My favorite Post-Apocalypse movies of the 1960’s…

The Sixties… drugs, sex, and rock and roll.  Or perhaps it was irresponsible excess, flamboyance, and the decay of social order.  Whichever one you want to pick, it was a decade of some of the best post-apocalypse movies made – well, since the 50’s anyway.

Click the poster to watch the movie, trailer, or scenes.

 

Let’s start off with The Bed Sitting Room.  Wow, how do I even describe it?  It’s British.  Seriously, it’s wonderfully British.  If you are a fan of Monty Python or Terry Gilliam films, I would imagine you would like this.  A few years after a nuclear war (three, maybe four – we’re not sure), we follow a group of very interesting folks, doing fairly interesting things.  The title comes from one of the characters who is afraid that he is actually going to turn into a bed sitting room (for those not familiar with what a bed sitting room is, it is a one-room apartment typically consisting of a combined bedroom and sitting room with cooking facilities).  It gets even weirder when he actually does turn into a bed sitting room.  Even weirder when his mother turns into a wardrobe.  Intrigued?  Check it out…

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Let’s move on to Beyond the Time Barrier.  This one was filmed in only ten days, so you know it’s a gem.  While flying an experimental aircraft, an Air Force test pilot ends up landing back on Earth, except that the airport now looks deserted – and for some time.  Looking to the horizon, he sees the bomb-blasted horizon of a city, while right next to it (literally, right next to it) is a Utopian city.  He is captured and taken below ground by a race of people who are descendants of those lucky enough to, well, get below ground.  Here’s the kicker – they’re all mute.  Well, except for the “Supreme” (dude in charge) and his big bully minion.  Oh, the Supreme has a daughter who takes a shine to our test pilot.  Come to find out, others from various times and places have been transported here and are secretly working to get back home.  There are mutants of course, those who are descended from the poor souls stuck topside who were unlucky enough to fall victim to the plague.  You can tell they’re mutants of course because they’re bald.  Mutants are always bald, don’tcha know…

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The Last Man on Earth.  Based on the book, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.  Follow Dr. Robert Morgan as he spends the day filling up his generator with gas, playing music on the phonograph, checking to make sure the garlic is fresh, going slightly mad and, oh – driving stakes through the hearts of undead “vampires” and tossing their corpses into a burn pit.  Lovely…

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Planet of the Apes.  A planet where apes evolved from men?  “We finally really did it… You Maniacs!  You blew it up!  Ah, damn you!  God damn you all to hell!“

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And finally, The Time Machine.  One of my favorite postapoc films of all time, definitely in the top three.  The Time Traveler (played by Rod Taylor) ventures forth to the year 802, 701.  He meets a race of people called the Eloi who seem to have been descended from those who survived whatever final cataclysm that destroyed civilization.  Come to find out that they are nothing more than cattle for an underground race, the Morlocks, that are descended from those who escaped below ground.  The Morlocks keep the Eloi fat and happy – so that they can eat them.  It’s quite a nice balance going on…