1970s, group 9
- Rollerball (1975)
- A Boy and His Dog (1975)
- Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
- Death Race 2000 (1975)
- Mad Max (1979)
- It’s Alive (1974)
- God Told Me To (1976)
- Black Christmas (1974)
- The Wicker Man (1973)
- The Legend of Hell House (1973)
- The Stone Tape (1972)
- The Night Stalker (1972)
- Time After Time (1979)
- Eraserhead (1977)
- Lipstick (1976)
- Fritz the Cat (1972)
- Lenny (1974)
- Macon County Line (1974)
- Le Cercle rouge (1970)
- The Honeymoon Killers (1970)
****
Lots of odd little films on this list, including a pair from B-movie master Larry Cohen, God Told Me To and It’s Alive (which featured one of the greatest pieces of promo art ever); also notable for their B-movie charms are Corman’s brilliant Death Race 2000, and Max Baer’s Macon County Line, which was the biggest grossing independent of its time and a hugely popular drive-in hit. And don’t miss George Roy Hill’s Slaughterhouse-Five, a very clever adaptation of Vonnegut’s wonderful novel.
previous: set 1; set 2; set 3; set 4; set 5; set 6; set 7; set 8.
I agree with all of them .. wish their was room for Eraserhead in there someplace.. David Lynch is a one of a kind.
Sure.
Now that you’ve descended to the level of Death Race 2000, I’m convinced that you’ve crossed the line. Members of the Carradine clan have much shame to bear, but I’m at a loss to think of something that quite competes with this one.
Hell. Yeah.
My stats are dropping! I’ve only seen four of these.
Is it possible for you to upload or host all of these so we can watch them at our leasure?
The kid at the video store is starting to think I’m a friend or something.
Thank you, protein wisdom. Before I clicked the link, I had no idea his complete name was ‘Mad’ Max Rockatansky.
No wonder he was so pissed.
Or leisure, even.
http://www.imdb.com/chart/1970s
Okay.
Thanks, you’re a peach!
I didn’t think Slaughterhouse-Five was gonna make the cut since it wasn’t on the list with Catch-22. I always associate those books, what with both having hypenated names with numbers and both being war novels that play around with time and space liberally.
A Boy and His Dog is one of the creepiest post-nuke film made. As good as Ellison’s short story.
The only better gig James Caan had than as Jonathan E in Rollerball was hanging out at the mansion playing Backgammon with Hef. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I do remember Godfather I and II.
Plus, John Houseman.
I think I have seen 10-11 of these, and the best by far (of those I’ve seen) is Le Cercle Rouge, but get the restored version that John Woo (of all people) helped to produce. Can’t front on Yves Montand!
You should all know that Death Race also has boobies.
BTW, I have just retroactively audited myself and am at 119/180 (66%)… which means I get to be your food taster, but you won’t speak to me in mixed company, I think.
Slick, as Joe Bob Briggs, the boobs shown in 70s movies were before they all started to look the same. Too true.
I don’t recall seeing “The Candidate” on a list yet. I easily could have missed it though. Love the lists…thanks!
The Candidate has appeared, though I can’t remember which list it’s on. One of the first 3, I think.
I stumbled into Rollerball about 1/3 into the film, in the middle of the night when I should have been sleeping. It held my attention the whole way through. I was really impressed. It is outstanding. The street & formal wear remind you exactly when it was made, but the film gets past it.
I had only seen about 5 minutes of the recent remake. That’s just too bad for L.L.
A Boy and His Dog, man, that just plain changed my life. In a creepily exciting way.
I was expecting to doom a few of these to be Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fodder, just for being retro, but I haven’t been able to.
A fair list.
~ cough ~
killdozer
~ cough ~
or, given Jeff’s political sensibilities maybe think of it as:
KillDozer: The Movie That Would Have Saved Rachel Corrie’s Life, Had She Watched It.
So is Max Baer’s Macon County Line better than his Ode to Billy Joe? I was half expecting that film to get a mention.
The Wicker Man is another great one. 70s British horror. Britt Ekland as a pagan sex goddess. And, naturally, Christopher Lee as a mysterious, patrician old guy. Dude just lived in tweed.
And The Night Stalker—great as a film, perhaps even greater as a TV series. Think of a 1970s version of the X-files. Used to scare the hell out of me as a kid.
The House That Screamed aka La Residencia. (Okay, it’s 1969)
Just in case people aren’t watching Mad Max because of the execrable dubbing that was done on the original US release (because those Aussies are completely incomprehensible when you are a coked up studio exec), I caught it on AMC a month or so ago and the australian dialog had been restored so that it doesn’t seem quite so much like a 70’s era kung-fu movie.
I assume Omega Man is in the next list, right?
funny, i watched a few episodes of Kolchak: the nightstalker yesterday. thankfully, my husband lost his cell phone and somebody called that they found it, so we drove two hours to get it, or else the day would have been a complete waste.
Omega Man should’ve been on this list. My oversight.
Maggie—the two movies are better than the show, in my opinion.
I saw “A Boy & His Dog” at the ISU Memorial Union in the spring of ‘87 as part of the student government’s movie night promo. I guess it was their way to try to get all us knuckledraggers to do something other than drink to unconsciousness on a weeknight.
I went on a group date with a girl from our sister floor, and failed to score….which in retrospect, was a good thing. Can you imagine the total Mongolian Goat Rope of a one-nighter that would have followed that freaky movie? Woof!
I’m going to have to get a copy of the original Aussie version of “Mad Max”. The dubbing always ruined the movie for me. “Omega Man” would have been a good one for this list, but which of the others would it displace?
Loved, loved, LOVED Night Stalker. My sis and I used to watch it late at night and then turn on every light in the house. Ah, memories.
Turing word: value – family values??
FINALLY you mention Rollerball. Sheesh. Too little, too late.
Finally, Fritz the Cat makes the list!!! What can be better than a cartoon cat screwing other cats, bunnies, and crows! (or was the crow in 9 Lives of Fritz the Cat?). Great movie…especially Fritz’s long speech that began, “I think, I been all around this big crazy world…”
Bakshi had a talent.
Maggie,
Well, my memory may be wrong on Kolchak; I last saw the series when I was about ten. I thought it was the greatest thing back then. I’ll suspend judgment until I get a chance to see them again on DVD.
All that said—Darren McGavin is definitely underrated. Consider “A Christmas Story”.