tourist Trap‘s effectiveness is its low-budget ’70s vibe.
David Schmoeller’s slasher is an ambitious entry in the then-young subgenre, with dolls, psychokinesis, and a fun villain performance by Chuck Connors. It also has an early performance by Tanya Roberts, who went on to star in That ’70s Show and as Bond Girl Stacey Sutton in A View to a Kill.
Stream Tourist Trap on Prime Video.
5) Magic
Like with Tourist Trap, it was recently announced that Richard Attenborough’s (Jurassic Park) Magic would be getting a remake, and it’s certainly easy to see why. There’s just something about ventriloquism that is scary no matter the era the project is made.
However, Magic is more than an “evil ventriloquist dummy” story. It’s more of an analysis of an unraveling psyche, and Anthony Hopkins does (as one might imagine) a fantastic job of bringing Corky Withers and his dummy Fats to life.
Stream Magic on Prime Video.
4) Martin
Martin is an underrated vampire movie that never accumulated the audience it deserved, which is surprising considering it was directed by Dawn of the Dead‘s George A. Romero. In fact, before he passed, Romero called it his favorite of all his films.
Romero’s vampire movie manages to flip the bloodsucking subgenre on its head by arguably never showing a vampire at all. Instead, it makes the audience question if the title character is a creature of the night, just as he’s questioning it.
3) Burnt Offerings
With terrific use of natural light that helps contribute to its dreamlike aura, Burnt Offerings is like living through a dream that ends up being a nightmare. This is a movie that continuously makes you question where it’s going to go next, and where it’s going isn’t anywhere pleasant.
Furthermore, Burnt Offerings is an actor’s movie. Both Oliver Reed and Trilogy of Terror‘s Karen Black are both phenomenal, and there’s even a small role for silver screen icon Bette Davis, as well.
Stream Burnt Offerings on MGM+.
2) Alice, Sweet Alice
Alice, Sweet Alice is a movie that basically opens with the death of a child (played by Brooke Shields) and doesn’t get any more pleasant from there. It also comes equipped with one of the more haunting masks ever worn by a horror antagonist.
While the film’s poster and classification as a slasher might make people think it’s in line with something like Prom Night or Friday the 13th, it’s actually quite a bit more cerebral. It actually hovers somewhere between Halloween and Don’t Look Now.
Stream Alice, Sweet Alice on Prime Video.
1) Play Misty for Me
Clint Eastwood has directed several thrillers throughout his long, prolific career, and it was with a thriller that he got his behind-the-camera start. There’s an argument that it’s his best contribution to the genre, too, with The 15:17 to Paris, True Crime, and Blood Work all falling short of its impact.
Roger Ebert wrote that “in the business of collecting an audience into the palm of its hand and then squeezing hard, it is supreme.” And, while Eastwood is fantastic both as director and actor, this is the late Jessica Walter’s (Arrested Development) movie all the way. She walked with this type of obsessed character so Glenn Close could run in Fatal Attraction.
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