If the 1970s generally tend to be viewed as the decade that quality forgot when it comes to British cinema, then 1976 might seem like the year that confirms the case. The very titles of much of the year’s cinematic output – Keep it Up Downstairs, Under the Doctor, Queen Kong – make it clear that critical prestige really wasn’t uppermost in the minds of many of the nation’s filmmakers, as cheapo sex comedies and slashers dominated domestic production.
Between the defection of audiences to TV, the tax burden of the 1974 Finance Act being felt, and a summer heatwave taking temperatures to highs of 36°C and keeping people out of the picture palaces, the conditions simply weren’t there for a shiningly successful year of British cinema.
Nonetheless, in a cultural climate that encompassed a British Eurovision win and the emergence of punk, the belated opening of the National Theatre at its South Bank home and the publication of Jeffrey Archer’s debut novel, and the deaths of Sid James and Benjamin Britten, certain worthwhile films still appeared. While only occasionally reflecting the zeitgeist, these included historical dramas with a revisionist streak, deluxe takes on popular fairytales, avant-garde experiments, and some innovative engagements with genre, from horror to the war film…