Hidden Gems?? 1960s
 

A little OCD project I was working on. These are films from the 1960s that I haven't seen, that didn't make the HDC lists, that have an IMDB rating of 6.5 or higher. What is the consensus on the following films? Any great classics in here?

Spirits Of The Dead (1968)
Carry On Screaming (1966)
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964)
Blood And Roses (1960)
The Joy Of Torture (1968)
Mill Of The Stone Women (1960)
The Masque Of The Red Death (1964)
The Whip And The Body (1963)
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) (#10 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
Kill Baby Kill (1966) (#11 - Roshiq's Top Giallos)
Go Go Second Time Virgin (1969)
Premature Burial (1962)
The Sorcerers (1967)
Dracula: Prince Of Darkness (1966)
Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
Panic In Year Zero (1962)
The Haunted Palace (1963)
A Study In Terror (1965)
Django Kill! (If You Live Shoot!) (1967)
Nightmare (1964)
The Plague Of The Zombies (1966)
Twice-Told Tales (1963)
Horror Hotel (1960)
Night Creatures (1962)
Paranoiac (1963)
Strait-Jacket (1964)
The Brides Of Dracula (1960)
This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967)
Burn Witch Burn! (1962)
Homicidal (1961)
Horrors Of Malformed Men (1969)
The Book Of Stone (1969)
The Sadist (1963)
House Of Usher (1960)
The Flesh And The Fiends (1960)
Twisted Nerve (1968)
Scream Of Fear (1961)
Hasta El Viento Tiene Miedo (Even The Wind Is Afraid) (1968)
The Housemaid (1960)
The Cremator (1969)

Any you're familiar with, like or hate, I'd like to hear about.

Spirits Of The Dead (1968) - Top notch anthology of twisted takes on Poe stories. Though the Felini segment is far removed from Poe, it's great.

Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964) Excellent American Gothic with Bette Davis & Joseph Cotton. How could you go wrong? Great theme song too.

Premature Burial (1962) - Anything Corman directed in the 60s is worth watching, plus this has Ray Milland and scream queen Hazel Court.

Dracula: Prince Of Darkness (1966) - Any Hammer Dracula film is worth watching. Even though Lee has no lines in this one, it's still a worthy entry in the series.

Mr. Sardonicus (1961) - One of William Castle's greatest films, with a great shock.

Panic In Year Zero (1962) - A surprisingly dour post-nuclear war survival film starring Ray Milland. There's a bit of camp value, but there's also some well done drama.

The Haunted Palace (1963) - Ostensably based on Lovecraft, there's not much of the source left there, but Price is wonderful, as always, and there's plenty of atmosphere.

Nightmare (1964) - A great Hammer psychological thriller penned by Jimmy Sangster, who wrote most of their classic horror films.

Horror Hotel (1960) - A similar story to The Wicker Man which I'm sure you will enjoy! Christopher Lee!

Strait-Jacket (1964) - Watch Joan Crawford chew the scenery in this great William Castle thriller.

The Brides Of Dracula (1960) - Though there's no Christopher Lee, this is still a worthy Hammer classic.

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967) - Jose Mojica Marins is a real insane genius, and any film by him is a must see.

The Sadist (1963) - A savage little indie film, quite surprising for the violence, given the time.

House Of Usher (1960) - It's Corman, Matheson & Price, in one of their Poe adaptations. That's all that really needs to be said.

The Flesh And The Fiends (1960) - Based on the Burke & Hare case of body snatchers in England. Stars Peter Cushing & Donald Pleasance and features one of the greatest under-rated actresses of all time, Billie Whitelaw (you'll remember her late in her career as the nanny in The Omen).

All of the films on your list are worth a look. I've just listed my favorites. I'm sure Roshiq will post about some of the early gaillo entries.

Wow, that was a lot more work than I expected anyone to put in. Thank you kindly.:)

Well, I grew up watching these films, and I love talking about them.

Something that has been sadly lacking for a long time are really strong, charismatic horror icons. There are a few around, but it's not like it was during the sixties, when people would hear the name Vincent Price or Christopher Lee, and start forming a line for their next film.

I'd also love to see the William Castle gimmicks make a comeback. Unlike 3-D, I would gladly pay extra for something like Percepto.

Good list. You've highlighted quite a few movies a really need to watch, so thanks. I'll recommend the ones I've seen that I'd watch again...

The Masque of the Red Death & House of Usher - Excellent and typical Price performances. I love the grim reaper in red rather than black in Masque... Director probably taking advantage of the relatively new availability of colour t.v. Usher is not quite as OTT, is that a good or a bad thing? hmmm

Dracula: Prince Of Darkness - Again, a must see if for no other reason than that great icon, of not just horror cinema, Christopher Lee, is wonderful in it.

The Brides Of Dracula - A Hammer, I think, and having contemplated this movie and the others above, I'm desperate to rewatch them.

You're in for a treat with these four alone.

Thank you for the recommendations. Anything with Vincent Price or Christopher Lee has got to be worth watching.

The grim reaper in Masque of the RED Death is red because it's based on an Edgar A. Poe story called The Masque of the RED Death, not Masque of the Black Death. All of the Corman Poe adaptations are drenchedin rich color. It's one of their hallmarks. They were made to look like more expensive films than they really were by redressing and reusing a few large sets.

Yeah, that makes sense. Does the film establish that the red figure is the grim reaper? I seem to remember being unsure if it was the reaper or Satan.

I had heard that a lot of the, lets say flambouyant, sets and wardrobe were to 'masque':) a low budget. Either way, it's a great movie and if you havent seen the Phibes series of movies I'd highly recommend them. Also, the Last Man on Earth is good.

I've seen the Phibes films and Last Man On Earth. I really enjoyed them. I preferred Last Man On Earth to I Am Legend and Omega Man.

A few of the others sound familiar, but I would need to remind myself of them or more likley rewatch to give an opinion.

Looks good. I've never heard of Horror Hotel, but with two strong recommendations, I'll have to check it out.:)

Two of my favorite Corman classics are The Terror(1963) w/ Boris Karloff and Jack Nicolson, and Little Shop of Horrors(1960). Those and Carnival of Souls(1962) are some of my favorites that Id recommened.

I've seen all those; great stuff. Carnival Of Souls in particular is a must-see.

Because Roshiq knows his Giallos, I looked up his Top 25 Giallos list and found The Girl Who Knew Too Much at #10 and Kill Baby Kill at #11. I'll make note of that on the first post and write down any future Top Giallos when I do my 70s and 80s lists.

In terms of your so distinct knowledge about films (as far your top 10 lists goes), I'm really surprised to know that You still haven't seen these awesome gems of Horror yet!
I only like to say that there's great treasure of movies is waiting for you to discover & I'm sure when you're going to start watching them one by one as for the very first time it'll be an amazing journey for you as it has been for me for last couple of years. I'll be always grateful to those HDCians who time to time recommended & introduced these classic films to me here.

Anyway, from your list I've only seen the following films so far:

Now...though NE already briefly & very nicely said them about but again I like to repeat & take this as a high recommendation/suggestion:

ANY Corman-Price-Poe FILMS SHOULD BE IN YOUR MUST SEE LIST.
SAME GOES FOR ANY William Castle, Mario Bava & Hammer Horror Films. They defined the genre for me and gave the idea about how much beautiful & entertainment a horror movie can be for any audience in the world.

The Whip And The Body (1963) is one of my very favorites. Besides Bava's usual & brilliant atmospheric, Gothic & colorful touch there's a young Christopher Lee and stunning Daliah Lavi in this unsettling, eerie masterpiece. The Girl Who Knew Too Much is a black & white, unforgettable Giallo experience with having the young & dashing John Saxon in it. If I'm not wrong I think it was Bava's 1st Giallo with a very simple but exciting story. Kill Baby Kill (1966) was one of my very earliest Bava films & reason to become a fan of Giallo movies.

Other than that and those of NE recommended I like to add & highly recommend Burn Witch Burn! aka Night of the Eagle (1962). I love this British gem like any of my all time favorites. A very interesting & creepy story with marvelous camera works.


Thanks for pointing out as I haven't also seen the following films yet..

Though most of all says it about 70s but to me 60s was the best decade for the genre.

Thank you Roshiq. I feel deep shame for not having seen some of these films yet.:(

The Whip And The Body looks like a must-see. Christopher Lee as a sadist with a whip; whew!!:D

I just watched Horror Hotel. Fantastic. Thank you Neverending and Straker. I guess Rob Zombie must be a fan of that film; I recognized several soundbytes from his songs.

It's okay and You shouldn't be ashamed rather than excited to see them anytime soon.

Sounds awesome! Just after watching some recently downloaded new horror films I'll surely going to download & give it a watch.:)

Carry On Screaming - not a horror movie. A Carry On movie.

For those that don't know what a Carry On movie is, you're in for a treat: it is a farce filled with the most ridiculous double entendres you're ever likely to hear. I love to hear that lecherous Sid James laugh:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onap0Wou5Lg

I have 'I Am Omega' recorded on Sky + but I haven't watched it yet. Is it a good adaptation?

Sounds like one of those cheesy SyFy Channel rip-offs, but I haven't seen it.

Well Horror Hotel is a nice one. It's Christopher Lee and it's about witches and stuff if I remember right. Well if I think about the right movie, it's good :D

Horror Hotel was very good. A perfect companion film to The Wicker Man or The Dark Secret Of Harvest Home with their common themes of ritual sacrifice on the eve of a Pagan holiday.

Glad you liked it, as I said it was a long time ago I watched it.
Maybe it's going off the shelf today then :)

I pretty much agree with NE on every thing hes said except I've not yet seen Spirts of the Dead..I'd prolly rant a bit more about the Flesh and the Fiends as I love that film. Donald Pleasence is great in it..

The Sorcerers (1967) is a great film and nice to see an old Karloff in a non-villian role.

Twisted Nerve - I love this. Its pretty sick too..You''ll recognise the creepy whistling that the killer does (Tarintino stole it for Kill Bill) - Billie Whitelaw is also in this..

A Study In Terror (1965) - I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and though this isn't based on the canon (its a Jack the Ripper story) I still really enjoyed it..

Night Creatures (1962) - not really a horror film but it is part of the Hammer Pirate series. Like this a lot too - it's based on the Doctor Syn story.

Burn Witch Burn! (1962) - this reminded be a bit of Night of the Demon. Worth checking out.

Thank you Ferox. I wondered if Twisted Nerve was the film that song originally came from. Bernard Herrmann sure wrote some great stuff:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JsaNjEMdA4

No idea - theres a really funny disclaimer at the beginning of the film too.

Hideen Gems - 1960's
 

Nice list Wicker fan

Masque Of The Red Death (1964) Roger Corman films in the 1960's were so much better than his earlier ones. This one a Roger Corman-Vincent Price based on Poe's story is very good. It is very stylish and is almost Bergman like. Hazel Court , the British horror star is in it as well.

Premature Burial(1962) Another fine Corman film based on Poe and starring one of my favorites Ray Milland. British actress Hazel Court is also in this one.

The Haunted Palace (1963) based on a H P Lovecraft story again combines Corman and Price in another worthwhile film.

Twice Told Tales (1963) also has Vincent Price and is based on some stories of Nathanael Hawthorne. Worth viewing

Brides Of Dracula (1960) Any Hammer Studio film is worth watching. Has the great Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.

House Of Usher (1960) Another Poe-Corman-Price combo. A first rate horror film.

Night Creatures (1962) starring Peter Cushing & Oliver Reed. This is more of a mystery thriller than a horror film but with Cushing & Reed you won't go wrong watching it.

Paranoiac (1963) Stars Oliver Reed. Murder, impersonation and insanity all rolled up into one thriller. This was included in a Hammer Horrors collection. Not Bad.

The Plague Of The Zombies (1966). I just become acquainted with this film on TCM's Hammer Horrors run recently. Young workers are dying because of an unknown illness. Town doctor calls on his professor friend and his daughter to help. They wind up fighting black magic and zombies. Film can be tense at times. Very good horror film.

Strait Jacket (1964) Woman comes out of sanitarium after 20 years. Murders start happening again and she is suspected. Great performance by Joan Crawford. Gimmicky William Castle directs. Very good film.

Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964) - Great thriller with tops stars: Bette Davis, Joseph Cotten & Olivia de Havilland. Massive Victor Buono is in the beginning of the film as Big Sam. Not a horror film per se but definitely worth a watch.

Homicidal (1961) - Directed by gimmicky William Castle. Less gimmicky shocker of his. Centers around a murderous scheme to collect a rich inheritance. Worthwhile watching with twists in the plot .

Burn Witch Burn (1962) One of my favorite films dealing with the occult and witchcraft. A must see.

Thank you Duchess. I've got a thing for Oliver Reed.:)

So I see this film has been remade:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvZowWUNRh4

Here are some greats from the '60s that need to be watched- Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, Peeping Tom, The Innocents, Repulsion

I've seen them all. The only one I didn't care for was Peeping Tom.

Is there any point in suggesting Psycho or The Birds?

Nope, but thank you anyway. They're both wonderful films.:)

Other great films from the 60s:

Village Of The Damned
Carnival Of Souls
Rosemary's Baby
Night Of The Living Dead
The Haunting
Two Thousand Maniacs
Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors
The House That Screamed
The Bird With The Crystal Plumage

I'm a little embarrassed to say I've never seen Carnival of Souls. I've gotta order it tonight.

Also, is it just me, or does Bird with the Crystal Plummage seem like a much more recent movie than the rest? I think it was way ahead of it's time. Having said that, the recent Mother of Tears was poor. I haven't seen Giallo but I'm hoping it's a return to form.

I'm a huge Dario Argento fan, but I didn't like Mother Of Tears either. One of Giallo's writers is a member of this forum.

I too go with the Hammer movies Brides of Dracula and The Plague of the zombies. IMO, any Hammer movie is worth watching. Even if the story sucks you can be sure you'll get a nice set and costumes. As for those two movies, I really like both of them.

The plague is a nice change from all the Hammer vampire movies, yet it still has all the elements. The scenes around the cemetery are especially worth it. The acting is distinguished and up to par - just like you would expect from a good Hammer movie.

As for Brides, its definitely not the best among the hammer vampire stuff. I also dont like the leading actress too much (russian?). But it still has some interesting elements in there, like the bizarre mother and the chained son. Yep, by all means, check em out. :)

The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) was a good Hammer vampire movie, but less well known than the Dracula series.

Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) was another good vampire movie of the 60's.

I only ones here I haven't seen were Two Thousand Maniacs ,The Bird With The Crystal Plumage and The House That Screamed.

Since your avatar character is from The House That Screamed, I think I will look into that today at amazon.com to see if it's available and the price.

Watched Village of the Damned and Rosemary's Baby recently. Also watched the more recent Village Of The Damned with Kirstie Alley too.

Been awhile since I have watched my Carnival Of Souls. Sounds like a good one for tonight.

These are both good vampire films.

I got The Kiss Of The Vampire in the Hammer Horrors collection that's available on DVD.

I enjoyed The Fearless Vampire Killers as well though I have that on an individual DVD.

Not as well known as Lugosi's Dracula but still very good films.