Picks of 1974

Pick of the best films released in the year The Wombles should have been number one; the classic British sitcom Porridge debuted on our screens; and Col. Steve Austin became better, stronger, faster:

Almost Human AKA The Death Dealer (Umberto Lenzi)

Black Christmas (Bob Clark)

Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks)

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (Brian Clemens)

Carry On Dick (Gerald Thomas)

Chinatown (Roman Polanski) 

The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola)

Dark Star (John Carpenter)

Death Wish (Michael Winner)

Foxy Brown (Jack Hill)

Frightmare (Pete Walker)

From Beyond the Grave (Kevin Connor)

The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola)

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (Gordon Hessler)

House of Whipcord (Pete Walker)

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (Roy Ward Baker)

Let Sleeping Corpse Lie AKA The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (Jorge Grau)

The Man with the Golden Gun (Guy Hamilton)

The Mean Machine AKA The Longest Yard (Robert Aldrich)

The Night Porter (Liliana Cavani)

The Parallax View (Alan J. Pakula)

Spasmo (Umberto Lenzi)

The Street Fighter (Shigehiro Ozawa) 

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (Joseph Sargent)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper)

Vampyres (José Ramón Larraz)

Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks)

Not only was 1974 an impressive year for film, but some soundtracks were particularly just as on par with their respective films, in some cases being better. These were the crème de la crème:

David Shire - Main Theme (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three)

Willie Hutch - Give Me Some Of That Good Old Love

Roy Budd - Jazz It Up (MC/M4)

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson - Flashbulbs

Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - Lialeh

The Impressions - Mister Keyes

Terrible Tom - Boss Ni**er

Isaac Hayes - Hung Up On My Baby

The Love Unlimited Orchestra - Theme From Together Brothers

Martha Reeves - Keep On Movin' On

Dennis Coffey And Luchi De Jesus ‎- Main Theme (Black Belt Jones)

Ennio Morricone - Bambole

Franco Micalizzi - Bargain With the Devil

Douglas Gamley - The Beast Must Die 

Toshiaki Tsushima - The Street Fighter

Lalo Schifrin - Ape Shuffle (Theme from Planet of the Apes)* 

* technically not from a specific 1974 film, but from a single which was released at the time. Sounds nothing like Jerry Goldsmith's original theme, but a great tune, regardless.