Hitting the Rewind button: Volume 1 - The Swinging 60s

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I read a similar article at another website and thought, it would be a swell idea to get nostalgic and relive the moments of our past which shaped the world, and our favorite genre, into what it is today.

Over the next few weeks, similar journeys to the past will bring back vivid visuals and sights from our memories which we remember very fondly. But now, let's hit the golden "Rewind" button and pass through a revolutionary decade - the 60s.

(All credit goes to the original author who wrote the initial descriptions. I put forth my choice of movies only. The Blurbs have been taken from the Stickied Top 100s and related threads.)


The Swingin' Sixties.

Free love. Psychedelia. Civil rights. Flower Power. Counterculture. Hunter S Thompson. The Beatles and the British Invasion. The Martin Luther King assassination. The sexual revolution. Woodstock. Vietnam and the Anti-War movement. The Doors. The JFK assassination. Muhammad Ali. Walking on the moon. The Ford Mustang. The BASIC programming language. The Malcolm X assassination. Andy Warhol's cans of soup. Jimi Hendrix. Motown Records. Richard Nixon, President. Spider-Man. Marshall McLuhan. Jacques Derrida. Charles Manson. Che Guevara rocks the revolution. LSD. Frank Zappa.

What. A. Decade.

'If you remember anything about the sixties, you weren't really there,' memorably said Jefferson Airplane guitarman Paul Kantner -- and while most of us might not have been there, we're still reeling from the impact. The cultural significance of the 1960s beats any other twentieth century decade hollow.

Film was massively impacted by counterculture. Sex, violence and anarchy took over cinema, breaking boundaries with every step. Europe saw La Nouvelle Vague, the French New Wave movement -- and the Italian filmmakers hit absolute peak.

The new cameras were cheaper, lighter, and just crying out for experimentation -- thus kicked off the avant-garde movement. There was a movement every which way you looked, and as Hollywood's 'studio system' ripped apart at the seams, we saw the birth of younger, fierier 'New Hollywood.'

It's a really tough decade to boil down into a ten-movie list, but here, strictly in chronological order, are 10 Horror films of my choice that literally rocked the world.


1 - Eyes Without A Face aka Les Yeux Sans Visage (1960)



Released in 1960 to harsh critical review, Les Yeux sans Visage in time would raise the bar for horror to come. Hauntingly lyrical and atmospheric, this film tells the tale of a brilliant surgeon gone mad with grief over the disfigurement/destruction of his daughter's face, resorting to horrifying extremes to make her pretty again. It's a film that is beautiful and serene throughout, punctuated with harsh violence and dazzling imagery.

After bouncing perfectly between these two extremes for 80+ minutes, it finishes with a poetically powerful climax, securing its spot among the most original, aesthetic, and shocking horror films of all time.


2 - Peeping Tom (1960)



Voyeurism. We all do it. Movies in general are nothing if not voyeuristic. We are allowed to sit back anonymously and watch all manner of spectacle that we might otherwise never see. But in 1959, Michael Beohm’s portrayal of painfully shy newspaper photographer, Mark Lewis, took the concept a step further…and a step too far according to the critics and censors of the day. Lewis likes pornography… and he likes to kill beautiful women. Okay, we’ve seen that before. And he likes to film them as he kills them. Now’s it’s getting a little kinky. What’s more, he likes his victims to see themselves being killed – thanks to a mirror attached to the front of his movie camera. Forcing a victim to be a voyeur to her own death was a concept too deviant, too depraved for the audiences of the day. The film was savaged by the critics. Director Michael Powell’s career was ruined. Actor Carl Boehm’s career suffered similarly.

Twenty years after its release, Martin Scorsese hailed the film as a lost masterpiece after his editor (and Powell’s widow) Thelma Schoonmacher screened a print of the film for him. Bathed in the sleezy, lurid glow of primary colors and populated by prostitutes, smut peddlers and an angel-faced murderer; Peeping Tom is still a pretty powerful and provocative film.


3 - Psycho (1960)



Alfred Hitchcock's darkest and scariest movie works on so many levels because it so sucessfully blends so many genres so intricately. In fact, the film could technically be uniquely categorized as a romantic-noir-slasher-con-drama-twist-detective flick. Mostly, though, what makes it so damn effective is its characters; after all, in order for a horror film to work, it needs believable characters. Hitchcock lets us get to know his beings so well that by the end of the film it feels like we've been through a hurricane.

Psycho was the birth of the slasher film, and is certainly one of the most shocking, but it is something much finer than that. It is what links the horror genre to class, and what stepped the industry's bar up so high. It is truly a legend and a revolution in film-making.


4 - Black Sunday aka La Maschera Del Demonio (1960)



Black Sunday is a masterpiece amongst masterpieces from one of the greatest directors of all time: Mario Bava. I really don't know what it is about Bava that I love so much. Is it his use of color? Is it his willingness to push the boundaries of all sorts of taboos? Is it his imaginative set designs, or his use of atmosphere in general? It's all these things... and so much more. There is no better example of all the subtle brilliance that made Bava a legend in Black Sunday, supposedly Tim Burton's favorite horror film of all time. and I whole-heartedly agree with Burton.

The movie starts out with a good, old fashioned, witch burning. But this is no ordinary, every day, witch burning! They put the Mask of Satan on this particular witch (played by the gorgeous scream queen, Barbara Steele, in a dual role no less!), who seems to be part vampire-part witch, to hold all of her powers in. And if the Mask should come off? Look out, good guys!!
In Steele's other role, she plays a girl who is, naturally, a descendant of the witch, who wishes to possess her body with the help of her sidekick after being brought back to life.

The plot is great, but the film is more than just the plot. It's been rated in many lists as one of the top 5 horror films ever made and it's due almost solely to the haunting atmosphere and amazingly rich set design. Why do we watch foreign movies, and foreign horror in particular? Because directors like Bava have no interest in pandering to Hollywood spoon-fed audiences, and this results in some of the most adventurous and creative film-making in cinema history.


5 - Carnival of Souls (1962)



A young woman, Mary, is in a car crash at the beginning of this film. She appears to be the only survivor, and she is now haunted by an apparition of a mysterious evil looking man. After the crash she tries to go on with her life, but she has trouble relating to people. She lands a job as a church organist but loses the job after the minister witnesses her orgiastic bout of almost demonic music. Throughout the film she's drawn to a deserted amusement park where she sees ghoulish figures. She loses her grip on reality more and more, as she sees these figures with increasing regularity. Finally, visiting the deserted pavilion once more, she joins the world of the apparitions and we learn an astonishing secret...which is one of the biggest twists in this cult classic.


(Contd.)

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6 - The Haunting (1963)



The pioneer of movies based on the haunted house premise, The Haunting is regarded as a classic in the genre today. Dishing out genuinely creepy thrills and chills, with plenty of scares and suspense-charged sequences, this movie broke new grounds in the 60s with its strong script and brilliant presentation of it. The buildup of the atmosphere of the movie is excellent. The house itself is presented with a chilling emptiness, with its closed doors and deep, dark, unknown passageways. The viewers will feel fidgety and unnerved as the characters themselves are driven towards uneasiness, gripping all of them with a tense foreboding of evil.

The plotline is simple - a scientist comes across a house named Hill House, which is said to have been unlucky and haunted ever since it was built. He is determined to spend some time in the house, so that he could prove his theory about a house being really haunted. For his adventure, he invites a group of people who have had some experience with the unknown before, but only a handful of those decide to accompany him. And once night falls, the scares start, and its a long way till morning comes...

The characters are introduced with unique personalities each, which adds further to the tense atmosphere of the movie. The strong point of the movie is the apparent lack of any real visual scares, yet it excels in inspiring sheer horror in the audiences. The script is driven by the solid premise of the fear of the unknown, which is maintained from the beginning of the movie till the end. Its darn near impossible to sit through this movie and not feel even one moment of genuine fear, but the constant suspense of the eventual solution or a possible explanation makes this an edge-of-the-seat ride. Also there are twists in the plot which add subplots to the pace of the flick and make it more unpredictable, yet they add to the psyche of the movie, and fill it with total surrealness and gripping tension.

Excellent direction, a very strong script, and great performances create a masterful horror-filled atmosphere throughout this classic. The editing, soundtrack and cinematography are awesome, and make The Haunting a milestone in the horror genre...often repeated, but never bettered.


7 - Repulsion (1965)



Few films can capture the circumstances under which existence itself becomes terrifying. In the paranoid, silent realm of our nightmares, the last spoon in a drawer or a can of soup on an empty counter can become terrifying, sad or awe inspiring. Repulsion is like Evil Dead without the demon-zombies; trial after trial, act of violence after act of violence as life becomes a source of sheer horror.

Being a Holocaust survivor, Polanski knows that life, limb and sanity are harder to retain than people think they are, and that in many cases they are prizes to be earned and not things to be taken for granted. Repulsion does not just show things that are frightening, it shows what it means to be frightened. Catherine Deneuve gives a transcendent performance in what I believe to be Roman Polanski' s best film. A must for students of atmospheric and psychological horror.


8 - The Fearless Vampire Killers aka Dance of the Vampires (1967)



A surreal, satirical classic. It's weird but I thought this actually delivered better and creepier vampires than a lot of the Hammer films that it spoofed! One of my favorites and a very glossy, expensive production. Great movie - odd ball characters ... terrific atmosphere ...

Not everyone is "tuned in" to this kind of humor. The extended no-punchline joke. It's also a very languid film...not a lot of action scenes. Like that whole thing at the inn at the start of the film--that's a very long section. But yes, it's a thing of atmosphere.

It's one of those great "WTF!??!" movies. Nothing set up at the beginning of a scene plays out the way you think it's going to. Movie constantly messes with the viewer's head. A comedy with a basically tragic ending. Pretty much about as clever and bizarre as you can get. And in the midst of all this supposed comedy, it actually DOES have a very creepy and disturbing quality.


9 - Rosemary's Baby (1968)



Rosemary's Baby came out right at the height of the counterculture revolution of the 60's, when change was viewed by many as not necessarily a good thing. The story deals with the idea that nobody is safe, no matter where you are. It brought evil into the mundane world of a New York apartment, and was portrayed as so subtle and isidious that it could invade not only your home, but your children. To many, Rosemary's Baby actually inspired one of the greatest horror films of all time: The Exorcist.

What makes the film even more creepy is that we never really know if the baby is the spawn of Satan, or if the mother was simply under hallucinatory delusions the entire time. A deep and insightful study of psychological and paranormal horror at it's heightened best.


10 - Night of the Living Dead (1968)



Night of the Living Dead is considered by some to be the ultimate in terror. And for good reason. It was new, refreshing, and shocking. It practically busted the doors to modern horror straight off of their hinges. Sure, American film seekers had seen zombies before, but never like this. Never had such an apocalyptic and horrifying race of creatures scared us so badly. There have, and will be, many great zombie movies since. But this will always remain the granddaddy of them all.

The Sultan of Shock. The Master of Macabre. The King of Carnage. Night of the Living Dead.



Honorable Mentions:

The Innocents (1961)
Onibaba (1964)
Hour of the Wolf aka Vargtimmen (1968)



Another week. Another decade. Till then...happy nostalgic memories!

[Bub the Zombie]

Great thread, and a pretty awesome selection to represent the 60s. I would toss in Kwaidan somewhere in there, but regardless, that is a pretty solid and flawless 10.

It was a truly memorable decade which had a lot of modern-day shifts of opinions, trends and some big trendsetters. Horror movies were never more memorable and hard-hitting till then.

[monalisa]

Wow, great thread V! I'm old, I grew up in the 60's (born in '62). And although I wasn't "there" as Paul Kantner put it (I was a little too young at the time to be into all "that"), I was definately there. I remember growing up watching the old black and white horror flicks on Saturday afternoons. Then they'd play the scarier ones later at night.

One of my all time favorites that I recently got a DVD copy of is The Shuttered Room (1967).

I love movies with Vincent Price in them. Some I saw in the 60's were made in the 50's but they'd replay them.

Alfred Hitchcock's TV shows and movies were fun to watch too!

My music choices are still influenced by the 60's and 70's (I know, the 70's are another week). I think it was a great time to grow up in.

[ferretchucker]

Ah, the 60's! What a great time. I loved it! Oh wait...that was the 90's. Oh well!

:p

Good choices of films though. I would have suggested the Birds as well.

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by ferretchucker

Ah, the 60's! What a great time. I loved it! Oh wait...that was the 90's. Oh well!

:p

Good choices of films though. I would have suggested the Birds as well.

Yep you're right, The Birds is listed in my favorite movies in my profile, but we failed to mention it here before you. :D

[ferretchucker]

I watched it last night so it got it stuck in my mind.

[newb]

ahhh.....the 60s....free love.....lots of drugs...assassinations...race riots.


good times


and a nice selection of movies you picked there V

[neverending]

Great selection.My top 10 would have included something from Corman & Hammer.

[roshiq]

I have only seen half of the list:o. But I like to give thank for that to HDC, cause before coming here the only single idea I had about this legendary decade of cinema was Sir Alfred Hitchcock and his two masterpieces... PSYCHO & THE BIRDS.