Favourite Non-Horror movies of the SEVENTIES

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Reaper@Cult Labs

What in particular though,make them your favourites?

It's hard for me to convey why I like Solaris so much... but I'll try.

I suppose a lot of it is to do with the style; almost dream-like, which Tarvoksky brings to many of his films.

It's an engaging watch, as the tense, claustrophobic atmosphere aboard the space station and the strange planet in which it orbits combine and affect the eclectic characters aboard. A strange alien intelligence is the cause of thought manisfestation, believed to be hallucination at first by the paranoid, mistrusting characters. The main focus of this is Kris' (Donatas Banionis) wife seemlingly being 'resurrected' from the dead, almost haunting him at first.

It's based loosely on a book by Stanislaw Lem, published in 1961, and on watching the film you can see where Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick may have got some of their inspiration for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Even watching a film like Event Horizon, and seeing the relationship between Sam Neill's character and the visions of his girlfriend Claire, reminds me heavily of Solaris (although EH takes it to a whole new level).

The remake starring George Clooney is unfortunately how most people will attribute the name Solaris. However, even though the original will not be to most people's tastes, and even most Tarkovsky fans would say it wasn't their favourite of his films (Stalker or Andrei Rublev would usually take that crown), as a piece of film-making and an in depth probing into loss, confinement, and mankind's understanding and interpretation of alien intelligence, for those (and many more) reasons I would say that Solaris is my favourite film of all time.

[Baseball Fury]

Top 5 for me (excluding Star Wars) would be -

STALKER (1979)



Horrifically bleak, yet utterly wonderful at the same time. A film that really pushes the idea of society free of rules and regime, and the cinematography in 'The Zone' is just beautiful.

APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)



There's not much to say about this that hasn't been said before, but it's one of the only films I've ever seen that actually depresses me. After watching it, I feel very funny for about 6 hours and I don't know why.

ERASERHEAD (1977)



Although arguably a horror (and I think I even listed it as one!), this film introduced to me to surrealism in film, and the beauty of "modern" day stark cinematography. I'd only ever seen Twin Peaks up to this point, so this was the first David Lynch 'film' that I'd actually seen. As a 13 year old I was completely mesmerised by this film, and I still the think that the Lady In The Radiator sequence is one of the greatest scenes ever put on film. Remember, in Heaven, everything is fine.

VENGEANCE IS MINE (1979)



A fascinating allegorical story of a true-life serial killer as metaphor for all the problems of post-war Japan, this is just a stunning film. Ken Ogata plays the most likeable, yet utterly repulsive killer ever put on film, almost a 70's Patrick Bateman, the 2 1/2 hr running time just flies by. Whilst classifiable as a horror film, this is so much more at the same time.

THE CONVERSATION (1974)



What a film! Gene Hackman has never been better than his performance as the lonely, paranoid Harry Caul, and it's never a bad thing to get John Cazale on screen as well. An early appearance by Harrison Ford as a very smarmy man is great too. Without spoling it, the final sequence in the apartment is both breathtaking and devastating in its conclusion. Almost perfect.

[sawyer6]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

According to IMDB they're not, but I've always considered Jaws a horror film. Deliverance on the other hand, not.

I suppose it comes down to an individuals interpretation on a film; I've never seen Seven and Silence of the Lambs, and The Vanishing as horror film either, but understand that many people do.

You are right.For example i consider Requiem For A Dream a horror film

[sawyer6]

Originally Posted by Baseball Fury

Top 5 for me (excluding Star Wars) would be -

STALKER (1979)



Horrifically bleak, yet utterly wonderful at the same time. A film that really pushes the idea of society free of rules and regime, and the cinematography in 'The Zone' is just beautiful.

APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)



There's not much to say about this that hasn't been said before, but it's one of the only films I've ever seen that actually depresses me. After watching it, I feel very funny for about 6 hours and I don't know why.

ERASERHEAD (1977)



Although arguably a horror (and I think I even listed it as one!), this film introduced to me to surrealism in film, and the beauty of "modern" day stark cinematography. I'd only ever seen Twin Peaks up to this point, so this was the first David Lynch 'film' that I'd actually seen. As a 13 year old I was completely mesmerised by this film, and I still the think that the Lady In The Radiator sequence is one of the greatest scenes ever put on film. Remember, in Heaven, everything is fine.

VENGEANCE IS MINE (1979)



A fascinating allegorical story of a true-life serial killer as metaphor for all the problems of post-war Japan, this is just a stunning film. Ken Ogata plays the most likeable, yet utterly repulsive killer ever put on film, almost a 70's Patrick Bateman, the 2 1/2 hr running time just flies by. Whilst classifiable as a horror film, this is so much more at the same time.

THE CONVERSATION (1974)



What a film! Gene Hackman has never been better than his performance as the lonely, paranoid Harry Caul, and it's never a bad thing to get John Cazale on screen as well. An early appearance by Harrison Ford as a very smarmy man is great too. Without spoling it, the final sequence in the apartment is both breathtaking and devastating in its conclusion. Almost perfect.

wow I've never seen this poster of Apocalypse Now is it from Poland ?

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Nice list, BF - it's nice to see some more Tarkovsky get mentioned.

Vengeance is Mine is a terrific film, and one I now regret not adding to my list!

As for Eraserhead, picking up from what Demdike, myself, and sawyer have mentioned - I consider it horror, so purposefully left it out. It's a masterful film irrespective of genre, and one of Lynch's best.

[Baseball Fury]

I consider it a horror pretty much as well, I even put it as the best horror of 77 in my list! I couldn't leave it out though! If I had to replace it, it would be with Dog Day Afternoon or Serpico. Pacino just obliterated anyone in both those films.

And yeah, it's Polish, I love polish film posters!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I always thought of Straw Dogs, A Clockwork Orange, Jaws and Frenzy as from the horror genre, thats why i didn't list them. Except for Jaws of course which is also a huge summer blockbuster.

[BioZombie]

Apocalypse Now is pretty high up there for my best non-horror of the 70's.

[Gojirosan]

I suppose my choice would be Apocalypse Now, it is notionally a war film and has been my third favourite film of all-time for twenty odd years. However, upon finally seeing it at the cinema recently it came home to me just how overwhelming the theme of disturbing mental collapse and insanity actually is, and thus, it could be justifiably called a "horror film".

Other than Apocalypse Now, I would pick Vanishing Point, which I adore, but then I would force myself to stop because there were just far too many excellent films made in the 70s and I don't have the time to go into them all!

[Baseball Fury]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

However, upon finally seeing it at the cinema recently it came home to me just how overwhelming the theme of disturbing mental collapse and insanity actually is, and thus, it could be justifiably called a "horror film".

I think this is why it makes me feel funny, it's literally 3 hours of Willard going slowly insane. The bit where they meet the Playboy bunnies later on (in the Redux cut) is just horrible.