The 50 Most Bizarre B-Movies From The '50s, '60s, & '70sThe Groovy Era was full of some of the most purely strange b-movies that have ever been made and if you skipped them the first time around (or weren't alive when they were screening at drive-ins) it's time to check them out.
The following cult classics are from every genre from exploitation, and even the beach party flicks that were popular for about two seconds.
Keep reading to find creatures from space, communists, werewolf bikers, and A LOT of radiation. Remember, all of the following b-movies are campy cult classics, and they're absolutely worth your time. Plan 9 From Outer Space
With all of the plans from outer space out there it's hard to know which one is the most maniacal. Thankfully Ed Wood wrote and directed this film all about interstellar beings resurrecting the dead as zombies, vampires, and bumbling creeps before humanity can build a sun-powered bomb. and believed to be the "worst film ever made," Plan 9 From Outer Space is a must see.
Mesa of Lost Women
source: Howco Productions, Inc. This 1953 cult classic follows a mad scientist working in Mexico to so he can harvest their venom and inject into women that he kidnaps. From there he hopes to use these genetically enhanced spider-women to do, uh, something... evil?
Cat Women of the Moon
source: Astor Pictures Finally, a film that posits that cat women are When a group of astronauts discover these cat women they also discover that these cat women want to steal their spaceship and leave them to rot on the Earth orbiting rock.
Them!
source: Warner Bros. Them! asks the question, "What would you do if you were attacked by " If you're anything like the folks in this 1954 sci-fi B-movie you'd grab a flamethrower and start rocking. The Blob
source: Paramount Pictures
in this classic film about a small town fighting a big glob of space trash that eats everything in its way.
The Creature With the Atom Brain
source: Columbia Pictures
The 1955 schlock-fest has it all: Nazis. A mad scientist. Zombies. Wise guys. Radiowave powered mind control. All of these disparate elements come together when the mad scientist uses mind controlled zombies to bring an exiled Italian mobster back to power. Great!
Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
source: Embassy Pictures
The Japanese version of this film is a stone cold classic, but the American cut does away with much of the subtext and instead focuses on an American journalist who saves the world from the giant nuclear lizard. Sadly not after .
I Was A Teenage Werewolf
source: American International Pictures
(that old story), Michael Landon plays a teenager doing his best to overcome his anger issues by smashing one jar of milk at a time. While this movie hits every trope of the teen problem movies of the '50s, it's an undeniable classic. Beautiful Women and the Hydrogen Man
source: Toho
This cult classic follows as they investigate a strange group of people who disappear, only leaving their clothes as evidence. Is a serial killer? Nope. It's a mutant living in the sewers that's melting everything it gets its "hands" on.
I Married a Monster From Outer Space
source: Paramount Pictures
Don't you hate it when this happens? When Marge Bradley Farrell realizes that her husband has been swapped out with she has to stop an invasion before the rest of the men on Earth are replaced and the women give birth to human-alien hybrids.
Monster on the Campus
source: Universal-International
No, this isn't about the hazing scandals of the '90s (and 2000s, also the 2010s), it's about a professor who comes into contact with the blood of a prehistoric fish. The professor lives out the worst nightmare for academics everywhere as he with a bloodlust for college-age teens.
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
source: American International Pictures
In this stone cold cult classic, an unhinged, does everything he can to keep his decapitated girlfriend alive while also keeping a giant mutant creature chained up in his basement. Ah, love.
The Hideous Sun Demon
source: Pacific International Enterprises
When Dr. Gil McKenna is exposed to radiation (natch) he turns into a lizard monster whenever he's hit with This is one of the few films with two credited directors, and you know what that means. It's not very good.
Teenagers From Outer Space
source: Warner Bros., but teenagers from outer space? Forget about it. When a teenaged alien catches feelings or an Earth girl he decides to stop his are from turning the Earth into a food source. It's kind of like Romeo and Juliet but with giant space lobsters.
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?
source: Fairway International Pictures
This delightful cult classic from the 1960s shows just what can go wrong when you burn a fortune teller at your local carnival. When the young Jerry fails to heed the warning of a Romani woman she lays the smack down on him curse wise and turns him into a
Girl in the Gold Boots
source: Geneni Film Distributors
From the director of The Astro-Zombies, this exploitation classic shows just what happens when you go all in on your dreams. Specifically the dream of becoming a go-go dancer in a club that's actually a front for a drug dealer who also employs a . Fire Maidens From Outer Space
source: Eros Films
The one thing is to simply find an old man and his bakers dozen of sexy daughters on a moon, and that's pretty much what happens in this movie. Unfortunately before the astronauts can settle down on the 13th moon of Jupiter they have to take care of a pretty nasty monster. Ain't that the way it always goes?
Attack of the Crab Monsters
source: Allied Artists
When a group of researchers travel to a forgotten island in the Pacific to they get a little more than they bargained for. Specifically, giant man-eating crabs.
Spacemen Appear in Tokyo
source: Daiei Film
You read that right, spacemen do appear in Tokyo in this very strange film about starfish alien creatures who turn a female of their species into that of a human woman pop star to warn Earthlings of an impending meteor. Also known as Warning from Space, this truly bizarre film is said to have influenced Stanley Kubrick while making
The Twonky
source: United Artists
When a college professor's wife goes out of town the last thing expects is for his futuristic television set to start controlling his life. This film now feels less like fiction and now more like a documentary.
Invasion of the Saucermen
source: American International Pictures
Don't you hate it when you just want to take your best gal up to lover's lane but you end up running over an alien with a huge head and jumpstarting an interplanetary war? Starring Frank Gorshi this film is a lot of fun even if it makes absolutely no sense.
The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent
source: American International Pictures
Do you like sea serpents and If so, you're in luck because this movie definitely has both of those things. Even if you're not into all the delights that the title promises, at just over 66 minutes there's not a wasted moment.
The Brain Eaters
source: American International Pictures
in an early role (so early that his name is misspelled in the credits), this Roger Corman cult classic shows just how quickly society can break down when parasitic creatures from the center of the Earth start boring into people's heads and turning them against one another.
The Giant Gila Monster
source: McLendon-Radio Pictures Distributing Company
Come for the giant gila monster, stay for the that was used by production when they couldn't actually get ahold of a gila monster.
The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock
source: Columbia Pictures
So this movie is insane. Once you finish reading every word of this article drop what you're doing and seek it out. The film follows who plays an inventor who's wife grows to enormous size after she's exposed to radiation. He's fine with it, but of course the local yokels take issue with a giant woman looming over their town.
Two Thousand Maniacs!
source: Box Office Spectaculars
Hoo-boy this one is a doozy. Inspired by Brigadoon, Two Thousand Maniacs! shows just what happens when a group of northern tourists find themselves on the centennial of the Civil War. Like every film by Herschel Gordon Lewis this movie is not for the faint of heart.
Manos: The Hands of Fate
source: Emerson Film Enterprises
Plan 9 From Outer Space gets all the credit for being the "worst movie of all time," but that's only because enough people haven't submitted to Manos: The Hands of Fate. Written, directed, starring, and produced by Harold P. Warren, the film follows a vacationing family who runs afoul of a satyr, his and a bunch of hypnotized wives.
I Accuse My Parents
source: Producers Releasing Corporation
Parents take heed - If you have even an ounce of freedom they'll run away from home, get a job at a diner, join a gang, commit murder, and then blame the whole thing on you. At least that's what can happen according to I Accuse My Parents.
Werewolves on Wheels
source: Dark Sky Films
In this treasure of a '70s relic a biker gang destroys a Satanic monastery, and because of that one little mistake they're I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
source: American International Pictures Being a teen in the 1950s was no laughing matter. You're parents didn't take you seriously. You had to get good grades and try not to look like a goof in front of your sweetheart, and don't forget about the looming threat of mad scientists who seek to turn you and your friends into a bunch of mixed up body parts much like
The Atomic Brain
source: Emerson Film Enterprises
Yet another film about bringing three women from Europe to America so she can put her brain into one of their nubile bodies.
Prince of Space
source: Toei Company
This Japanese export is confusing to say the least, but it features a superhero who pretends to be from space who fights who are actually from space with the help of a group of precocious children. It's not for the faint of heart.
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians
source: Embassy Pictures
Believe it or not, but in this humble holiday film conquer the Martians. Why is Kris Kringle at war with our brothers from the red planet? Simply because Martian parents don't want their children to grow up fetishizing capitalism like Earth children. That doesn't sit right with Saint Nick, and you know what happens when you're on his bad side.
Secret Agent Super Dragon
source: Variety Distribution
This Italian rip off of the James Bond series follows a CIA agent trying to stop a crime syndicate from dosing the United States with a psychotropic drug. If you can handle the dubbing this will easily be in .
Gunslinger
source: American Releasing Corporation
When is dusted by outlaws, his wife picks up the badge and takes out the trash. She also falls in love which honestly feels a little too soon but who are we to judge?
Teen-Age Crime Wave
source: Columbia Pictures
This "taut" "thriller" shows just teens can get into after they break out of prison and take over a family at a farmhouse. Great title, okay movie.
Invasion U.S.A.
source: Columbia Pictures
Invasion U.S.A. shows just what can go wrong if you, yes YOU, don't do your part to stop the red wave of communism in 1950s America. When a group of lackadaisical Americans ignore Russian forces take over the United States much to the chagrin of our main characters. The twist at the end of this movie is not to be missed. The Sword and the Dragon
This weird little Soviet fantasy film is both a nd one of the strangest movies about Barbarians attacking 13th century Russia that you'll ever see.
Devil Doll
source: Associated Film Distributing Corp.
How do you feel about creepy ventriloquists? How about body swapping? Animated dolls? Well in this film a hypnotizes some poor schmo into zapping his spirit into a doll while using those same powers to get major bucks out of his audience. It's a little dry (read: English) but it's honestly a pretty cool movie.
The Violent Years
source: Headliner Productions
This is a trenchant critique on young, rich people who uqsetheir privilege to get their kicks committing crime and *checks notes* joining the communist party. Ed Wood's films tend to play out like surreal video installations when he's behind the camera, but with an actual director at the helm The Violent Years is actually very watchable.
This Island Earth
source: Universal
