\n<\/p>\n
The debate on the best decade for horror is still out, on account of there being no right answer. And although saying \u201cevery decade is good\u201d is respectful and true enough, there is something to be said about the 1970s. It was a time when horror had yet to make those great advances in makeup and special effects, was not as commercial, and it was before specific subgenres became more defined and noticeable.<\/p>\n
The \u201970s produced horror staples such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre<\/em>, The Exorcist<\/em>, Jaws<\/em>, Dawn of the Dead<\/em> and\u00a0Halloween<\/em>; they are as iconic as they are influential and enduring. Needless to say, though, the same decade gave way to a number of other titles that, while not as renowned, widely acclaimed or popular, are well worth your time.<\/p>\n So, if you\u2019re on the hunt for some overlooked and under-the-radar \u201970s horror, then consider these 10 movies.<\/p>\n Image: The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972).<\/p>\n One component of \u201970s horror\u2019s success is how \u201cwrong\u201d it might feel through a modern lens. More often than not, movies like Waris Hussein\u2019s<\/strong> The Possession of Joel Delaney<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>are so unlike anything coming out today. This adaptation of Ramona Stewart\u2019s novel, one about a man possessed by a serial killer\u2019s spirit, is raw and uncomfortable. Shirley MacLaine<\/strong> and Perry King<\/strong> are fantastic here, and dissecting their characters\u2019 peculiar sibling relationship is as engrossing as the overall mystery.<\/p>\n Image: Tales That Witness Madness (1973)<\/p>\n Anthologies surged in the \u201970s, and studios like Hammer and Amicus were responsible for most of them. And although Freddie Francis\u2019\u00a0Tales That Witness<\/em> Madness<\/em><\/strong> is often mistaken for an Amicus production, it was, in fact, done by World Film Services. The movie\u2019s wraparound features Donald Pleasence <\/strong>as another maddened shrink; he illustrates the grisly details of four particular psychiatric cases. These include a child and his imaginary pet tiger, an antique penny-farthing bicycle capable of time travel, a wife (Joan Collins<\/strong>) who\u2019s become jealous of a bizarre tree stump, and a literary agent (Kim Novak<\/strong>) whose ploy to win over a new client ends gruesomely. It\u2019s a tetralogy of eccentric stories, and while nothing here is ever the least bit scary, the entertainment value is high. Image: The Bride (1973)<\/p>\n Before Bryanston Distributing Company scored big with\u00a0The Texas Chain Saw Massacre<\/em>, it picked up Jean-Marie P\u00e9lissi\u00e9\u2019s <\/strong>Connecticut-shot, matrimonial horror movie The Bride\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(also known as The House That Cried Murder<\/em> or Last House on Massacre Street<\/em>). To call this \u201cnutty\u201d would be an understatement, and\u00a0Robin Strasser <\/strong>is rather unforgettable as the incensed, scissors-wielding and vengeful newlywed. Strasser played opposite Arthur Roberts<\/strong>, whose role as the chronically unfaithful husband is not as one-note as first anticipated. And together the two leads, along with John Beal <\/strong>as the unusual father-in-law, delivered an affair to remember.<\/p>\n Image: The Killing Kind (1973)<\/p>\n Curtis Harrington<\/strong>, of\u00a0Night Tide<\/em> and Who Slew Auntie Roo?<\/em> fame, appreciatingly stepped outside the box with his scant of horror offerings. And it\u2019s his sort of work that exemplifies why the \u201970s is such an appealing decade for dark narratives; the taboo and oft-unapologetic executions yield plenty of shock moments that can\u2019t be easily wiped from memory once the movie\u2019s over. As for The Killing Kind<\/em><\/strong>, it seems to get the worst of its story out of the way, after subjecting audiences to a heinous sex crime, but there is nothing remotely pleasant or cathartic in the remaining acts. John Savage\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>psychological torment is both constant and impressive, and Ann Sothern<\/strong> plays toxic beautifully. So, if Psycho<\/em> wasn\u2019t somehow disturbing enough for you, then The Killing Kind\u00a0<\/em>should hit the spot. An interesting note about this movie, by the way, is how certain characters would resurface\u2014with different actors\u2014in an unrelated but equally worthwhile midnighter called The Attic\u00a0<\/em>(1980).<\/p>\n Image: The Severed Arm (1973).<\/p>\n As you can tell, 1973 was a strong year for horror. And Thomas S. Alderman\u2019s\u00a0The Severed Arm<\/em><\/strong>, a title that has only recently come back into the conversation, feels the most timeless. Well, at least in terms of story. This movie is obviously dated by its fashion sense and whatnot, yet the core idea of a killer taking revenge on a guilty party sounds familiar. This underseen and nearly forgotten proto-slasher goes through the steps of a standard whodunnit before capping off the madness with a rather poetically mean conclusion.<\/p>\n Image: House of Mortal Sin\/The Confessional (1976).<\/p>\n Catholicism\u2019s presence was hard to miss in \u201970s horror. Pete Walker\u2019s<\/strong> (The Comeback<\/em>) own brush with the religion led to House of Mortal Sin<\/em> <\/strong>(also known as\u00a0The Confessional<\/em>), a movie that likely pushed people\u2019s buttons. This genre satire of organized religion saw Anthony Sharp\u00a0<\/strong>portraying the horrible holy man who dealt in his own kind of divine law; his obsession with an attractive and young confessor (Susan Penhaligon<\/strong>) leads to a series of brutal murders.<\/p>\n Image: Death Weekend (1976)<\/p>\n With exploitation cinema on the rise back then, Canada throwing its hat into the ring was inevitable. And William Fruet\u2019s <\/strong>Death Weekend<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(also known as\u00a0The House by the Lake<\/em>) is a commendable grindhouse effort that actually predates the similar I Spit on Your Grave\u00a0<\/em>by two years. Stage actor Brenda Vaccaro\u00a0<\/strong>showed off her chops here as the victim-turned-aggressor, one who\u2019s easy to root for in her quarrel with Don Stroud\u2019s<\/strong> character.<\/p>\n Image: The Haunting of Julia\/Full Circle (1978).<\/p>\n The\u00a0Mia Farrow<\/strong>-starring\u00a0Full Circle<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(or\u00a0The Haunting of Julia<\/em>) has its fans, yet it\u2019s still not mentioned enough in talks about haunted house movies. This adaptation of Peter Straub\u2019s novel Julia<\/em> is both a tale of grief and a ghost story. The two elements complement each other well, although the latter is more ambiguous than some might expect or like. Colin Towns\u2019\u00a0<\/strong>score is also gorgeous and as haunting as the movie itself.<\/p>\n Image: Jennifer (1978)<\/p>\n Psychokinetic abilities and phenomenon were all the rage in the \u201970s, and Brian De Palma\u2019s Carrie\u00a0<\/em>set off a small burst of \u201cknockoff\u201d movies. On television was The Spell <\/em>(1977), and a year later on the big screen was Brice Mack\u2019s<\/strong> Jennifer<\/em><\/strong>. This era\u2019s fascination with (or aversion to) snakes was also utilized here, in this story of a bullied student who can control serpents with her mind. You\u2019re never once unclear as to what prior movie Jennifer<\/em> is inspired by or channeling, but star Lisa Pelikan<\/strong> makes the initial sense of unoriginality forgivable.<\/p>\n Image: The Butterfly Murders (1979)<\/p>\n Leaving the West in the late \u201970s would eventually bring you to the Hong Kong New Wave, a cinematic movement that includes the mixed-genre yet fully arresting\u00a0The Butterfly Murders<\/strong><\/em>. Some might argue this\u00a0wuxia<\/em> movie is what actually triggered the New Wave. In his directorial debut, Tsui Hark<\/strong> challenged martial arts filmmaking without going too off course; elaborate and dynamically edited choreography remains intact even as killer butterflies and a disguised murderer in black also crop up. And while the movie has yet to receive a substantial upgrade in the physical media department, it\u2019s been added to Tubi<\/a>. Enjoy it while you still can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The debate on the best decade for horror is still out, on account of there being no right answer. And although saying \u201cevery decade is good\u201d is respectful and true enough, there is something to be said about the 1970s. It was a time when horror had yet to make those great advances in makeup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11617],"tags":[15434,12431,19383,820,19384,6968,19385,769,19386,1600,3526,19387,19388,19389,19390,19391,19392,19393,19394,19395,19396,12113,886],"class_list":["post-29125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-horror-global-news","tag-1970s","tag-70s","tag-death-weekend","tag-featured","tag-full-circle","tag-horror","tag-house-of-mortal-sin","tag-jennifer","tag-last-house-on-massacre-street","tag-movies","tag-overlooked","tag-tales-that-witness-madness","tag-the-bride","tag-the-butterfly-murders","tag-the-confessional","tag-the-haunting-of-julia","tag-the-house-by-the-lake","tag-the-house-that-cried-murder","tag-the-killing-kind","tag-the-possession-of-joel-delaney","tag-the-severed-arm","tag-topnews","tag-watch"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bloody-disgusting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-Severed-Arm-1973.jpg?resize=1000%2C600&ssl=1",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"HORROR GLOBAL NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"The debate on the best decade for horror is still out, on account of there being no right answer. And although saying \u201cevery decade is good\u201d is respectful and true enough, there is something to be said about the 1970s. It was a time when horror had yet to make those great advances in makeup…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29127,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29125\/revisions\/29127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972)<\/h2>\n
Tales That Witness Madness (1973)<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Bride (1973)<\/h2>\n
The Killing Kind (1973)<\/h2>\n
The Severed Arm (1973)<\/h2>\n
House of Mortal Sin (1976)<\/h2>\n
Death Weekend (1976)<\/h2>\n
The Haunting of Julia (1978)<\/h2>\n
Jennifer (1978)<\/h2>\n
The Butterfly Murders (1979)<\/h2>\n