Top 5 Recognized Horror Movies of the 1970s
1. Jaws (1975)- When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/
- Directed by Steven Spielberg
- based off of "Jaws" by Peter Benchley
- filmed in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
- went way over budget- $3 million alone dealing with problems from the mechanical shark
- Stephen Heath relates the film's ideological meanings to the then-recent Watergate scandal
- Universal spent $1.8 million promoting Jaws, including an unprecedented $700,000 on national television spot advertising.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/
2. Alien (1979)- The commercial vessel Nostromo receives a distress call from an unexplored planet. After searching for survivors, the crew heads home only to realize that a deadly bioform has joined them.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/
- Dan O'Bannon wrote the screenplay from a story he wrote with Ronald Shusett
- 33rd greatest movie of all time by Empire magazine
- sequels Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997).
- $78,900,000 in the United States and £7,886,000 in the United Kingdom during its first run.
- It ultimately grossed $80,931,801 in the United States
- international box office figures have varied from $24 million to $122,700,000.
- Its total worldwide gross has been listed within the range of $104,931,801 to $203,630,630.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/
3. The Exorcist (1973)- When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist_(film)
- based on the book The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
- released on December 26, 1973
- nominated for 10 Oscars, won 2
- first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture
- highest-grossing films of all time, grossing over $441 million
- Production of The Exorcist began on August 14, 1972, and though it was only supposed to last 85 days, it lasted for 224.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist_(film)
4. Carrie (1976)- A young, abused and timid 17-year-old girl discovers she has telekinesis, and gets pushed to the limit on the night of her school's prom by a humiliating prank.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074285/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
- based off of Stephen King's novel Carrie
- nominated for two Oscars
- had John Travolta in it
- was the first Stephen King novel to be published and the first to be adapted into a feature film, he was 26 at the time and only paid $2,500 for the film rights- this was his first book
- the sequel; Carrie 2 was horrible at the box office
- most recently remade 2013
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074285/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
5. Jaws 2 (1978)- Police chief Brody must protect the citizens of Amity after a second monstrous shark begins terrorizing the waters.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077766/?ref_=nv_sr_1
- Steven Spielberg's second installment in the Jaws franchise
- Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
- Spielberg didn't direct the second one because he thought sequels were cheap and that he had made the "definitive shark movie"
- Jaws 2 was the most expensive film that Universal had produced up until that point, costing the studio almost $30 million. The film grossed 45% of the original, not adjusted for inflation.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077766/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Top 5 Recognized Dramatic Movies of the 1970s
1. The Godfather (1972)- The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/
- screenplay by Mario Puzo and Coppola. Based on Puzo's 1969 novel of the same name
- The film was for a time the highest grossing picture ever made
- won 3 Oscars
- went on to become a trilogy
- the film stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/
2. The Godfather II (1974)- The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate stretching from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-revolution 1958 Cuba.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather_Part_II
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/?ref_=nv_sr_2
- the film is both sequel and prequel to The Godfather
- Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and Robert De Niro (he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in it) started in it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather_Part_II
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/?ref_=nv_sr_2
3. Taxi Driver (1976)- A mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescence prostitute in the process.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi_Driver_(1954_film)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/?ref_=nv_sr_1
- the film stars Robert De Niro and features Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Cybill Shepherd, Peter Boyle, and Albert Brooks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi_Driver_(1954_film)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/?ref_=nv_sr_1
4. A Clockwork Orange (1971)-