In the 1960’s, horror was
brought into mainstream cinema by directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Michael
Powell and George Romero. These directors helped usher in a new era of cinema,
one that frightened the audiences and provided them with thrills.
Unfortunately, some director’s films were welcomed more than others.
In the year 1960, two horror
films were released that would never be forgotten, these were Alfred
Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ and Michael Powell’s ‘Peeping Tom.’
Michael Powell was an up and
coming British director, who had written and directed many of the best films
from the 1950’s, 40’s and 30’s. Films like ‘The Red Shoes’, ‘A Matter of Life
and Death’ and ‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.’ You can imagine audiences
surprise when Powell had been creating U rated films up until that point, and
instead of a new family friendly films, he unveiled his genius portrayal of a
man who was troubled by his love for the macabre, a photographer in the day and
a serial killer by night, this was the X rated and banned film ‘Peeping Tom.’
This film would later end
Michael Powell’s career. He was struggling to find work so much that he later
moved to Australia.
It’s amazing how the culture of the 1960’s was not ready for such a film, but
now it’s hailed as a classic and one of the most unique horror films of all
time.
The other classic horror film
of 1960 was Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho.’ Even if you haven’t seen ‘Psycho’ you
will most likely know the classic scene where Janet Leigh’s character is killed
by a mad man while she is showering. The infamous music and the jaw dropping
editing of this scene, makes this a moment to remember.
One of the strangest
controversies of this film was seeing a toilet flush. This may sound odd and
petty, but at the time of this films release, a flushing toilet had never been
seen on film. How strange is it that this turned out to be a controversy? It
goes to show the difference of 1960’s culture and today’s where nothing is off
limits,
