{"id":12516,"date":"2014-09-15T07:18:30","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T13:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=12516"},"modified":"2014-09-15T07:18:30","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T13:18:30","slug":"20-overlooked-70s-thrillers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=12516","title":{"rendered":"20 Overlooked 70s Thrillers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 1970\u2019s were a great decade for thrillers, as production code restrictions had been lifted in favor of a ratings system, allowing \u201cR\u201d rated films considerable leeway in the amount of sex and violence that could be included. Armed with this new freedom, filmmakers ran wild making movies that titillated and thrilled audiences, resulting in some of the best (and worst) thrillers ever made.<\/p>\n

These are 20 films that either did not connect with audiences at the box office or for some other reason have been somewhat overlooked in the years since their release, and might be worth re-visiting or even seeing for the first time.<\/p>\n

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20. How Awful About Allan (1970)<\/p>\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Allan (Anthony Perkins) succumbs to hysterical blindness after an accident in which he caused a fire that killed his father and facially scarred his sister Katherine (Julie Harris). One his return home from a mental hospital to live with Katherine, Allan has partially overcome his blindness, but his vision is still very blurry.<\/p>\n

Allan\u2019s former fiancee Olive (Joan Hackett) attempts to reconnect with him, but Allan is bothered when his sister rents out a room in the house to a mysterious boarder who can only speak in a hoarse whisper. Allan comes to believe the boarder is out to kill him before the truth is revealed and Allan seems to be cured\u2026or is he?<\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s great:<\/strong> Only in a time like 1970 could you have acting talents as great as Anthony Perkins, Julie Harris and Joan Hackett appearing in a made for TV movie. But this was before cable, and so network made for TV movies were actually big deals and How Awful About Allan, while not a masterpiece, is still a far better than average thriller.<\/p>\n

The film keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat trying to figure out what is happening to Allan as he struggles to separate reality from illusion. The film is somewhat in the tradition of the 1962 hit Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (screenwriter Henry Farrell also wrote Baby Jane) as well as Hitchcock\u2019s Psycho.<\/p>\n

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19. The Town That Dread Sundown (1976)<\/p>\n

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Plot:<\/strong> In 1946 in the town of Texarkana, Texas, a killer dubbed \u2018the Phantom\u2019 carries out a series of attacks on the locals. First a couple is attacked, then another couple are found dead, and the local authorities call in well known crime fighter and Texas Ranger J.D. Morales (Ben Johnson) to try and track down the assailant.<\/p>\n

After the murder of another couple after a high school prom, the town is in a panic. Helen Reed (Dawn Wells) is attacked in her home by the Phantom and her husband is killed, but she escapes from the lunatic. Finally, Morales tracks down the killer and chases him into the woods.<\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s great:<\/strong> On the heels of the success of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 1974, numerous low budget horror and slasher \u2018shlock-fests\u2019 were made with the idea of cashing in on the trend. Produced and directed by Charles B. Pierce, The Town That Dreaded Sundown was made by American International Pictures, a studio specializing in this type of film.<\/p>\n

The Town That Dreaded Sundown is far better than most, however, featuring the brooding presence of Ben Johnson as Morales and the always perky Dawn Wells as the perfect victim. Audiences were kept on the edge of their seat, and responded with a box office return of 5 million dollars, realizing a hefty profit for AIP. If you\u2019re in the mood for some gore, check this one out.<\/p>\n

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18. Two Minute Warning (1976)<\/p>\n

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Plot:<\/strong> An unknown sniper places himself in position before a championship football game at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Spotted by the aerial Goodyear blimp, the police, headed by Captain Peter Holley (Charlton Heston) and Chris Button (John Cassavetes) are called in to stop him.<\/p>\n

As the police try to devise a plan to take out the sniper, various fans at the game are introduced and their back stories are explained. Former NFL quarterback Joe Kapp plays the quarterback in the film. Finally, just after the two minute warning, the SWAT team moves in on the sniper.<\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s great:<\/strong> Two Minute Warning was made in the style of the disaster genre that had been very popular in the early part of the decade, but was on the wane when this film was released in later 1976. The movie is really more of a thriller, however, as the audience is kept in suspense as the police deal with the problem of catching a sniper who has so many people at risk during a public event.<\/p>\n

Two Minute Warning is similar to but not as successful as 1977\u2019s Black Sunday, in which the Super Bowl is threatened by a terrorist plot, but the film is still a taut and engaging thriller that is worth seeing.<\/p>\n

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17. The Killer Elite (1975)<\/p>\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Locken (James Caan) and Hansen (Robert Duvall) are best friends who work as contractors for an organization called Com-Teg, carrying out CIA assignments. They help a defector escape, but Hansen has been bought out by a rival group, and he kills the defector and shoots Locken, wounding him in his elbow and knee.<\/p>\n

After Locken is rehabilitated, he takes another Com-Teg assignment, protecting an Asian client, Yuen Chung. It\u2019s a perfect assignment for Locken, as his old friend Hansen is part of the group trying to assassinate Yuen Chung, and it gives Locken a chance for some much needed revenge.<\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s great:<\/strong> The Killer Elite was directed by Sam Peckinpah, who made some of the great action and violence films of the late \u201860s and early \u201970\u2019s such as The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs and The Getaway. This film is typically violent and uneven, but the theme of betrayal and revenge between former friends and allies makes for great suspense and moments of brilliant tension.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, The Killer Elite flopped at the box office (as most of Peckinpah\u2019s later films did) but it has developed something of a cult following and now is highly regarded.<\/p>\n

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16. Winter Kills (1979)<\/p>\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Nick Keegan (Jeff Bridges), the son of a wealthy tycoon Pa Keegan (John Huston) hears a death-bed confession by a convict Arthur Fletcher claiming to be the second of two assassins who shot President Timothy Keegan, Nick\u2019s older half brother. Nick goes to Philadelphia to investigate the shooting, which happened many years earlier, and he begins to uncover evidence of a conspiracy.<\/p>\n

As he goes from place to place trying to find the truth, all of the people that he meets who were connected to his half-brother suddenly seems to find themselves dead. Nick is determined to find the truth, however, despite the interference of his meddling, domineering father (John Huston).<\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s great:<\/strong> Many conspiracy films came out in the 1970\u2019s, and of these a number of them concerned themselves with assassinations related to political figures. Winter Kills was released late in the decade, after this trend had largely peaked, and so failed at the box office despite the all star cast.<\/p>\n

The film, which had a troubled production history including being financed supposedly by drug dealers, has a dark, black humor that was somewhat rare for a conspiracy film. Directed by screenwriter William Richert, the movie was based on a book by Richard Condon.<\/p>\n

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15. Audrey Rose (1977)<\/p>\n

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Plot:<\/strong> A man named Elliot Hoover (Anthony Hopkins) is stalking Janice and Bill Templeton and their 11 year old daughter, Ivy. Hoover believes that Ivy is the reincarnation of his daughter, Audrey Rose, who along with his wife was killed in a car crash just moments before Ivy was born.<\/p>\n

Ivy begins to act out behavior that starts to convince Janice (Marsha Mason) that Elliot is actually onto something, despite the continued disbelief of her husband. Finally, Elliot is arrested and put on trial for kidnapping Ivy, and he must prove to the court that his actions were necessary in order to give his dead daughter the peace for which she is looking.<\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s great:<\/strong> Aside from conspiracy films, ghost and reincarnation thrillers were also popular in the 1970\u2019s. Unfortunately, the box office failure of Audrey Rose (as well as Exorcist II: the Heretic, also released in the same year, 1977) did much to dampen this sub-genre. The film was directed by veteran Robert Wise and taken from a popular novel of the same name.<\/p>\n

Marsha Mason is excellent as Ivy\u2019s mother, torn between her husband\u2019s skepticism and her desire to believe in reincarnation, and Anthony Hopkins lends an air of credibility to the film. Hopkins would appear in another super-natural thriller the following year, Magic, which fared better at the box office than Audrey Rose.<\/p>\n

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14. The Laughing Policeman (1973)<\/p>\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Dave Evans, the partner of Jake Martin (Walter Matthau), a San Francisco policeman, is gunned down on a public bus by a hit man. Martin is obsessed with finding evidence to prove businessman Harry Camerero murdered his wife, and he comes to believe that the hit on the bus is connected to the Camerero murder.<\/p>\n

Jake and his new partner, Inspector Leo Larson (Bruce Dern) are assigned to interview suspects in the case and despite Jake\u2019s best efforts to shut Larson out from his suspicions, the two begin to uncover information that may help them break the case and avenge Evans\u2019 death.<\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s great: