Plot: Candy and Ellie Jo are a pair of sexy bank robbers who blast their way into small-town banks with a carload of dynamite! When they take Slim hostage, it begins a thrill-packed crime spree across the state of Texas.

KBZ’s Take: This is a 70’s exploitation flick which doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s the two beautiful women on the run robbing banks with dynamite and evading the police through numerous car chases. This film was a precursor to Thelma & Louise (1991) so if you enjoyed that film, you’ll likely also enjoy this film.

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Plot: A fugitive kidnaps a politician’s daughter and they fall in love.

KBZ’s Take: This French film (also known as L’Albatros) is one of the better fugitive films of the early 70’s. Though the film can get a bit confusing with the entire political subplot, the film has some great scenes involving close encounters with the police, the fugitive/kidnapper saving his hostage, and a surreal ending. All we can say about the ending is that it’s a typical French ending you’re not going to see in many Hollywood films.

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Plot: Sir Robert Thorndyke (Peter O’Toole) is an aristocrat and hunter who, just for the sport of it, tracks Adolph Hitler to his mountain retreat. With the Fuhrer in his crosshairs, Thorndyke is caught and subsequently tortured by the SS. They attempt to kill him and make his death seem like a hunting accident, but Thorndyke escapes back to England – only to find that German agents have followed him there. The hunter soon finds himself the hunted in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

KBZ’s Take: Rogue Male comes off much like a Spy & Espionage Thriller though the essence of the film is a man being pursued by Nazis. There are a few incredible scenes in this film including the opening sequence when Thorndyke has a chance to kill Hitler and a chase scene involving a subway. Peter O’Toole gives his usual excellent performance as does Michael Byrne (who you might recognize from a few films including Braveheart (1995) and The Sum of All Fears (2002)).

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Plot: A tough prosecutor is falsely accused of theft and goes on the run to clear his name. He is assisted by the beautiful daughter of a rich man.

KBZ’s Take: When we started this list, we thought we had settled on all Top 10 films. Manhunt was a film we still had to watch before finalizing the list and figured it wouldn’t make the Top 10. We were wrong.

This is a great film that has some exciting (though dated) action sequences in it. It’s a film that’s also been remade by John Woo with Manhunt (2017). If you’ve already seen the recent remake of Manhunt, we suggest checking out the original as it’s one of the better Fugitive films from the 1970’s.

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Plot: Two rural West Virginia brothers leave home, rob an armored car and become fugitives.

KBZ’s Take: Aka The Gravy Train, The Dion Brothers is one of the more unique films of the 1970’s. It’s almost Tarantino-esque with its blend of action, violence and comedy. The brothers start their robbery spree to open a seafood restaurant and from there the film continues down a violent, though often hilarious, path. The heart of the film are the brothers – Calvin (Stacy Keach) and Rut (Frederic Forrest) – and the performances by Keach and Forrest make this film almost a near-classic of the subgenre. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to find and doesn’t seem to have a proper Blu-Ray transfer yet.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://youtu.be/FAc9b-URAbY

Plot Married small-time crooks Lou-Jean and Clovis Poplin lose their baby to the state of Texas and resolve to do whatever it takes to get him back. Lou-Jean gets Clovis out of jail, and the two steal their son from his foster home, in addition to taking a highway patrolman hostage. As a massive dragnet starts to pursue them across Texas, the couple become unlikely folk heroes and even start to bond with the captive policeman.

KBZ’s Take: The Sugarland Express is one of Steven Spielberg’s earlier directorial efforts before he hit it big with Jaws (1975). Though it’s not one of Spielberg’s best films, its still a family friendly film with the bickering fugitives (Goldie Hawn & William Atherton), the naïve police officer taken hostage (Michael Sacks) and a never ending armada of police vehicles following their every move.

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Plot: An aspiring musician is released from prison to find that a song he had written while locked up has been stolen and made into a hit record by a country music superstar. When his confrontation with the star takes a violent turn the ex-con has to go back on the run, but he finds an unexpected ally in a shrewd background singer with a plan to turn the tables in his favor.

KBZ’s Take: One of the precursor fugitive films to a slew of films in the 80’s where fugitives became folk heroes and media stars (and we’ll go over the trend in our 80’s fugitive films article). Where Outlaw Blues excels is in the simple story of a man who wants his song back and becomes an ex-con on the run, a media darling and eventual country music star. Peter Fonda stars as the ex-convict and singer (while giving his usual 70’s counterculture performance) but the star of the film is Susan Saint James as the music producer turned love interest and outlaw herself.

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Plot: After seeking refuge at his homestead, a farmer turns the tables on three vicious thugs who are on the run in rural America after robbing a bank. Unable to wait for the law, he forces them into his cellar until they arrive.

KBZ’s Take: Aka Blood for Blood, Sunday in the Country is a film that defies usual subgenre tropes – both in Films About Fugitives and Home Invasion Films subgenres. There were many moments we thought the film was going one way but then took a complete turn.

At its core, the film is about a religious man who believes he is in the right throughout every action he takes – at the expense of everyone else close to him. It’s actually one of the better performances by Ernest Borgnine and is a film that shouldn’t be missed by fans of the subgenre.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3krN4WW

Plot: A dramatization of the Starkweather-Fugate killing spree of the 1950s, in which a teenage girl and her twenty-something boyfriend slaughtered her entire family and several others in the Dakota badlands.

KBZ’s Take: Badlands is the most popular Fugitive Film from the 1970’s and for a good reason – it was Terence Malick’s first major film and still one of his best.

While Badlands is ultimately about fugitive lovers on the run, the heart of the film lies in the coming-of-age story of Holly (Sissy Spacek) and her relationship with Kit (Martin Sheen). It makes the film that much more impactful as Kit gets more violent and self-destructive during their murderous spree. If you haven’t seen this film yet, it’s highly recommended and one of the best of the entire subgenre.

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Plot: A young woman stumbles into a nightmare land of hijacking and humiliation while driving cross-country from California to New York.

KBZ’s Take: This is a B-movie film that’s developed a cult following and its easy to see why after watching. Produced by Roger Corman, you might expect this to be similar to the many other exploitation flicks from the 70’s. However, Jackson County Jail rises above typical exploitation fare for a great fugitives on the run film.

The film can essentially be broken into two parts. The first focuses on Dinah (Yvette Mimieux) and her eventual descent into rural country hell and jail. This is the portion of the film that is hard to watch as she struggles within the environment she is now a part of.

The second portion of the film is more “on the run” based as she meets Coley (Tommy Lee Jones) and they quickly become fugitives. It’s their dynamic together and the constant pursuit by police that make this the best Film About Fugitives from the 1970’s You Haven’t Seen.

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