Tag: 1960s

Films released between 1960 and 1969, the decade the Production Code collapsed and the studio system went with it. What replaced them arrived from several directions at once: the European art film, the spy cycle, the revisionist western, and a generation of American directors who had watched all of it. The reviews here cover a period where two incompatible kinds of filmmaking were in cinemas at the same time.

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) film poster1960s

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

June 6, 2026

Roman Polanski's affectionate Hammer parody is more gorgeous gothic fairy tale than laugh-out-loud comedy. The Fearless Vampire Killers earns its 6.5 as a beautiful, uneven oddity, a horror comedy that is more interested in atmosphere than in jokes and lands…

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The Brides of Dracula (1960) film poster1960s

The Brides of Dracula (1960)

June 6, 2026

Hammer built a gorgeous sequel without Christopher Lee, and it may be better than the original. Christopher Lee, in a contract dispute, sat this one out, and Hammer built a sequel around a different vampire entirely, a charming young aristocrat…

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Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) film poster1960s

Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)

June 6, 2026

Christopher Lee returns as Dracula without a single line of dialogue, and the resurrection scene is among Hammer's best. Dracula: Prince of Darkness earns its 7 by bringing Christopher Lee back to the role that made him famous and surrounding…

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Black Sunday (1960) film poster1960s

Black Sunday (1960)

June 6, 2026

Mario Bava's debut is one of the most visually ravishing horror films ever made and launched Italian gothic. Bava had been a cinematographer, and it shows in every frame.

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The Apartment (1960) film poster1960s

The Apartment (1960)

May 19, 2026

An ambitious insurance clerk lends his apartment to executives for their affairs, until he falls for the boss's mistress at Christmas. The Apartment is Billy Wilder's 1960 American comedy-drama about an ambitious insurance company clerk who lends his Manhattan apartment…

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A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) film poster1960s

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

May 19, 2026

Charlie Brown directs the Peanuts gang in a Nativity pageant after rejecting the commercialism of the season. A Charlie Brown Christmas is Bill Melendez's 1965 American animated television special depicting Charlie Brown's depression at the commercialization of the Christmas season…

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Psycho (1960) film poster1960s

Psycho (1960)

May 19, 2026

Hitchcock's adaptation of Robert Bloch's novel about a woman who steals from her employer and stops at the wrong motel. Psycho is Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 American horror-thriller adapted from Robert Bloch's 1959 novel, depicting a Phoenix real-estate secretary who steals…

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