My Love for Horror: The 1970's











The Exorcist (1973)

I wish I could remember who recommended that I see this, but I don't remember for sure who it was. I think it might have been Nicole Smith or maybe it was Eric Bates. Regardless of who it was, I was told that it was one of the best horror films ever made, and if I wanted to list myself as a fan of horror then this was a must see. The film had me hooked from the beginning. As soon as I saw the art work on the VHS cover, I was captivated to see the film. With my short attention span, I often get up at least two to three times during a film to do something else. It is rather common for me to start a movie, watch part of it and then finish it the next day. This was not the case with The Exorcist. I started the film and watched it straight through. I don't think I even allowed myself to turn away from the screen once. I barely allowed myself to blink. The film had my undivided attention. I don't know why I did, but for some reason I thought that it would be a good idea to watch it alone, in my Dad's basement with only a small lamp on. He was staying the night at his girlfriend's place at the time and I was all alone. Two scenes in the film scared the bejeezus out of me. When the demon's face appears for a split second sent a chill down my spine.  I think it was very wise of the film makers to only show the face for a spilt second the way they did.  Any longer would have allowed the mind to examine the face and determine that it wasn't that scary.  The other scene that sent a chill down my spine, was when Regan went down the stairs backwards in that neck-bridge stance. I don't list The Exorcist as a film that scares me, because it didn't scare me upon a second viewing or any other viewing since. It did scare me that night though. I didn't move an inch on that couch all night.  I didn't even get up to turn off the T.V.  I sat there alone, with that small amount of light coming from the lamp until I finally passed out from exhaustion.

JAWS (1975)

I saw bits and pieces of this film probably 25 times or more, before I finally got a copy of it and watched it all the way through start to finish. Some people don't think it is correctly categorized as a horror, but I think it has enough commonalities with horror to where it can be. This is not only one of my favorite horror films, it is one of my favorite films. If you look closely at my favorite horror films, 100% of the time they all have one thing in common: A heroic protagonist. I think some film makers miss the importance of having a good protagonist in a horror film and that's why their films aren't as good as they could've been. Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) is a likable, heroic character that is easy to relate to and I think the movie centers on him much more than it does the shark. I also appreciate how the film examines rather gray issues, such as the decisions that the Mayor (Murray Hamilton) has to make. If he admits to a killer shark in the area, then the businesses in Amity Island suffer. His community relies heavily on tourism. Yet if he doesn't admit to a killer shark in the area, people will die. I love how the movie hits this lose-lose situation head on and how a man must face his greatest fear in order to overcome an evil to save his community. Last but not least, I also find it interesting that author Peter Benchley says that if he had to do it all over again, he'd have written a novel where the shark was the protagonist and the human was the antagonist.  I'm not sure how that would have worked with a shark. Another animal instead? Well.....

ORCA: The Killer Whale (1977)

A lot of people sum this movie up as a rip-off of JAWS and I couldn't disagree more. To me the movie is the exact opposite of JAWS in that the creature is not an evil, mindless killing machine but instead a empathetic, thinking, emotional animal whose determination for vengeance is quite understandable. I also commend the movie, for making the antagonist Captain Nolan (Richard Harris) a multi-dimensional character.  They could have easily made him a straight up unlikable character, easy to hate but instead decided to give him some redeeming qualities. The scene where he admits that he is sorry for what he did and that he wishes he could apologize to the Orca for his actions is in my opinion the best scene of the movie. A very underrated film that often gets passed over because of unfair comparisons to JAWS, I recommend to check this out if you haven't yet.






The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

There were a ton of since forgotten horror films made in the 1970's that few people even know exist and even fewer people have ever seen. The truth of the matter is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre would be one of them if it wasn't for one very specific reason.  When I first saw this film, I couldn't believe how awful it was. The writing was bad, the acting was bad, hell nearly everything about the film was bad. You didn't have to convince me that the film's budget was only $300,000 and that most of that was spent on editing. The movie established that from the get go.  Yet, this is one of the most influential, beloved horror films of all time.  Why? Plenty of other horror films made in the 1970's that were just as good. Plenty of other horror films that no one ever talks about that are actually better, with a better story and better acting. Why is this film listed as one of the all time greatest? Five words. "Based on a true story" and there you have your answer. There is something about a story being based on real events and real people that draws an audience in. The real gag is that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre couldn't be more loosely based on real events than what it is. The story didn't take place in Texas, it took place in Wisconsin. No one was killed with a chainsaw either. Matter of fact, director/writer Toby Hooper got the idea for a chainsaw killer while sitting in a mall one day looking at chainsaws wonder what would happen if someone were to go berserk with one. There is no leatherface, or anyone even remotely close to him. Ed Gein, who he's "based" upon was a disturbed overly religions, pervert who suffered from necrophilia. He only killed 2 to 3 people (two for sure, one is questionable but likely.)   In my opinion Toby Hooper or whoever it was that thought of using the tagline, "based on a true story" was a genius. It took an otherwise B film that would have been out of the theater faster than it came in and turned into a million dollar idea.  Many films have since capitalized upon the power of "based on true events" but none have benefited more than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  Personally, I find the remake much better.




Carrie (1976)

Believe it or not, but this is how I first learned about female biology and the menstrual cycle.  As a 13 year old boy, I was totally grossed out by the locker room scene and it made me actually scared of women for a while. I know it sounds ridiculous now, but I had a hard time being around women or talking to them because all I could think was that they go through this God-awful disgusting process once a month for 3-7 days. Girls would touch me in P.E. class and want to give me hugs throughout the day and every time they touched me the thoughts of blood would go through my mind and I'd shiver.  I never talked to anyone about these feelings and eventually they went away. As I learned more about it in health and sciences classes throughout school, I came to realize how laughable my thoughts were. When reading, The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs I came to discover that I'm not the only person alive who had these thoughts.  In a strange way that was comforting.  

I also took away from Carrie the importance of being nice to people (unless given justifiable reason not to be) for two reasons.  A, you don't know what they go through at home. Carrie's mother reminds me of a relative of mine that I can't stand, only Carrie's mother is a lot worse. People are often strange or weird because of reasons that often aren't revealed to us. If we knew the answers to our questions, I doubt we'd be as quick to poke fun.  The other reason to be nice to people, is that you don't know what they're capable of. Being a supernatural movie, Carrie had telekinetic powers. What she was capable of is make believe.  However, the torment she was going through and the pain she felt from being ridiculed and made fun of, there wasn't anything make believe about that.  While she couldn't have gotten back at everyone the way she did in real life, those telekinetic powers could have just as easily been a gun.

  

The Omen (1976)

I first saw this along with its first two sequels earlier this year. I don't think it's anything extraordinarily exceptional compared to other religiously based thrillers, but I think it does raise some interesting questions. First off what would it be like to find out that your own child, the thing you love more in life than anything else is incoherently evil?  What's even more frightening than that is that mothers and fathers have actually thought this about their children in the past and sacrificed them.  Throughout the movie we actually know what's going on and thus sympathize with what Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) is going through. We have to understand that to everyone else in the movie, he simply appears as a lunatic, the way someone would to us if they thought their child was the anti-Christ. It also raises the question of what it would be like to discover that you are evil, you were created evil and you have no real choice in the matter. It is obvious that Damien is unaware of himself and what he is. Is it really fair that he doesn't get a choice in the matter? Especially when you consider the punishment he'll receive for it, if you believe in all of that? I suppose maybe I put too much thought into such things, but as a possiblist, I wrestle with this question. I've always thought of the ideas of being a good or evil person, in regards to religion or not in regards to religion, as a means of personal choice. If The Omen has any truth to it, it is clear that it is not.




The Car (1977)

This movie holds a special place in my memory because it is the only horror film that I have ever watched with my dad. When I first took an interest in horror back in junior high school, my dad was less than thrilled. He is one of those people who most certainly does not appreciate horror. He thinks of it as mindless, senseless gore. No matter what I was watching with my friends, he'd often refer to it as "crap" and would often make me change the channel and watch something else if he came into the room while I was watching a horror film. For a long time I thought he hated all horror films, until I discovered one night while we were out for a drive there was one horror film that he did like There was one horror film that he saw his senior year of high school that he had to admit was pretty good. That horror film was The Car.   My dad and I rented and watched a lot of movies over the years, but The Car  was the only horror.  To be honest I don't even remember much about the film, other than my dad liked it. A girlfriend of his years later, who was also a horror buff talked my dad into watching Joy Ride (2001) because she thought after discussing The Car that my dad might enjoy that film. She was wrong, he referred to Joy Ride as crap and to this day The Car remains the only horror film my dad has anything positive to say about.

Halloween (1978)

This isn't the first horror film I ever saw, but it is what started my love for horror films. I watched both Halloween and Halloween II (1981) over at Chris Thompson's house on a Friday night after school. I was immediately taken with the story and more importantly Donald Pleasence's performance as Dr. Sam Loomis. I knew right then and right there that if I could I wanted the art of story telling, in one capacity or another to be a big part of my life. Watching John Carpenter's story unfold on the screen, made me want to write screenplays. Watching Donald Pleasence bring the character of Dr. Loomis to life, made me want to act. No one single film has been more influential on my life and what I want to do with it than Halloween.