Favorite Films of 1974
by bertramsharp | created - 26 Jun 2011 | updated - 16 Aug 2022 | PublicUpdated: 08/16/2022
I have watched 62 films with a 1974 release date. I have listed them here ranked from best to worst (in my opinion).
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1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,714 | Gross: $30.86M
2. The Godfather Part II (1974)
R | 202 min | Crime, Drama
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Votes: 1,364,674 | Gross: $57.30M
3. Chinatown (1974)
R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez
Votes: 349,957
4. Blazing Saddles (1974)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Western
In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman
Votes: 152,543 | Gross: $119.50M
5. Young Frankenstein (1974)
PG | 106 min | Comedy
An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle
Votes: 168,932 | Gross: $86.30M
6. Black Christmas (1974)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon
Votes: 48,370 | Gross: $4.05M
7. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
PG | 112 min | Drama, Romance
A recently widowed woman is on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson, Mia Bendixsen, Alfred Lutter III
Votes: 27,476 | Gross: $18.60M
8. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
R | 112 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An American barroom pianist and his prostitute girlfriend go on a trip through the Mexican underworld to collect the bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Robert Webber, Gig Young
Votes: 21,532 | Gross: $0.58M
9. 'Gator Bait (1973)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Desiree lives deep in the swamp and supports herself and her siblings by poaching. Ben and deputy Billy hope to get a little sexual comfort from the "Cajun swamp rat" when they catch ... See full summary »
Directors: Beverly Sebastian, Ferd Sebastian | Stars: Claudia Jennings, Sam Gilman, Douglas Dirkson, Clyde Ventura
Votes: 1,454
10. Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)
R | 91 min | Adventure, Horror, Mystery
A master swordsman and former soldier and his hunchbacked assistant hunt vampires.
Director: Brian Clemens | Stars: Horst Janson, John Carson, Shane Briant, Caroline Munro
Votes: 5,695 | Gross: $0.12M
11. Female Trouble (1974)
NC-17 | 89 min | Comedy, Crime
A spoiled schoolgirl runs away from home, gets pregnant while hitch-hiking, and ends up as a fashion model for a pair of beauticians who like to photograph women committing crimes.
Director: John Waters | Stars: Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole
Votes: 10,468
12. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974 TV Movie)
TV-G | 25 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
When a town learns that Santa Claus has struck it off his delivery schedule due to an insulting letter, a way must be found to change his mind.
Directors: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. | Stars: Joel Grey, Tammy Grimes, John McGiver, George Gobel
Votes: 3,785
13. The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974 TV Movie)
TV-G | 51 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
When a weary and discouraged Santa Claus considers skipping his Christmas Eve run one year, Mrs. Claus and his elves set out to change his mind.
Directors: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. | Stars: Shirley Booth, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, George S. Irving
Votes: 11,642
14. The Longest Yard (1974)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad
Votes: 21,433 | Gross: $7.13M
15. The Sugarland Express (1974)
PG | 110 min | Crime, Drama
A woman attempts to reunite her family by helping her husband escape prison and together kidnapping their son. But things don't go as planned when they are forced to take a police hostage on the road.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton
Votes: 19,098 | Gross: $7.50M
16. Axe (1977)
R | 65 min | Horror, Thriller
Three criminals on a murder spree arrives at a farmhouse, where a girl is living with her paralyzed grandfather.
Director: Frederick R. Friedel | Stars: Leslie Lee, Jack Canon, Ray Green, Frederick R. Friedel
Votes: 1,532
17. The Towering Inferno (1974)
PG | 165 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway
Votes: 48,278 | Gross: $116.00M
18. The Great Gatsby (1974)
PG | 144 min | Drama, Romance
A Midwesterner becomes fascinated with his nouveau riche neighbor, who obsesses over his lost love.
Director: Jack Clayton | Stars: Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Karen Black
Votes: 26,865 | Gross: $6.74M
19. The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (1974)
Not Rated | 104 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
Patrick Davenant invites a group of friends and his daughter to his family-owned theater. Within a short time, the guests realize that they are trapped. A masked killer begins to murder them one by one.
Director: Giuseppe Bennati | Stars: Rosanna Schiaffino, Chris Avram, Eva Czemerys, Lucretia Love
Votes: 1,028
20. The Vampires Night Orgy (1973)
R | 84 min | Horror
A busload of tourists stops in to visit a small European town. What they don't know is that the town is completely inhabited by vampires.
Director: León Klimovsky | Stars: Jack Taylor, Dyanik Zurakowska, José Guardiola, Charo Soriano
Votes: 874
21. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A disfigured composer sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music. However, an evil record tycoon betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham
Votes: 22,409 | Gross: $0.16M
22. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974)
R | 95 min | Horror
A cop chases two hippies suspected of a series of Manson family-like murders; unbeknownst to him, the real culprits are the living dead, brought to life with a hunger for human flesh by ultrasonic radiation being used for pest control.
Director: Jorge Grau | Stars: Cristina Galbó, Ray Lovelock, Arthur Kennedy, Aldo Massasso
Votes: 9,321
23. It's Alive (1974)
PG | 91 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The Davises are expecting a baby, which turns out to be a monster with a nasty habit of killing people whenever it is scared. And it is easily scared.
Director: Larry Cohen | Stars: John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell, Andrew Duggan, Guy Stockwell
Votes: 8,979
24. Evil of Dracula (1974)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Horror
A teacher assumes a position at a school that's run by a vampire.
Director: Michio Yamamoto | Stars: Toshio Kurosawa, Kunie Tanaka, Katsuhiko Sasaki, Shin Kishida
Votes: 892
25. Herbie Rides Again (1974)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
The living Volkswagen Beetle helps an old lady protect her home from a corrupt developer.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Helen Hayes, Ken Berry, Stefanie Powers, John McIntire
Votes: 8,846 | Gross: $38.23M
26. McQ (1974)
PG | 111 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Seattle cop is caught up in a corrupt police force that he is trying to make right. McQ is a cop with a mission.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur, Colleen Dewhurst
Votes: 5,946 | Gross: $0.24M
27. The Odessa File (1974)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Thriller
Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, a journalist in possession of the man's diary investigates the alleged sighting of a former S.S. Captain, who commanded a concentration camp during World War II.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, Maria Schell, Mary Tamm
Votes: 12,079 | Gross: $1.11M
28. The Lords of Flatbush (1974)
PG | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two members of a social club in 1950s Brooklyn have more interest in romance than in rumbles.
Directors: Martin Davidson, Stephen Verona | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, Perry King, Paul Mace
Votes: 4,932 | Gross: $3.39M
29. Sugar Hill (1974)
PG | 91 min | Action, Crime, Horror
When her boyfriend is murdered by mobsters, Sugar Hill decides not to get mad, but BAD. She asks the voodoo priestess Mama Maitresse to summon Baron Samedi, the Lord of the Dead, to help ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Maslansky | Stars: Marki Bey, Robert Quarry, Don Pedro Colley, Betty Anne Rees
Votes: 2,303 | Gross: $0.03M
30. The Beast Must Die (1974)
PG | 93 min | Horror, Mystery
Eight people are invited to an island estate for the weekend. One of them is a werewolf. Can you guess which one?
Director: Paul Annett | Stars: Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Marlene Clark, Charles Gray
Votes: 4,174
31. Blood for Dracula (1974)
R | 106 min | Horror
An ailing vampire count travels to Italy with his servant to find a bride.
Director: Paul Morrissey | Stars: Joe Dallesandro, Udo Kier, Vittorio De Sica, Maxime McKendry
Votes: 6,586 | Gross: $0.28M
32. Lover of the Monster (1974)
83 min | Horror
Anijeska, the Rassimov's heir, moves with her husband, Dr. Alex Nijinski, to her father's mansion. In the basement, the doctor discovers the laboratory in which the late Rassimov carried out horrifying experiments.
Director: Sergio Garrone | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Katia Christine, Marzia Damon, Stella Calderoni
Votes: 209
33. The House of Seven Corpses (1974)
PG | 88 min | Horror
A director is filming on location in a house where seven murders were committed. The caretaker warns them not to mess with things they do not understand (the murders were occult related), ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Harrison | Stars: John Ireland, Faith Domergue, John Carradine, Carole Wells
Votes: 1,592
34. Flavia, the Heretic (1974)
R | 96 min | Drama, Horror
A young woman forced into nun-hood by her corrupt father teams up with an army of Muslims to destroy the convent and kill those who wronged her.
Director: Gianfranco Mingozzi | Stars: Florinda Bolkan, María Casares, Claudio Cassinelli, Anthony Higgins
Votes: 1,216
35. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
PG | 125 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond is targeted by the world's most expensive assassin, while he attempts to recover sensitive solar cell technology that is being sold to the highest bidder.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams
Votes: 113,101 | Gross: $20.97M
36. Deranged (1974)
R | 84 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A deranged rural farmer becomes a grave robber and murderer after the death of his possessive mother, whose corpse he keeps, among others, as his companion in a decaying farmhouse.
Directors: Jeff Gillen, Alan Ormsby | Stars: Roberts Blossom, Cosette Lee, Leslie Carlson, Robert Warner
Votes: 5,763 | Gross: $0.05M
37. The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine (1974)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama, Horror
Lucita has been locked away in a convent by her family in order to keep her away from her lover, Esteban. The pair make plans to elope, but Esteban is accused of heresy before Lucita can ... See full summary »
Director: Sergio Grieco | Stars: Françoise Prévost, Jenny Tamburi, Paolo Malco, Franco Ressel
Votes: 933
38. Death Wish (1974)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks. In self-defense, the vengeful man kills muggers on the mean streets after dark.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, Steven Keats
Votes: 44,061 | Gross: $22.00M
39. The House on Skull Mountain (1974)
PG | 89 min | Horror, Mystery
Murders occur at the southern estate of a voodoo priestess when four relatives gather to hear her will.
Director: Ron Honthaner | Stars: Victor French, Janee Michelle, Jean Durand, Mike Evans
Votes: 792
40. The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1974)
G | 93 min | Adventure, Family, Western
After fleeing into the mountains after he is wrongly accused of murder, woodsman "Grizzly Adams" discovers an uncanny bond to the indigenous wildlife of the region after rescuing an orphaned grizzly bear cub whom he adopts and calls "Ben".
Director: Richard Friedenberg | Stars: Dan Haggerty, Don Shanks, Marjorie Harper, Lisa Jones
Votes: 1,021 | Gross: $45.41M
41. Scream of the Wolf (1974 TV Movie)
74 min | Horror, Thriller
A big-game hunter comes out of retirement to help track down a killer wolf, and begins to suspect that it isn't a wolf but an animal that can take human form.
Director: Dan Curtis | Stars: Peter Graves, Clint Walker, Jo Ann Pflug, Philip Carey
Votes: 875
42. Dracula (1974 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 98 min | Drama, Horror
Dracula is searching for a woman who looks like his long dead wife.
Director: Dan Curtis | Stars: Jack Palance, Simon Ward, Nigel Davenport, Pamela Brown
Votes: 2,785
43. House of Whipcord (1974)
R | 102 min | Horror
An insane couple take over the operation of an old jail and seek out young women who they believe have escaped justice. A beautiful young French model becomes their latest victim and must attempt escape or face an almost certain death.
Director: Pete Walker | Stars: Barbara Markham, Patrick Barr, Ray Brooks, Ann Michelle
Votes: 1,870
44. The Ghost Galleon (1974)
R | 89 min | Horror
The living corpses of the Satan-worshiping Knights Templar hunt for human victims in a 16th century galleon.
Director: Amando de Ossorio | Stars: Maria Perschy, Jack Taylor, Bárbara Rey, Carlos Lemos
Votes: 2,974
45. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
G | 84 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
An Okinawan prophecy appears to foretell Earth's destruction at the hands of Godzilla, only for the true Godzilla to reveal his doppelganger as a mechanical alien weapon.
Director: Jun Fukuda | Stars: Masaaki Daimon, Kazuya Aoyama, Reiko Tajima, Akihiko Hirata
Votes: 7,918
46. Madeleine: Anatomy of a Nightmare (1974)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A young woman is tormented by nightmares of her miscarriage. She becomes unfaithful to her husband and meets various lovers. Eventually, reality begins to unfurl around her.
Director: Roberto Mauri | Stars: Camille Keaton, Riccardo Salvino, Pier Maria Rossi, Paola Senatore
Votes: 249
47. The Centerfold Girls (1974)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
A depraved religious fanatic sets out to punish all the "immoral" women who have posed for the center-fold of a men's magazine.
Director: John Peyser | Stars: Jaime Lyn Bauer, Aldo Ray, Dennis Olivieri, Janet Wood
Votes: 930
48. Abby (1974)
R | 89 min | Horror
A marriage counselor becomes possessed by a demon of sexuality when her father-in-law, an archaeologist and an exorcist, accidentally frees it while in Africa.
Director: William Girdler | Stars: Carol Speed, William Marshall, Terry Carter, Austin Stoker
Votes: 1,089
49. Dark Star (1974)
G | 83 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
In the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Dan O'Bannon, Dre Pahich, Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm
Votes: 27,262
50. Craze (1974)
R | 96 min | Thriller
A nutty antiques dealer starts to sacrifice women to an African idol.
Director: Freddie Francis | Stars: Jack Palance, Diana Dors, Julie Ege, Edith Evans
Votes: 696
51. Old Dracula (1974)
PG | 88 min | Comedy, Horror
In order to revive his long hibernating bride, Vampira, Count Dracula takes blood samples from several beautiful models, but during the transfusion, Vampira's race turns from white to black.
Director: Clive Donner | Stars: David Niven, Teresa Graves, Peter Bayliss, Jennie Linden
Votes: 1,264
52. Fly Me the French Way (1974)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Drama
A sex cult mistakenly kidnaps Sophie from the house where Valerie is house-sitting. Valerie and friend Fred attempt to rescue Sophie from the cult's mansion, where her cousin, a cult member, is being blackmailed over incriminating photos.
Director: Jean Rollin | Stars: Joëlle Coeur, Marie-France Morel, Brigitte Borghese, Annie Belle
Votes: 567
53. Lucifer's Women (1974)
R | 91 min | Horror
An acclaimed author has developed an interest in Satanism and black magic. Hoping to manipulate him in order to satisfy his own perverse desires, his publisher convinces him to perform the ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Aratow | Stars: Larry Hankin, Jane Brunel-Cohen, Norman Pierce, Paul Thomas
Votes: 183
54. The Groove Tube (1974)
R | 75 min | Comedy
A collection of skits that make fun of 1970s television, featuring early appearances by Chevy Chase and Richard Belzer.
Director: Ken Shapiro | Stars: Ken Shapiro, Richard Belzer, Chevy Chase, Buzzy Linhart
Votes: 2,342 | Gross: $20.45M
55. Peopletoys (1974)
R | 88 min | Horror
After five deranged children are involved in a bus wreck they start killing people at the lodge who insulted them or were rude to them.
Directors: Sean MacGregor, David Sheldon | Stars: Sorrell Booke, Gene Evans, Taylor Lacher, Joan McCall
Votes: 1,897
56. The Phantom of Hollywood (1974 TV Movie)
74 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
The internationally famous Worldwide Studios (really MGM) has hit hard times and is forced to sell it's back lot to Hollywood property developers. The trouble is someone keeps killing off ... See full summary »
Director: Gene Levitt | Stars: Skye Aubrey, Jack Cassidy, Jackie Coogan, Broderick Crawford
Votes: 291
57. The Teacher (1974)
R | 98 min | Drama, Thriller
An explosively tense story about a beautiful, provocative 28-year-old high school teacher whose seduction of one particular student proves fatal.
Director: Howard Avedis | Stars: Angel Tompkins, Jay North, Anthony James, Marlene Schmidt
Votes: 1,132
58. Score (1973)
Not Rated | 90 min | Adult, Comedy, Drama
In the mythical city of Leisure, a sexually-liberated husband and wife seduce a younger, staid couple into experimenting with bisexuality and group sex.
Director: Radley Metzger | Stars: Claire Wilbur, Casey Donovan, Lynn Lowry, Gerald Grant
Votes: 1,321
59. Beyond the Door (1974)
R | 108 min | Horror
Juliet Mills plays a young pregnant woman in San Francisco who is going to have the devil's baby during her strange possession. Richard Johnson shows up to help her... but what does he really want?
Directors: Ovidio G. Assonitis, Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli | Stars: Juliet Mills, Richard Johnson, Gabriele Lavia, Nino Segurini
Votes: 2,722 | Gross: $0.08M
60. Teenage Hitchhikers (1974)
R | 74 min | Comedy, Crime
Mouse and Bird are a couple of sassy and sexy young hitchhikers who embark on a cross country trip in search of freedom, excitement, and independence. The lovely ladies use their bodies as ... See full summary »
Director: Jerome S. Kaufmann | Stars: Chris Jordan, Sandra Peabody, Claire Wilbur, Nikki Lynn
Votes: 399
61. Help Me... I'm Possessed (1974)
PG | 79 min | Horror
A mad doctor runs a sanitarium in the desert, where his hunchbacked servant whips women who are chained in the basement and cuts the legs off bodies so they'll fit in the caskets. Complications ensue.
Director: Charles Nizet | Stars: Bill Greer, Deedy Peters, Lynne Marta, Jim Dean
Votes: 225
62. The Bat People (1974)
PG | 93 min | Horror, Romance
After being bitten by a bat in a cave, a doctor undergoes an accelerating transformation into a man-bat, which ruins his vacation and causes considerable distress for his wife.
Director: Jerry Jameson | Stars: Stewart Moss, Marianne McAndrew, Michael Pataki, Paul Carr
Votes: 2,648
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