The seventies.  A whole decade devoted to scaring the mess out of kids.  If you were a child in the seventies, there was a lot of unsupervised bike riding, going over to other kids’ houses, the 4:30 movie on ABC and those channel 5 movies AND CHILLER Theatre on channel 9.  How did we even sleep at night?  Oh yeah, with a cigarette and a Michelob.

Can you say “scarred for life”?  Well, not really scarred, but whew, did those movies stay with you or what? To add the icing on the cake, many of these were made for TV movies, not theatrical releases.  So you could pop in from bike riding, grab a soda, and be scared to death right in your living room.

5.  Audrey Rose

A stranger attempts to convince a happily married couple that their daughter is actually his daughter reincarnated.

Director: Robert Wise
Writer: Frank De Felitta (screenplay)
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Marsha Mason, John Beck

Not exactly a horror/scary movie, but it contains supernatural elements.  One of Sir Anthony Hopkins’s early films.

4.  Burnt Offerings

Haunted house chiller from Dan Curtis has Oliver Reed and Karen Black as summer caretakers moving into gothic house with their young son. The catch? The house rejuvenates a part of itself with each death that occurs on its premises.

Director:              Dan Curtis
Writers:               Robert Marasco (novel), William F. Nolan (screenplay), 1 more credit »
Stars:                     Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Burgess Meredith

Creepy, scary with Karen Black, who does creepy the best.  This house is really haunted.

To add insult to injury, when I was older, I read the book, thinking “oh, it wasn’t that scary”.  Well, I was wrong.  The book is an example of creeping, heavy dread and nothing can stop it.

PLUS, the Penguin was it in?  wh

3.  Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

A young couple inherits an old mansion inhabited by small demon-like creatures who are determined to make the wife one of their own.

Director: John Newland
Writer: Nigel McKeand
Stars:     Kim Darby, Jim Hutton, Barbara Anderson

I think I’m still rather scarred by this movie, at least by the memory of it.  The creepy whispers and the eyes…and the ending is just ….I have no words.

2.  Don’t Go to Sleep

A young girl begins seeing the ghost of her sister who died in an accident a year earlier.

Director:   Richard Lang
Writer:   Ned Wynn
Stars:   Dennis Weaver, Valerie Harper, Robin Ignico

It’s actually a movie that holds up across the time warp.  Dennis Weaver (Gunsmoke) is a good actor and we all know Valerie Harper.  If you are able to ignore the cheesy 70s clothes and a little overwrought drama, it’s an interesting and scary movie.

1.    Trilogy of Terror

Three bizarre horror stories all of which star Karen Black in four different roles playing tormented women.

Director: Dan Curtis
Writers: William F. Nolan (teleplay), Richard Matheson (story), 4 more credits »
Stars: Karen Black, Robert Burton, John Karlen

Just a great movie.  The last story, with the little scary doll is the best one. Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) is simply brilliant in his storytelling and William Nolan does his stories justice.  This one holds up over time, that doll is SCARY.

 Mind you, don’t go into watching these movies with the expectation of gore and slashing and Saw type storylines.  Though the movies didn’t have a lot of gore to throw around, it’s the good writing and the psychological aspect that was scary.  These movies sneak up on you.

Pleasant dreams, muahahahahah!!

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