The History of Horror Films : A Journey Through Time

1970's

Horror movies of the 1970s reflect the grim mood of the decade. After the optimism of the 1960s, with its sexual and cultural revolutions, and the moon landings, the seventies were something of a disappointment. By 1970, the Beatles split, Janis and Jimi died, and in many senses it was downhill all the way from there: Nixon, Nam, oil strikes, glam rock, feather haircuts, medallions. The 1970s marked a return to the big budget, respectable horror film, dealing with contemporary societal issues, addressing genuine psychological fears.

One consistent fear apparent in the horror films of the 1970s is the fear of children, and the fear of the messy, painful and often fatal process of childbirth. David J Skal, in "The Monster Show", identifies this fear as stemming from the introduction of the contraceptive pill, and from the birth defect horrors forced on the western world by thalidomide. Once sex and conception have been separated, and sexual activity becomes primarily a pleasure, the by-products (i.e children) become monstrous aberrations.
 When the '70s arrived, the full impacts of the movements of the previous decade were beginning to be felt. Between the Pill, the free love movement, the Summer of Love and the rumble of the Vietnam War causing deep splits within families as young men were drafted against their will, hysteria about the demise of the family grew ever-louder and more compelling. Somehow, in horror, this twisted to reveal a new monster raising its head - one that was smaller, cuter, and yet somehow more terrifying than any that had came before. It was the era of the children horror. 

The seventies were about deep-seated paranoia, and the fear that the moral shift of the 1960s had created a culture of monsters. There is little humour in 1970s horror films. Here is a list of some of the films that establish the pinnacle of horror films in the 1970's.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)                   
The Exorcist (1973)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Shivers (1975)
Carrie (1976)
The Omen (1976)
Suspiria (1977)
Dawn of The Dead (1978)
Phantasm (1979)
Alien (1979)

The Exorcist (1973)

This film was turning the concept of childhood innocence on its head. It was also said to be designed to put the fear of God back into people at the time, because it played on the idea anything can be bad.

















 

The Omen (1976)

The Omen shared the same uncomfortable premise of a child cursed with evil. The Omen made memorable use of its soundtrack, in this case a disconcerting blast of Latin chant composed by Jerry Goldsmith. Omen differs from the Exorcist in its refusal to grant audiences a get-out clause in its protagonist's evil. It is not as original or as intelligent as the exorcist, because it uses follows more usual conventions.

Carrie (1973)

Carrie was a great success because it was, tapping in to teenage fears about what happens when you don't fit in. It then used this idea to create a literal fear and stigma attached to those who are not with the crowd. It also links in with how horror films were made in order to play on the fears at the time.