Hidden Gems?? The 1970s

[TheWickerFan]

Films from the 1970s that I haven't seen, that didn't make the HDC lists, that have an IMDB rating of 6.5 or higher. Any great classics in here?

Daughters Of Darkness (1971)
Seven Blood Stained Orchids (1972)
Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1971)
Short Night Of The Glass Dolls (1971)
Malpertuis (1971)
House With The Laughing Windows (1976)
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974)
The Perfume Of The Lady In Black (1974)
What Have You Done To Solange? (1972) (#12 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders (1970)
Nosferatu The Vampyre (1979)
The Ear (1970)
Deathdream (1974)
Private Parts (1972)
Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (1974)
Convent Of The Sacred Beast (1974)
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)
Under The Blossoming Cherry Trees (1975)
Black Belly Of The Tarantula (1971) (#16 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
Dr. Jekyll And Sister Hyde (1971)
The Case Of The Bloody Iris (1972)
The Shout (1978)
All The Colors Of The Dark (1972) (#18 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
A Lizard In A Woman's Skin (1971) (#13 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
Desperate Living (1977)
Empire Of Passion (1978)
Girly (1970)
Multiple Maniacs (1970)
Waterpower (1977)
Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key (1972) (#4 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
Hitch-Hike (1977)
Phantom Of The Paradise (1974)
The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail (1971) (#23 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
The Psychic (1977) (#17 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh (1971) (#15 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
Don't Deliver Us From Evil (1971)
Equus (1977)
Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970)
Female Trouble (1974)
Martin (1977)
Murder By Decree (1979)
Images (1972)
What Have They Done To Your Daughters? (1974) (#8 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
House (1977)
Krabat: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1978)

Any you're familiar with, like or hate, I'd like to hear about.

[neverending]

I have far fewer favorites in this list.

Dr. Jekyll And Sister Hyde (1971) - A great little gimmicky Hammer twist on the classic story.

Multiple Maniacs (1970) - I wouldn't call this a horror film per se, but if you're a fan of trash cinema, this John Waters classic is a must see. John Waters and Divine- what else can you ask for? Waters' aim was to shock people, and he did. This is also savagely funny- as are all Waters films.

Desperate Living (1977) - Another John Waters classic, this time without Divine. Again- I wouldn't call this a horror film, but if you appreciate over the top, outrageous, trashy cinema, things don't get much better than this.

Phantom Of The Paradise (1974) - You've never seen this? Really? A cult classic! Brian De Palma himself wrote and directed this twisted rock musical take on the Phantom story. Music by Paul Williams, who was a top songwriter of the era, and stars in this gem. Watch it now!

Equus (1977) - This is an adaptation of a hit Broadway play, and it actually loses a bit in the translation... but you've got Richard Burton, Sidney Lumet, Joan Plowright and a cast of top British actors.

Female Trouble (1974) - Another John Waters classic of trash cinema. These films are what the term "outrageous comedy" was coined for, and today's lame, tame offerings that get called "outrageous" have no right to the title, compared to John Waters classics- even Waters own recent films. These films couldn't even get shown in mainstream theatres today- it's a testament to the experimental attitude of the 70s that they were back then.

Martin (1977) - This is another bonafide classic. George Romero directed this brutal tale. See it!

Murder By Decree (1979) - Sherlock Holmes goes after Jack the Ripper. With Christopher Plummer, James Mason and an all-star cast, this is great fun.

Again- these are just my favorites from the list.

[TheWickerFan]

Yeah, I don't know why IMDB lists the John Waters films as horror. I guess if they're anything like Pink Flamingos, you might wince at a couple of scenes.

I think I saw Phantom Of The Paradise when I was a kid, but I can't seem to remember much about it. All I remember was the phantom attacking somebody in the shower with a plunger.

Thank you again, Neverending.

Martin looks like a great vampire flick. It's surprising that a George Romero film would slip through the cracks. Up until this past year, The Crazies didn't seem to be well known either.

[neverending]

Edited my first reply because it posted too soon.

[Ferox13]

I agree with most of what NE says with the exception of Equus. Though I have seen it it was well over 20 years ago and I can't remember much of it.

I'd also like to add:

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie which is an excellent Zombie film.

Daughters Of Darkness is good underplayed lesbian vamp film..

Private Parts - I have to admit I only saw this in the last year. I thought it was amazing. Great locations and really creepy characters. Recommended.

Deathdream - I always prefared this over Children. Not for every one but I liked it..

Girly (1970) - Loved this too..Twisted family prey on outsiders. Alittle like Spiderbaby made by Hammer.

I'm not a big Giallo fan but I did enjoy What Have They Done To Your Daughters?..

I have a copy Malperius for ages - I know its going to be a bit of a chore to watch but I want to see it..

Hitch-Hike is worth watching for Franco Nero and his characters wife alone (and add to this David Hess)

House (1977) - is fucking crazy. Hard to even discribe it lol..


Theres a few I never even heard of:

The Ear (1970)
Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (1974)
Convent Of The Sacred Beast (1974)
Under The Blossoming Cherry Trees (1975)
Waterpower (1977)*
Images (1972)
Krabat: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1978)

Unless thats the weird water bandit/forced enema film..

[neverending]

Ah yes- I missed House. I saw this in a theatre last year. What an amazing experience. Animation, songs, Japanese transgressive horror... it's a thing of beauty. And totally bizarre.

[TheWickerFan]

Thank you Ferox. I saw clips from House and posted them on the Evil Furniture thread not too long ago; it looks wild.

Your description of Waterpower sounds right. I'm not so sure I want to see forced enemas.:eek:

[Straker]

I would give these a watch if you haven't seen 'em.

Martin
Murder by Decree
What have you done to Solange?
Lizard in a woman's skin
Phantom of the Paradise
House

There's a ton on that list I havent seen though...

[TheWickerFan]

I would give these a watch if you haven't seen 'em.

Martin
Murder by Decree
What have you done to Solange?
Lizard in a woman's skin
Phantom of the Paradise
House

There's a ton on that list I havent seen though...

Thank you Straker. You've seen at least 6 more films on that list than I have.:o

[roshiq]

Seven Blood Stained Orchids (1972): A fine Giallo, not bad.

Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1971): I need to give it a watch again...I saw it on youtube with a pretty bad picture quality, so can't remember almost anything about it.

House With The Laughing Windows (1976): Not entirely a Giallo rather than a good mystery-thriller.

The Perfume Of The Lady In Black (1974): Recently downloaded it but still haven't seen it yet.

What Have You Done To Solange? (1972): (#12 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)*

Nosferatu The Vampyre (1979): Herzog's Nosferatu! Loved the ending and the town with the plague part done beautifully. Klaus Klinski did good as Dracula.

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972): A great classic for woman-in-prison film genre. Don't forget to watch it along with its 2 great sequels.

Black Belly Of The Tarantula (1971) (#16 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)*

The Shout (1978): A slow paced psychological drama with a pretty unusual but interesting concept.

All The Colors Of The Dark (1972) (#18 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)*
A Lizard In A Woman's Skin (1971) (#13 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)*

Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key (1972) (#4 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)*

Hitch-Hike (1977): A nice road thriller in 'rapist' David Hess genre of films.:D

The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail (1971) (#23 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)*
The Psychic (1977) (#17 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)*
The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh (1971) (#15 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)*

Equus (1977): A slow paced & bit difficult psychological drama to follow.

Martin (1977): A very original & underrated masterpiece from Romero. It always stays very close to my heart,

Images (1972): What I just said for Equus but here's the story is bit more interesting.

What Have They Done To Your Daughters? (1974) (#8 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
House (1977)*

House (1977): An amazing J-Horror from 70s! It's funny...it's bizarre...it's beautiful. A must see for you.

I haven't seen the others.

*Bit surprised, honored & glad that you so much carefully check out my list of Giallo Films. Thank you. :)

[TheWickerFan]

Thank you Roshiq. We were talking about giallos a short time ago, and I remembered your Top 25 list, and had to make note of it when I saw so many of those films pop up in my research.

Images does look like a tough film to sit through, but I really enjoyed Robert Altman's 3 Women and wondered if it was similar.

[Elvis_Christ]

Deathdream is one of my favourites. The Blue Underground disc is well worth picking up.

Phantom Of The Paradise is totally fuckin' killer. It's one people either seem to love or hate... it's the best modern musical in my eyes.

Bound to be on one of the lists but Deranged is IMO one of the more overlooked hidden gems of 70s horror cinema.

[TheWickerFan]

Thank you Elvis. I've seen Deranged, and really enjoyed it. A surprisingly accurate film about the atrocities commited by Ed Gein. It didn't make any of the lists; that's why I always dig for more treasure, they can't all make the countdowns.

[Ferox13]

Bound to be on one of the lists but Deranged is IMO one of the more overlooked hidden gems of 70s horror cinema.

Agree 100%

[Elvis_Christ]

I've just acquired the extended/uncut version of the film so I'm looking forward to re-watching it.

[BipolarExpress]

A few i remember from long ago -

Gargoyles (1972)
Bad Ronald (1974)
Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (1973)
The Little Girl Who lives Down The Lane (1976)

[TheWickerFan]

A few i remember from long ago -

Gargoyles (1972)
Bad Ronald (1974)
Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (1973)
The Little Girl Who lives Down The Lane (1976)

I haven't seen Bad Ronald. Thank you.:)

[BipolarExpress]

I haven't seen Bad Ronald. Thank you.:)

You're welcome.

Patrick -

An odd horror flick from the past-
One of the first I had ever seen on Betamax believe it or not.

[Ferox13]

You're welcome.

Patrick -

An odd horror flick from the past-
One of the first I had ever seen on Betamax believe it or not.

Check out the unofficial sequel - what a shocker..lol

[TheWickerFan]

Haven't seen Patrick yet. I don't know what to make of the sequel:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSLNHTZUZ-I

[The Ugly Duchess]

Most of these I have never heard of. The ones I have I have never seen.

I will have to check into some of these.

[Ferox13]

Haven't seen Patrick yet. I don't know what to make of the sequel:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSLNHTZUZ-I

Its full of nasty sex and violence - funny as hell. Its by the same guy who did Giallo a Venezia .

[TheWickerFan]

Its full of nasty sex and violence - funny as hell. Its by the same guy who did Giallo a Venezia .

I'm sold.:D

[pauljuser]

If I ever have the opportunity to remake a movie, it will be "Jaws 2." It is the most underrated story of a fallen hero that must throw himself in the path of danger for people that have lost their faith in him. "Open wide!"

[Fearonsarms]

Ok here's my take on the ones I've seen from your list


Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1971) I loved this vastly underrated Argento giallo not straightforward at all. Cat O Nine Tails (1971) is more straightforward but spookier. This one is more surreal
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974) I have a horrible feeling I may have saw a cut version because I was very confused as its also known as The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue and this title didn't make sense.
The Perfume Of The Lady In Black (1974)This is AMAZING see it!!!It is unique and extremely weird just enjoy the ride while you watch don't think about it too much.
What Have You Done To Solange? (1972) This is very good similar to Giallo in Venice or Death in Venice are those the same film I'm confused though its not as violent and some people say its better for that.
Nosferatu The Vampyre (1979)I hated this prefer the 1922 original
Black Belly Of The Tarantula (1971) Excellent Giallo a bit macabre though if you don't mind that
All The Colors Of The Dark (1972) Underrated and hard to explain without spoiling the plot a different twist on the giallo format.
A Lizard In A Woman's Skin (1971) This is way ahead of its time one of the more inventive giallos has a very dreamy quality to it and becomes nightmarish too. Also check out Don't Torture A Duckling (1970) hugely controversial at the time and is even more intense than Lizard but not as ethereal.
The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail (1971) More of a standard giallo you might prefer Torso
The Psychic (1977) One of my fave ever films please do not read anything about this spoilers are even given in its plot synopsis on the back of the dvd. It is slow pace but makes up with atmosphere and becomes more and more sinister. A more supernatural horror than giallo.
Don't Deliver Us From Evil (1971) Another controvertial film quite cruel but refreshing and never predictable.
Equus (1977)Don't bother
Martin (1977)Very very good has a go at vampire flicks so beware of that but original
House (1977) I was very disappointed with this but some people swear by it.

[TheWickerFan]

Thank you Fear. You really know your stuff.:)