10 Mind-Bending Movies From the ’70s

The ’70s were undoubtedly an interesting period in film history. It was the first decade without the Hays Codes in place in Hollywood, which led to changes in the American film industry that shaped the industry forever. Filmmakers were able to take more risks in the stories they wanted to tell, and audiences were exposed to more forms of storytelling.

There was also a boom in independent filmmaking in the ’70s, allowing lesser-known filmmakers to release their work and expose audiences to even more stories. Industry advances also improved filmmaking techniques and technology, such as special effects.

The most important changes that the ’70s saw impacted film industries around the world. Movies looked, sounded, and felt different than they had in previous decades. Between the technical improvements and the lifting of restrictions in the U.S., movies were exploring themes and ideas in ways they never had before.

This led to the production of intricate, fascinating films that are considered classics today. The decade also produced some seriously mind-boggling films that are still tough to wrap your head around. Whether it be surreal, psychedelic, or just downright weird, the ’70s were a decade full of intriguing movies. Here are 10 mind-bending movies from the ’70s to mess with your head.

10 Suspiria (1977)

Italian filmmaker Dario Argento is known for his trippy, mind-altering Giallo horror films. His 1977 acclaimed horror film, Suspiria, is one of his most beloved works. The movie centers around American ballerina Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), who is a newcomer to the German Tanz Dance Academy.

On the night she arrives, she witnesses a young woman flee the school, and discovers the next day that she is dead. As more strange occurrences happen, Suzy begins to realize the school is a front for something sinister.

Related: 10 Psychological Thrillers from the ‘1970s That Will Break Your Mind

The Psychedelic Horror of Suspiria

In addition to its clever use of color and imagery, Suspiria is psychedelic nightmare fuel. Jessica witnesses perplexing and eerie things daily at the school that leave the audience wondering how much of it is real. The editing purposefully plays into the already confusing narrative, further distorting the film experience for the viewer, while the background for each scene is so beautiful that the film can be paused and appreciated at any time.

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9 Silent Running (1972)

Starring Bruce Dern, Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running is a strange but underrated sci-fi film that will certainly mess with your mind. In a future where the planet’s ecosystem exists only in pods attached to a spacecraft, a group of astronauts resides within the spacecraft with the sole purpose of attending to a large greenhouse, keeping the ecosystem alive.

When they receive word that they are to jettison the pods off the spacecraft, the crew rejoices at the prospect of going home. All except Freeman Lowell (Dern), who has grown attached to the forest and its creatures.

The Ecological Sci-Fi Message of Silent Running

Freeman’s deep attachment to the ecosystem he has been taking care of for years grows increasingly worrisome once the news breaks. His regard for his shipmates goes out the window, like the pods were supposed to. He relies on the ship’s three robot helpers (which inspired the creation of Mystery Science Theater 3000) to help him carry out his plan to save the pods, and his increasing detachment from humanity interferes with his mind.

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8 A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Stanley Kubrick’s critically acclaimed yet controversial film A Clockwork Orange is a disturbing blend of the sci-fi and crime genres. The movie centers around a troubled young man named Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell), considered to be an ultraviolent youth from a futuristic Britain.

Alex is arrested and convicted of murder, leading him to learn of an experimental program in which convicts are trained to detest violence. If he participates, his sentence will be reduced, but his ordeals are far from over when he is placed back on the streets of Britain.

The Twisted and Surreal Setting of A Clockwork Orange

The narrative itself is mind-bending, but Kubrick took extra measures to ensure that his audience was just as disoriented as his characters, if not more so. He included many intentional continuity errors to perplex the audience, such as rearranging props or changing articles of clothing in the same scene.

Everything shown in each shot is intentionally designed to confuse the viewer to the point of questioning what is real. Alex’s essentially unprovoked violent nature itself is meant to confuse audiences with it’s irrationality and lack of explanation.

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7 Eraserhead (1977)

Right from the start of his career, director David Lynch was making the hallucinogenic, bizarre films that he is known for today. His directorial debut, Eraserhead, is a fantasy horror about a peculiar man trying to survive in his ultra-industrial environment. When his equally peculiar girlfriend gives birth to a horribly deformed baby, he must attempt to live with the constant anger of his girlfriend and the incessant cries of his new baby.

The Nonsensical Fantasy Horror of Eraserhead

Trying to explain this film to someone is nearly impossible, because there are endless interpretations of it. The narrative structure is almost nonsensical, and there is no explanation for the reasons behind the baby’s deformities. The parents just have to accept it, so the viewer does too.

The imagery is also nearly impossible to explain. From faded overlays of giant deformed heads to miniature chickens that ooze goo or a deformed woman awkwardly dancing inside a radiator, everything about Eraserhead will mess with your mind.

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6 Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

Part horror, part drama and part mystery, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death follows the titular character, played by Zohra Lampert, as she retreats to the Connecticut countryside with her husband and friend after completing a stint in a mental institution. Upon arriving at their farmhouse, they discover a woman named Emily (Mariclare Costello) living in the house, and invite her to stay with them. Soon after, Jessica begins to see dead bodies around the property that are never there when she returns to show them to someone else.

The Sanity-Breaking Horror of Let’s Scare Jessica to Death

Jessica’s companions, and Jessica herself, begin to believe that her sanity is deteriorating once again as she seemingly sees things that are not there. She questions her ability to decipher dreams from nightmares or madness from sanity, leaving the viewer to question the same.

Jessica is an unreliable narrator, therefore making it difficult for the viewer to decipher what’s real and what’s not. We are left wondering if the film shows what really happened, or if it was simply Jessica’s version of events.

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5 THX 1138 (1971)

Serving as George Lucas’ directorial debut, THX 1138 is unlike anything the director has made in his career. While he has mostly stayed in the sci-fi genre, his first film is quite different from his Star Wars movies.

Set in a dystopian society, human beings live in a state-controlled environment where they follow the rules of a faceless statue without question. This is enforced by a strict drug regimen that suppresses human desire, and robocops that police the dome-enclosed city.

The Dystopian World of THX 1138

The film takes place in the 25th century where human beings have designations rather than names, and relationships are banned. When the main character THX 1138’s (Robert Duvall) computer-matched roommate, LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie), stops taking the drugs and stops him from taking them too, they begin to experience emotions for the first time. The pair become the center of attention in the eyes of the rulers, and they start to uncover the true nature of the rigid society they live in.

Rent THX 1138 on Prime Video

4 Solaris (1972)

Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris is his most well-known film, partially because of the 2002 remake and partially because it was the most widely seen of his films outside the Soviet Union. The film follows a psychologist who is sent to the Solaris mission, which has established a base on a planet that appears to host some type of intelligence.

He is tasked to discover what has made the crew go insane and stop communicating with Earth. What he finds is the remaining scientists being cold and secretive, along with the baffling nature of the alien intelligence.

The Exploration of Humanity in Solaris

Anything that involves aliens is bound to mess with the human mind at least a little bit, and Solaris does more than that. In addition to the other scientists acting strangely and being secretive, the psychologist also encounters his wife, who has been dead for ten years.

At its core, it’s a film about grief and love, but it raises questions about identity and humanity throughout its lengthy 167-minute runtime. It features scenes that are almost transcendent, such as the zero gravity scene or the Earth-bound opening.

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3 Logan’s Run (1976)

Based on the novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, Michael Anderson’s Logan’s Run is a sci-fi adventure set in 2274, where the last of humanity lives in a utopia inside a sealed dome run by a computer. There is little to no work to be done, and people are free to enjoy all of life’s pleasures and excitements.

There is one catch, however: each person’s life expires at 30 in a ceremony known as the Carousel, where they are promised to be reborn. After meeting a woman named Jessica (Jenny Agutter), Logan (Michael York) learns of an uninhabited world right outside the dome.

The World Within a World in Logan’s Run

The idea of life being terminated once you reach 30 is terrifying enough, even with the dubious promise of rebirth. When the characters realize that the promise of rebirth is a lie meant to control the population, they must confront the abrupt destruction of their entire worldview. The world outside the isolated dome that Logan and the rest of his population live in is vast and unexplored, leading to endless possibilities of what it could mean for humanity.

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2 Stalker (1979)

Another Tarkovsky film, Stalker is perhaps his most highly praised movie. It takes place in a small, unnamed country that includes an area called The Zone. It’s a strange area, and within it lies a place called The Room, a place rumored to grant wishes.

The government has ruled The Zone off-limits, but that doesn’t stop people from wanting to enter it. A writer and a professor both want to visit this area, so they have a guide escort them there, known as a Stalker, who has a special relationship with The Zone.

The Jaw-Dropping Existential Journey of Stalker

It is implied that the post-apocalyptic setting of Stalker is supposed to resemble a post-nuclear Russia, although it is never explicitly stated. The Zone is a place not bound to the laws of physics, and contains invisible and inescapable danger, necessitating the need for a Stalker to guide those who wish to defy the government.

Stalkers have special mental powers that allow them to navigate the bizarre space, albeit at the risk of government imprisonment. As each of the three men journeys deeper into The Zone to find The Room, they each experience moral, psychological, existential, philosophical, and even physical difficulties.

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1 House (1977)

The Japanese are no strangers to the horror genre, but Nobuhiko Obayashi’s horror comedy House is truly unlike anything else in the genre. It follows a teenage girl named Oshare, nicknamed Gorgeous, who invites herself and her six friends to her aunt’s country home for summer vacation. However, Gorgeous and the girls are unaware that the house is haunted, and they rapidly start disappearing one by one.

Related: 20 Mind-Blowing International Movies to Add to Your Watchlist

The Mind-Boggling Horror of House

Similarly to Eraserhead, it is a bizarre experience trying to explain the absurdity that is House. The house is quite literally alive, and it has it out for Gorgeous and her friends. The house plots the demise of each girl in ways specific to each of the girls’ personalities, and the attacks are absolutely bonkers.

One of the attacks the house makes involves having a piano chop off the fingers of one of the girls, but in the most ridiculous way. The entire film has a cartoonish nature to it. Some of the imagery is wild to look at, and nearly impossible to explain to a person who isn’t familiar with this brand of bizarre, mind-bending filmmaking.

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