Dawn of The Dead-(1979) What do you do when the whole world has gone to hell, zombies run a muck and the only living humans seem to be very much up shit’s creek. What else but go to the mall! Romero’s long awaited sequel to Night of The Living Dead picks up shortly after with a small band of survivors fighting there way to safety. A small group leave the broadcast newscenter they were holed up in and head for safer grounds. The four people take a helicopter and make their way to a shopping mall. After setting up a base, they then go about locking up the mall and dispatching the zombies who have instinctively found their way back to the mecca of commerce. After all seems cool, the survivors then find themselves fighting to protect their turf from a murderous band of bikers who let in even more zombies. Romero sparred no expense let alone blood in this intense and sometimes funny sequel. Featuring the special effects genius of Tom Savini, we have an action packed zombie kill fest that is a worthy follow-up to Romero’s cult classic and one of the best horror movies of the 1970’s.
Jaws-(1975) As a child the drive-in was a blessing in the ultimate cinematic sense. One of my best memories was that of the chilling sound of the John William’s Oscar winning Jaws theme. Steven Spielburg’s adaptation of a rather mediocre Peter Benchly novel is a return to the major elements of fear and the use of suspense in telling a story. A small coastal town is besieged by a large man eating shark during its vacation season. The local town officials wish to downplay the danger in the hope of increasing tourism but the local sheriff knows better. Enlisting the aid of a marine biologist and a salty fisherman, the three men go out to confront the ultimate sea predator. Spielburg takes cues from such great sea films as Creature form the Black Lagoon, The Old Man and The Sea and Moby Dick to craft a genuinely scary tale that reaches into peoples fears and emotions, never before has one man made so many people fear the ocean. After 20 years the fear of the depths and of sharks is still very much in the hearts of most people, and with a dramatic decline in numbers the shark may well face extinction at the hands of those who fear it most. A commercial and critical success, Jaws is the all time highest grossing horror movie and unfortunately we ended up with 3 rather horrible sequels and a whole school of cheap copycats. Luckily we still have that great theme...........
Exorcist-(1973) A generation before Psycho proved that a horror movie could be very serious and intense. William Peter Blatty wrote the story from which this shocking classic is based. A young girl played by Linda Blair is taken ill and when conventional treatment fails the mother turns to the church. Two priests are dispatched, one an old man of firm belief and the other a young troubled soul who have lost faith. It is up to them to combat the demonic forces that inhabit the poor girl. The film is best known for the head spinning FX and vomiting scenes. This was such a groundbreaking movie in the field of horror that it reinvented the genre by introducing the concept of Demonic possession. In effect the Exorcist put 3 companies out of business, AIP, Amicus and Hammer. A shocking film which even to this day still frightens audience of all ages. Followed by 2 sequels and a whole slew of quickie imitations. Avoid the imitators and go for the master itself.
The Omen-(1976) We all know that little kids can be real devils, but what if your child was THE ANTI-CHRIST! A woman births a child and then dies mysteriously the same night that the a US Ambassador’s wife delivers her own child. A switch occurs and the happy couple raise their child with out knowing that they have the anti Christ in their mists. A series of brutal and most unique murders follows the child as he ages and we discover a strange assortment of characters who seems to be interested in young Damien. With the talents of great actors like Gregory peck, Lee Remeck and David Warner we have what has to be one of the best demon movies since The Exorcist. Little Damien is neither cute nor innocent and when father is dispatched we see his sinister smile at the funeral, knowing that their is more to come. The Omen boasted a great score and some brutally graphic murders, including a beheading, impalment by a cross and a swan dive into an ambulance. Followed by 3 sequels, the first and second of which are worth watching, the third I can’t say since I have yet to see it.
The Wicker Man
Young Frankenstein-(1974) Mel Brooks is best known for his infamous parodies of famous movie genres, his crack at the Frankenstein movie has to be one of his finest. Freddick Frankenstein, (pronounced Franken-steen) arrives at his fathers castle to take care of family matters. He encounters Igor (eye-gor!), the house manservant, and later finds his fathers notes, titled "How I did It!" Recreating his infamous experiments in a most comical way. The movie has everything to make it great including a cast that just seems to good to be true. Peter Boyle is fantastic as the monster, The late great Marty Feldman as Igor, complete with moveable hump. Madeline Cahn is also funny as the fiancee of Freddy who ends up as The Bride of Frankenstein. But Kenneth Mars is a riot as the police inspector with a wooden arm, eye patch with a monocle covering the eye patch!
Nosferatu, The Vampyre
Carrie-(1976) Lately Stephen King has been turning out rather mediocre movies but his first novel adaptation may well be one of his best. Staring a cast that would provide many well known Hollywood players, Carrie is both a sad and frightening tale of ostracism and revenge. Crazy Carrie as she is called by those who tease her, Sissy Spacek portrays the lonely girl with heart and understanding. Carrie is a loner, teased by her class mates and taunted by her zealously religious mother, but she has a secret. It appears Carrie has powers which seem to be barely at her control. When it seems that her peers are finally accepting her we discover that they wish to play a horribly cruel joke on her during the senior prom. With her surprise at becoming Prom Queen, we see a young woman who is finally found acceptance in her cruel world. Tragically, the prank pulled on her goes horribly wrong, the release of pigs blood on her and the subsequent laughter by both students and teachers unleashes a fury of anger as she burns the school and kills everyone in her path. Her final confrontation with her mom is not only frightening but tragic. In the end we see the lone survivor, Carrie’s only real friend visiting her grave and in a shock dream sequence we discover that she may be forever haunted by the tragedy. Carrie earned Sissy Spacek her first Oscar nomination and was a commercial success for the film makers and Stephen King. With its great cast, goof direction and climatic finales we have a classic shocker that still has an impact today. Yet with every successfully film we would end up with so many bad imitators.
Trilogy of Terror-(1975) A collection of three tales of the macabre, what is best is the final story which is not only a great story but features one of the coolest icons of horror. The first two tales deal with a murderer and a split personality persona. The gem is the final story titled "Amelia". A young woman, the lovely and sexy Karen Black, receives a package and is assaulted by an African Zuni fetish doll. The battle that takes place is well paced and acted out wonderfully, we get 20 minutes of absolute terror and thrill. The story is simple and the FX are quite good, truly brilliant performance by Ms Black in the fight she has with the evil doll. The Zuni Fetish Doll Rules! Sadly we would find many imitators borrowing on the theme of a killer doll with nowhere near the excellent portrayal of the Zuni Doll.
Halloween-(1978) What most slasher flicks lack is the classic elements of horror; suspense, terror and the sheer emotion of fright. Taking this in mind John Carpenter presents what may be one the best slasher movies ever made. The movie starts with a flashback, a boy finds a mask and walks over to his sisters room and commits a brutal murder. We soon see him unmasked and the shock that this was committed by such a young boy sets the tone for the movie. After many years he escapes the asylum and returns home to commit even more murders. He is stalked by his psychiatrist who wishes to put him away once and for all. What makes Halloween so great and original is that the movie makes excellent use of the Bogey man theme which we all find scary, we also have a great score and good use of wide screen in what is really a low budget movie. Making over 80 million when it was released and with it came the sudden rush of even cheaper imitations.
Martin-(1977) A decade after Night of the Living Dead, George Romero put together a little vampire story that introduced a whole new concept on the more traditional vampire creature. Martin is a shy, loner type. When we first meet him he is riding on a train and seems to be stalking out a woman. When he finds his first victim he drugs her, sleeps with her and then cuts her to suck her blood. Being very precise with his hobby it is plain to see that he has done this many times. Apparently Martin has never has sex with a woman who was awake. He then arrives in New York and meets his older cousin named Tata Cuda. Cuda is a superstitious old man who calls Martin evil and treats him like a tool of the devil. Being a loner he soon opens up to Cuda’s grand daughter Christina, who she sees as a shy boy who just needs some friends to open up to. Martin does open up to a talk radio host and he tells of what it means to be a Vampire. Martin begins to work for Cuda and delivers groceries. In the next few scenes he meets a lonely housewife and indulges on a few other customers. Martin slowly opens up to the housewife and become her lover. He soon becomes careless and in the final act barely survives a shoot out, discovers his lover has killed herself and then finds himself fatally impaled by Cuda. Martin my not have been a normal vampire movie, he was not afraid of crosses, ate garlic and walked in the daylight. Yet it was a sad tale of a sexually immature man who may have been turned to vampirism by the very taunts of his family and then meets his end in a most common vampire fashion. Although not as high profile as his Dead series, martin is a unique and interesting film that should be checked out for those vampire fans who want a little blood and gore.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-(1974) In the history of movies we have yet to see another movie that so shocked and horrified audiences since Hitchcock. Today this movie would rate about as well as any slasher film but in this day it was not what you call a family film. A group of hippies pick up a weird guy babbles on about his family, he is soon kicked out when he slashes one of the hippies. They then make a few turns, run out of gas and end up at house occupied by the weirdest family on record. The family has a knack for furniture made of bones and a taste for human flesh. They soon make hamburger meat out of the group one at a time. Although many critics over played the movies gore it was indeed a graphic movie, but the chilling atmosphere and the constant whir of the chainsaw make it more appetizing. Followed by a couple of very stupid sequels and an untold number of crappy copycats.
Suspiria-(1977) One of the biggest outrages in the horror genre is that the genius of Dario Argento has gone largely unnoticed in this country, what a shame. Dario Argento injects a unique style into his movies, using great camera angles and some very intense elements to create movies that are very scary and really cool too. Set in Switzerland at an exclusive ballet academy, Suspiria is the story of an newly arrived American student who arrives and discovers a series of brutal murders falling on to her fellow students. With a little investigation she discovers that the school is the haven for a witches coven, led by the Black Queen.. As with most Argento movies Suspria is not so much a horror movie but an exercise in style. The unique Argento touch is highlighted with a great rock and roll score by his favorite band The Goblins. What we expect from Argento is very graphic violence, incredible camera works, stylish settings and titles that are meaningless. This movie delivers all of this from the intense double murder in the opening scene to the final fiery showdown we have what has to be Argento’s masterpiece. I highly recommend this film as well as many others by the Italian Hitchcock, you will not be disappointed…..