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Great list! There's so much good stuff to choose from the 70s.
I'll second the backing of The Hills Have Eyes as an essential entry in the redneck/cannibal subgenre. Teetering on the cut line with 5 votes, I suspect it only needs a nudge.
The film from the Minority list I'd like to back is Straw Dogs. Understanding that it's a difficult film to categorize, and I've already made my case for why it should be considered, I want to thank V for including it on the list of candidates. I believe it's not only an important influence in the history of horror, but also a damn good horror movie.
For those that are still not convinced it should be a candidate, do a Google search for "straw dogs 1971 horror." The slew of horror web sites that have reviewed it is neverending, and it's almost universally praised by those reviewers.
As for its importance in the history of horror film, two words: home invasion. You can't review movies like The Strangers or Ils without consciously or subconsciously comparing it to Straw Dogs. And most likely, Straw Dogs will still win. Besides claiming the fame of launching a horror subgenre, it also played a large part in upping the level of acceptable violence in film, especially horror films. Of course, it was not acceptable at the time, as it received an X rating and was later subject to a video release ban.
Judging the movie purely on its horror elements -- not just its influence on the genre -- there's plenty to draw from. ***SPOILERS*** The town simpleton accidentally killing a local girl is a chapter straight from Mary Shelly. The scene where the giant bear trap is painstakingly set, then hoisted as a centerpiece in the living room is a foreshadowing of the unthinkable release of the trap, which of course does occur in the final scene. I actually recoiled when the wife found the family cat hanging dead in the bedroom closet. When an intruder's hands were nailed to a window sill, leaving his throat inches away from being slit with the broken glass, I was reminded of a trap in a Saw movie. And more than anything else, the idea that regular, good ole' kids from town, working on your roof, drinking milk from your kitchen, and socializing with your wife, could at some point become your very worst nightmare -- this is the reason I lock my door at night. To disqualify this film as just a "thriller" would be a cop out. There's nothing thrilling about your wife being raped in your own living room. And then again by the next guy.
I suspect this film might have garnered an extra couple votes had it been on the original Master List. With great acting and character development, a constant state of tension, and two of the most memorably horrific scenes in history, Straw Dogs deserves a spot in HDC's 100 Years of Horror.
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