Best Fantasy Movies of 1965

Two nuns take a bath, then meet a sailor on the Staten Island Ferry.

The lost city of Kuma is ruled by the cruel, arrogant, beautiful queen, Ayesha, gifted with eternal life. She lures Leo Vincey into her world, seeing in him the reincarnation of the lover she long ago murdered in a fit of violent jealousy. Against all advice Leo is determined to stay and Ayesha persuades him to bathe in the flame of eternal youth... with disastrous consequences.

She was the nymph who found refuge in the river reeds when the goat-god Pan pursued her. Syrinx is the first film of Ryan Larkin, a young artist from Norman McLaren’s student group. To illustrate the ancient Greek legend of how Pan made his pipes, he employs various charcoal sketches. Accompanying music is Claude Debussy’s Syrinx for solo flute.

A chance discovery leads American mining engineer Ben Harris and acquaintance Harold to discover a lost city under the sea while searching for their kidnapped friend Jill. Held captive in the underwater city by the tyrannical Captain (Vincent Price), and his crew of former smugglers, the three plot to escape...

Experimental film following a cycle of seasons as well as the stretch of a single day as a man and his dog slowly ascend a mountain.

A magic umbrella saves a girl from a mysterious attacker. Filmed in 1927, tinted and hand-colored in the early 60s.

Pinocchio tries to save the Earth from Astro the Space Whale

In 2020, after the colonization of the moon, the spaceships Vega, Sirius and Capella are launched from Lunar Station 7. They are to explore Venus under the command of Professor Hartman, but an asteroid collides and explodes Capella. The leader ship Vega stays orbiting and sends the astronauts Kern and Sherman with the robot John to the surface of Venus, but they have problems with communication with Dr. Marsha Evans in Vega. The Sirius lands in Venus and Commander Brendan Lockhart, Andre Ferneau and Hans Walter explore the planet and are attacked by prehistoric animals. They use a vehicle to seek Kern and Sherman while collecting samples from the planet. Meanwhile John helps the two cosmonauts to survive in the hostile land.

Opera by Strauss

In this look at Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), aka Lewis Carroll, Dennis Potter mixed biographical drama with a psychological profile to explore the roots of Dodgson's creativity. Dodgson tells stories to ten-year-old Alice Liddell, leading to recreations of scenes adapted from ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (1865), designed to resemble the original Sir John Tenniel illustrations.

In 1974, four astronauts, silver shoe-clad Dorothy, overweight Doc, goofy Charlie, and wooden Steve, crash land on Mars when taking readings, with only four days of supplies. They must try to survive on the surface, which is barren except for some canals with huge maggots with fins. After embarking through a golden igneous cavern, braving a storm and finding an unmanned Earth vessel, they discover a golden road which leads them to the unchanging ruins of what was once a beautiful Martian city. The Martians are modeled on the Flatheads of Oz, and their collective consciousness, the "Wizard," forbids them to leave until they perform a very small task...

Bob and Shirley go in search of a cemetery in order to inspire Bob for writing his next horror story. After they crash the car, they wander into the graveyard and encounter the dancing dead, a full moon spectacle overseen by the Ruler of the Dark. Before long the couple is spotted and taken prisoner. Tied to stakes and forced to watch the dancing, they await their fate.

Everyone knows the story of Red Riding Hood. But every story has two sides and now the wolf has finally told his. This original musical comedy special, with songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, first aired on November 28, 1965 on ABC.

Warhol plunked a horse named Mighty Byrd in the middle of the Factory for this dark, homoerotic take on the classic oater that later anticipates his later western epic Lonesome Cowboys.

Children role play Ogden Nash's poem about Custard the pet dragon, who shows that he is not always a coward.

Sonny falls asleep while his mom reads him a bedtime story and wakes up in Balloon Land, a magical world filled with giant balloon people and animals.

The Soul Snatcher short film

A fantasy film about two men who become flowers.

Experimental movie, where a man comes home and experiences LSD. His kaleidoscopic visions follow, with readings inspired by the Tibethan Book of the Dead.

A 1966 Filipino fantastical comedy starring the legendary Gina Pareño.

Religious British fantasy.