Arguably, there are a lot worse Exorcist rip-offs, but the off-sets are usually based in their MST3K potential, and Turkish rip-offs, in particular, excel in rational dissonance and an absurdist disregard for continuity.  It's like the film itself has been possessed by terrifying chaotic incompetence.  Pure indifferent evil.




There's little contest for the funniest Exorcist rip-off.  This Spanish production features demonic posession as if the Devil were James Cagney, sassy and mean, bitch-slapping nuns left and right.  I'm not sure where the film stands as far as restoration or available quality.




As you may know, I'm a fan of the 'Blind Dead' series, or at least the first four or so de Ossorio entires.  This third one is set on an old galleon ship, haunted of course by the zombie knights who come to life every full moon.  The story doesn't really go much further than that, but the atmospheric mood, full of dreadful green-hued fog and rotting wood, is enough to carry me through its 90 minutes.




Not the worst Paul Naschy film I've seen, which may be due to his having no creative involvement.  The standard title, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, makes it seem a lot less cheesy, but this film has long been a staple of late-night TV horror shows in various cuts and names. 
 

Let me try to round up the remaining horror films from 1974, and then y'all can throw in any that I've either forgotten or haven't seen.




Obviously, Jean Rollin had to get his own sexy exorcist film in there.






Brit Pete Walker was having a moment in the mid-70s with some very good horror films which are now acknowledged cult classics.  More clever and slightly more classy than the norm.




The Girl in Room 2A is a lame pseudo-giallo (gi-faux-llo?) that was actually made by a couple of American trash peddlers.  The only thing they happened to get right was casting some lovely continental actresses - Daniela Giordano, Rosalba Neri, Karin Schubert - likely because the promise of skin was the only thing they had to bet on.  And the film isn't even sexy, so whatever.




There's only one reason to watch this movie, to see William Shatner exercise all of his worst actorly instincts, as he plays a Playboy/Serial Killer, shifting from cheesy charm to psychotic goofball like a glazed hungry ham.




Hammer vet Freddie Francis makes a film that Amicus wouldn't even touch.  Again, entertainment value depends on how much joy you get from Jack Palance not giving one fuck.




I've been avoiding TV movies for the most part, but this is a special one, and one where Palance is actually putting in some non-campy effort.  Director Dan Curtis had filmed a lot of the Dark Shadows episodes, and in 1974, he also made two additional TV horror films which I haven't seen yet - Scream of the Wolf and a version of Turn of the Screw with Lynn Redgrave.  Overall, I think this is a plenty respectable version of the Bram Stoker book.
 

I have definitely seen Girl in Room 2A but I'm pretty sure I was forgetting the movie as I watched it. I gave it a shot based on Sleazoid Express hyping up the opening scene, and that's the only part I remembered.

I picked up a Pete Walker collection recently, I remember either you or Crumbsroom being a fan.
 

Alan Ormsby directed Deranged?
Huh.
 

crumbsroom wrote:

Alan Ormsby directed Deranged?
Huh.
 

Co-directed with Jeff Gillen, but he wrote it himself.

Jinnistan wrote:

crumbsroom wrote:

Hey! Beyond the Door is even better than Exorcist: Believer!

I stand by this.
 

These new exorcism films are way too stale to even count as "rip-offs".  I'm solely judging by the immediate wake of the phenomenon.

I would also put Beyond the Door above Abby. And I also like Abby.

I think I'm weirdly good with a lot of Exorcist rip off movies.

Before I move on to the Westerns, do you guys have any other favorite 1974 horror films?

Jinnistan wrote:

 

A poster advertising how everyone in the audience was standing on their feet in the first five minutes of the movie, is clearly a movie not interested in my money.

And while it isn't a horror from 1974 I actually like, Shanks should at least be mentioned here. My memories of it are that I almost hated it, and it is really only barely a horror movie, but it's unique and deserving of not being completely forgotten. And since there isn't really ever going to be anywhere else to ever mention it....ya....check out Shanks.

Last edited by crumbsroom (8/23/2024 11:17 pm)

Unfortunately, I've hit the same wall as I did with the poliziotteschi films, which is that I don't think I've seen any of these 1974 westerns.  I thought I had seen Zandy's Bride, but my memory was actually some kind of coagulation of Hunting Party and Bite the Bullet.  I thought the bride was Candice Bergen, is what I'm saying.

I'm getting more to the point where I'm running more into films that I'd like to watch or try to find, and maybe that's better for me but reveals my limited authority with these movies.  I'm sure that it's not just me but there does seem to be a very seat-of-the-pants theme through this whole year, that goes beyond the simple limitation of trying to find out the release schedules of the year.  For example, here's a surprise.  1974 saw the release of Sun Ra's Space is the Place. 




The film itself is scattershot enough, no offence, that's how Sun Ra does.  Added to this, there are at least two cuts of the film, the old VHS and a later DVD release, which are a good 20 minutes different but don't really manage to cohere any of it.  More confusion ensues when you count in that there are different soundtracks - from Impulse and Evidence - claiming to be from the film, but....  Sun Ra is necessarily a bewildering encounter and deserves a singular slot, I think.