The Best Horror Movies of the 1960s

When it comes to horror films, no decade was better than the spooky ’60s. So turn on the lights and grab someone you trust to clutch wildly. Because the best 1960s horror movies are not here to mess around…

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

The tagline for this film is, “Pray for Rosemary’s baby.” And when you watch this thing, that is exactly what you will be doing. The paranoia-drenched thriller stars Mia Farrow as a new mom, and a bunch of actors as her unusual neighbors. The film’s influence is pervasive.

Jordan Peele recently name-checked it as a direct inspiration for “Get Out.”

Village of the Damned (1960)

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On first glance, you absolutely know something is wrong with the kids in 1960’s paranoid sci-fi chiller “Village of the Damned.” It’s not just their peculiar hairstyle nor impeccable clothing. The eyes have it.

Sixties cinema relied on practical effects, which means all these kids were affixed with custom contact lenses that still look terrifying today.

Black Sunday (1960)

“Black Sunday,” Mario Bava’s directorial debut, was released in 1960 and became immediately controversial. While its plot was precedented, taking its cue from previous Eastern European-tinged gothic horrors, its depiction of onscreen violence was anything but.

The mask sequence alone was a new frontier of horror brutality.

Kill, Baby, Kill (1966)

Mario Bava was one of the architects of the giallo horror film, an Italian subgenre noted by oversaturated colors, hyperkinetic camera moves and simultaneously beautiful and horrific death sequences. And even though “Kill, Baby, Kill”

was made under dire circumstances like an incomplete script and lack of proper funding, it’s still a masterpiece, combining the aforementioned giallo aesthetics with somber, gothic undertones.