Movie villains in the 60s are pretty laughable now but back then they were absolutely horrifying. Now we have villains that are more likely to peel your skin back and examine your insides before killing you or will take trophies to remember you by. Back then however horror movies were a little more cerebral and somewhat less visceral, at least when it came to some of them. Don’t get me wrong, some movies got down and dirty but are still in this day and age considered kind of basic. But they did manage to lay the foundation for what was to come, and that’s why they’re still considered to be important when it comes to cinema. That’s also why they’re still some of the best movie villains that have ever been created. While there were a lot of them to pick from there were different factors that had to be considered when making such a decision.
Here are five of the best movie villains from back in the day, and yes, they’re all from horror movies. Hey, horror movies often had the most diabolical and unrelenting villains.
5. The Kids – Village of the Damned
So yes, some of the villains in this one are girls, but there are males as well and they’re just as terrifying since they’re KIDS. However it was explained, however it was deduced that they were created with these powers that they use over the villagers in such horrifying ways, they are kids that have serious impulse control problems and therefore are the last people in the world that you want to see having an ability to do anything just by thinking about it. In the original the leader of the bunch is a male while in the remake it was a female. It seems to be saying that girls are a little more capable then boys but it could also just be the director’s choice to make it a little different. It’s horrifying any way you cut it.
4. Roderick Usher – House of Usher
What kind of a person would bury their sibling while they were still alive? Well, Vincent Price would, but only in character thankfully. Price was the perfect villain in just about anything he starred in since he had the look and the voice that was just perfect for such a role. In fact he was one of the masters of horror in his time and on up until his passing, creating such epics that made people fear the dark in a way that has not been done since. It might have been the 60s, but Vincent Price just couldn’t be beaten when it came to playing the part of the villain, no matter what movie he was put in.
3. Nicholas Medina – The Pit and the Pendulum
Talk about a devilish way to die. There are elements in this story that translate to other movies as well however such as the House on Haunted Hill, in which a woman that is thought to be dead suddenly comes back to life in order to get one over on her husband along with her accomplice. The accomplice is eventually killed but in this movie the woman survives while the mentally disturbed person is finally killed and the man that’s about to be cross-sectioned is freed and allowed to survive. This would be a horrible way to die if you can imagine, especially since the blade wouldn’t cut you in half with one stroke.
2. Zombies – Night of the Living Dead
The zombie in this clip is horrifying and despite being mindless can still be called a villain since unlike some of the zombies we see today there’s real intent there. Come on, the guy is an undead and he picks up a rock AFTER trying to yank on the door handles to open the car. Johnny might be a jerk, but at the very least he’s trying to keep the guy off of Barbara until he gets knocked out. And instead of gnawing on his downed victim the zombie goes after the woman that’s going to predictably trip over absolutely nothing when she’s running away. That’s villainous behavior even if it is essentially mindless.
1. Norman Bates – Psycho
You could rightfully call him the king of the 60s villains since Norman Bates is admittedly nuts and this can be backed up all through the movie. The remake didn’t do this movie justice, and unfortunately neither did the sequels, but then there was no beating the original when it came right down to it. The movie scared the hell out of just about everyone that watched it that wasn’t a horror junkie looking for a good thrill. A guy dressing up like his dead mother to kill people is something you wouldn’t have expected back then, and even now in this day and age it’s still considered creepy.
The 60s was a good decade for movie villains.
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