The 70 Best 1960s Horror Movies

Critics Consensus: Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre. Because Psycho was filmed with tact, grace, and art, Hitchcock didn't just create modern horror, he validated it.

Synopsis: Phoenix secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), on the lam after stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Critics Consensus: A frightening tale of Satanism and pregnancy that is even more disturbing than it sounds thanks to convincing and committed performances by Mia Farrow and Ruth Gordon.

Synopsis: A young wife comes to believe that her offspring is not of this world. Waifish Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her struggling actor husband Guy... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer

Directed By: Roman Polanski

Critics Consensus: A horrific tale of guilt and obsession, Eyes Without a Face is just as chilling and poetic today as it was when it was first released.

Synopsis: Dr. Génessier (Pierre Brasseur) is riddled with guilt after an accident that he caused disfigures the face of his daughter, the once beautiful Christiane (Edith... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Edith Scob, Juliette Mayniel

Directed By: Georges Franju

Critics Consensus: Peeping Tom is a chilling, methodical look at the psychology of a killer, and a classic work of voyeuristic cinema.

Synopsis: Loner Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also, he's making a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Karlheinz Böhm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley

Directed By: Michael Powell

Critics Consensus: George A. Romero's debut set the template for the zombie film, and features tight editing, realistic gore, and a sly political undercurrent.

Synopsis: A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the United... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Keith Wayne

Directed By: George A. Romero

Critics Consensus: Creepily atmospheric, The Innocents is a stylishly crafted, chilling British ghost tale with Deborah Kerr at her finest.

Synopsis: Based on the Henry James story "The Turn of the Screw," a psychological thriller about a woman who takes a governess job for two orphans... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Deborah Kerr, Martin Stephens, Pamela Franklin, Michael Redgrave

Directed By: Jack Clayton

Critics Consensus: Proving once again that build-up is the key to suspense, Alfred Hitchcock successfully turned birds into some of the most terrifying villains in horror history.

Synopsis: Melanie Daniels meets Mitch Brenner in a San Francisco pet store and decides to follow him home. She brings with her the gift of two... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Critics Consensus: Chilling performances and a restrained, eerie atmosphere make this British horror both an unnerving parable of its era and a timeless classic.

Synopsis: One day the peaceful village of Midwich is cast into a mysterious sleep for several hours, but with no obvious consequences, until soon all the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Michael Gwynn, Laurence Naismith

Directed By: Wolf Rilla

Critics Consensus: Arguably Bergman's finest film, Persona explores the human condition with intense curiosity, immense technical skill, and beguiling warmth.

Synopsis: Famed stage actress Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullmann) suffers a moment of blankness during a performance and the next day lapses into total silence. Advised by... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Gunnar Björnstrand, Margareta Krook

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

Critics Consensus: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? combines powerhouse acting, rich atmosphere, and absorbing melodrama in service of a taut thriller with thought-provoking subtext.

Synopsis: Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) is an aging child star left to care for her wheelchair-bound sister Blanche (Joan Crawford), also a former child actress. Stuck... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Marjorie Bennett

Directed By: Robert Aldrich

Critics Consensus: Exquisitely designed and fastidiously ornate, Masaki Kobayashi's ambitious anthology operates less as a frightening example of horror and more as a meditative tribute to Japanese folklore.

Synopsis: Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai (Rentarô Mikuni) marries for money... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rentarô Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Tetsurô Tanba, Katsuo Nakamura

Directed By: Masaki Kobayashi

Critics Consensus: Both psychological and supernatural, The Haunting is a chilling character study.

Synopsis: Dr. John Markway, an anthropologist with an interest in psychic phenomena, takes two specially selected women to Hill House, a reportedly haunted mansion. Eleanor (Julie... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn

Directed By: Robert Wise

Critics Consensus: Carnival of Souls offers delightfully chilling proof that when it comes to telling an effective horror story, less can often be much, much more.

Synopsis: Mary Henry ends up the sole survivor of a fatal car accident through mysterious circumstances. Trying to put the incident behind her, she moves to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Stan Levitt

Directed By: Herk Harvey

Critics Consensus: Featuring dazzling, disorienting cinematography from the great James Wong Howe and a strong lead performance by Rock Hudson, Seconds is a compellingly paranoid take on the legend of Faust.

Synopsis: Banker Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) gets a call one day from a friend he thought was dead. It turns out that the friend is not... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rock Hudson, Salome Jens, John Randolph, Will Geer

Directed By: John Frankenheimer

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg) is a paralyzed young woman confined to a wheelchair. For the first time in ten years, she has returned to her... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Susan Strasberg, Ronald Lewis, Ann Todd

Directed By: Seth Holt

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: With the help of his own mother (Noriko Sengoku), sightless sculptor Michio (Eiji Funakoshi) abducts gorgeous model Aki (Mako Midori) and brings her back to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Eiji Funakoshi, Mako Midori, Noriko Sengoku

Directed By: Yasuzo Masumura

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Piano composer Dong-sik (Eun-shim Lee) and his pregnant wife (Jeung-nyeo Ju) need extra help around the house, so they hire a housemaid (Kim Jin-kyu), whose... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kim Jin-kyu, Eun-shim Lee, Jeung-nyeo Ju, Ahn Sung-ki

Directed By: Kim Ki-young

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A vengeful ghost and a mysterious baroness are the keys behind bizarre murders in a Carpathian village.

Starring: Erika Blanc, Jack Stuart, Fabienne Dali, Giovanna Galletti

Directed By: Mario Bava

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Waldo Trumbull (Vincent Price) is an amoral undertaker in 19th-century New England who takes to murdering people to have enough cash to support his drinking... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Joyce Jameson

Directed By: Jacques Tourneur

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A traveler's (Peter Cushing) tarot cards tell how an architect, musician, doctor (Donald Sutherland), gardener and critic (Christopher Lee) will die.

Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Donald Sutherland, Max Adrian

Directed By: Fred Francis

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A professor (Boris Karloff) and his wife (Catherine Lacey) can feel the sensations of a mod British teen (Ian Ogilvy) whose mind they control.

Starring: Boris Karloff, Catherine Lacy, Ian Ogilvy, Elizabeth Ercy

Directed By: Michael Reeves

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Starring: Teruo Yoshida, Tatsumi Hijikata, Minoru Ohki, Asao Koike

Directed By: Teruo Ishii

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In this ghost story based on a folk tale of feudal Japan, a group of samurai mercenaries led by Raiko Minamoto storm the home of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kiwako Taichi, Kei Satô

Directed By: Kaneto Shindô

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: When the Duc de Richleau (Christopher Lee) and Rex Van Ryn (Leon Greene) arrive at a fashionable party thrown by de Richleau's protégé, Simon Aron... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi, Leon Greene

Directed By: Terence Fisher

Critics Consensus: Ingmar Bergman makes a successful foray into horror with Hour of the Wolf, infusing the demons that spring from creativity with his trademark psychological curiosity.

Synopsis: On a remote island, a troubled artist (Max von Sydow) feels his mind slipping away from him. Troubled by disturbing visions and paranoid delusions, he... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, Erland Josephson, Gertrud Fridh

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A tyrannical 12th-century prince is intrigued by a girl and takes her to live amid the immorality of his court.

Starring: Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston

Directed By: Roger Corman

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A medical professor (Andre Morell) and his daughter (Diane Clare) link a Cornish epidemic to a village squire's (John Carson) voodoo.

Starring: Andre Morell, Diane Clare, John Carson, Alexander Davion

Directed By: John Gilling

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) survive by killing samurai who stray into their... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nobuko Otowa, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Kei Satô, Taiji Tonoyama

Directed By: Kaneto Shindô

Critics Consensus: A startling directorial debut by Peter Bogdanovich mixes an homage to Boris Karloff horror films with a timely sniper story to create a thriller with modern baggage and old school shock and awe.

Synopsis: After unhinged Vietnam vet Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly) kills his wife and mother, he goes on a brutal shooting spree. Starting at an oil refinery,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Boris Karloff, Tim O'Kelly, Nancy Hsueh, James Brown

Directed By: Peter Bogdanovich

Critics Consensus: A chilling visual treat, Pit and the Pendulum unites genre masters Roger Corman and Vincent Price with delightfully dark results.

Synopsis: Elizabeth Barnard Medina (Barbara Steele) has died in the prime of life, and her brother, Francis (John Kerr), wants to know why. Elizabeth's husband, Nicholas... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele, Luana Anders

Directed By: Roger Corman

Critics Consensus: Mario Bava's official narrative debut is a witchy nightmare steeped in gothic splendor, shot in chiaroscuro black and white and punctuated with startling gore.

Synopsis: Burned at the stake, a vampire witch princess (Barbara Steele) wakes up centuries later with her undead henchman.

Starring: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Ivo Garrani, Andrea Checchi

Directed By: Mario Bava

Critics Consensus: By turns lurid and disturbing, The Man with the X-Ray Eyes is a compelling piece of sci-fi pulp and one of Roger Corman's most effective movies.

Synopsis: Intent on enhancing mankind's ocular ability, the brilliant Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland) invents a formula that allows him to see wavelengths of light outside... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ray Milland, Diana Van der Vlis, Harold J. Stone, John Hoyt

Directed By: Roger Corman

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A group of seminary students from the city go on summer break, drunkenly wandering the countryside. They end up lost, and spend a night in... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Natalya Varley, Vadim Zakharchenko, G. Sochevko, Leonid Kuravlev

Directed By: Georgiy Kropachyov, Konstantin Ershov

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Chauffeur Bruno (Lon Chaney Jr.) looks after three strange siblings at their family estate. Ralph (Sid Haig), Virginia (Jill Banner) and Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn) all... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Carol Ohmart, Quinn K. Redeker, Beverly Washburn

Directed By: Jack Hill

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Starring: Andrew Keir, James Donald, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover

Directed By: Roy Ward Baker

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Magician Erasmus Craven (Vincent Price) is still deeply depressed two years after the death of his beloved wife, Lenore (Hazel Court). One day, he's visited... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court

Directed By: Roger Corman

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A clumsy young man nurtures a plant and discovers that it's carnivorous, forcing him to kill to feed it.

Starring: Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Jack Nicholson

Directed By: Roger Corman

Critics Consensus: Three auteurs descend on the works of Poe, each putting on a ghoulish show -- adapting The Tomahawk Man's tales of dreams and fright, with Fellini's segment particularly out of sight.

Synopsis: In one chapter of this three-in-one feature inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's tales, a countess (Jane Fonda), shunned by a horseman (Peter Fonda), kills the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jane Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, Terence Stamp, Alain Delon

Directed By: Roger Vadim, Louis Malle, Federico Fellini

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Verden Fell (Vincent Price) is shattered after the death of his lovely wife. But, after an unexpected encounter with Lady Rowena Trevanion (Elizabeth Shepherd), Fell... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Vincent Price, Elizabeth Shepherd, John Westbrook, Derek Francis

Directed By: Roger Corman

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A young biker gang leader makes a pact with the Devil and uses it to win himself eternal life. His gang follow suit and join... View Full Synopsis

Starring: George Sanders, Nicky Henson, Beryl Reid, Mary Larkin

Directed By: Don Sharp

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: While on shore leave, sailor Johnny Drake (Dennis Hopper) becomes enamored of Mora (Linda Lawson), a young woman who works as a mermaid at a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson, Gavin Muir, Luana Anders

Directed By: Curtis Harrington

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Forty years ago, on the night they were meant to elope, Charlotte Hollis (Bette Davis) found her lover decapitated during a party, the blood on... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead

Directed By: Robert Aldrich

Critics Consensus: Never veering too far from the usual Hammer trappings, Dracula, Prince of Darkness casts an effectively vicious vampire yarn with its chilling atmosphere and spirited cast of characters.

Synopsis: Four tourists dine and spend the night at Dracula's (Christopher Lee) castle; two escape and warn a monk (Andrew Keir).

Starring: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir, Suzan Farmer

Directed By: Terence Fisher

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: The vampire count (Christopher Lee) bites a tavern waitress and a monsignor's (Rupert Davies) niece (Veronica Carlson), then falls on something sharp.

Starring: Christopher Lee, Rupert Davies, Veronica Carlson, Michael Ripper

Directed By: Fred Francis

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: The survivor (Vincent Price) of a global epidemic battles a race of zombie vampires in an adaptation of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend."

Starring: Vincent Price, Franca Bettoia, Emma Danieli, Jack Stuart

Directed By: Ubaldo Ragona, Sidney Salkow

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) drives a stake through the heart of a vampire baron (David Peel) who even bites his own mother (Martita Hunt).

Starring: Peter Cushing, David Peel, Martita Hunt, Yvonne Monlaur

Directed By: Terence Fisher

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A sadistic nobleman terrorizes his family, but the relief that the family members feel upon his death is short-lived when his ghost continues the reign... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Daliah Lavi, Christopher Lee, Tony Kendall, Ida Galli

Directed By: Mario Bava

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: After meteors enter Earth's atmosphere, blinding much of the planet's population in the process, plantlike creatures known as Triffids emerge from the craters and begin... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Howard Keel, Nicole Maurey, Janette Scott, Kieron Moore

Directed By: Steve Sekely

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Scientist Stephen Reinhart travels to a small town where he plans to visit his fiancée Susan Witley and meet her parents. Oddly, when he arrives,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson, Suzan Farmer

Directed By: Daniel Haller

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A masked man with a metal-claw glove stalks models at a couple's (Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok) fashion salon in Rome.

Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Thomas Reiner, Ariana Gorini

Directed By: Mario Bava

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Young college student Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson) arrives in the sleepy Massachusetts town of Whitewood to research witchcraft. Nan's stay at the eerie Raven's Inn... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Patricia Jessel, Christopher Lee, Betta St. John, Dennis Lotis

Directed By: John Llewellyn Moxey

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Condemned warlock Joseph Curwen curses a New England village just before being burned alive. More than a century later, Curwen's kindly great-great-grandson Charles Ward (also... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Vincent Price, Debra Paget, Lon Chaney Jr., Frank Maxwell

Directed By: Roger Corman

Critics Consensus: This uneven but amiable 1967 vampire picture is part horror spoof, part central European epic, and 100 percent Roman Polanski, whose signature sensibility colors every frame.

Synopsis: Vampire hunter Professor Abronsius (Jack MacGowran) and his faithful assistant, Alfred (Roman Polanski), are traveling across Transylvania when they stop to rest at a suspicious-looking... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jack MacGowran, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, Jessie Robins

Directed By: Roman Polanski

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Chaos and danger reign when good girl Miriam Webster (Patricia Breslin) meets her half brother's girl friend, Emily (Jean Arless), a mysterious blonde bombshell living... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Joan Marshall, Eugenie Leontovich

Directed By: William Castle

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: The United Nations conducts a global survey on child development, identifying six children with exceptional intelligence. All were born under mysterious circumstances, with the mothers... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Barbara Ferris, Alfred Burke

Directed By: Anton Leader

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: An American tourist (Letícia Román) in Rome witnesses a vicious murder, but no one believes her. Fearing she may be the next victim, she sets... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Letícia Román, John Saxon, Valentina Cortese, Titti Tomaino

Directed By: Mario Bava

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Locke (Vincent Price) mourns his late wife, Morella (Leona Gage), but has resentment toward his daughter that manifests itself in terrible ways; Fortunato Luchesi (also... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Debra Paget

Directed By: Roger Corman

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: An astronaut (Barry Sullivan) and his partner (Norma Bengell) flee from walking-dead astronauts on a volcanic planet.

Starring: Barry Sullivan, Norma Bengell, Ángel Aranda, Evi Marandi

Directed By: Mario Bava

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A Malayan curse turns the daughter (Jacqueline Pearce) of a 19th-century English doctor (Noel Willman) into a snake woman.

Starring: Noel Willman, Jacqueline Pearce, Jennifer Daniel, Ray Barrett

Directed By: John Gilling

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: The baron (Peter Cushing) makes a couple (Veronica Carlson, Simon Ward) help him put a mad doctor's brain in another doctor's body.

Starring: Peter Cushing, Veronica Carlson, Simon Ward, Thorley Walters

Directed By: Terence Fisher

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: After John Haloran (Peter Read) dies, his wife, Louise (Luana Anders), fears that she will be denied his inheritance. Fabricating a story about John traveling... View Full Synopsis

Starring: William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton, Mary Mitchel

Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Looking to score a break as a newspaper reporter and impress beautiful Alma Parker (Joan Staley), milquetoast typesetter Luther Heggs (Don Knotts) pitches a story... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Don Knotts, Joan Staley, Liam Redmond, Dick Sargent

Directed By: Alan Rafkin

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Brazil's first horror film, "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul," features the first appearance of Coffin Joe (José Mojica Marins) of the Coffin Joe Trilogy.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: José Mojica Marins, Magda Mei, Nivaldo Lima, Valeria Vasquez

Directed By: José Mojica Marins

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A mysterious monster is turning people to stone in a German village in 1910. When his girlfriend is killed, Bruno (Jeremy Longhurst) becomes the prime... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Richard Pasco

Directed By: Terence Fisher

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A man with brutal and macabre origins, Leon Corledo (Oliver Reed) was raised in the home of Don Alfredo Corledo (Clifford Evans), his kind and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain, Catherine Feller

Directed By: Terence Fisher

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Dr. Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) returns destitute to his home village to recommence his experimental research into the reanimation of dead tissue, and stumbles upon his... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Peter Cushing, Peter Woodthorpe, Duncan Lamont, Sandor Eles

Directed By: Fred Francis

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A man in a padded cell tells of being shipwrecked on a foggy island with toadstool-eating tourists.

Starring: Akira Kubo, Kenji Sahara, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kumi Mizuno

Directed By: Ishirô Honda

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In the wake of a daring armored car heist that ends with the murder of a security guard, police detective Jim Elliott (Leo Genn) follows... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Christopher Lee, Leo Genn, Heinz Drache, Margaret Lee

Directed By: John Llewellyn Moxey