It’s the start of a new week which means more of my Decades of Dread series! As I mentioned last week, for this series I will be sharing some of my favorite films from each decade. It’s my hope that this gives folks some ideas for their #100HorrorMoviesIn92Days Challenge! This week I’m starting with another one of my all-time favorite decades of horror, the 1960s!
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- The Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch (1968)- “Up until this point, young Sayuri Nanjo has had to live most of her life in a nun-run boarding school for orphans and away from her parents. That’s all about to change when her real father mysteriously comes to get her and finally bring her home.” This is everything I love about both mid-century horror and Japanese horror. This was a fantastic movie that feels like a cross between Hitchcock and Universal Horror with Japanese flair!
- The City of the Dead (1960)- “A young college student arrives in a sleepy Massachusetts town to research witchcraft; during her stay at an eerie inn, she discovers a startling secret about the town and its inhabitants.” This movie has a story similar to Psycho but with witches instead of Norman Bates. Overall, it’s a really excellent film and damn near perfect in terms of what I love in horror.
- Black Sunday (1960)- “A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch’s beautiful look-alike descendant. Only the girl’s brother and a handsome doctor stand in her way.” I would be amiss if I didn’t have Bava somewhere on one of these lists. Black Sunday is beautifully shot. This movie is truly a classic and should be seen by all horror fans. I would recommend a double feature with this and City of the Dead.
- Kuroneko (1968)- “In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterward, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost. He encounters the two beautiful women in an eerie, beautiful scene. After spiritual purification, he meets the demon in a thrilling fight.” Kuroneko is a haunting piece of cinema. I think it is a great entry point into Japanese cinema.
- Tales of Terror (1962)- “Three stories adapted from the work of Edgar Allen Poe: 1) A man and his daughter are reunited, but the blame for the death of his wife hangs over them, unresolved. 2) A derelict challenges the local wine-tasting champion to a competition, but finds the man’s attention to his wife worthy of more dramatic action. 3) A man dying and in great pain agrees to be hypnotized at the moment of death, with unexpected consequences.” This is a great example of the several team-ups between Vincent Price and Roger Corman. Not to mention adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe.
- The Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch (1968)- “Up until this point, young Sayuri Nanjo has had to live most of her life in a nun-run boarding school for orphans and away from her parents. That’s all about to change when her real father mysteriously comes to get her and finally bring her home.” This is everything I love about both mid-century horror and Japanese horror. This was a fantastic movie that feels like a cross between Hitchcock and Universal Horror with Japanese flair!
Hopefully, this list helps discover some of the horror films of the 1960s! Looking for other movies from this decade? You can also find more on Letterboxd! As I did with the others, I have also put together a Letterboxd List of 1960s horror that I also really enjoy. What are some of your favorites from this decade? Let me know in the comments below! Later this week I’ll be posting about my favorites from the 1970s so be sure to check back! In the meantime, feel free to check out some of my other horror movie lists or reviews!
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