It’s easy to look back on the 1960s as a decade where many things changed forever, or seemed to start changing. What was defined as popular music changed, various wars were fought or nearly fought, people feared the end of humanity, high-profile assassinations shook the world, and people seemed more open-minded and knowledgeable about certain difficult truths. It’s fitting, then, that the decade also birthed some strange and very distinctive movies.
The following can all be classified as cult classics for their time, and though some have gone on to receive a level of popularity that exceeds what’s thought of as “cult,” they were all offbeat and unique – as well as potentially divisive – around the time of release. These decade-defining cult classics (many, but not all, belonging to the science fiction genre) are ranked below, starting with the good and ending with the legendary.
10 'X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes' (1963)
Director: Roger Corman
Cult classics aren’t always guaranteed to qualify as B-movies, but there’s a fair amount of overlap between the two different types of films, with Roger Corman often producing and directing titles in both camps. One of his very best movies was the spectacularly named X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, which is about exactly what you’d think it would be, based on that title.
The prolific Ray Milland – star of Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning The Lost Weekend – is featured here as the main character here, not drunk on alcohol as he was in The Lost Weekend, but drunk on the power that x-ray vision gives him to a self-destructive extent. It unfolds how you’d expect, but X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes has a ton of fun with its simple but enjoyable premise along the way, and it overall stands as a very underrated ‘60s cult classic.
9 'Goké, Body Snatcher from Hell' (1968)
Director: Hajime Sato
X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes has a contender for best movie title of the 1960s, so it seems, given the decade also saw the release of Goké, Body Snatcher from Hell. This is another evocative and wild title that tells you much of what to expect before the film even starts, with this Japanese cult classic science fiction/horror movie following a bunch of plane crash survivors finding their situation go from bad to worse, when they’re targeted by strange alien lifeforms.
Goké, Body Snatcher from Hell feels like it takes the premise of Lost and throws it in a blender with films like The Thing and The Blob, and the end result makes for a surprisingly drinkable – if a little funky – cinematic smoothie. It’s not one of the most well-known cult films of its decade, by any means, but it’s a must-watch nonetheless for anyone who likes this kind of wild, strange, and goofy movie from this particular era.
8 'Barbarella' (1968)
Director: Roger Vadim
While Barbarella isn’t one of the very best movies of the 1960s, when viewed a certain way, it could potentially count itself as one of the most iconic, largely thanks to the eccentric style and memorable lead performance by Jane Fonda in the titular role. It’s a sci-fi romp that’s as light-hearted as it is intentionally artificial, though the budget itself can’t exactly be called “low” by the standards of the late 1960s.
As for the plot? Like a good many other cult classic science fiction movies, there isn’t much of one to be found in Barbarella, and even if there is technically a story here about a woman being tasked to battle evil, it doesn’t really matter all that much. Barbarella should be enjoyed and appreciated for its goofiness and perhaps somewhat dated sex appeal; it is possible to acknowledge that time has marched on while appreciating something like this (or an early James Bond film, for example) for the time at which it was released.
7 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' (1962)
Director: Ishirō Honda
Ishirō Honda is something of an unsung hero for the Godzilla series as a whole, because not only did he direct the timeless and still haunting 1954 original, but he was also able to pivot and make much goofier – and more action-packed – sequels within the series. 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla (the first time the two titular titans met and fought) demonstrates this well, as it’s all very, very silly, but still so much fun in its own bizarre way.
The human storyline could be better, but seeing King Kong and Godzilla clash is great, and worth the price of admission alone. Surprisingly, this was only the third movie Godzilla ever appeared in, and King Kong was only the second fellow titan he ever fought (after Anguirus in 1955’s Godzilla Raids Again), but it was an undoubtedly memorable, explosive, and delightfully silly showdown that somehow took nearly 60 years to have a rematch.
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
NRActionAdventureComedy Horror Sci-Fi- Release Date
- August 11, 1962
- Director
- Ishirô Honda
- Cast
- Tadao Takashima , Kenji Sahara , Yû Fujiki , Ichirô Arishima , Jun Tazaki , Akihiko Hirata
- Runtime
- 91
6 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!' (1965)
Director: Russ Meyer
One final fantastically named movie from the 1960s that also happens to be a cult classic is Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, which can count itself as one of the most definitive movies within the exploitation genre/movement. It follows three young women who commit a series of kidnappings and murders while trying to get closer to the fortune an old man in the desert may be sitting on, only for that old man to be playing his own kind of game at the same time.
It's a provocative film that might simply have been too much for viewers at the time, but those watching the movie since its initial 1965 release have been more receptive to it. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a blast to watch, and it still feels at least a little bit like a shock to the system, which is a pretty sure sign that an uncompromising cult/camp classic is aging well.
5 'Fantastic Voyage' (1966)
Director: Richard Fleischer
When it comes to movies that focus on normal-sized people becoming much smaller and then getting up to all sorts of crazy adventures, few are as iconic as Fantastic Voyage. The far-fetched plot essentially revolves around a scientist who’s at risk of dying, unless a crew of people are shrunk down to a microscopic level and enter his bloodstream, performing tasks while there that will keep him alive.
Fantastic Voyage might not hold up technically speaking, as the special effects are technically dated… but they’re still admirable for how creative they were, and for the fact that they probably looked pretty good for their time. The concept of multiple people being so small they can enter and have adventures inside another person is also an inherently fun one, and Fantastic Voyage succeeds in mining entertainment value out of that premise.
4 'Django' (1966)
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Sergio Corbucci might not have even been quite as famous as Sergio Leone, but both directors made some of their very best films within the Spaghetti Western genre. Of those that Corbucci directed, The Great Silence might’ve been his best, but his most famous – and the one that feels like it qualifies for cult movie status – would have to be 1966’s Django.
Not to be mixed up with the 2012 film by Quentin Tarantino, nor any sequels/quasi-sequels that used the same name, 1966's Django is focused on the titular gunslinger getting wrapped up in a complex conflict that involves a violent gang and Mexican revolutionaries. Django is beloved nowadays for how wild and boundary-pushing it was for the Western genre back in 1966; a time when even something as violent as Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch was still three years away.
3 'Yellow Submarine' (1968)
Director: George Dunning
Though The Beatles weren’t hugely involved in Yellow Submarine the movie (beyond giving the film permission to use their likenesses and obviously providing the music), it is still a cult classic that captures the spirit of the band. And, clearly, The Beatles were essentially the most iconic musicians of the decade, and so it follows that movies involving them in any capacity have a chance of being equally iconic.
Yellow Submarine is a blast, and you probably don’t even have to be a huge fan of The Beatles to enjoy it, given the strange sense of humor, psychedelic animation, and the unusual yet entertaining story it contains. It’s an animated movie that really couldn’t have been made or released in any other decade than the ‘60s, capturing the decade in all its strange glory, and for better or worse.
2 'Easy Rider' (1969)
Director: Dennis Hopper
Easy Rider is one of those iconic movies that may have initially been a cult movie, but has grown in influence beyond the realms of being a mere “cult classic.” Still, despite its ubiquity and popularity, it remains a movie that feels difficult to describe, especially when it comes to devoting words to explaining why it’s so good or important. It simply captured a way of life or a feeling that many could relate to in the late ‘60s, and as such, Easy Rider has continued to hold a place in the hearts and minds of many.
In essence, it’s about two bikers going on a cross-country trip, and eventually running into a character played by Jack Nicholson, who steals the movie for a little while before vanishing. The end of the film itself also feels abrupt, but in a way that’s clearly trying to make a statement. Honestly… yeah, Easy Rider’s weird, but it is one of THE cult classics of the 1960s, and even if you can’t begin to understand quite why it’s so revered, you also have to just kind of accept that it is, and admire it for that.
Easy Rider
R- Release Date
- May 7, 1969
- Director
- Dennis Hopper
- Cast
- Peter Fonda , Dennis Hopper , Antonio Mendoza , Phil Spector , Mac Mashourian , Warren Finnerty
- Runtime
- 95
- Main Genre
- Drama
1 'Night of the Living Dead' (1968)
Director: George A. Romero
Night of the Living Dead achieved cult status like no other film for an assortment of reasons. It ended up in the public domain by accident, and nowadays can even be viewed on Wikipedia. Like other aforementioned cult classics, it was boundary-pushing in some regards, here mostly relating to the bold social commentary and some of the (for the time) graphic violence. And, finally, it's also significant for helping define what would later become the zombie genre.
At its core, though, Night of the Living Dead is also just an engaging story about survival against undead forces, following a group of people hiding out in a house that's being attacked by hordes of brain/flesh-eaters. It's dated in some regards, but hugely impressive for a film of its kind that is now as old as it is. George A. Romero knowingly or unknowingly gave birth to the zombie genre by making this cult classic (that's since outgrown such cult trappings, being just a classic now, really), and for that, it's worth highlighting Night of the Living Dead as the most significant cult (or ex-cult) classic of its decade.
Night of the Living Dead
NR- Release Date
- October 4, 1968
- Director
- George A. Romero
- Cast
- Duane Jones , Judith O'Dea , Karl Hardman , Marilyn Eastman , Keith Wayne , Judith Ridley
- Runtime
- 96
- Main Genre
- Horror
