The eeriest year in film.

By: Martin Wilson

JUNE 16 – 1960. The release of PSYCHO on this date represents the line that has been crossed, never to return. The films on this list all have an unusual and unsettling quality that is particularly memorable. As shown on other lists, 1960 was artistically a year without equal, creating a whole new relationship between film and audience. In Europe this new way of seeing is best represented by L’AVVENTURA.

Television was also becoming an eerie place. Shows that were peaking in 1960 include – THE TWILIGHT ZONE, ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS,THRILLER and ONE STEP BEYOND. Three of the best and eeriest Twilight Zone episodes come from 1960. EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, MIRROR IMAGE ( with Vera Miles from Psycho ), and THE AFTER HOURS. When you also consider films that were begun in 1960 and released the following year then it is clear that, at the time, there was definitely something in the air. Films such as – LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, THE INNOCENTS, VIRIDIANA, TASTE OF FEAR, THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, BLAST OF SILENCE, LA NOTTE, Franju’s SPOTLIGHT ON A MURDERER, the krimi DEAD EYES OF LONDON, MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS. And something truly unusual – BARABBAS. An eerie epic about a dead man walking.

I wonder if the impact of all these films would have been as great without the prevalence of black & white.

Eeriness is not confined to horror or suspense. It can emerge from an atmosphere that is quiet and still. It’s a growing sense that you are seeing the world in a new way. And where this will lead is…uncertain.

p.s. Four eerie films from 1960, not yet listed. THE TELL-TALE HEART, THE GHOST CAT OF OTAMA POND, the Krimi DIE BANDE DES SCHRECKENS (The Terrible People) and Terence Fisher’s very underrated THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL.

• 01
  Eyes Without a Face
  Georges Franju
• 02
  Psycho
  Alfred Hitchcock
• 03
  Black Sunday
  Mario Bava
• 04
  Village of the Damned
  Wolf Rilla
• 05
  The City of the Dead
  John Llewellyn Moxey
• 06
  L'avventura
  Michelangelo Antonioni
• 07
  The Time Machine
  George Pál
• 08
  The Virgin Spring
  Ingmar Bergman
• 09
  Peeping Tom
  Michael Powell
• 10
  The Flesh and the Fiends
  John Gilling
• 11
  When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
  Mikio Naruse
• 12
  Purple Noon
  René Clément
• 13
  Le trou
  Jacques Becker
• 14
  Mill of the Stone Women
  Giorgio Ferroni
• 15
  House of Usher
  Roger Corman
• 16
  Never Take Sweets from a Stranger
  Cyril Frankel
• 17
  The Naked Island
  Kaneto Shindô
• 18
  The Brides of Dracula
  Terence Fisher
• 19
  The Housemaid
  Kim Ki-young
• 20
  Macario
  Roberto Gavaldón
• 21
  Blood and Roses
  Roger Vadim
• 22
  The Criminal
  Joseph Losey
• 23
  The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
  Fritz Lang
• 24
  The Young One
  Luis Buñuel
• 25
  The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales
  Rogelio A. González
• 26
  The Enchanting Shadow
  Li Han Hsiang