For most fans, the 1960s were a transition point between the classical horror era and the more realistic modern era that began with titles like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Last House on the Left. Part of what makes the 1960s so interesting as a decade in film is that the output sees so many different genres and styles coexisting.
There are some iconic horror films from the 1960s that for varying reasons just don’t hold the attention of most viewers who would be seeing them for the first time today. With that in mind, here are some 1960s classics that, whether in terms of style or content, still hold up.
Black Sunday
One of the very best from iconic Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, Black Sunday is a gothic horror about a witch who is put to death by her brother, only to return to seek revenge on her descendants 200-years later. The stylized look of the picture is still amazing and Barbara Steele turns in a great performance.
Peeping Tom
The first film to put the audience in the killer’s perspective, Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom is the Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer of the 1960s. It is disturbing and profoundly uncomfortable but all of that is a part of the movie’s strength. This is an extremely well made, slick thriller that had an impact on so many of the projects that followed.
The Brides of Dracula
Most of the Hammer films still have a charm to them, but Brides of Dracula, in particular, has an atmosphere and plot that still work, even now. Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing is terrific.
Eyes Without a Face
This French-Italian masterpiece is about a woman who was injured in a car accident and wears a mask to cover her disfigured face. Her father, a doctor, is attempting to find a way to fix her condition. What unfolds is a mystery of mistrust and murder in classic gothic tradition as the doctor attempts to fix his daughter’s face by any means necessary.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
One of the all-time classic thrillers, Baby Jane holds up because it hinges on performances. It’s an actor’s movie. The hatred that Bette Davis and Joan Crawford held for each other can still be intently felt today. It’s burned into the film itself and that, if anything, proves that What Ever Happened to Baby Jane can be just as effective to watch now as it was fifty years ago.
Spider Baby
An all-time cult classic, Spider Baby is a masterpiece of unashamed weirdness, which is still its greatest strength. Sid Haig makes a hell of a debut in a performance the late actor considered to be one of his favorites. The influence this still holds on directors like Peter Jackson and Rob Zombie and upon the current trends of camp filmmaking in general is readily apparent.
Night of the Living Dead
It’s cheap, but so was 28 Days Later. There’s both style and substance to this film and that is why it will never be anything but a classic. It’s a story about people trapped in a house with each other, cursed by their own inability to communicate as creatures beyond their understanding close in on them. But with the allegory to racism and classism, however accidental, it’s sadly a movie that’s still as relevant now as it was when it was made.
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Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is a completely modern movie. There are so many bits of innovative cinematography. It’s got terrific, rapid-fire dialogue. It’s still so incredibly suspenseful. And the performances are astounding, particularly from Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, who gives an iconic, layered, sympathetic portrayal of someone you desperately feel for, even after the twist.
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