Every decade, there are certain films that stand out and become eternal classics, while other movies seem to be completely lost to time. It’s always fair, but unsurprisingly, a lot of the films that continue on and become some of the most well-known pieces in their genre don’t necessarily deserve that honor. And other movies that are barely remembered are actually some of the most brilliant works of the decade.
This is true for literally every genre under the sun, but it seems like with horror, there are a few films that have extraordinary longevity while the vast majority wind up being forgotten, sometimes only a few years after they were released. And the 1970s was home to a lot of iconic, classic horror movies, as well as many films that barely anyone has heard of now, and in both cases, many of these films aren’t deserving of their statuses. So here are five horror movies from the 1970s that are underrated, and five that are overrated.
Underrated: The Wicker Man
If the history books are to be believed, it seems like the 1970s were a pretty wild and weird time, which is why in some ways it seems like the 1973 horror flick The Wicker Man is the kind of film that could only exist within its era. Most people are familiar with the sub-par remake starring Nicolas Cage, but many people might not even know that the original exists.
The religious themes and ideas of bizarre, isolationist societies that still exist within the modern world are concepts that are still popular in the world today, but they were executed exceptionally well in The Wicker Man.
Overrated: The Omen
It’s really tough to admit that The Omen is an overrated movie from the ’70s, because it is honestly one of the most entertaining horror movies of all time and does deserve its place as one of the best, and the movie’s concept and execution are both fantastic.
However, the spectacular cast led by the incomparable Gregory Peck really elevates what could have been a more mundane and average horror movie. The entire cast and crew of this film deserve all of the accolades in the world for building a spectacular movie on kind of an average and generic foundation, but that foundation is pretty average and generic nonetheless.
Underrated: Don’t Look Now
Every decade has its films that seem to have lasting power far beyond the era that they were made in, but oftentimes a lot of big-screen gems wind up being entirely forgotten for no discernible reason. Film fans may be familiar with the Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie film Don’t Look Now, but it certainly doesn’t have the recognizability of many other (and honestly inferior) movies from the ’70s.
Don’t Look Now tells the story of a married couple whose daughter tragically died and who come into contact with a clairvoyant who tells them that their deceased child is trying to warn them of impending doom. The twists and turns of this psychological horror haven’t lost their impact in the years since the film’s release.
Overrated: Suspiria
Suspiria is a very psychedelically styled horror movie that is obviously most memorable for its unusual editing, set design, and lighting. And director Dario Argento deserves a lot of credit for taking an average horror movie and putting a seriously artistic spin on it.
However, beyond the images that are admittedly very striking, that’s all that Suspiria really is. It’s an average horror movie. It’s still definitely a movie that is worth the watch, and anyone who is looking for a unique horror film to give them the creeps will undoubtedly be satisfied, but while it’s a great and entertaining film it’s not quite worthy of the title of one of the best horror movies of all time.
Underrated: Eraserhead
Much like every other David Lynch film ever made, Eraserhead is a confusing, hypnotic movie that asks many questions and never gives any answers, and it’s hard to say if it was even intended to be a horror film. But what is unequivocally certain is that regardless of the filmmaker’s intention, anyone who watches Eraserhead will undoubtedly be more unsettled and horrified by it than most horror movies.
This post-apocalyptic drama is ostensibly about a man who is abandoned with his deformed infant, but honestly, it feels like whatever the film is actually supposed to be about is a mystery to all but the creator of it.
Overrated: Halloween
Halloween is obviously one of the most legendary horror movies of all time, but it’s one of those films that is stuck in the paradoxical realm of being a pioneer of its own sub-genre. Halloween is such a classic because it really set the standard for the classic slasher film, but now that seemingly every inch of possibility in the teen slasher genre has been explored, Halloween looks a little pedestrian compared to all of the movies that came after it.
It’s a necessary watch for any horror fan, but any new viewers going into it expecting to see a mind-blowing and revolutionary film is a couple of decades too late.
Underrated: Sisters
Without giving too much of the film away, it seems like Brian de Palma’s 1973 horror film Sisters is an obvious homage to the master of horror himself, Alfred Hitchcock. And while those are big shoes to fill, de Palma pretty successfully fills them when it comes to this movie.
The film centers around a woman named Danielle, a Canadian girl who was a part of Canada’s first pair of conjoined twins who has recently been surgically separated from her twin, Dominique. Danielle survived the surgery, but Dominique did not, although as the story evolves it looks like nothing is what it originally seemed.
Overrated: The Exorcist
The Exorcist is widely acknowledged to be one of the best horror movies ever made, and many people consider it to be the absolute best, period. And again, it is one of those movies that is genuinely great, but the hype for it over time has created a legend that the movie doesn’t really match up to.
It’s a pretty classic possession storyline with some major twists, but to be honest it got a lot of its notoriety just for being wildly, uncomfortably explicit. And if you take away the shock factor it’s still a great film, but it’s not quite the masterpiece that a lot of people make it out to be.
Underrated: Willard
Some people may be slightly familiar with the remake of this film starring Crispin Glover that came out in the early 2000s, but the original Willard and the remake have largely been unjustly forgotten over time. Willard is the story of a man named Willard Stiles, a social outcast who has no friends, and his mother one day tasks him with ridding their house of rats.
He attempts to kill them, but then feels pity when it comes time to do the deed, and he actually winds up befriending them and creating his own little rat army, which he winds up using to great, and deadly, effect.
Overrated: Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom
Because it’s definitely more of a cult film, the average viewer probably hasn’t heard of the Italian film Salo: The 120 Days Of Sodom, and they’re honestly probably better off for it. There is some artistic merit to the thematic ideas behind Salo, but it’s really intended to shock and disgust more than anything.
The movie is about a bunch of Italian aristocrats in WWII who decide to abduct a bunch of teenagers to torture and abuse them as a part of their indulgently nihilistic philosophy. The movie was really made for edgelords long before edgelords were a thing, and the movie itself just isn’t interesting enough to sustain its own ideas.
