The 20 Best Movies Of The 1960s

By | August 30, 2022

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source: Warner Bros.

From moment one of the 1960s, it was clear that something had changed, not just in film but in every aspect of common life. In the '60s, audiences went to the cinema to see their lives reflected back at them, but as the decade wore on those reflections became more oblique and surreal. In some cases, like with Alfred Hitchcock's genre-defining Psycho, the reflection was of our fears, while In The Heat of the Night projected our prejudices in technicolor across the silver screen.

There are so many groundbreaking and astonishing movies from the 1960s that it's hard to pick just one that defines the decade, but here are the 20 best movies from the Grooviest decade.

Psycho

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source: Paramount Pictures

Released at the beginning of the decade, Psycho set the stage not only for every thriller and horror movie to come but for every movie that followed. Star director Alfred Hitchcock was working with a small budget and a scaled backed crew to tell the story of an unhinged murderer whiling away his days in an off-the-beaten-path motel.

This simple black and white film was not only a huge hit, but it inspired the style and tone of every slasher film that followed with its mix of violence and sexuality. While speaking about his intentions with Psycho, Hitchcock explained:

[Psycho] was intended to make people scream and yell and so forth. But no more than screaming and yelling on a switchback railway… so you mustn't go too far because you want them to get off the railway giggling with pleasure.