The Criterion Channel Is Offering A Lineup Of Great '70s Horror Movies This October
The Criterion Channel just went ahead and programmed your Halloween movie marathon for you. In October, the streaming service is offering a lineup of great horror movies from the 1970s, including The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Don't Look Now, Deathdream, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and more. Check out the full lineup below, and start planning your horror marathon accordingly.
It's always a good time to watch horror movies. But there's something extra special about doubling-down on horror watching in the month of October, all in the name of celebrating Halloween. And if you're on the lookout for suggestions on what to watch, the Criterion Channel has you covered this year.
The 1970s were a big decade for horror. America was dealing with the end of the turbulent 1960s and still in the midst of the Veitnam War, and good horror movies always reflect their respective eras. As the Criterion Channel explains, the horror of the '70s "responded to the decade's heightened political anxieties and Vietnam War–era sense of disillusionment by pushing the genre's psychological intensity and visceral violence to shocking new heights."
On October 4, the following films will find their way onto The Criterion Channel:
Trog, Freddie Francis, 1970
The Vampire Lovers, Roy Ward Baker, 1970
Daughters of Darkness, Harry Kümel, 1971
Let's Scare Jessica to Death, John D. Hancock, 1971
The Nightcomers, Michael Winner, 1971
Dracula A.D. 1972, Alan Gibson, 1972
Images, Robert Altman, 1972
Death Line, Gary Sherman, 1972
Season of the Witch, George A. Romero, 1972
The Crazies, George A. Romero, 1973
Don't Look Now, Nicolas Roeg, 1973
Ganja & Hess, Bill Gunn, 1973
Sisters, Brian De Palma, 1973
Theater of Blood, Douglas Hickox, 1973
The Wicker Man, Robin Hardy, 1973
Black Christmas, Bob Clark, 1974
Deathdream, Bob Clark, 1974
It's Alive, Larry Cohen, 1974
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tobe Hooper, 1974
Shivers, David Cronenberg, 1975
The Witch Who Came from the Sea, Matt Cimber, 1976
The Hills Have Eyes, Wes Craven, 1977
Rabid, David Cronenberg, 1977
Coma, Michael Crichton, 1978
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Philip Kaufman, 1978
Long Weekend, Colin Eggleston, 1978
The Brood, David Cronenberg, 1979
The Driller Killer, Abel Ferrara, 1979
There's a lot to get excited about here. I'm particularly excited to catch up on films I've not managed to see yet, like The Witch Who Came from the Sea and the Michael Crichton-directed Coma. While I can't attest to all of these movies being good, I will say that the majority of them are definitely worth watching. I'd particularly recommend Don't Look Now, The Crazies, The Driller Killer, Sisters, and, of course, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
If '70s horror isn't your thing, Criterion is also adding horror movies from other eras to their streaming service as well. Here's the lineup of what you can expect to find there in October. Or you could just watch Hubie Halloween on Netflix. Whatever floats your boat.
100 Boyfriends Mixtape, Brontez Purnell, 2016
575 Castro St., Jenni Olson, 2008
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Nathan Juran, 1958
Above Suspicion, Richard Thorpe, 1943
Abuse of Weakness, Catherine Breillat, 2013**
Affirmations, Marlon Riggs, 1990
American Dream, Barbara Kopple, Cathy Caplan, Thomas Haneke, Lawrence Silk, 1990
Anthem, Marlon Riggs, 1991
Autumn Leaves, Robert Aldrich, 1956
Barking Dogs Never Bite, Bong Joon Ho, 2000**
The Best Man, Franklin J. Schaffner, 1964
Beware! The Blob, Larry Hagman, 1972
Black Christmas, Bob Clark, 1974
Black Is . . . Black Ain't, Marlon Riggs, 1994
Blue Diary, Jenni Olson, 1998
Bluebeard, Catherine Breillat, 2009**
Buck Privates, Arthur Lubin, 1941
Caché, Michael Haneke, 2005
Casa de lava, Pedro Costa, 1994
Cat People, Jacques Tourneur, 1942
Christine, Antonio Campos, 2016
Color Adjustment, Marlon Riggs, 1992
Coma, Michael Crichton, 1978
The Crazies, George A. Romero, 1973
Crying Fist, Ryoo Seung-wan, 2005
The Damned Don't Cry, Vincent Sherman, 1950
Dancing Lady, Robert Z. Leonard, 1933
Date With Dizzy, John Hubley, 1958
Daughters of Darkness, Harry Kümel, 1971
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, Kurt Kuenne, 2008
Death Line, Gary Sherman, 1972
Deathdream, Bob Clark, 1974
The Devil's Backbone, Guillermo del Toro, 2001**
Dirty, Matthew Puccini, 2020
Don't Look Now, Nicolas Roeg, 1973
Dracula A.D. 1972, Alan Gibson, 1972
The Driller Killer, Abel Ferrara, 1979
A Drop of Sun Under the Earth, Shikeith, 2017
Election, Alexander Payne, 1999
Ethnic Notions, Marlon Riggs, 1986
Everybody Rides the Carousel, John Hubley, 1976
O Fantasma, João Pedro Rodrigues, 2000
The Foul King, Kim Jee-woon, 2000
Grand Hotel, Edmund Goulding, 1932
Harriet Craig, Vincent Sherman, 1950
The Hills Have Eyes, Wes Craven, 1977
The Hole, John Hubley, 1962
The Host, Bong Joon Ho, 2006**
Humanoids from the Deep, Barbara Peeters, Jimmy T. Murakami, 1980
Humoresque, Jean Negulesco, 1946
I Shall Not Be Removed: The Life of Marlon Riggs, Karen Everett, 1996
The Illusionist, Sylvain Chomet, 2010**
Images, Robert Altman, 1972
In nomine Patris, Jenni Olson, 2019
Influenza, Bong Joon Ho, 2004
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Philip Kaufman, 1978
It's Alive, Larry Cohen, 1974
The Joy of Life, Jenni Olson, 2005
Kirikou and the Sorceress, Michel Ocelot, 1998
The Labyrinth 1.0, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, 2017
Lady Vengeance, Park Chan-wook, 2005
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, Richard Boleslawski, Dorothy Arzner, George Fitzmaurice, 1937
The Last Party, Mark Benjamin, Marc Levin, 1993
Let's Scare Jessica to Death, John D. Hancock, 1971
Long Train Running: A History of the Oakland Blues, Marlon Riggs, Peter Webster, 1981
Love on the Run, W.S. Van Dyke, 1936
Mannequin, Frank Borzage, 1937
Mildred Pierce, Michael Curtiz, 1945
Moonbird, John Hubley, 1959
Mother, Bong Joon Ho, 2009**
The Nightcomers, Michael Winner, 1971
Non, je ne regrette rien (No Regret), Marlon Riggs, 1993
Nosferatu, F.W. Murnau, 1922
Nosferatu the Vampyre, Werner Herzog, 1979
Nowhere to Hide, Lee Myung-se, 1999
Of Stars and Men, John Hubley, 1961
The Ornithologist, João Pedro Rodrigues, 2016**
Our Dancing Daughters, Harry Beaumont, 1928
Our Modern Maidens, Jack Conway, 1929
Peeping Tom, Michael Powell, 1960
Possessed, Clarence Brown, 1931
Possessed, Curtis Bernhardt, 1947
The Public Enemy, William A. Wellman, 1931
Queen Bee, Ranald MacDougall, 1955
Rabid, David Cronenberg, 1977
Romance, Catherine Breillat, 1999
The Royal Road, Jenni Olson, 2015
Sadie McKee, Clarence Brown, 1934
Season of the Witch, George A. Romero, 1972
Shampoo, Hal Ashby, 1975
Shivers, David Cronenberg, 1975
Sleeping Beauty, Catherine Breillat, 2010**
Slumber Party Massacre, Amy Holden Jones, 1982
The Smiling Lieutenant, Ernst Lubitsch, 1931
Strait-Jacket, William Castle, 1964
Strange Cargo, Frank Borzage, 1940
The Student Nurses, Stephanie Rothman, 1970
Suburbia, Penelope Spheeris, 1983
Sudden Fear, David Miller, 1952
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Park Chan-wook, 2002
A Tale of Two Sisters, Kim Jee-woon, 2003
Tender Game, John Hubley, 1958
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tobe Hooper, 1974
Theater of Blood, Douglas Hickox, 1973
To Die Like a Man, João Pedro Rodrigues, 2009**
Tongues Untied, Marlon Riggs, 1989
Trog, Freddie Francis, 1970
Trouble in Paradise, Ernst Lubitsch, 1932
Two Drifters, João Pedro Rodrigues, 2005**
The Unknown, Tod Browning, 1927
The Vampire Lovers, Roy Ward Baker, 1970
The Velvet Vampire, Stephanie Rothman, 1971
Videodrome, David Cronenberg, 1983
Vitalina Varela, Pedro Costa, 2019
Walk For Me, Elegance Bratton, 2016
We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay, 2011**
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Robert Aldrich, 1962
The Wicker Man, Robin Hardy, 1973
The Witch Who Came from the Sea, Matt Cimber, 1976
A Woman's Face, George Cukor, 1941
The Women, George Cukor, 1939
The Yearling, Clarence Brown, 1946
**Available in the U.S. only