Image credit: Fairway International Pictures, Warner Bros., Image Ten, Saticoy Productions, Lasky-Monka, Amicus Productions, Box Office Spectaculars, Friedman-Lewis, Michael Powell, William Castle Productions
Forget the iconic slashers of the '70s and '80s for a minute, and let's rewind the clock. You might be surprised at how many underappreciated, gnarly horrors came out of the '60s era.
1. "Peeping Tom" (1960) This British thriller surely went places. Mark, a focus puller and aspiring filmmaker, has a thing for filming women as he kills them. Why? To capture their terrified faces, of course. He befriends his lovely neighbor, Helen, who knows nothing about his gruesome hobby. She even checks out his films. As he struggles between the urge to kill and the newfound affection, the tension could cut glass.
2. "The Sadist" (1963) So, you've got three teachers traveling to a Dodgers game. Their car breaks down (classic), and they wind up at a seemingly abandoned service station. Enter Charlie, a knife-wielding maniac, and his mute girlfriend Judy. Charlie's got a score to settle with the world, and these teachers are just unlucky enough to be his target. Over the course of a day, they're terrorized, tied up, and hunted.
What's even creepier, the movie's based on the real-life killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate.
3. "Blood Feast" (1963) This one's often called the first-ever splatter film. Fuad Ramses, an Egyptian caterer in Miami, needs to whip up a "Blood Feast" to resurrect an ancient goddess. To do that, he's gotta collect body parts from young women. He dismembers them in increasingly grotesque ways, saving the pièce de résistance – a tongue – for last.
The detectives are always one step behind until they start piecing things together (pun intended).
4. "Strait-Jacket" (1964) If you're not sold by Joan Crawford wielding an axe, I don't know what to tell you. Lucy is committed to an asylum after she finds her husband in bed with another woman and decapitates them both.
Fast-forward 20 years, she's released and tries to reconcile with her daughter, who was a witness to the murders. But – wouldn't you know it? – the decapitations start up again. Is Lucy relapsing, or is something more sinister at play?
5. "Color Me Blood Red" (1965) In this campy horror movie, Adam, a struggling painter, discovers that blood makes for a fabulous shade of red on his canvas. You can guess where this is going. To keep his art authentic, he needs a steady supply of the red stuff. Girlfriends and random beachgoers turn into unwilling donors.
Despite its goriness, the movie was actually made on a tiny budget of $50,000.
6. "The Psychopath" (1966) Four men are killed off one by one, each receiving a doll that eerily resembles them right before their untimely demise. Detective Holloway is on the case, and all leads point to Mrs. Von Sturm, a creepy old lady who has a nursery full of life-sized dolls. She's got a son, Mark, who's more than a little attached to her. As Holloway digs into the case, the corpses (and dolls) keep piling up.
7. "Wait Until Dark" (1967) Susy, a blind woman, unknowingly comes into possession of a doll stuffed with heroin. A trio of criminals breaks into her apartment, posing as different people to gain her trust and find the doll. What they don't expect is for Susy to catch on. She smashes all the light bulbs, leveling the playing field, and waits in total darkness for her attackers.
8. "Spider Baby" (1967) Lon Chaney Jr. stars in this bonkers story about the Merrye family, who suffer from a rare genetic disorder that makes them regress to a primitive state of humanity as they age. They live in an isolated mansion, looked after by their chauffeur, Bruno. When distant relatives visit with plans to kick the family out and claim the estate, they're in for a killer surprise.
9. "Targets" (1968) Byron Orlok, a horror film actor, wants to retire, believing that real-life violence has overtaken anything cinema can offer. Parallel to this, a Vietnam vet named Bobby starts a killing spree, taking shots at drivers from a concealed location.
The stories converge at a drive-in theater where Orlok is giving his farewell appearance. Bobby chooses this venue for his final attack, and murder-y chaos ensues.
10. "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) Seven people trapped in a farmhouse, zombies – sorry, "ghouls" – everywhere. The group argues, fights, and tries to escape, but those flesh-eaters just keep coming. Directed by George A. Romero, this film basically spawned the zombie genre. Yeah, you know it, but have you actually sat down and watched it lately? If not, get on that, ASAP.
