“Eyes Without a Face” (1960)
Second to maybe only “Bride of Frankenstein,” Georges Franju’s “Eyes Without a Face” is one of the most empathetic horror movies, both to the “monster” as well as the creator. It’s a Greek tragedy wrapped up in a moody, atmospheric mad scientist film, made all the more heartbreaking because the subjects are father and daughter. The lengths that Dr. Genessier (Pierre Brasseur) will go to fix the disfigured face of his daughter, Christiane (Edith Scob), is both endearing, but also terrifying. “Eyes Without a Face” begs the question that most parents face when it comes to their children, and that is, “Are you doing this for them, or are you doing this for yourself?” Notably an influence on “Face/Off” and perhaps most specifically, Pedro Almodovar’s “The Skin I Live In,” “Eyes Without a Face” is a pioneer in body horror, an exploration of parental values, and poses the existential question of what beauty truly means. The only true way to watch this movie is to check out the Criterion Collection restoration, to which there are no existential questions as to how beautiful that transfer is. – RO
“Black Sunday” (1960)
The debut feature of the great Mario Bava, “Black Sunday“ felt like a movie out of time, even in 1960. While the film draws influence from Hammer horror as well as the Universal Monsters films, Bava’s sinister Black Sunday is a Gothic horror nightmare that could very well be traced back to as the grandfather of giallo. With the exception of the dubbing in the American version, Bava’s film doesn’t make any missteps, opening the film with a witch burning and then ratchets up the dread from there. While the film is a textbook example of atmosphere, chiaroscuro lighting, and using unnerving music to underscore a film, none of this would be as effective if it wasn’t for the phenomenal lead performance from Barbara Steele. As both an ancient witch and the princess to be wed, she captures the duality of both the light, innocent, seemingly incorruptible figure, as well as dark, seductive, and murderous witch who is ready to take revenge on those who burnt her alive. Bava’s later work was great in its own right, but for the sheer discipline and nightmarish quality, “Black Sunday” stands as the director’s finest achievement. – RO
“The Birds” (1963)
It’s a testament to what a fine director of suspense that Alfred Hitchcock truly was that he could make the plot of one his sillier films, “The Birds,” so unforgivingly gripping. Shot with that sense of tension he’s so famous for, alerting the audience to the danger long before the characters become aware of it as well, “The Birds” makes a play at a specific fear by creating a sense of trepidation through the surroundings. Led by the alluring performance by Tippi Hedren, the film makes great use of its settings to build that sense of foreboding. From a singular boat in the middle of a body of water, alone and vulnerable to a cobbled together cabin, each new location presents its own set of threats. That’s just part of the mastery at play here, even when the film never forgets that the threat themselves are inherently ridiculous. By treating the assailants with some tongue and cheek fervor while simultaneously painting the victim’s fear as real, “The Birds” manages to dodge the bullet of being tonally inconsistent. Instead what we get is a taut, surprisingly gruesome and grim look at a community held hostage by nature, prisoners of their own surroundings. – Ally Johnson
“Blood and Black Lace” (1964)
The lack of restraint that Mario Bava had while making Black Sunday is both a strength and a hindrance to “Blood and Black Lace.” But to be honest, it’s mostly a strength. Very noticeably an influence on “Suspira” (models as opposed to dancers) and “Dressed to Kill” (the “slashers” are dressed similarly), Blood and Black Lace is a great example of classy trash. The premise of a slasher offing models in a fashion house that is co-managed by B-movie great Cameron Mitchell is the setup for perfect schlock. Instead, the film takes on a dream logic quality – aided by an amazing Carlo Rustichelli score – that is intoxicating. Frankly, the plot doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and the character motivations are questionable at best, but when a film is this undeniably crafted, none of those elements really matter. If Black Sunday planted the seeds for what would eventually define the giallo film, “Blood and Black Lace” was the mutant plant that grew from that seed, one that spits poison that’s prone to give you the most vivid fever dream of your life. – RO
“Psycho” (1960)
While there’s many an argument to be had about what film of Alfred Hitchcock’s is his absolute best, “Psycho” may be he most easily accessible to film fans beginning to dig their heels in. Shockingly audacious for its time (in many counts) and possessing some of that same shock value today, “Psycho” is Hitchcock at his most shamelessly fun. There are two elements of the film that truly allows it to burrow under your skin. The first is the total disregard to narrative formality as Marion Crane, our supposed heroine played by Janet Leigh, is iconically dismissed barely a third into the film. From there we’re fully transported by Hitchcock’s vision as he’s unrelenting in setting us up to fall, already having pulled the largest rug out from under us. The second is the villain himself, Norman Bates, played transcendentally by Anthony Perkins. Possessing an easy, laid-back charisma that makes for his reveal all the more disarming, all the while wearing the dead-eyed expression of a man one should learn to be wary of, he’s a complete physical and mental juxtaposition of who we’d up until this point comes to expect serial killers to be. And that’s what made him so frightening, the idea that a threat such as himself could be living among us, mild-mannered and innocent, and with more than a few skeletons in the closet. – AJ