Being There (1979)

Being There (1979)

[3] Pre-dating Forrest Gump by fifteen years is Being There, another movie about a simple-minded idiot who lucks his way into the good graces of society. Peter Sellers stars as Chauncey Gardiner, a gardener and avid TV watcher who is…
Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

[9] Ten years after Night of the Living Dead, which pretty much invented zombies as we now know them, George Romero went back to the well and made a sequel that I like even better. As the dead rise to…
Horror Express (1972)

Horror Express (1972)

[7] British horror icons Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing play rival scientists trying to contain a defrosted prehistoric creature aboard the Trans-Siberian Express in this moody midnight horror flick. The monster's kill count starts to feel repetitive and you'll have…
Blazing Saddles (1974)

Blazing Saddles (1974)

[8] Co-writer/director Mel Brooks (High Anxiety, Robin Hood: Men in Tights) picks at the scab of American racism during the post-Civil Rights Movement to tremendously comedic effect with the Western parody Blazing Saddles. When a small frontier town stands in…
The Sting (1973)

The Sting (1973)

[7] Robert Redford and Paul Newman play Chicago con artists who team up to bankrupt a crime boss (Robert Shaw) who authorized the killing of Redford's grifting partner. Several other con artists join in on the elaborate betting scheme, which…
Deranged (1974)

Deranged (1974)

[7] This movie may never get out from under the shadow of the legendary The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which came out the same year and was also inspired by the horrific Ed Gein. And it’s too bad, because this…
Wake in Fright (1971)

Wake in Fright (1971)

[7] Gary Bond (Zulu) stars as a restless school teacher in the desolate hellscape of the Australian Outback. On his way to Sydney for Christmas break, he becomes stranded in a frontier mining town after gambling away all his money.…
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

[10] Director Miloš Forman (Amadeus, The People vs Larry Flynt) adapts Ken Kesey's novel about R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a trouble-making convict who enters psychiatric care to avoid hard labor. While there, he befriends the patients -- a motley bunch…
The Andromeda Strain (1971)

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

[6] The U.S. government gathers a group of elite scientists in an underground high-tech laboratory to solve the mystery of an extra-terrestrial micro-organism that has killed everyone in a small Nevada town. With two survivors -- a crying baby and…
Grizzly (1976)

Grizzly (1976)

[3] An 18-foot tall grizzly bear finds its way into a state park and starts severing heads and limbs in this low-budget, unabashed Jaws rip-off. A park ranger (Christopher George), a naturist (Richard Jaeckel), and a chopper pilot (co-writer Andrew…