# Realistic Horrors of the 1930-70s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 12, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828 "2020-10-12T20:26:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/1 "2020-10-12T20:26:55Z")
“Wake in Fright” would be a good example. It could all be true - nothing supernatural, no CGI… “The Housemaid” (1960) is another example, but I didn’t like it. “Rosemary’s Baby” would NOT be a good example (I won’t spoil why)… “Eyes Without a Face” and “The Face of Another” (even better) are very good, and have been classified under this category. “Fist in Pocket” (Bellochio) might be one of my favorites, if not my favorite. Italy, 1965ish. The original “M” might fall under this category, but I think many would consider it a thriller/mystery, but its great. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/2 "2020-10-12T21:02:39Z")
Les Diaboliques (1955), Peeping Tom (1960), if hallucination sequences are allowed then Repulsion (1965). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/3 "2020-10-12T21:18:57Z")
_Wait Until Dark_. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/4 "2020-10-12T21:25:48Z")
Psycho. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/5 "2020-10-12T21:33:02Z")
Anything by Alfred Hitchcock. Even _The Birds_ with animals going crazy for no reason is not beyond possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/6 "2020-10-12T21:33:21Z")
Jaws…The movie that apparently doesn’t have enough letters in it. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/7 "2020-10-12T21:35:42Z")
+1 for _Repulsion_ I was a veteran of all the horror genres through the 80’s when I first saw it and Carol’s crazy eyes when she stops, then continues slashing at the landlord still gives me the willies! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/8 "2020-10-12T21:36:54Z")
_The Dark Eyes of London_ (UK title) aka _The Human Monster_ (US title). _Mark of the Vampire_ and _The She-Wolf of London_ had “Scooby-Doo” endings, where the supernatural element turns out to be a hoax. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/9 "2020-10-12T21:42:47Z")
You can fight me on whether it qualifies, but I’ll still praise _The Abominable Dr. Phibes_. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/10 "2020-10-12T21:54:11Z")
I can’t believe I forgot the great “Peeping Tom”… Are there ANY movies similar around that same time? The closest thing I can come up with is “The Collector”, which isn’t that close, but just as good. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/11 "2020-10-12T22:08:21Z")
_What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?_ (1962) and _Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte_ (1963) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/12 "2020-10-12T22:22:27Z")
_Duel_, Stephen Spielberg’s debut film. Technically, there was nothing supernatural in the original _Halloween_, or _Friday the 13th_, or _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre_. Do you consider _I Spit on Your Grave_ or _Last House on the Left_ to be horror? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/13 "2020-10-13T00:41:52Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > _Duel_ , Stephen Spielberg’s debut film. Excellent choice. His best film, in my heretical opinion. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/14 "2020-10-13T01:20:58Z")
_The Old Dark House_ where the terror is not supernatural at all. _Repulsion_. Polanski also came close in _The Tenant_, up to the final twist. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/15 "2020-10-13T07:44:01Z")
Cat People? ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/16 "2020-10-13T09:01:31Z")
I’ll throw in [The Haunting](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057129/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1963), based on Shirley Jackson’s _The Haunting of Hill House_. (And not to be confused with the 1999 ‘remake’) Haven’t read the book or seen this version in many years, but as I recall, there were no actual spookies shown, just implied, and a case could be made for it all being in Eleanor’s head. One of my favorites nonetheless (goes to hunt the DVD/Blu-ray…) ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/17 "2020-10-13T12:08:01Z")
I saw “I Spit on Your Grave” and would consider it, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/18 "2020-10-13T15:40:02Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > I’ll throw in [The Haunting](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057129/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1963), based on Shirley Jackson’s _The Haunting of Hill House_ . (And not to be confused with the 1999 ‘remake’) Haven’t read the book or seen this version in many years, but as I recall, there were no actual spookies shown, just implied, and a case could be made for it all being in Eleanor’s head. Hardly, considering the epilogue is spoken by the deceased character. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/19 "2020-10-13T15:53:02Z")
I’m not sure where other people draw the line between horror and thriller. For my money Robert Mitchum played the villain in a couple of the best non-supernatural horror films: Cape Fear (1962) and Night of the Hunter (1955). The latter is loosely based on the career of a real serial killer. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828/20 "2020-10-13T18:00:42Z")
A couple that come to mind: **Fail Safe** **The Andromeda Strain** (some very early “CGI”, but on a screen, so I think it qualifies) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-horrors-of-the-1930-70s/922828.md?page=2)