1) Wait Until Dark (1967)
Of all the films on this list, Wait Until Dark is my personal favorite. Through a series of strange events, some shady guys come to believe that Audrey Hepburn’s character is hiding a doll filled with heroin somewhere inside her apartment. The twist? Hepburn has only recently become blind, and has been trying to adjust to navigating her new life without sight.
2) The Collector (1965)
From the opening scene of the 1965 British movie The Collector, we can tell that something’s not quite right. Frederick Clegg, played by the amazing Terrence Stamp, is collecting butterflies in a field. He looks carefree. He looks relaxed. But he also looks possessed. There’s something not quite right about this man. And we quickly come to learn to trust that instinct.
3) Twisted Nerve (1968)
The 1968 British film Twisted Nerve is the disturbing tale of a young man born into wealth, who pretends to be mentally disabled. Why would he do such a thing? He’s caught shoplifting for kicks and starts a ruse that he quickly realizes can be worked to his advantage with a young woman he meets in the store where he was shoplifting.
4) Man on a Swing (1974)
The 1974 film Man on a Swing was based on the real life story of a supposed psychic who tries to help police solve the case of a young woman who’s been recently murdered. The clairvoyant Franklin Wills, played by the perfectly cast Joel Grey, knows details about the murder that nobody could have known, unless they were either psychic... or at the scene of the crime.
5) What the Peeper Saw (1972)
Of all the movies on this list, the 1972 psycho-sexual thriller What the Peeper Sawis probably the most disturbing. Originally released in the UK as Night Child, the film revolves around a 12-year-old boy, his father, his new stepmom, and questions about whether the boy killed his biological mother.