The Best of... The 1970's!

Before we take a look at the 31 Best Horror Movies of the New Millennium during this year’s 31 Days of Horror, we thought we’d go back and try to figure out what the best movies of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s were first. For the sake of continuity.

In many ways, the 70’s gave birth to the Horror Film as we know it today, with directors like Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Dario Argento, and Lucio Fulci introducing the world to a new, harsher, and more terrifying Horror Movie-going experience.

While the Gothic Horror flavor of the 60's carried over into the movies of 70's, it wasn't long before the themes of religion, possession, reincarnation/rising from the dead, evil children, violence against women, nature rebelling against man, and even erotica, took over in earnest. And of course, the end of the 70's saw the rise of the Slasher Movie begin in earnest with the success of Halloween. There were lots of vampires too.

The Horror Movies of the 70's made bold societal statements, and played on audience's fears like never before... and people ate it up.

• We wen’t with 50 movies for this list instead of our normal 36, and even then we were forced to leave some great movies out in the cold. I promise you, none of those choices were easy.
• Aside from the Must See classics in the Top Six section, we heartily recommend that Black Christmas, Deep Red, Phantasm, Salem's Lot, Tourist Trap, The Wicker Man, and Zombie, be at the top of your watch lists. 

So here are the 50 Best Horror Movies of the 1970’s. If you’re looking to explore the genre, then these are the classic movies you start with. The movies in the Top Six are timeless and essential, but so are many of the ones that make up the rest of the 50. You should really explore them all.

*Most of the links go to Amazon so that you can stream or grab yourself a copy of the movies; or in the case of some of the older & more obscure titles, IMDB, because they simply aren't available to stream or purchase.