Goregirl’s TOP 10 Favourite Horror Films From 1960

IMDB listed 139 titles for 1960, but once I dug into the list I discovered only 61 were actually full-length feature films. As is my modus operandi when doing these features, I do not include shorts, documentaries, made for TV movies or TV series. IMDB lists every individual episode of the television shows which accounted for a goodly number of the 139 titles. There were several episodes of the excellent Twilight Zone series along with two shows I had never heard of Thriller and The Unforeseen. I saw 47 of the 61 films from 1960. Ranking these was practically impossible. For starters my entire top five are films I ranked 5/5. How do you rank films you rated identically? Numbers 6 and 7 were films I rated 4.5/5 so they were easy enough to place. The bigger problem came when trying to decide which 3 films would round out the list when I had 8 films I ranked 4/5! What a colossal headache! The films I left off are all well worth a viewing; The Brides of Dracula, Circus of Horrors, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll and The Secret of the Telgian.

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#10 THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS

Directed By: John Gilling

The Flesh and the Fiends is the story of infamous corpse peddlers William Burke and William Hare and their business transactions with Professor Dr. Robert Knox. The lead performances are absolutely top notch; Peter Cushing as Dr. Knox, Donald Pleasence as Hare and George Rose as Burke are perfectly cast. Some of the supporting character subplots felt redundant but it’s a small complaint in an otherwise outstanding film. The Flesh and the Fiends beautifully captures the dark shadows of 19th Century Edinburgh. It’s a fantastic looking film with an excellent grim and eerie vibe. The deaths are not graphic but they are cold-hearted, well-executed and effectively chilling. I foolishly assumed being a 1960 British film starring Peter Cushing and directed by John Gilling (who directed the fantastic Hammer film Plague of the Zombies) that this was a Hammer film. It was in fact made at Shepperton Studios and was produced by Triad Productions. I was particularly torn between Circus of Horrors and The Flesh and the Fiends. In the end John Gilling’s excellent The Flesh and the Fiends won out in a large part thanks to the performances of Cushing, Pleasance and Rose.

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#9 MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN

Directed By: Giorgio Ferroni

Mill of the Stone Women is about a reporter writing a story on a reclusive sculptor who lives in an old mill. The mill houses a strange tourist attraction created by the sculptor; a carousel-esque contraption that features statues of historical women including some famous murderesses. The sculptor is hiding a secret in the form of a beautiful daughter suffering from some mysterious illness. Add to the mix an eccentric doctor and you’ve got one entertaining story. They give away too much information too soon yet the finale is none the lesser for it. The film’s finale is an absolute utter treat! Mill of the Stone Women is an imaginatively filmed lush affair with some seriously trippy scenes. The performances are good; particularly strong are Herbert Boehme as Professor Gregorius Wahl and Wolfgang Preiss as Dr. Loren Bohlem. It is a slow-moving but hypnotic watch with utterly fantastic set pieces, especially that lady carousel; that thing was freaking awesome! Giorgio Ferroni’s Mill of the Stone Women is a stylish, atmospheric horror film that comes highly recommended.

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#8 JIGOKU (aka THE SINNERS OF HELL)

Directed By: Nobuo Nakagawa

Jigoku or The Sinners of Hell is a bit of a bitch to give a short summary for. It is a story about a student named Shiro who is engaged to his professor’s daughter Yukiko. Shiro is the passenger in a hit and run, but there is a witness who wants revenge, Yukiko dies in a car accident, and Shiro is called home to see his dying mother. Shiro’s father runs a shoddy retirement home and openly flaunts his mistress and his mother’s caretaker is a dead ringer for his recently deceased fiancé. For reasons I will not divulge everyone ends up in hell. Hell! Rivers of blood, endless tortures, and demons await you! Jigoku is one of the earliest films to feature graphic gore. There is a flaying and a decapitation among other goodies. Jigoku is an exceptional film visually that is as beautiful as it is bizarre. To check out my photo review for Jigoku click here. Jigoku is an exceptionally unique Japanese horror film…and it has gore!

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#7 HOUSE OF USHER

Directed By: Roger Corman

Roger Corman directed several films based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe starring horror legend Vincent Price. Expect to see more of these on the top ten lists as they are some of the best the decade has to offer! Vincent Price plays Roderick Usher who opposes the marriage of his sister Madeline due to their cursed family bloodline. Price, of course is brilliant as Roderick Usher and he gets strong support from Myrna Fahey who plays Madeline Usher, Harry Ellerbe as Bristol and Mark Damon as Philip Winthrop; Madeline’s intended. The visuals are first class all the way. House of Usher’s great costumes, fantastic sets, superb performances and well-paced plotting assures you are entertained every single second of its 80ish minute runtime.

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#6 CITY OF THE DEAD

Directed By: John Llewellyn Moxey

City of the Dead was on my list of favourite witchcraft films I posted last week and it easily qualified as one of the best of 1960. City of the Dead is about a college student prompted by her professor to do research in the tiny village of Whitewood where much to her horror she discovers she is a target for a coven of witches. The performances are good particularly from Patricia Jessel who plays dual roles and Christopher Lee who has a memorable supporting turn. City of the Dead is a great atmospheric horror films with excellent suspense, beautifully gothic visuals and an engrossing story with one hell of a finale.

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#5 VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED

Directed By: Wolf Rilla

Village of the Damned has been a favourite since I was a kid. An entire town rendered unconscious and protected by an invisible force field even the military can not breach. After a while the force field disappears and the townsfolk begin waking up seemingly unharmed. A few weeks later however the women of child-bearing age discover they are pregnant and all deliver on the same day. The children grow at an alarming rate and bare a striking resemblance to one another. The creepy, emotionless blonde haired children also possess supernatural powers! Filmed in beautiful black and white with a perfect sense of paranoia and an eerie menacing vibe that is completely engrossing. Village of the Damned is well-written and the performances are perfect; especially excellent is George Sanders as the affable Gordon Zellaby, and the talented Barbara Shelley as his charming wife Anthea. Beware the glowing eyes of the children! Why haven’t you seen this film? Village of the Damned is one of the great classics of sci-fi horror.

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#4 BLACK SUNDAY

Directed By: Mario Bava

I warned you it would not be the last time you would see Mario Bava’s Black Sunday on a list! There is no movie on this list I have seen more than Black Sunday! My childhood viewing of Black Sunday terrified me! These days I appreciate it more for its beautiful, gothic, hypnotizing cinematography. But that scene of the mask of Satan being pounded into Barbara Steele’s face still has some sting! It is the story of a witch put to death by her own brother who returns 200 years later to seek revenge on her descendants. Black Sunday is beautiful, eerie and hypnotic and Barbara Steele simply stuns in her dual roles. Black Sunday is one of the greatest gothic horror films ever made!

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#3 PEEPING TOM

Directed By: Michael Powell

Peeping Tom has a particularly racy story for 1960. Peeping Tom is the story of Mark Lewis who murders women so he can capture on film their terrified expressions before death. Its voyeuristic nature is heavily emphasized and the film is as much psychological as it is horrifying. Carl Boehm plays it quiet and brooding and is outstanding as the awkward and unstable titular Peeping Tom Mark Lewis. This isn’t simply a film about a serial killer it is an in-depth character study and an intelligently written story that explores deeper issues than one would expect of the sub-genre. The film is a slow-burn but an extremely effective one. Peeping Tom is a dark, edgy, well-made film that was ahead of its time. Absolutely brilliant.

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#2 EYES WITHOUT A FACE

Directed By: Georges Franju

Eyes Without a Face is about Christiane who lives hidden from the world, shrouded by a white featureless mask that hides her horribly disfigured face. Her father is guilt-ridden plastic surgeon, Dr. Genessier. With the help of his assistant Louise, they lure young women in and surgically remove their faces in hope of successfully grafting the skin to his daughter. But one failed graft after another leaves a pile of bodies and little hope. Eyes without a Face is about vanity, guilt, obsession, depression and redemption. It is a tale that is as bizarre and bleak as it is beautiful. Eyes Without a Face is a visually stunning film; its sterile brightly lit surgeries, shadowy corridors, endless rooms and impressive set pieces. The “face removal” was very graphic for the time and still impresses. A strange and wonderful score compliments beautifully. Eyes Without a Face is a flawless, strikingly original, bleak and beautiful contribution to the horror genre.

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#1 PSYCHO

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Truthfully, I don’t enjoy Psycho any more than the other films in this top five. As I mentioned in my introduction I gave all five of these films an identical perfect rating. Alas one of the films had to hold this spot and technically speaking Psycho is a flawless masterpiece. I am sure there is nothing I can add that hasn’t been said about Psycho before. If you are unfamiliar with Psycho’s story it revolves around a woman named Marion Crane who decides to leave town to start a new life with money she stole from her employer. Inevitably she must stop to rest and chooses the Bates Motel run by a socially awkward momma’s boy named Norman Bates. This does not end well for Ms. Crane whose disappearance does not go unnoticed. Psycho is a stunning film with a pitch perfect mood and atmosphere. Psycho’s real attraction for me is Norman Bates. Anthony Perkins gives a truly epic and iconic performance as cinema’s most infamous momma’s boy. Hitchcock constructed a truly beautiful, chilling, ground-breaking film that has a firm place in horror history.

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CIRCUS OF HORRORS (1960) – The Dungeon Review!

I’ve said it before and I will say it again; I am a huge sucker for a horror film with a carnival or circus theme! In Circus of Horrors a circus is merely a front for the demented Dr. Schuler. Dr. Schuler is a plastic surgeon and along with his two assistants is forced to flee when one of his surgeries goes horribly wrong. He meets a badly scarred child and he convinces her father who owns a broken down circus to let him operate on her. The child’s surgery is a success and in appreciation her father agrees to a partnership with Dr. Schuler. Immediately after their handshake the father has a drunken accident and Dr. Schuler becomes the sole owner. Schuler of course has a diabolical plan for the circus. All the performers will be badly scarred criminals whom he will operate on and make beautiful. If necessary he can blackmail the performers into staying by threatening to expose their criminal records. I realize this seems like a lot of information but we learn all this before we even get to the circus section which makes up the majority of the runtime. They stuff a lot of information in this introduction! When we get to the circus we just jump in head first.

We move ten years into the future and Dr. Schuler has clearly made the circus a huge success. But the circus Dr. Schuler dubbed “the circus of beauty” is now being dubbed by the media as the “jinx circus” on account of the number of “unfortunate accidents”. Circus of Horrors has all the familiar trappings one would expect; high-wire acts, acrobats, knife throwers, lion tamers, clowns. Circus of Horrors uses these accoutrements to their full effectiveness. I am going to give you a wee spoiler and tell you that the scarred girls father gets mauled to death by a bear. This bear scene is unintentionally hilarious! The death scenes otherwise are not graphic but are quite suspenseful and well-executed. I don’t want to spoil any more, but let’s just say the deaths have a circus theme. The performers scars pre-surgery are impressive and very believable. The excellent opening sequence where a hysterical woman smashes all the mirrors in her bedroom reveals to us the horror caused by Dr. Schuler. It’s not my fault baby; you shouldn’t have taken those bandages off so early. Dr. Schuler apologizes for nothing!

Dr. Schuler is a heartless, self-absorbed asswad that will stop at nothing in the name of self-preservation. His work means everything in that obsessive way that is required for any good mad movie scientist or doctor. He isn’t over-the-top with his antics playing it subdued but single-mindedly intense. Anton Diffring is perfect as the arrogant Dr. Schuler. He also completely looks the part. A young Donald Pleasance makes a brief appearance early in the film as the father of the scarred child. Pleasance is featured in the unfortunate bear scene but he is great just the same. His daughter Nicole grows up to be a beautiful woman with an equestrian act. Nicole is played by the lovely Yvonne Monlaur who is sweet and likable. Dr. Schuler’s assistant Martin is a bit of a sad sack. Martin assists in Schuler’s surgeries and is at the doctor’s beck and call for any number of other requests. Kenneth Griffith is decent enough in the role, and while I would not exactly say you feel sorry for the character there is the glimmer of hope that he will eventually grow a set. Martin’s sister Angela also assists in Dr. Schuler’s surgeries and also happens to be in love with Schuler. It is a mystery to me what she sees in this jerk. Angela is complicit in Dr. Schuler’s crimes but still manages to garner some sympathy. My favorite female character in the film is definitely the spicy and spirited Elissa Caro. Elissa is the show’s acrobat who ends her act each night with a noose around her neck as she frantically spins several dozen feet above the ground. Erika Remberg is top-notch as the confident Elissa Caro and it is a lot of fun seeing her give Dr. Schuler hell! Finally we have Inspector Arthur Ames. The circus is garnering some unwanted attention with its “accidents” and Inspector Ames is on the case. He is really “on”. The inspector is a real ladies man type who seduces the lovely performers for the answers he requires. Conrad Phillips who plays Inspector Ames is likable enough and he gets to have some fun whilst solving the crime.

Circus of Horrors’ story is rather on the crazy side. It really is a needlessly complicated plan this Dr. Schuler has concocted. The guy is a plastic surgeon and he is going to start a circus, find a bunch of criminals who will agree to be operated on, train them to be circus performers and oversee operations of said circus? Bloody hell that Dr. Schuler sure is ambitious! Great sets, lovely costumes, lush colors, a steady pace, strong performances and some well-executed moments of suspense make Circus of Horrors a very entertaining watch. Recommended!

Dungeon Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Sidney Hayers

Starring: Anton Diffring, Erika Remberg, Yvonne Monlaur, Donald Pleasence, Jane Hylton, Kenneth Griffith, Conrad Phillips, Jack Gwillim, Vanda Hudson, Yvonne Romain, Colette Wilde

PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1987) – The Dungeon Review!

I am a huge fan of John Carpenter’s films. The Thing, Halloween, Assault of Precinct 13, Escape from New York, They Live, In the Mouth of Madness, and The Fog all films I have seen multiple times and love! It is a pretty bloody impressive resume ain’t it? The man has provided such exquisite gems I almost feel guilty about how much I hate Ghosts of Mars and Village of the Damned. Prince of Darkness is the Carpenter film I have seen the least. In fact, outside of my original viewing in a theatre back in the 80s I caught Prince of Darkness just once on TV several years ago; it was high time for a revisit!

A priest requests the aid of Professor Howard Birack who brings with him a group of students to investigate a cylinder of fluorescent swirling green liquid in the basement of an abandoned church. The city’s homeless have been gathering outside the church all day. They stand and stare possessed by some unseen force from within. The text accompanying the green liquid suggests the cylinder contains the body of the Anti-Christ. Steam emitted from the green goo possesses one of the female students. Others soon join her and become the Anti-Christ’s puppets, setting in to motion his resurrection.

That is one humdinger of a plot! This cylinder looks pretty high-tech for something that is suppose to be ancient. It’s kind of creepy though all glowing and swirling like it is alive. Of course it is alive and the conniving cylinder’s first act is to possess an army of homeless people. It is such a simple thing to just have the homeless do nothing but stand staring and it is so effectively chilling! We get several scenes of the gang throughout the film. They are soldiers for Satan and they insure no one escapes from the church. One of the best deaths, I like to call “bikes kill” is enacted by the possessed populace; more specifically Alice-welcome-to-his-nightmare-Cooper. A superb bit of horror these sections! Several of the students inside the church also become possessed. Prince of Darkness offers up a bevy of beauty horror-action scenes! I think my favourite of all of them is when a trio of possessed women, one of which appears to have become spontaneously pregnant traps a character in a closet. You do not want nothing but a flimsy closet door between you and these ladies! It also has some great trippy dream sequences among a crapload of other goodies. It’s not particularly gory, but there are many perfectly executed scenes that are mucho effective just the same.

The harried priest is played by Donald Pleasance, who I always enjoy. He is all gloom and doom with his whole Satan is being resurrected and the apocalypse is coming talk! I also enjoyed Victor Wong as the level-headed, voice of reason, Professor Howard Birack. Pretty much all the performances across the board are decent enough. Which brings me to Jameson Parker. It’s not that his very existence offends me. I am not even sure I have ever seen Parker in anything but Prince of Darkness. I know he was one of the Simons in Simon and Simon, but I never actually watched the show. I just think he is so wishy-washy in this film. Maybe the character is partly to blame but he just irks me a bit, and he is focused on way too much.

Prince of Darkness has one crazy story! It’s bordering on hokey really, but hell, some religious people really believe that the apocalypse is coming! I wonder if they are aware that the discombobulated body of the Anti-Christ is swimming around in some fluorescent green goo in the basement of a church somewhere? Besides my issues with Mr. Parker I think Prince of Darkness is a fantastically fun movie with some beautifully executed moments of horror. Recommended!

Dungeon Rating: 4/5

Directed By: John Carpenter

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jameson Parker, Victor Wong, Lisa Blount, Dennis Dun, Susan Blanchard, Anne Marie Howard, Ann Yen, Ken Wright, Dirk Blocker, Jessie Lawrence Ferguson, Peter Jason, Robert Grasmere, Thom Bray, Joanna Merlin, Alice Cooper, Betty Ramey, Jessie Ferguson