Quentin Tarantino’s favourite movies of the 1970s
To be a filmmaker, one must have an extensive knowledge of cinema, and luckily for Quentin Tarantino, an early video store job taught him everything he needed to know. During his time working among rows and rows of films, from the latest blockbusters to obscure B-movies, Tarantino educated himself in the art of writing and directing.
Subsequently, Tarantino has imbued his work with a mixture of highbrow and trashy influences, combining everything he loves about movies into his own signature style. After bursting onto the scene in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino established himself as an important new voice in Hollywood. He found further acclaim with other movies such as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Over the years, Tarantino has discussed his favourite movies and those that have significantly inspired him. In fact, few filmmakers are as outspoken about their love of cinema as Tarantino, who has shared his opinion on nearly any movie you can think of at some point in his career.
However, today, we’re going to focus on Tarantino’s favourites from the 1970s, arguably one of the most vital decades for the development of cinema. While the decade provided us with some seminal, industry-changing releases, such as The Godfather, Jaws, Star Wars and Halloween, most of Tarantino’s picks are much more leftfield.
In Cinema Speculation, Tarantino recalls watching A Man Called Horse as a child, a western by Elliot Silverstein. It’s no secret that Tarantino loves the western genre, so it’s unsurprising that Silverstein’s film makes it onto his list. Referring to the “eagle-claws-through-the-chest initiation rite” scene, the filmmaker explained that it “blew my fucking mind”.
He also picked out Dan Curtis’ House of Dark Shadows, which changed the way he viewed cinema. He remembered “staring at the screen with my mouth wide open, not quite believing a movie could do that. On those nights, I’m sure I was the vocal one on the car ride home (I thought those movies were incredible).”
Continuing the horror theme – which begs the question, why hasn’t Tarantino made a horror movie before? – he is also a big fan of the classic giallo Deep Red. Directed by Dario Argento, the movie is regarded as one of his best, yet when Tarantino stumbled upon it as a teenager, he knew little about it. In Eli Roth’s History of Horror, Tarantino explained, “I didn’t even know it was an Italian movie. I go and see it, and it’s these horrendous murders and horrendous kills one after another with just complete sadism. Not only just a tremendous amount of blood but also the loudest soundtrack I’d ever heard in a movie just pounding at you.”
Moreover, Tarantino loves two Tobe Hooper films – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Eaten Alive – the latter being his much less successful creation, released two years later. The former is one of the first slasher movies, following a group of teenagers as they find themselves the victims of a grisly skin-wearing cannibal known as Leatherface. While Tarantino doesn’t think Eaten Alive is perfect, unlike The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, he “loved watching the movie”.
He explained, “We laughed about that Buck/fuck line for the first whole twenty minutes of the movie,” subsequently using it in his own film, Kill Bill.
Discover Tarantino’s favourite ‘70s movies below.
Quentin Tarantino’s favourite ’70s movies:
- A Man Called Horse (Elliot Silverstein, 1970)
- House of Dark Shadows (Dan Curtis, 1970)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
- Eaten Alive (Hooper, 1976)
- Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)
- Rolling Thunder (John Flynn, 1977)
- Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975)
- The Bad News Bears (Michael Ritchie, 1976)
- Sorcerer (William Friedkin, 1977)
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