The70srepresented a turning point for thehorrorgenre, with the rise of renowned subgenres and styles such as the giallo and the slasher shaping the horror scene for years to come. Since horror stories weren’t so popular at the time, this kind of movie targeted niched audiences and aficionados for controversial narratives with good doses of gory and despair, pioneering techniques and characteristics that are still used to this day.
Before horror movies reached a well-known status in the United States, productions from all over the world were committed to innovating throughout the 70s. Some of the best titles aren’t the typical type of horror story viewers are used to now, but rather heavy dramas that flirt heavily with the supernatural, fear, and the unknown.
1970: I Drink Your Blood
AfterGeorge A. Romero’s classicNight of the Living Deadin 1968, zombie movies began to reach a crescendo in the 70s. In the case of David E. Durston’sI Drink Your Blood,the living dead trope took advantage of the rise of counterculture and the influence of rebellious youth movements in music and cinema. With Woodstock still fresh in the audience’s minds, Durston’s movie introduces a group of Satanic hippies who turn a small town into actual hell as a young boy tries to get back on them.
I Drink Your Bloodportrays psychedelic paranoia in the nastiest fashion, delivering pertinent allegories to LSD and hallucinogenic drugs but never settling with easy answers, embracing the chaos and the absurd completely.
1971: Demons
Japanese horror has always hit differently, even before the popular wave of qualityJapanese horror moviesthat took place in the 2000s.Demonsis a tragic revenge story that utilizes horror as a brutal vehicle to expose the characters' transformation from desolated human beings to self-destructive monsters. The film’s “hero” is a bloodthirsty warrior who had been robbed by a geisha. Determined to exact revenge on the people who deceived him, the warrior spirals out of control leaving a blood path behind.
Demonsshowcases not only the violation of the body but also spiritual degradation. Samurai stories tend to follow characters with strict moral codes and a strong sense of integrity. Here, these values are corrupted by a bleak devil, an invisible corrupter of souls.
1972: What Have You Done to Solange?
Giallos usually benefit from a pretty straightforward formula, and those that continue to age well are the narratives that take risks. In the case ofrenowned giallo director Dario Argento, his movies became famous for their high artistic values and exuberant sets and costumes. In the case of Massimo Dallamano’sWhat Have You Done to Solange, a hidden gem of its time, the movie excels in its shocking imagery and agonizing conduction of the mystery and violent scenes, to the point the film’s final 30 minutes feel like a completely different story and a genuine feverish nightmare.
What Have You Done to Solangetakes place in an unscrupulous academic scenario, where an older teacher who’s been having an affair with a student becomes the primary suspect for the serial killings of local coeds. If the brutality of the death scenes isn’t enough to make viewers squirm, the barbaric conclusion to the film’s mystery will do the job.
1973: The Exorcist
The Exorcistchanged the horror genre foreverand has aged surprisingly well throughout the years. Surprisingly because possession stories have become more and more hackneyed, and the practical effects might not be as convincing now as they were 50 years ago. However, there’s something unparalleled about the movie’s perpetually dreadful atmosphere, and the risks it takes to explore the profane were never repeated with the same intensity again.
Loosely based on a real possession case,The Exorcistfollows the confrontation between a despondent priest and the perverted demon that possessed a 12-year-old girl. It remains one of the meanest movies ever made; filled with melancholy and despair beyond the surface of its horror imagery.
1974: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Texas Chain Saw Massacreis such a special movie that, to this day, aspiring horror filmmakers attempt to recreate its nasty, hopeless aspect through low-budget elements and dizzy camera style. It consists of a complete horror movie: the villain is terrifying and mysterious, the main characters are nuanced and don’t settle for their pre-established stereotypes, and most importantly, the feeling that absolutely no one is safe prevails from beginning to end. Both the villains and the good buys engage in a chaotic pursuit for survival by any means necessary, unleashing the worst of human nature in a bloody carnage that resulted in a remarkable turnaround in the horror genre.
The Highest-Grossing Horror Movies from Each Year in the 1970s
The ’70s were a great time for horror movies. Let’s take a look at the highest-grossing horror movies each year from that decade.
1975: Deep Red
Dario Argento’s giallos have the fame of never being what they seem at first glance, andDeep Redmight be the best example of an Argento story with enough twists and turns to disorient viewers just like the characters onscreen. In the film, a musician and a reporter cross paths when the former witnesses the murder of a psychic and becomes the potential target of the merciless killer. As typical of Argento’s movies, the violence is graphic and stomach-turning, and the tension that precedes the death scenes is conducted with mastery by one of the great geniuses of the genre.
Giallo: The Best of the Horror Movie Subgenre, Ranked
Uniting noir mystery with Hitchcock and slasher films in one bloody cocktail, Italy’s giallo movies are like no others. Here are some of the best.
1976: Carrie
Before abandoning Hollywood for good, Brian De Palma was known as one of the most talented, if not the best crime thriller directors, responsible for all-time masterpieces such asMission: ImpossibleandScarface. However, most people seem to forget that he first rose to prominence in the horror genre and pulled off one of the 70s great masterpieces;Carrie,a disturbing adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel.
While the book’s amateurism was the target of a few severe critics, De Palma showed absolute confidence in his ability to adapt the story to the big screen with an interesting approach. Half a coming-of-age tale, half a bloody revenge story,Carriefollows a shy girl with telekinetic powers who becomes the victim of a prank with deadly consequences.Carriecounts on perhaps the most vivid sight of blood on any horror film: red blood full of impactful symbolism, transmitting all the rage of a girl who just wanted to fit in. Shout out to Sissy Spacek for delivering some of the most haunting stares of all time.
1977: Martin
George A. Romero is most commonly known for popularizing the zombie subgenre with classics such asThe Night of the Living DeadandDawn of the Dead, but his take on vampires is equally original and deserves more recognition. WithMartin, Romero takes a strong psychological approach to the flawed character of Martin, a young vampire troubled by visions of a violent past who adopts a methodic course of action to retrieve blood from his victims.
Despite not relying on graphic violence, Martin’s silent and unnerving application of horror is deeply unsettling, and the vampire’s effort to not raise suspicion or hurt his victims often puts him in all sorts of life-threatening situations.
1978: Halloween
Initially, John Carpenter’s plan was to turnHalloweeninto ananthology movie series, with each project focusing on a different story with brand new characters. However, it goes without saying that the personal vendetta between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode was too iconic not to be further explored, let alone the distinctive qualities that made them a perfect villain and an ideal final girl respectively.
Set on Halloween night, an uncontrollable killer escapes from a mental hospital and sets out to finish what he started 15 years ago: take down his younger sister Laurie. Carpenter crafts a disturbing game of cat and mouse and adds spice to the rising slasher subgenre, setting the path for a long and popular franchise that never quite reached the level of its first movie.
1979: Nosferatu the Vampyre
1922’sNosferatuwas considered an untouchable classic until Werner Herzog decided to make his own vampire movie. Remakes and reboots have now become a cheap attempt at capitalizing on nostalgic value, but they could learn a thing or two with Herzog’sNosferatu the Vampyre.
The movie is much more concerned with finding its own voice and exploring the gaps left by the original film than simply paying tribute to the figure of Nosferatu. Herzog seems comfortable introducing Count Dracula with new idiosyncrasies and ambitions, looking to build an unnerving examination of evil and desire through the eyes of a creature who owns the night.
