The best horror films of the 1970s

It’s a classic horror title. A titular doctor? That’s eerie enough as is, but then they threw in the oh-so-specific “abominable.” Sure, the movie is tongue-in-cheek, but it offers up a connector to the ‘60s horror films. After all, Dr. Phibes is played by Vincent Price, and his days of not being an out-and-out camp figure were beginning to dwindle.

The ‘70s didn’t invent atmospheric, vibes-based horror movies, but the genre grew in that decade. A woman and her husband move to a farmhouse after she is released from a mental hospital, but the woman begins to feel something is wrong with the town, and with the woman they find squatting in their house. Part of what made “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death” work, and what has made it a cult favorite, is its embrace of a horror film told through the eyes of an unreliable narrator.

We had to include it. If we’re doing a list of films related to the 1970s, it’s always nice to get a bit of Blaxploitation in the mix. The defining Blaxploitation horror movie is, of course, “Blacula.” You get exactly what you expect from “Blacula,” and that is not a complaint in any way, shape, or form. “Blackenstein,” on the other hand…

This is at least half a “before they were famous” curio. “Cannibal Girls” is a silly, gonzo exploitation horror movie. It was directed by Ivan Reitman- yes, the Ivan Reitman- and he got a couple of other on-the-rise Canadians to step into the cast. Those familiar faces would be Andrea Martin and Eugene Levy. Yes, Eugene Levy was in a Canadian horror film called “Cannibal Girls.”

The kind of people who like to say they are fans of “elevated horror” also tend to espouse their love for “Don’t Look Now.” It’s odd and atmospheric, laden with the grief of the main characters, played by acclaimed actors Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. It also has an ending that, well, if you haven’t been spoiled on it, try to watch “Don’t Look Now” before that happens.

You could argue that “The Exorcist” broke the mold for horror movies. There had been hit horror films before, and there had been horror movies that were acclaimed, but “The Exorcist” pushed it to the limit on both fronts. It was the highest-grossing movie domestically of 1973, and it was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning two. This nasty, menacing, occasionally disturbing horror film about a possessed girl was the biggest hit of the year and the most-awarded movie this side of “The Sting.” That’s incredible. And all the sequels are terrible.

Don’t hold that ridiculous remake starring Nicolas Cage against this version of “The Wicker Man.” This one is not goofy at all, but it also doesn’t have the stink of Neil LaBute’s whole deal on it either. This one has Christopher Lee and a bunch of Celtic-influenced folk horror in it. Nobody screams about bees. It’s all good.

The film that really codified the American slasher arrived later in the 1970s, but there were the steps that got us to that point. “Black Christmas” is one of the films that paved the way, though it is technically Canadian. This is where we are morally obligated to note “Black Christmas” was directed by Bob Clark, whose filmography also includes “Porky’s,” “A Christmas Story,” and “Baby Geniuses.” “Black Christmas” is a nasty, bleak, but well-made horror film that essentially has all the elements of your quintessential slasher in it.

It has a top-10 movie title, and also a top-10 movie tagline. “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” birthed one of the legends of horror in Leatherface. It’s a little bit slasher and a little bit docudrama, and it also predates the infatuation with true crime. For a movie about a dude with a chainsaw who wears skin, there’s a lot of notable film history in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

We said the best horror films of the ‘70s, not the scariest. Is “Young Frankenstein” barely a horror movie? Sure. It’s a Mel Brooks movie, after all. However, it’s deeply indebted to the history of horror. Brooks and Gene Wilder were serious about paying homage to Universal’s “Frankenstein” films, right down to the set design. Few films are as tied to horror history as “Young Frankenstein.” It just happens to be very silly.

We don’t think calling “Jaws” a horror movie is as divisive as calling “Die Hard” a Christmas movie, but it isn’t always talked about in this genre milieu. Maybe it’s just too exciting and too well-made? Is the acting too good? “Jaws” became the biggest movie of all-time, not adjusting for inflation, and codified the summer blockbuster. Plus, it did good things for some guy named Steven Spielberg. A true American classic.

Steven King’s first novel became the first Steven King adaptation, and Brian De Palma directed it, so of course it is insane. “Carrie” is also really good. Sissy Spacek is great in it. Piper Laurie is great in it. The movie feels weird, over-the-top, and occasionally prurient. It’s also a ripping, distressing horror film.

“Let’s hire an actor with gravitas to get our horror movie taken seriously” was more of a thing in the ‘60s than the ‘70s, but it still happened in the ‘70s. Gregory Peck is the actor in question in “The Omen.” It’s a tale as old as time: What if you secretly kidnapped a baby to take the place of your baby that died, and what if that baby turned out to be the Antichrist? As with “The Exorcist,” most of the sequels are bad, but “The First Omen” has some juice.

To use an old memed phrase, Dario Argento is one of the few directors who sees the salacious insanity of Brian De Palma and says, “Hold my beer.” Italy played a vital role in the evolution of horror – and was arguably at the forefront of the slasher genre – so we needed to give at least one Italian film some love. “Suspiria” is an easy choice, because it’s considered a ‘70s classic. It’s also bizarre, but that’s a feature, not a bug.

George A. Romero legitimately changed film, not just the horror genre but independent film, with “Night of the Living Dead.” Then, he made a bunch of stuff that didn’t really pop, and a decade later he went back to the world of zombies. With more budget (a whole $640,000) and more production backing, “Dawn of the Dead” builds upon what his first zombie film did. It’s better in some ways, but less impactful in others. However, aside from its cinematic import, this is Romero’s best movie.

This is it. Horror films were never the same. John Carpenter’s “Halloween” is the prototypical slasher. It’s simple, it’s to the point, it’s eerie, it’s cool, it has a great soundtrack, and on and on. “Halloween” is a classic for a reason. It’s an important film, and it still holds up as a slasher movie.

The 1956 version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is probably a better film, or at least gets credit for coming first. However, it’s a ‘50s horror film, so it can only do so much. This version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” didn’t have to hold back. That’s not to say it is a gorefest or anything, but it’s definitely going for the gusto in terms of making the whole premise freaky as hell.

Yes, “Piranha” is drafting in the wake of “Jaws.” It’s one of many “monster in the water” films that came out after “Jaws.” This one got a thumbs up from Spielberg, though, and it also benefits from being made by two burgeoning stars on Roger Corman’s team. Corman had a tremendous skill for finding talented people and giving them a shot with basically no money and the promise, “Do a good job for me, and you’ll never be stuck working for me again.” Joe Dante directed “Piranha” and the script was by John Sayles. For a cheap knockoff, it’s way better than it should be.

“Aliens” is a really good action movie, and some of the “Alien” movies made in the new millennium are good. Nothing holds a candle to “Alien,” a gross, claustrophobic horror movie. Is this the best sci-fi horror film? It might just be the best sci-fi horror film.

There probably hasn’t been a decade of film that hasn’t had at least one Dracula movie. Most decades don’t have a Blacula, but they have a Dracula. In the 1970s, this was the Dracula movie of record. It stars Frank Langella, which is a good starting point. You know the drill. It’s Dracula, but this one has a ‘70s horror feel.

This film was a labor of love by Don Coscarelli, who did basically everything on the film. It’s the kind of movie where the Wikipedia page includes the words, “There were no accountants on the set, but Coscarelli estimates the budget at $300,000.” You can see the lack of professional polish here and there, and we’ll be honest, you might have to gut it out for a few minutes to let the film get going and to get on its wavelength. Then? It goes wild, and it becomes truly bizarre and a lot of fun.

We end here because, well, this movie came out at the end of September 1979, but it’s also a quintessential horror film. It’s not a great movie, but “When a Stranger Calls” is a codifying movie. It took the urban legend of the babysitter and the call coming from inside the house and put it on the big screen. The reason people know that terrifying tale is that “When a Stranger Calls” was made.