The best 70s horror movies is a common topic of debate among us here at horrorfan. We’re children of the 70s, and our love for the horror films of our birth decade eclipses pretty much everything else in our lives. The 70s can’t be matched in terms of horror movie gore; directors started adding more gory effects and buckets of blood to try and add something fresh to what was becoming a tired genre. Unfortunately, the horror movies of the 70s also can’t be matched in terms of cheesiness; there are just as many bad 70s horror movies as there are good ones.
Horror movies are a huge part of the cultural history of the 70s, and even the bad horror movies can be so bad they’re good. At very least, if you grew up in the 70s, the horror movies from that decade are an important link to your past. Maybe you remember staying up late and watching cheesy low-budget horror movies on TV or sneaking out to the drive-in to catch a movie you were too young to see. Either way, most people’s memory of the 70s involves horror movie classics.
The 70s without horror movies wouldn’t be the 70s. To that end, here is a quick breakdown of what are generally considered the three best horror films of the 1970’s.
1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Today’s lineup of homemade, low-budget, indie horror flicks owes everything to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This is a classic slasher film made on a shoestring budget starring horror icon Leatherface. You won’t find many horror movies with more tension or gore than can be found here, a truly scary horror flick that broke all the rules.
2. Black Christmas (1974)
A hybrid Christmas and horror movie, Black Christmas doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Blending Christmas and horror sets the mood for this creepy story of a group of college girls being picked off one by one by a mysterious killer. Some truly scary moments here, with a classic 70s look and soundtrack.
3. Halloween (1978)
The original Halloween is the grandfather of every “creepy serial killer that wears a mask” movie ever made. In Halloween, the killer is a mask-wearing psycho named Michael Myers who breaks out of a mental hospital to terrorize a woman played by a young Jamie Lee Curtis. Halloween has been called one of the most influential movies of all time, and most of today’s horror movies borrow from this flick in one way or another.