The 1960s represent cinema’s most revolutionary decade. A bridge between Hollywood’s golden age and the artistic explosion of the 1970s.
While classics like Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate rightfully dominate discussions, dozens of exceptional films from this era remain criminally overlooked. These 20 underrated gems showcase the decade’s experimental spirit, social upheaval, and artistic innovation. They offer rich rewards for contemporary audiences seeking authentic 1960s cinema beyond the well-known classics.
What makes these 1960s films “underrated gems”?
For this list, I’ve identified English-language films that were:
- Box office failures despite quality
- Critically underappreciated at the time
- Simply forgotten due to poor distribution or controversial content
Each represents significant artistic merit that went unrecognized. Often being decades ahead of their time in themes, technique, or cultural commentary.
The Psychological Nightmares That Launched Careers
1. Seconds (1966)
Director: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Rock Hudson, John Randolph, Salome Jens
A middle-aged banker undergoes radical surgery to assume a new identity and younger appearance. But he discovers his new life comes with a terrifying price.
Rock Hudson’s career-best dramatic performance completely subverts his romantic leading man image. Meanwhile, James Wong Howe’s revolutionary cinematography uses fisheye lenses and experimental angles. The result? Genuine psychological horror that still feels fresh today.
Why it’s underrated: Booed at Cannes and a major box office flop, this prescient exploration of identity crisis and cosmetic surgery was simply too dark and complex for 1960s audiences. The film’s themes about reinvention and suburban alienation proved decades ahead of their time.
2. Homicidal (1961)
Director: William Castle
Cast: Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Joan Marshall
A series of brutal murders in a small town leads to dark family secrets involving identity and inheritance.
Despite William Castle’s reputation for gimmicks, this psychological thriller features Joan Marshall’s remarkable dual performance that predates similar twists by years. It creates genuine suspense that Time Magazine called superior to Psycho in structure.
Why it’s underrated: Overshadowed by Hitchcock’s masterpiece and dismissed as exploitation, this film’s genuine psychological complexity and Marshall’s tour-de-force performance deserve serious recognition.
3. The Swimmer (1968)
Director: Frank Perry
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Janet Landgard, Janice Rule
An advertising executive decides to “swim home” through suburban Connecticut by using his neighbors’ pools. The journey reveals the decay of his seemingly perfect life.
Burt Lancaster’s finest performance anchors this devastating critique of American masculinity and suburban alienation. Based on John Cheever’s acclaimed short story, it’s a film that gets under your skin and stays there.
Why it’s underrated: Too avant-garde for mainstream audiences, this allegorical masterpiece confused critics and viewers with its surreal approach to exploring the American Dream’s dark underbelly.
International Gems That Influenced Cinema History
4. Peeping Tom (1960)
Director: Michael Powell
Cast: Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey
A disturbed cameraman murders women while filming their dying expressions. This creates a groundbreaking meta-commentary on cinema, spectatorship, and voyeurism.
Decades ahead of its time in addressing cinema’s complicity in violence, this film destroyed director Michael Powell’s career. But it’s now recognised as essential viewing.
Why it’s underrated: Initially reviled and banned in multiple countries, it took Martin Scorsese’s championing in the 1970s for critics to recognise its artistic merit and sophisticated exploration of psychological trauma.
“
The 1960s didn’t just change cinema—they shattered it completely. Every rule was broken, every boundary crossed. What we call ‘modern filmmaking’ was born in this decade of rebellion.
— Film historian on the revolutionary decade
5. The Haunting (1963)
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson
A paranormal investigator invites volunteers to spend time in a supposedly haunted mansion, leading to psychological terror that may be supernatural or entirely mental.
Robert Wise created the ultimate haunted house film using suggestion rather than gore. Julie Harris delivers a powerhouse performance as a woman whose grip on reality slowly dissolves. The film proves that the most terrifying horrors exist in our own minds.
Why it’s underrated: Overshadowed by Psycho and later horror films, this sophisticated psychological masterpiece was too subtle for audiences craving explicit scares, despite being far more genuinely frightening than most horror films.
📹 CLASSIFIED
Behind the Curtain
🎭
The Haunting’s Invisible Terror
Robert Wise never showed a single ghost in the entire film. Every supernatural effect was created using sound, shadows, and Julie Harris’s incredible performance. The “breathing walls” were achieved by having crew members push canvas from behind!
“The scariest films are the ones where your imagination does all the work.” — Robert Wise
6. Cul-de-Sac (1966)
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Françoise Dorléac, Lionel Stander
Wounded gangsters take refuge in a remote castle owned by an eccentric couple. This leads to psychological power games on an isolated tidal island.
Jack Nicholson called it his favorite film, yet it remains relatively unknown despite winning the Golden Bear at Berlin. It’s Polanski at his most playfully sinister.
Why it’s underrated: Polanski’s pre-Hollywood masterpiece was overshadowed by his later American success, despite representing his most innovative blend of psychological thriller, black comedy, and absurdist theater.
Genre Pioneers That Created New Templates
7. Point Blank (1967)
Director: John Boorman
Cast: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn
After being betrayed and left for dead, Walker methodically works through a criminal organization to recover his stolen money.
Lee Marvin’s iconic performance and Boorman’s avant-garde direction created the template for countless revenge thrillers. Yet the film underperformed initially due to its experimental structure.
Why it’s underrated: The fractured narrative and non-linear structure were too experimental for 1967 audiences expecting straightforward action, despite later recognition as a neo-noir masterpiece.
8. Village of the Damned (1960)
Director: Wolf Rilla
Cast: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Martin Stephens
A British village’s residents mysteriously fall unconscious. All fertile women become pregnant and give birth to emotionless blonde children with telepathic powers.
Martin Stephens’ chilling performance established the template for evil children in horror cinema. Those glowing eyes still give me nightmares.
Why it’s underrated: Overshadowed by Psycho despite equal artistic merit, this film’s restrained approach to horror and sophisticated paranoia themes deserved greater recognition.
9. Carnival of Souls (1962)
Director: Herk Harvey
Cast: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger
A woman emerges as the sole survivor of a car accident. But she finds herself drawn to an abandoned carnival pavilion while experiencing supernatural encounters.
Made for just $33,000, this independent masterpiece influenced generations of horror filmmakers with its atmospheric dread and innovative low-budget techniques.
Why it’s underrated: Limited theatrical release and independent production meant minimal exposure, despite creating techniques later adopted by major horror films.
British New Wave Casualties
10. The Leather Boys (1964)
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Cast: Rita Tushingham, Colin Campbell, Dudley Sutton
A young working-class couple’s marriage crumbles when the husband becomes involved with a leather-clad biker friend.
One of the earliest sympathetic portrayals of gay working-class life in British cinema, this film violated the Hollywood Production Code. Yet it paved the way for later LGBTQ+ representation.
Why it’s underrated: Groundbreaking homosexual subtext was too controversial for mainstream audiences, while its authentic portrayal of 1960s British biker culture was overlooked by critics.
11. The Party’s Over (1965)
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Oliver Reed, Clifford David, Ann Lynn
An American businessman investigates his daughter’s involvement with Chelsea beatniks. He uncovers dark secrets about their hedonistic lifestyle.
Oliver Reed’s powerful early performance and authentic depiction of 1960s counterculture were lost due to severe censorship problems.
Why it’s underrated: Censorship issues delayed release by two years, while the film’s shocking content and social commentary were too provocative for contemporary audiences.
12. Flame in the Streets (1961)
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Cast: John Mills, Sylvia Syms, Brenda de Banzie, Earl Cameron
A progressive union leader fights for racial equality. But he struggles when his daughter wants to marry a West Indian teacher.
Predating Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner by six years, this film addresses racism more directly and unflinchingly than later Hollywood treatments.
Why it’s underrated: Its progressive themes were ahead of their time, while the film’s honest portrayal of British race relations received minimal recognition compared to later American films on similar themes.
Science Fiction and Horror Innovations
13. Nothing But a Man (1964)
Director: Michael Roemer
Cast: Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, Julius Harris
A young Black railroad worker marries a preacher’s daughter in the segregated South, facing economic pressures and racial hostility that test their relationship and his dignity.
This groundbreaking independent film presents an authentic, uncompromising portrait of Black American life. Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln deliver naturalistic performances that feel decades ahead of their time. The film influenced later Black cinema while avoiding Hollywood stereotypes.
Why it’s underrated: Limited distribution due to segregated theater systems and lack of major studio support meant minimal exposure, despite critical acclaim and influence on directors like Spike Lee.
✊ Authentic Voices
“Nothing But a Man” changed everything
While Hollywood was still casting white actors in blackface, this independent masterpiece featured real Black actors telling their own authentic stories. Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln’s naturalistic performances influenced a generation of filmmakers.
Spike Lee has called it “essential viewing” and credits it as a major influence on his own approach to authentic Black storytelling.
14. X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)
Director: Roger Corman
Cast: Ray Milland, Diana Van der Vlis, Harold J. Stone
A scientist develops serum granting X-ray vision. But enhanced sight reveals increasingly disturbing truths about reality.
Ray Milland’s serious dramatic performance elevates this philosophical exploration of knowledge and perception. It’s worthy of The Twilight Zone.
Why it’s underrated: Dismissed as exploitation despite profound themes, while Corman’s B-movie reputation obscured the film’s sophisticated treatment of enhancement-gone-wrong concepts.
15. Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Cast: Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, James Donald
Construction workers discover an ancient spacecraft beneath London. It reveals Martian influence on human evolution.
Nigel Kneale’s sophisticated sci-fi concepts were too complex for mainstream appreciation. Despite this being the peak achievement of British television-to-film adaptation.
Why it’s underrated: Released as Five Million Years to Earth in the US with terrible marketing, while Hammer Horror association limited serious critical consideration of its intellectual themes.
Crime and Thriller Innovations
16. Morituri (1965)
Director: Bernhard Wicki
Cast: Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Janet Margolin
A German deserter poses as an SS officer to sabotage a Nazi cargo ship carrying rubber crucial to the war effort.
Despite an A-list cast, Conrad Hall’s cinematography and Jerry Goldsmith’s score support sophisticated wartime thriller themes about moral complexity.
Why it’s underrated: Confusing Latin title and release during Brando’s “difficult” period, while sophisticated anti-war themes confused audiences expecting straightforward action.
⚓ Behind Enemy Lines
The “$4 Million Headache”
Morituri nearly sank 20th Century Fox! With Marlon Brando at his most “method” and Yul Brynner refusing to shave his famous bald head for the role, production costs spiralled wildly out of control.
The studio was so worried about the title that they changed it to “The Saboteur: Code Name Morituri” for American release. Audiences were still confused! 😅
17. The Sadist (1963)
Director: James Landis
Cast: Arch Hall Jr., Helen Hovey, Richard Alden
Three teachers become hostages of a psychotic young killer at a remote auto junkyard.
This remarkably intense psychological thriller achieves maximum impact with minimal resources. Featuring pioneering handheld camera work and Arch Hall Jr.’s genuinely disturbing performance.
Why it’s underrated: Ultra-low budget led to dismissal as exploitation, while Hall Jr.’s association with cheap teen movies obscured his serious performance in this slasher precursor.
Early Works by Future Masters
18. The Shooting (1966)
Director: Monte Hellman
Cast: Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson
A former bounty hunter is hired by a mysterious woman to track someone across the desert, leading to an increasingly surreal and violent journey through the American West.
Monte Hellman created an existential anti-Western that influenced countless filmmakers. Warren Oates delivers a career-best performance, while a young Jack Nicholson shows early brilliance. The film deconstructs Western mythology with European art-film sensibilities.
Why it’s underrated: Too experimental for Western fans and too Western for art-house audiences, this film fell between categories despite being a masterpiece of American independent cinema.
19. Repulsion (1965)
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser
A young Belgian woman’s sexual repression manifests as terrifying hallucinations in her London flat.
Revolutionary psychological horror focusing on female mental state. Featuring Catherine Deneuve’s fearless performance in a largely non-verbal role.
Why it’s underrated: Polanski’s English-language debut received limited theatrical release, while its psychological complexity was overshadowed by Rosemary’s Baby’s commercial success.
20. Targets (1968)
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Cast: Boris Karloff, Tim O’Kelly, Nancy Hsueh
An aging horror star questions his relevance while a disturbed young man goes on a shooting spree.
Bogdanovich’s directorial debut brilliantly contrasts old-fashioned movie monsters with modern real-world violence. Featuring Boris Karloff’s poignant final major performance.
Why it’s underrated: Made to fulfill Roger Corman contract requirements, this sophisticated meditation on violence and media was too cerebral for drive-in audiences.
Why These Films Matter Now
These 20 films represent more than historical curiosities. They’re essential viewing for understanding cinema’s evolution and discovering genuine artistic treasures.
Many tackle themes that feel remarkably contemporary:
- Identity crisis
- Suburban alienation
- Racial tensions
- Sexual liberation
- Media violence
Their influence can be traced through decades of later filmmakers. From Scorsese and Carpenter to contemporary directors who continue mining their innovations.
“The 1960s were far richer cinematically than mainstream film history acknowledges.”
These innovative filmmakers across the English-speaking world pushed boundaries and explored new territories. These underrated gems prove that beneath the decade’s celebrated classics lies a treasure trove of forgotten masterpieces waiting to be rediscovered.
Each film offers something unique: psychological complexity, visual innovation, social commentary, or pure entertainment value that contemporary audiences will find surprisingly fresh and relevant. In an era of algorithmic recommendations and streaming abundance, these hand-picked gems provide the kind of genuine discovery that makes cinema magical.
I’ve spent years tracking down these titles, and each one rewards the effort. They remind us that great cinema often exists in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to be rediscovered and appreciated by new generations of film lovers.