Nowadays, relatively few horror movies are made available in wide release theatrically. It's far more often the case that new titles fight for attention via Video On Demand platforms or various streaming services. And we're happy to focus on fresh fright flicks, in search of new talent and new thrills.
Still, it's good to be reminded that the best horror movies are timeless, whether digging into common, everyday fears or exploring nightmares that just won't quit. Take, for example, the handful of classics we've gathered from the 1960s. Sure, the hairstyles and clothing may have changed, but within each movie beats a heart of horror that is still pumping strong, featuring characters who have taken up residence in the popular culture and are not going anywhere.
Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock's classic horror movie is justifiably remembered for its very shocking "shower scene," but the suspense starts much sooner. In this extended clip, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) has already stolen a large sum of money from her employer and skipped town. As she drives, though, she imagines what might have happened in the office when her theft was discovered, and her expression changes, from fear to steely determination to a twisted sort of pride. Hitchcock keeps the shots very simple and intimate, and Leigh delivers a great performance without saying a word, accompanied by Bernard Herrmann's gut-twisting music. It's just as chilling today as it must have been more than 50 years ago.
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Richard Matheson adapted Edgar Allan Poe's story into a gothic masterpiece. Director Roger Corman made the film as a followup to his very successful Poe adaptation House of Usher, and Vincent Price again returned in the lead role, allowing him to describe his father thusly: "The shrieking of mutilated victims became the music of his life." Making the most out of a tiny budget, the trailer only begins to hint at the macabre thills within. And that swinging blade!
The Haunting (1963)
Robert Wise's masterful adaptation of Shirley Jackson's widely-acclaimed 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House remains one of the spookiest movies ever made. Screenwriter Nelson Gidding believed the story to be detailing a nervous breakdown, though Jackson maintained the events were of supernatural origin. Nonetheless, the sense of claustrophobic unease helps to make it, still, a frightening movie to watch.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
George A. Romero redefined the zombie movie with his stomach-churning creation. Drawing inspiration from Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend, Romero replaced the former's vampiric creatures with the dead emerging from their graves and eating the living.
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Very much a product of its time, Roman Polanski's adaptation of Ira Levin's bestseller still manages to chill. Much of this is due to the believable performances of Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes as a young couple who move into a new apartment in Manhattan that manages to be both beautiful and intimidating. New neighbors like Ruth Gordon are extremely friendly, but as time passes, Rosemary's life is upended, and that's matched by Polanski's skillful, unnerving direction, as in this scene taking place "the morning after."
