The Strangest Films from the 1970's
The 70’s was a tumultuous era and a very psychedelic decade to say the least. With the era starting right after 1969 (the year that gave us Woodstock and the first moon landing) Comes the birth of odd that we call the 70's the era that gave us illegal drugs with weird names and groovy colours and rock and roll bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin alongside with promiscuous sex.
Fortunately due to high uses of hallucinogenic drugs like LSD, we get some very strange and unusual Ideas for Books and Movies, some of them are beyond bizarre, some of them are creepy, and some them are just plain odd, which is why I made a this list.
Whilst the 60’s were also a psychoactive decade in its own right, it never really went hallucinogenic insane until the closing part of the decade (around 1968 to 1969) which is why I didn't include the 60's on this list.
Fortunately due to high uses of hallucinogenic drugs like LSD, we get some very strange and unusual Ideas for Books and Movies, some of them are beyond bizarre, some of them are creepy, and some them are just plain odd, which is why I made a this list.
Whilst the 60’s were also a psychoactive decade in its own right, it never really went hallucinogenic insane until the closing part of the decade (around 1968 to 1969) which is why I didn't include the 60's on this list.
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- DirectorJaromil JiresStarsJaroslava SchallerováHelena AnýzováPetr KoprivaSurreal tale in which love, fear, sex, and religion merge into one fantastic world. Based on a classical Czech novel of the same title.
- DirectorDonald WolfeStarsMiriam HopkinsDavid GarfieldGale SondergaardAn aging actress living in her Hollywood mansion with a retinue of elderly servants employs a new, mentally disturbed, personal assistant who schemes to take over the large estate.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyBrontis JodorowskyJosé LegarretaA mysterious black-clad gunfighter wanders a mystical Western landscape encountering multiple bizarre characters.
- DirectorJohn D. HancockStarsZohra LampertBarton HeymanKevin O'ConnorA recently institutionalized woman has bizarre experiences after moving into a supposedly haunted country farmhouse and fears she may be losing her sanity once again.
- DirectorBoris SagalStarsCharlton HestonAnthony ZerbeRosalind CashDr Robert Neville has developed an experimental vaccine which makes him the only immune survivor of a biological catastrophe. A gang of homicidal mutants blame science for their condition and attempt to kill him.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsMilena DravicIvica VidovicJagoda KaloperAn homage to the work of psychologist Wilhelm Reich, matched with a story about a Yugoslavian girl's affair with a Russian skater. Sexual repression, social systems and the orgone theory are explored.
- DirectorMel StuartStarsGene WilderJack AlbertsonPeter OstrumA poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.The only kids film inspired by Crack ... Well ... This and Dumbo.
- DirectorRobert FuestStarsVincent PriceJoseph CottenVirginia NorthDoctor, scientist, organist, and biblical scholar Anton Phibes seeks revenge on the nine doctors he considers responsible for the death of his wife.Although it's not the strangest film on this list it does have some strange moments in the film like it's style.
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsRobert DuvallDonald PleasenceDon Pedro ColleyIn the 25th century, a time when people have designations instead of names, a man, THX 1138, and a woman, LUH 3417, rebel against their rigidly controlled society.
- DirectorYoshimitsu BannoIshirô HondaStarsAkira YamanouchiToshie KimuraHiroyuki KawaseAn ever-evolving alien life form from the Dark Gaseous Nebula arrives to consume rampant pollution. Spewing mists of sulfuric acid and corrosive sludge, neither humanity or Godzilla may be able to defeat this toxic menace.Aha, you didn't think a Godzilla film would be in this list now would you, well I'll tell you why. "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster" (USA title) makes zero to no sense on what the movie is about. Basically what the film is trying to say is that if you don't stop pollution, than pollution may turn into a giant 300 feet tall monster that throws crap at ya.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsLeszek TeleszynskiWojciech PszoniakMalgorzata BraunekDuring the Prussian army's invasion of Poland in 1793, a young Polish nobleman, Jakub, is saved from the imprisonment by a stranger who wants in return to obtain a list of his fellow conspirators. Following his mysterious savior across the country, Jakub sees the overall chaos and moral corruption, including his father's death and the betrayal of his friend who stole his fiancee. Being apparently demented by what he has seen, he commits a number of seemingly motiveless and gory killings.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsFernando ReyDelphine SeyrigPaul FrankeurA surreal, virtually plotless series of dreams centered around six middle-class people and their consistently interrupted attempts to have a meal together.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsStuart WhitmanJanet LeighRory CalhounGiant mutant rabbits terrorize the south-west.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsDivineDavid LocharyMary Vivian PearceNotorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".This film was supposed to be a Gross out comedy, however it ended up as a unfunny and kind of disturbing story, which includes Divine and her family killing the police and then eating them, and the Marbles running a small business where they kidnapped women in which the husband (Connie) impregnate them and then sells their babies to lesbian couples. Yeah, that sounds like comedy gold right there.
- DirectorJun FukudaYoshimitsu BannoIshirô HondaStarsHiroshi IshikawaYuriko HishimiMinoru TakashimaA manga artist becomes suspicious of his employers when a garbled message is discovered on tape. As he forms a team to investigate, Godzilla and Anguirus set out to help defeat the invaders.Another Godzilla Movie this one has Godzilla and his pet dinosaur Anguirus talking to each other as they fight ridiculous monsters like Gigan and that Three Headed Dragon Thing.
- DirectorMichael CrichtonStarsYul BrynnerRichard BenjaminJames BrolinA robot malfunction creates havoc and terror for unsuspecting vacationers at a futuristic, adult-themed amusement park.
- DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyHoracio SalinasZamira SaundersIn a corrupt, greed-fueled world, a powerful alchemist leads a messianic character and seven materialistic figures to the Holy Mountain, where they hope to achieve enlightenment.
- DirectorArturo RipsteinStarsClaudio BrookRita MacedoArturo BeristáinThe story of a disciplined and sexually driven man who keeps his family isolated in his home for years to protect them from the "evil nature" of human beings while inventing (with his wife) rat poison.
- DirectorTed PostStarsAnjanette ComerRuth RomanMarianna HillA social worker, still reeling from the loss of her architect husband, investigates the eccentric, psychedelic Wadsworth Family, consisting of a mother, two daughters, and an adult son with the apparent mental capacity of an infant.The first film to show a fully grown man acting like a infant baby, this film started the Diaper/ Nappy fetish.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsGeorge C. ScottTrish Van DeverePaul SorvinoA marine biologist teaches his dolphins to communicate in English but shady characters plan to kidnap the trained mammals for a more sinister purpose.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsCarole LaurePierre ClémentiAnna PrucnalAfter winning the "most virgin" contest, Miss Canada is married to a rich milk tycoon. But she quickly flees the marriage to experience the world around her, full of sweetness and anarchy.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsNinetto DavoliFranco CittiFranco MerliIn ancient Arabia, a beautiful slave girl chooses a youth to be her new master, then she is kidnapped and they must search for each other. Stories are told within stories: love, travel and the whims of destiny.
- DirectorAlexander KlugeEdgar ReitzStarsDagmar BödderichJutta WinkelmannAlfred EdelTwo women with different goals in life are independently out on the town of Frankfurt am Main. One is an offbeat thief and the other an East German spy.Not much is known about this film other than this Info found in Rotten Tomatoes which reads:
"In Extreme Blows of Fate the Just Milieu Bring Death mingles real documentary footage covering contemporary (1975) German politics with a spoof of spy stories. The stories include: a woman prostitute who gets even with men by stealing their wallets and cars, and a female Marxist spy who is so boring to her handler that she gets fired. The Miss Germany beauty pageant is one of the settings in which these stories take place." - DirectorJohn BoormanStarsSean ConneryCharlotte RamplingSara KestelmanIn the late 23rd century, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.
- DirectorJérôme LaperrousazStarsTerence StampJeanne MoreauAgnès SteveninAn actor is placed in dangerous situations and his fear will be broadcast to the television audience. The audience's emotions will determine whether he is sent into the future or the past.
- DirectorCharles NizetStarsRay MolinaPhilip AhnErn DugoAn experimental serum turns a man into a fanged killer beast.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsCathryn HarrisonTherese GiehseAlexandra StewartTo escape a gender war, a girl flees to a remote farmhouse and becomes part of an extensive family's unusual, perhaps even supernatural, lifestyle.
- DirectorThierry ZénoStarsDominique GarnyAn allegoric male character falls in love with his pig.
- DirectorLarry CohenStarsTony Lo BiancoDeborah RaffinSandy DennisA New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random New Yorkers who claim that "God told them to."
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsDavid BowieRip TornCandy ClarkAn alien must pose as a human to save his dying planet, but a woman and greed of other men create complications.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsKimiko IkegamiMiki JinboKumiko ÔbaA schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.
- DirectorDonald CammellStarsJulie ChristieFritz WeaverGerrit GrahamA scientist creates Proteus--an organic super computer with artificial intelligence which becomes obsessed with human beings, and in particular the creator's wife.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsLiz RenayMink StoleSusan LoweA neurotic society woman murders her husband with her maid's help; on the lam, they escape to Mortville, a homeless community ruled by a fascist queen.
- DirectorElliot SilversteinStarsJames BrolinKathleen LloydJohn MarleyA small desert town is terrorized by a powerful, seemingly possessed car, and the local sheriff may be the only one who can stop it.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack NanceCharlotte StewartAllen JosephHenry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
- DirectorAlberto CavalloneStarsInga AlexandrovaTony AskinMartial BoscheroMarco is working on a film called Maldoror, and focuses on his tormented relationship with a married woman.
- DirectorGeorge BarryStarsDemene HallWilliam RussJulie RitterA bed possessed by a demon spirit consumes its users alive.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJessica HarperStefania CasiniFlavio BucciAn American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
- DirectorAl AdamsonStarsJim KellyBill RoyRoberto ContrerasRobert Sand, agent of D.R.A.G.O.N. (Defense Reserve Agency Guardian Of Nations), is playing tennis on his vacation with a beautiful black girl, when his commanding officers ask him to save a Chinese girl who happens to be Sand's girlfriend, and the daughter of a top Eastern Ambassador. The ransom for the abduction was the secret for a terrific new weapon - the freeze bomb - but the 'Warlock' behind the deed is also into the business of drug dealing and Voodoo ritual murders. The search takes him from Hong Kong to California through Miami, and plenty of action, against bad men, bad girl, and bad animals.
- DirectorJeff LiebermanStarsZalman KingDeborah WintersMark GoddardA bizarre series of murders begins in Los Angeles, where people start going bald and then become homicidal maniacs. But could the blame rest on a particularly dangerous form of LSD called Blue Sunshine the murderers took ten years before?