Best '70s thriller movies
Stacker compiled a list of the best '70s thriller movies of all time based on our own Stacker score, a weighted index split evenly between IMDb user rating and Metascore. To qualify, the film had to have thriller as one of its genres on IMDb, have a Metascore, and have at least 5,000 IMDb user votes. Ties were broken by votes.
#50. The Beguiled (1971)
- Director: Don Siegel
- Stacker score: 86.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 66
- Runtime: 105 minutes
#49. Fist of Fury (1972)
- Director: Wei Lo
- Stacker score: 86.4
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 107 minutes
#48. Klute (1971)
- Director: Alan J. Pakula
- Stacker score: 86.7
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 114 minutes
#47. Night Moves (1975)
- Director: Arthur Penn
- Stacker score: 86.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 82
- Runtime: 100 minutes
#46. Murder by Death (1976)
- Director: Robert Moore
- Stacker score: 86.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 95 minutes
#45. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
- Director: John Cassavetes
- Stacker score: 87.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 135 minutes
#44. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
- Director: Brian De Palma
- Stacker score: 87.4
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 67
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#43. And Justice for All (1979)
- Director: Norman Jewison
- Stacker score: 87.5
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 119 minutes
#42. The In-Laws (1979)
- Director: Arthur Hiller
- Stacker score: 87.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 69
- Runtime: 103 minutes
#41. Three Days of the Condor (1975)
- Director: Sydney Pollack
- Stacker score: 88.0
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 117 minutes
#40. Marathon Man (1976)
- Director: John Schlesinger
- Stacker score: 88.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 125 minutes
#39. Scrooge (1970)
- Director: Ronald Neame
- Stacker score: 88.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 113 minutes
#38. Midnight Express (1978)
- Director: Alan Parker
- Stacker score: 88.7
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 59
- Runtime: 121 minutes
#37. Straw Dogs (1971)
- Director: Sam Peckinpah
- Stacker score: 89.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 73
- Runtime: 113 minutes
#36. The Silent Partner (1978)
- Director: Daryl Duke
- Stacker score: 89.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 74
- Runtime: 106 minutes
#35. Don't Look Now (1973)
- Director: Nicolas Roeg
- Stacker score: 89.4
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 95
- Runtime: 110 minutes
#34. The Warriors (1979)
- Director: Walter Hill
- Stacker score: 89.4
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 93 minutes
#33. Mean Streets (1973)
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Stacker score: 89.5
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 96
- Runtime: 112 minutes
#32. The American Friend (1977)
- Director: Wim Wenders
- Stacker score: 89.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 79
- Runtime: 128 minutes
#31. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
- Director: John Carpenter
- Stacker score: 89.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 89
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#30. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
- Director: Sam Peckinpah
- Stacker score: 89.9
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 112 minutes
#29. Get Carter (1971)
- Director: Mike Hodges
- Stacker score: 89.9
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 112 minutes
#28. The China Syndrome (1979)
- Director: James Bridges
- Stacker score: 90.0
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 122 minutes
#27. Watership Down (1978)
- Director: Martin Rosen
- Stacker score: 90.4
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#26. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
- Director: Joseph Sargent
- Stacker score: 90.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 104 minutes
#25. The Tenant (1976)
- Director: Roman Polanski
- Stacker score: 91.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 126 minutes
#24. Frenzy (1972)
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Stacker score: 91.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 92
- Runtime: 116 minutes
#23. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
- Director: Don Siegel
- Stacker score: 91.7
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 76
- Runtime: 112 minutes
#22. The Wicker Man (1973)
- Director: Robin Hardy
- Stacker score: 91.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 88 minutes
#21. Sorcerer (1977)
- Director: William Friedkin
- Stacker score: 91.9
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 121 minutes
#20. Deep Red (1975)
- Director: Dario Argento
- Stacker score: 92.0
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 89
- Runtime: 127 minutes
#19. Lady Snowblood (1973)
- Director: Toshiya Fujita
- Stacker score: 92.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 97 minutes
#18. The Passenger (1975)
- Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
- Stacker score: 92.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 90
- Runtime: 126 minutes
#17. Three Women (1977)
- Director: Robert Altman
- Stacker score: 92.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 124 minutes
#16. Enter the Dragon (1973)
- Director: Robert Clouse
- Stacker score: 92.4
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 83
- Runtime: 102 minutes
#15. Wake in Fright (1971)
- Director: Ted Kotcheff
- Stacker score: 92.7
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 85
- Runtime: 109 minutes
#14. The Long Goodbye (1973)
- Director: Robert Altman
- Stacker score: 92.9
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 112 minutes
#13. Deliverance (1972)
- Director: John Boorman
- Stacker score: 93.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 109 minutes
#12. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
- Director: George A. Romero
- Stacker score: 93.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 127 minutes
#11. Serpico (1973)
- Director: Sidney Lumet
- Stacker score: 93.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 130 minutes
#10. Dirty Harry (1971)
- Director: Don Siegel
- Stacker score: 94.0
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 102 minutes
#9. Halloween (1978)
- Director: John Carpenter
- Stacker score: 94.0
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 91 minutes
#8. The Day of the Jackal (1973)
- Director: Fred Zinnemann
- Stacker score: 94.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 143 minutes
#7. The French Connection (1971)
- Director: William Friedkin
- Stacker score: 94.7
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 94
- Runtime: 104 minutes
#6. The Conversation (1974)
- Director: Francis Ford Coppola
- Stacker score: 95.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 113 minutes
#5. All the President's Men (1976)
- Director: Alan J. Pakula
- Stacker score: 95.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Metascore: 84
- Runtime: 138 minutes
#4. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
- Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
- Stacker score: 96.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Metascore: 91
- Runtime: 140 minutes
#3. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
- Director: Sidney Lumet
- Stacker score: 97.1
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 86
- Runtime: 125 minutes
#2. Jaws (1975)
- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Stacker score: 98.4
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Metascore: 87
- Runtime: 124 minutes
#1. Chinatown (1974)
- Director: Roman Polanski
- Stacker score: 100.0
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Metascore: 92
- Runtime: 130 minutes
