Anime 2: The 1970s

This is the decade I really wanted to get into.  I've seen a lot of the anime from the 80s, and I've read a lot of the manga which inspired the anime of the 60s, but the 70s were, at least until I started writing this entry, a complete mystery to me.

If you've been reading this blog a while you'll be aware that I've been delving into the tokusatsu ("live action") shows of the same decade, and the anime (and manga) of the 70s are of course linked in many ways to the tokusatsu of the time period.  Shows like Kamen Rider started out as manga, shows like Space Battleship Yamato inspired manga, and programs like Ultraman later spawned manga and anime.

Some of these properties are still doing so today.  Mobile Suit Gundam and Doraemon, for example, remain vast media franchises with roots in the 1970s.  Properties like Demon Slayer and One Piece?  They're relatively new arrivals by comparison.

1. Space Battleship Yamato (a.k.a. "Star Blazers") (1974)

Leiji Matsumoto's masterpiece?  Maybe, but he did a lot of great stuff afterward too.

As mentioned in another recent entry I worshiped this show as a child.  Space Battleship Yamato follows the travails of the spaceship Yamato's crew as they attempt to retrieve the "Cosmo Cleaner" from the distant planet Iscandar.  The whole show is set on a timer, the action is not only fast but also furious, and the relationships between the characters are very compelling.  I highly recommend sitting down and watching all of the original 26 episodes from beginning to end.

2. Devilman (1972)

The manga's author, Go Nagai, also created Cutie Honey and Mazinger Z.  Some people credit him with creating the "super robo" genre, even though properties like Gigantor predate his work.

Devilman (both the manga and the later, toned-down anime version) is a lot darker than a lot of popular media of its time period.  It details a demon invasion of the the Earth from a subterranean realm, and the efforts of a young, demonically possessed man to thwart this invasion.  If you've arrived at this series from lighter fare such as Astro Boy and Golden Bat (as I did), you might find the coarseness of the characters hard to take, but give it time and it'll grow on you.

3. Brave Reideen (1975)

Anyone else remember the Shogun Warriors comic put out by Marvel in the late 70s?  This comic book, based on a toyline consisting of mismatched robots imported from Japan, included Reideen.  In the States we spelled his name "Raydeen," and the toy version of his likeness was a thing I coveted as a kid.  I knew another boy down the street who had one, and I pined for it daily.

Many point to Reideen as the beginning of the "transforming mecha" genre.  Reideen is able to transform into an awkward-looking, less-than-aerodynamic bird plane which sometimes slices his enemies in two.

When you think about it, Reideen's and Devilman's backstories have a lot in common.  Both shows feature a demon invasion that the protagonist has to fight, and both hearken back to ancient civilizations which are attempting to reassert themselves.  In Reideen's case both the robot and its pilot hail from the lost civilization of Mu, while in Devilman's case the monsters hail from an even more remote time period.

As a series Brave Reideen is a lot more fun and a lot less serious than Devilman, but I'm really not sure which I like better.  Were I a very young kid the answer would be Reideen, but if I were a teenager it would be Devilman.  Now?  At my more advanced age?  It's hard to say, but I liked both a lot.

4. Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)

The anime that launched a thousand models.  Honestly I didn't like this one as much as I thought I would.  The story's pretty thin, and most of the characters spend most of their time commenting on how cool the robot is.

This tale of intergalactic rebellion wasn't initially a hit in Japan.  It was the numerous models released in its wake that led to its widespread popularity in the 80s.

5. Captain Harlock (1978)

Another gorgeous space opera from Leiji Matsumoto.  Between this and Space Battleship Yamato I'd have to go with Matsumoto's earlier work, but Captain Harlock is still very good.

It might be more of an acquired taste for Western audiences though.  Many of its plot elements, even in comparison to the earlier Yamato, don't bear thinking about.  It's better approached as a kind of modern myth, complete with space princesses and battles against ancient evils.

6. Doraemon (1973)

I've seen more Doraemon than I can easily remember.  When I first moved to Taiwan I used both the manga and the anime to learn Chinese.  Needless to say, Doraemon is hugely popular in Taiwan and at least a couple other East Asian countries.  I've seen copies of the manga in Hong Kong, Thailand and South Korea.

For those not familiar with the character he's a "cat-type robot" from the distant future, using future tech to help a young boy learn about the wider world.  The manga and anime have gone on to spawn several high-grossing animated films, and in places such as Taiwan there is never any shortage of Doraemon toys, school bags and clothing.

I often wonder how well a property like Doraemon translates for Western audiences.  I've seen English versions of the manga, but it's debatable how well received the franchise is in Western countries.  A lot of Doraemon revolves around Japanese (and Japanese-inspired) modes of schooling, which would seem very alien to Western audiences.  But then again we've all been exposed to our share of Japanese culture, so maybe this perceived alieness isn't big an obstacle as I think it is.

7. 30,000 Miles Under the Sea (1970)

A boy, his pet cheetah, an undersea kingdom and a kaiju imported from the seafloor.  This one isn't famous but I liked it a lot.

8. Galaxy Express 999 (1979)

Another Leiji Matsumoto outing featuring more blonde, reed-thin women, an orphan in distress and a space train which goes from here to there without any visible means of propulsion.

Galaxy Express 999 is good, but of Matsumoto's three 70s creations this one's my least favorite.  It's just a little too whimsical for me, though I get why people like it.  I would, however, recommend against showing this one to young children.  There are a couple scenes involving the protagonist's mother which are very disturbing.

Fun Fact: To some extent Osamu Tezuka, the manga/anime icon of the previous decade, also boarded this particular hype train.  Undersea Super Train: Marine Express, featuring many of his more noteworthy characters, aired on Japanese television the same year.

9. Ryu the Primitive Boy (a.k.a. "Ryu, Cave Child") (1971)

Ryu and his hot girlfriend Ran explore a prehistoric world while Tyranno, a one-eyed T-Rex, stalks them at every turn.  The animation in this one isn't awesome, but some of the backgrounds are nice.  I think some of them might have been oil paintings.

10. Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972)

This is a big one.  Not only was it super popular, but it was also very much in line with the tokusatsu shows of the same decade.  Super Sentai (i.e. "Power Rangers") in particular was very influenced by it.  All of the elements are here: several colorfully suited characters, each with a vehicle, a shadowy, somewhat demonic evil organization and kaiju that require serious behavior modification.

This show crossed over into the American market as Battle of the Planets, though it wasn't nearly as popular in the U.S. as it was in Japan.

A live-action version was released in Japan as recently as 2013, and the Russo Brothers have a film in active development.

And aside from all of that, this show is kind of funny.  Dr. Nambu takes himself SO seriously, and it's hard not to smirk at many of the other characters' pronouncements.

11. Triton of the Sea (1972)

A lesser known effort from the legendary Osamu Tezuka.  In this one a strangely obstinate boy who is definitely NOT Aquaman explores his Atlantean (or perhaps Tritonean) heritage.  It's full of the usual cute animals, annoying girl sidekicks and monsters, but I found it enjoyable nonetheless.

12. Voltes V (1977)

Yet another super team, wearing super suits, driving super vehicles that combine into a still more super vehicle which might or might not be a robot.  By the late 70s giant robos were a BIG DEAL, and Voltes V is just another example of this trend.  It was a  sequel to Combattler V.

I can remember owning the toy as a kid, but the show somehow lacks the charm of Brave Reideen, which came out much earlier.  The animation also isn't very good.

Voltes V is pretty much interchangeable with other shows like Danguard Ace, Mazinger Z or other, similar titles from the same decade.  Having sat through several of these shows I can see the appeal of Mobile Suit Gundam, which was a more streamlined take on mecha.

According to Wikipedia this show was a huge hit in the Philippines, Indonesia and... Cuba?

13. Tekkaman (1975)

What's cooler than a hero with a bitchin' feathered hairstyle?  A SUPERhero with a bitchin' feathered hairstyle!

And what's cooler than a superhero with a bitchin' feathered hairstyle?  A superhero with a bitchin' feathered hairstyle AND a sweet, sweet 70s-style supersuit!

And what's cooler than all of that?  When the superhero with the bitchin' feathered hairstyle wearing the sweet, sweet supersuit also has a suit of armor (complete with spurs!), a pet robot that doubles as a "steed," AND a train that turns into a spaceship!

Tekkaman's plot bears a strong resemblance to Space Battleship Yamato, which was a big hit the year before.  Trouble is that the animation in Tekkaman is decidedly inferior.  It also lacks the pathos of Leiji Matsumoto's more famous work.

I've seen enough of the sequel, Tekkaman Blade, to say that it's WAY cooler.

14. Notes on the Above

There are some key series I'd still like to see.  Future Boy Conan, for example.  Other series, like Rose of Versailles and Anne of Green Gables, I've seen bits of on Taiwanese TV, but my knowledge of those shows is far from comprehensive.

In the course of writing/researching this entry I also watched a few lesser known shows like New Moomin, which was so weird it made me feel high.

I've also seen Beladonna of Sadness, which remains my favorite anime of the 70s.  Beladonna of Sadness is super sexual and super strange.  I highly recommend it.

Of the shows above I'd definitely revisit Captain Harlock, Ryu the Primitive Boy, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman and Triton of the Sea.  The others?  I've either seen all of them or I'm simply not interested.

Related Entries:

Anime 1: The 1960s and Still Earlier Examples

"Space Battleship Yamato: The Classic Collection" by Leiji Matsumoto (1975)

Thoughts on 1966-1967's Ultraman TV Show 3

(Japanese) Spider-Man (1978-1979) 2

Note 1: As I discovered in the recent Anime 1: The 1960s entry a lot of the YouTube links for these shows are unreliable.  Here today, gone tomorrow - or else the person/entity who posted them on YouTube simply won't allow you to link their posts and/or channels to sites like this one.  Needless to say I watched a lot of this stuff on YouTube, though finding certain things took some work.

Still More 70s Movies 4

Very Good

1. Melody (1971)

Coming of age tale set in England.  I liked how this movie balances the male and female sides of the equation, while at the same time refraining from either idealizing kids of that age or putting them in an unnecessarily bad light.

Alan Parker wrote the script.  He'd go on to direct many classic films of the 70s, 80s and 90s, including Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning and The Road to Wellville.

Funnily enough the soundtrack features several songs by the Bee Gees, though at that time the Bee Gees sounded a lot less like the band we're all familiar with and a lot more like the Beatles.

Good

2. Hustling (1975)

Not to be confused with Cruising, the 1980 film in which Al Pacino infiltrates (or should I say "penetrates?") the New York gay leather scene.

In Hustling Lee Remick stars as an investigative reporter, with Jill Clayburgh as a prostitute giving her the rundown on what it means to work the streets of New York.  It's something of a reaction to the Blaxploitation films of the time, but it stands on its own legs and both Remick and Clayburgh are convincing in their respective roles.  It was a TV movie, so of course it pulls some punches, but I enjoyed it.

3. The Seven-Ups (1973)

It's a little too slow in parts, and a little too convoluted for its own good, but man that car chase is awesome.  Roy Scheider stars as a cop who's a little too chummy with one of his informants, and his supporting cast is rock solid all the way down the line.

Scheider might not have been one of the top stars of the 70s, but he was definitely one of that decade's best actors.  He was also very good at picking the right script and pairing himself with the right director.  The Seven-Ups director Philip D'Antoni only directed one movie, but what he left us with is a meticulously crafted work of 70s film noir.

4. Foul Play (1978)

Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Dudley Moore in the same movie?  With sounds by... Barry Manilow?  Who knew?  I sure didn't!

It's actually pretty good, but I get why I'd never heard of this modestly successful sendup of Hitchcock before.  To some extent the late 70s was a twilight time before the advent of VHS and cable TV, and Foul Play was just another comedy from that time that fell through the cracks.  Not ubiquitous enough to get played endlessly on HBO, Showtime or Cinemax, and not memorable enough for a second life via VHS.

Maybe not Quite Good, but Interesting

5. Crazy Joe (1974)

A good movie with some interesting approaches to the Mafia genre, even if star Peter Boyle is occasionally outshined by the supporting players.  Martin Scorsese was originally slated as assistant director to Carlo Lizzani, and Peter Boyle was a replacement for Robert De Niro, who was relatively unknown at the time.  As it is Crazy Joe is an intriguing film, and it's fun to think about what it might have been if Scorsese and De Niro had been onboard.

Fun Fact: This was Henry Winkler's first movie.  Crazy Joe was released the same year as The Lords of Flatbush, in which he appeared alongside Sylvester Stallone, and also the same year as Happy Days' TV debut.  1974 was a big year for Henry Winkler.

6. Skullduggery (1970)

Skullduggery starts out as a fairly derivative jungle adventure, takes a left turn at the discovery of a new, human-like species living in New Guinea, and ends as a courtroom drama that will leave most viewers scratching their heads.  It's all over the map in the way many late 60s movies were all over the map, and if it doesn't always succeed in dramatic terms it's at least more interesting than most of the other movies discussed here.

Burt Reynolds starred in this prior to Deliverance.  He wasn't yet a movie star, but he was well on his way.

Fun Fact 1: William Marshal, who'd go on to play the lead in Blacula, appears in this movie as the Attorney General.

Fun Fact 2: Reynolds turned down the lead in Robert Altman's hit M*A*S*H to do this film.

7. Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)

I wouldn't put it up there with Vanishing Point, Two Lane Blacktop or Smokey and the Bandit, but as "70s car chase movies" go this one is a standout.  If you're the kind of person who likes classic car shows you'll find plenty to admire in Gone in 60 Seconds.

Like Zero to Sixty (below) this one details the exploits of a group of car thieves.  The stunt driving is the highlight of the movie, but this film's more experimental aspects also make it worth watching.  H.B. Halicki, the writer, director, producer and star of Gone in 60 Seconds, died in 1989 making Gone in 60 Seconds 2.

They remade this movie in 2000 with Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie.  I haven't seen the remake, but as I understand it it's a far cry from the original.

8. Moonshine County Express (1977)

"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!"

Yep, Maureen "Marcia" McCormick is in this one, playing a far sexier character, though it's John Saxon who stars in this story of Southern bootleggers.  For all his dialogue he doesn't actually do much until the end of the movie.

It's actually not bad.  Anyone who enjoys Southern-fried Exploitation will enjoy this one too.

9. Shamus (1973)

Burt Reynolds stars as hardboiled detective and ladies' man Shamus McCoy.  There are some VERY politically incorrect moments in this movie, but hey, it was the early 70s and they were either processing free love or liberating themselves from "hangups."

For me the real star of this movie is Jerry Goldsmith's score.  It adds a lot to key scenes in the film.

10. Tales from the Crypt (1972)

UK horror anthology based on the Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror comics.  It's not particularly memorable, and not nearly as good as the 80s American version, but I did enjoy the second segment a lot.

11. Hitch-Hike (1977)

Soon-to-be Bond girl Corinne Clery and Franco Nero star as a couple who cross paths with a deranged fugitive.  Clery is stunningly beautiful throughout, and Nero is good as her husband, but you'll have to overlook a few plot holes in this otherwise enjoyable movie.  The way that the truck explodes, for example, or the fact that the rifles were in the camper the whole time, or...

Solidly OK

12. A Tattered Web (1970)

Not be be confused with A Tatered Web, which involved potatoes suspended from spiderwebs.  Huh?

In this TV movie Lloyd Bridges (father of Jeff and Beau) plays a detective trying to cover up his own crime.  It includes a couple WTF moments, but the script was very concisely written.  Amp up the sex, maybe go into the detective and his daughter's backstory a bit more, and this same script could make for a good feature film.

Not Good

13. The Dark (1979)

A killer alien roams the streets of Los Angeles, and only a writer, a reporter, a cop and a psychic can bring it to justice.  William Devane does his best with a clunky script, but this movie doesn't have much to recommend it.

14. The "Human" Factor (1975)

The Exact Moment This Movie Starts Going Downhill: George Kennedy asking the man's wife to answer the door.  He KNOWS what they did to two other families already, and even given his desire for revenge he should know that this isn't a good idea.

In The "Human" Factor an American computer scientist living in Italy searches for several "terrorists" in the wake of a personal tragedy.  The opening is brilliant, but the film quickly loses steam thereafter.  It's a shame, really, because George Kennedy was a better actor than he was often given credit for being.  His performance is, to some extent, wasted on this movie.

15. Little Murders (1971)

A very withdrawn photographer and a very aggressive woman fall in love in this blackest of black comedies.  If you're the kind of person able to chuckle over Dr. Strangelove you might like it, but those finding it a little too verbose, a little too drawn out, and a little too obscure will get no arguments from me.

For what it's worth Elliot Gould and Marcia Rodd are terrific in their respective roles, and Donald Sutherland offers another breakout performance as "the Reverend" who marries the two.  The opening credits claim that this was Sutherland's debut, but he'd appeared in several films beforehand, not least of them M*A*S*H, mentioned in conjunction with Shamus above.

Fun Fact: This was Alan Arkin's first directorial effort.  He wasn't entirely happy with the end result.

Pretty Bad

16. Grizzly (1976)

Several park rangers contend with a hungry grizzly bear.  As Jaws ripoffs go this is one of the most blatant, right down to the hat the naturalist wears and the oddly familiar scary story told in the dark.

17. Beware!  The Blob (1972)

Fan Theory: The Blob, the Thing and the rich people from Society are all examples of the same organism, just at different stages in its life cycle.

This film is OK if predictable.  The Blob shows up once again in small town America, and after that point local residents either become food or learn how to fight it.  This movie features many faces recognizable from subsequent TV shows and films, though none of them were well known at the time of filming.  Funnily enough Larry Hagman ("J.R." from Dallas) directed this one, and he also appears in it as a hobo around the halfway mark.

Warning for Cat Lovers: The Blob's first victim is a kitten.

Abysmal

18. Zero to Sixty (1978)

Smokey and the Bandit-adjacent comedy about a group of car thieves.  It's strictly sitcom-level humor, even if it was kind of fun to see Lyle Waggoner ("Steve Trevor" in the Wonder Woman TV show) as a gay bartender.

19. Walk Proud (1979)

Teenage heartthrob Robby Benson plays the most unconvincing Chicano gang member ever.  For what it's worth Benson is Jewish on both sides of his family, and he won "Worst Fake Accent: Male" in the Stinker Awards for this very movie.

Pepe Serna, who plays "Cesar" in this film should have played the lead.  He's a MUCH better actor than Robby Benson.  Those casting the movie probably thought he wasn't enough of a name, and that he'd have had a harder time passing for a high school student.

Even so, which is worse, Robby Benson trying to pass for Chicano or Pepe Serna, then 35 years of age, trying to pass for a teenager?

Embarrassing

20. Scorchy (1976)

Yes friends, there is indeed a movie called Scorchy and yes, it's as dumb as you think it is.

Connie Stevens, mother of Carrie Fisher, stars as "Scorchy," some kind of detective (?) out to catch heroin dealers operating out of Seattle.  This is one of those movies where the protagonist is really the antagonist, in that Scorchy's actions do little aside from giving the bad guys opportunities to escape and wreak further havoc upon both themselves and others.  Nothing quite says "I have a substance abuse problem" than an actress of Stevens' caliber doing a movie like Scorchy.  Did she even bother to read the script beforehand?  Was she sober enough to do so?

I enjoyed the shots of my hometown, Seattle, in the mid 70s.  The Monorail, the Seattle Center, the Seattle Waterfront -- pretty much all of Seattle's landmarks are on display.  The trip down memory lane was fun, but aside from the scenery Scorchy is a terrible movie.

Related Entries:

Still More 60s Movies 4

Movies and Memories

A Big Month for Superhero Movies

Some Other Movies From 2025

Still More 70s Movies 3

A lot of exploitation/grindhouse in this one.  I was in that kind of mood.

1. A Day at the Beach (1970)

Ah, Roman Polanski, the director guaranteed to trigger people on the internet.  I make no assumptions about your moral leanings, but you might find it gratifying to know that he only wrote this one.  Another guy directed it.

The Premise: An failed poet with a serious drinking problem takes his niece (?) out for a day at the beach.

Overall: A pitch perfect movie in every respect.  From the opening credits our failed poet is a thoroughly unlikeable, thoroughly untrustworthy man.  The film never wavers from this aspect of his character and that's its greatest strength.

2. The Demon (1979)

The Premise: South African slasher movie featuring a killer whose preferred method of execution is a plastic bag placed over his victim's head.

Overall: We sat through a lot of movies like this in the 80s, VHS-friendly remnants of a time when everyone was trying to cash in on the surprise success of John Carpenter's Halloween.

It won't blow your mind or anything, but if you're in that kind of mood it fits the bill well enough.  Just don't expect a coherent plot.  It's extremely disjointed, very dark (bad lighting) in parts, and generally difficult to follow.

3. Spawn of the Slithis (1978)

The Premise: A monster stalks the canals of Venice, CA, and an amateur investigative reporter is all that stands between this monster and its next victim.

Overall: Generic monster movie with a splash -- if you'll excuse the pun -- of Jaws.

4. Medusa (1973)

The Premise: George Hamilton produced and starred in this half baked crime picture.

Overall: The island of Rhodes is a novel setting, but this movie has little else to recommend it.

Fun Fact: Hamilton's costar Luciana Paluzzi appeared as a S.P.E.C.T.R.E. assassin in 1965's Thunderball.

5. The Killer with a Thousand Eyes (1974)

Man, there must be dozens (hundreds?) of Italian movies just like this one.  Low budget crime/suspense knockoffs of much better films.

The Premise: A very Italian-looking narcotics officer journeys from London to Lisbon to bust up a drug ring.

Overall: Very boring, but somehow more entertaining than Medusa above.  More nudity and more violence would have made it better, but they probably didn't have the budget for that.  Wikipedia lists this one in their Giallo entry, but I would argue the point.

6. Blood Thirst (1971)

Black and white?  In 1971?  Blood Thirst was filmed way back in 1965, but wasn't released theatrically until 1971.

The Premise: A New York detective visits the Philippines to investigate a series of sex crimes.  And yes, this movie was actually filmed in the Philippines.

Overall: Not a bad movie.  I'm sure that in 1971 it already seemed dated, but it has a nice film noir vibe that occasionally veers into genuine creepiness.

7. Expulsion of the Devil (1973)

The Premise: a group of people contend with a haunted house in the French countryside.

Overall: It's not eventful like that other, much more widely known movie, but Expulsion of the Devil will likely remind you of 1982's Poltergeist.  This said, where Poltergeist is more blatantly supernatural, this film ties the "haunting" to a theme of female adolescence.

Fun Fact: Gerard Depardieu has a minor role in this movie.

8. Murder Mansion (1972)

The Premise: Another spooky old house, another group of strangers encountering the supernatural.

Overall: Not very good.  The plot doesn't make much sense, and there's not enough gore to satisfy anyone in search of Giallo-style thrills.

9. Don't Go in the House (1979)*

The horror of disco meets the horror of horror head-on.  That scene where he goes shopping for his disco outfit is one of those "time capsule moments" for sure.

The Premise: A psychopath who dabbles in schizophrenia creates a fireproof room for the purpose of incinerating his victims.

Overall: Did I watch the censored version?  Feels like it.  That scene of his first victim's demise... seems like some gratuitous nudity was cut out.  Maybe the filmmakers considered such nudity distasteful, you know, considering the nuanced film they were trying to create.

(Yes, that was sarcasm)

Don't Go in the House is strictly B movie material, but I found it entertaining.  The first killing, the disco scenes, the ending are all memorable, even if the movie spends too much time inside the house.  The killer's conversations with his "voices" could have been used to great effect, but the screenplay never fleshes out the relationship between these voices, the killer's mother, and what he does to his unsuspecting victims.

Fun Fact: Dan Grimaldi, the star of this movie, is now a Professor of Mathematics.

10. Ritual of Evil (1970)

The Premise: A psychotherapist crosses paths with SATAN.

Overall: Seldom do so, so many words add up to so little story.  Louis Jourdan walks around, cross-examines people, drives a car, all without managing to be the hero in his own movie.  To top it off the ending is very dumb, so dumb I regretted sitting through the film up to that point.

Yeah, you could say it was a made-for-TV movie, and yeah, there was a lot of occult stuff like this on the air at the time, but it's still not a good film.

11. Orgy of the Living Dead (a.k.a. "The Hanging Woman")(1972)

The Premise: Zombie-tinged murder mystery set in a spooky European castle.

Overall: A decent movie, and good fun if you're looking for something Giallo-adjacent.  Despite the overdubs and bogus end credits this film was a Spanish-Italian effort (like Murder Mansion above), and most of those involved had ties to the Spanish or Italian film industries.

12. Satan's School for Girls (1973)

"You've gotta let your mind hang loose."

The Premise: Made-for-TV movie set in an evil girl's school

Overall: Didn't make much of an impression one way or the other.  Watchable I guess. but nothing to write home about.

13. Psychomania (a.k.a. "The Death Wheelers") (1973)

The Premise: A biker game overcomes death through the power of positive thinking.

Overall: Very much a product of its time.  Late 60s spiritualism + biker movie + a trippy room where one meets... Satan? = Psychomania.  It's a fun little film and I wouldn't mind watching it again.

14. Sweet Sugar (1972)

The Premise: Yet another women's prison movie, with the exception that this one was filmed in Costa Rica (!) and instead of a women's prison they're sent to a sugar cane field for two years.

Overall: I don't know if the humor in this movie is intentional or unintentional -- I suspect those in charge of the English overdubs were having a blast in the recording room -- but whichever it was this movie's hilarious.  You gotta love any movie where the head guard announces something like, "The doctor's performing medical experiments, can we get some volunteers?" and SOMEONE ACTUALLY VOLUNTEERS.  

Besides all this the lead, Phyllis Davis, is stunning.  She'd go on to a career in TV, and end her career as Hostage #3 in Steven Seagal's Under Siege.

15. The Humanoid (1979)

The Premise: Does this movie have a premise?  Does it even have a story?  It seems like some Italian guy set out to copy elements from Star Wars and forgot to add the plot.

Overall: There's a lot of memorably bad stuff in this film: the sets, the costumes, the dialogue and most of all the acting.  I just hope that "Tom-Tom" made it back to whatever planet that was.

Fun Fact: Richard Kiel, who played "Jaws" in two Bond films, is to some extent the star of this one.  He is joined by Corrine Clery and Barbara Bach, two actresses who were also Bond girls in the 70s.

16. Malibu High (1979)

Don't get too excited by the poster.  She's not even in the movie.

The Premise: A high school girl turns to prostitution as a way of rebelling against the status quo.

Overall: The acting in this one's even worse than The Humanoid above.  Given an actress with more screen presence it might have been alright, but as it is it's a real chore to get through.  Even the nudity was boring.

17. Hollywood Man (1976)

One wonders how closely the financing of this film mirrored its protagonist's difficulty with regard to repaying a debt to organized crime.  I'm aware of the stereotypes involved, but there sure are a lot of Italian names in the credits and some of the "jobs" attributed to them sure seem suspicious.

The Premise: A fading Hollywood star rushes to complete his passion project before the mob shuts everything down.

Overall: It's not bad but the ending doesn't make much sense.  Why would they do that in broad daylight?  In a public place?  Given the papers the protagonist signed earlier in the movie he was in no position to bargain for anything, let alone implicate those involved in various crimes.

Fun Fact: William Smith might be recognizable from 1982's Conan the Barbarian, in which he played Conan's father.

18. The Cat Creature (1973)

The Premise: An Egyptologist and a detective contend with a supernatural force.

Overall: This is exactly the kind of movie that freaked kids out in the late 70s and early 80s.  It's super cheesy in retrospect, but atmospheric music and sound effects went a long way toward scaring kids back then.  Adults will find the ending unintentionally hilarious.

Fun Fact 1: Meredith Baxter would go on to become Meredith Baxter-Birney, widely known as "Elyse Keaton" in the hit sitcom Family Ties.

Fun Fact 2: Some elements of this movie are nods to 1942's Cat People, which was remade in 1982 as a vehicle for Nastassja Kinski.

19. In Search of Gregory (1970)

The Premise: Julie Christie pursues a man who might be too good to be true.

Overall: It's a charming movie that sticks the landing.  I particularly enjoyed the "Auto-Ball" scene.

20. Vega$ (1978-1981)

NOT a movie, but I did get here via Phyllis Davis, who stars in Sweet Sugar above.

I watched episodes 1 and 2 and skimmed through a few others.  I was interested because my sister lives in Vegas, and when I visit her she often talks about the history of that city and the long gone hotels, casinos and restaurants that were once found on or near The Strip.

The Premise: Hard boiled detective Dan Tanna foils wrongdoers in sin city.

Overall: It gets very silly, especially as regards any subplot involving Dan Tanna's "soft spot for women," but I stopped watching for the same reason the general public did -- it got formulaic and boring as the episodes wore on.  It's interesting to see some of the older hotels and casinos back when they were new(er), but this aspect of the show wasn't enough to keep me entertained for long.

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*Wikipedia lists the release date as 1980, not 1979, but it was definitely filmed in 79.