The Omen (1976)

Mysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the Antichrist? The Devil's own son?

Make no mistake, The Omen is clearly a movie that was designed to one-up The Exorcist, with the campiness factor unintentionally ramped up to 11.

But you know what?  I don't consider that a bad thing.  I'm down with camp.  And I'm down with this silly tale of Damien, the devil's son, and everyone around him dying in the goriest manners possible while Gregorian chants announce the presence of Satan in the most overt manner possible.  What can I say?  I'm a sucker for people's heads being torn off, or being thrown out windows, all in the name of the Antichrist.  It's fun stuff.

Gregory Peck is as great as usual, the plot never stops moving, and the entire thing is sufficiently stuffed with thrills.  Don't mind the critics who ravaged it at the time of it's release.  This is a film that grew in stature, decades later.

Carrie (1976)

Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.

For those who don't know, I'm kind of a Stephen King superfan.  As of this writing, I've read all but 6 of his 81 (give or take) books, and those remaining few will fall in the next 12 months.  I've also seen basically every film adaptation that's ever been made for any of those works.  This love affair started almost 30 years ago, and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon.

I'm also something of a Brian De Palma superfan.  You name it, I've watched it, and probably own it.  You see where I'm going with this?  It's two of my favorite worlds colliding, and I couldn't be happier with the results.

Carrie is the perfect adaptation.  Barely anything is changed, because the source material was so good in the first place.  And what is removed, is just trimmed fat.  Keeping the movie lean, and on track.

Piper Laurie kills it (I want to say she was nominated for an Oscar), and Sissy Spacek is absolutely perfect as the title character, in what would end up being a star-making role.  Also nominated for an Oscar.  How often can you say that about a horror film?

And then you have P.J. Soles and John Travolta, and whoever plays Tommy... it's a perfect cast, that does a perfect job.

And then De Palma just slayed the execution.  The prom scene, the shower scene, the ending... there is nothing to complain about.  Not one thing.

You get the point.  I love this movie, and I love this story.

Suspiria (1977)

An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.

Dario Argento stretches his wings a bit, with a film that strays slightly from his usual giallo path, with this story about the ballet school slash witch den.  The overwhelming adoration the horror community holds for this film is proof that he did a marvelous job pulling it off.

All the usual 1970s Italian horror film tropes are here.  Lots of screaming, sobbing, and gasping.  Fountains of blood and gore.  An amazing soundtrack by Goblin.  Those are all good things.

Actually the kills really, uh, "step it up" in a sense.  Hangings, exposed still-beating hearts, impalings... and that's all in the opening minutes.

Is this Argento's best film?  Most fans think it is.  It's definitely a candidate.  I personally seem to watch Deep Red and one other film slightly more often, but it's damn good company to keep.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.

The second(?) adaptation of the classic pod people story.  And easily the best one ever made.  I'm a sucker for any movie about the aliens/monsters slowly hiding amongst the humans and slowly assimilating and conquering us.  It's a classic setup, where you're constantly questioning what you're seeing and hearing.

[...]

I'm out of time to get this out before the days ends, so I'll finish this write-up tomorrow