1960's Horror: Peeping Tom and Psycho

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,