The Worst Movies of the 1960s

In this 1965 skin flick, re-released in 1995, three go-go dancers looking for adventure embark on a kidnapping and murder spree in the California desert. The movie was not a commercial or critical hit when it came out, but has since influenced filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino.

A group of men played by stars like John Wayne and Red Buttons trap wild animals in Africa. A female photographer shows up and eventually turns them into good guys. Rotten Tomatoes critics assail its dumb romance and immature jokes and say it’s overlong.

The Sword in the Stone is an animated retelling of the legend of Arthur, the sword Excalibur, and the wizard Merlin. Critics have said it suffers from weak animation, weak characters, and weak songs.

James Bond battles the evil SPECTRE organization in the Swiss Alps. The villain Blofeld was played by Telly Savalas, who became famous in the next decade as the TV detective Kojak. It was George Lazenby’s first and last outing as Bond, so maybe he suffered in comparison with Sean Connery. Critics said it was formulaic and boring but had a good ski chase.

James Bond goes to Japan to investigate the disappearance of spacecraft belonging to the United States and the Soviet Union, which could trigger a war. Rotten Tomatoes critics say it’s messy and implausible, and the plot elements have been used so much the original looks like a copy.

A young man who works in a flower shop accidentally breeds a carnivorous plant and has to commit murder to keep it fed. The movie became something of a cult classic; it was re-made in 1986 and yet another version may be in the works starring Scarlett Johansson.

An Arizona sheriff played by Clint Eastwood has to escort an escape fugitive back from New York City. The critics liked the movie but the audience on Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t, saying it’s a sexist, dated, offensive “time capsule.”

An eccentric inventor played by Dick Van Dyke transforms an old racing car into a flying machine and takes his kids on an adventure to save their grandfather. It has some negative audience comments on Rotten Tomatoes, including “bizarre and confusing breaks from the story and reality” and “boring.”

“The Love Bug” is a Volkswagen Beetle that has a personality and mind of its own. The reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes have minds of their own about this movie, too, describing it as childish, insipid, and sappy.

This is the story of an adopted boy who can’t win the girl of his dreams because of his status, so he goes on adventures instead. The movie suffers from poor production quality with no amusement or joy, according to comments on Rotten Tomatoes.

Barbarella, a scantily clad futuristic astronaut played by Jane Fonda, is sent to find scientist Durand Durand, who has created a weapon that could destroy humanity. Critics described it as “unevenly paced and thoroughly cheesy.”

This political thriller stars Paul Newman and Julie Andrews — and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock — but still it did not manage to thrill its critics or viewers, who described it as “more redolent of mothballs than mystery.”

Jerry Lewis plays an awkward chemistry professor who concocts a potion that transforms him into a handsome, confidant man. One critic called it “a waste of talent, a waste of superb color photography and a waste of time.”

This is the second Hitchcock movie on our list — and it is also another Cold War spy thriller, this time involving a high-ranking Russian official who defects to the United States. Time magazine wrote, “At 70, Hitchcock seems suddenly to have forgotten his own recipe.”

In this movie a magician who has been turned into a raven seeks help from a former sorcerer. It may not sound like much of a plot, but “The Raven” was directed by cult favorite Roger Corman and starred Vincent Price, who was in lots of horror movies, and Boris Karloff, who was in the Frankenstein movies.