Ten underrated classic films described as overlooked masterpieces

Collider published a piece by Andrea Ciriaco that highlights ten classic films she says have been underrated yet can legitimately be called masterpieces.

The roundup names titles across decades and genres, from Humphrey Bogart’s breakout turn in The Petrified Forest, which the article says explores the disillusionment of the American Dream, to Ida Lupino’s tight, dread-filled noir The Hitch-Hiker — noted as the only woman to direct a noir in the genre’s classic era. It also spotlights Rod Serling’s Requiem for a Heavyweight (with Anthony Quinn and a young Cassius Clay), Robert Altman’s anti-noir The Long Goodbye (initially divisive but later influential), Michael Caine’s Get Carter as a cornerstone of British neo-noir, and Don Siegel’s The Line-Up as a precursor to films like Dirty Harry and The French Connection.

The article notes many of these films were misunderstood or overshadowed at the time but have since found recognition and influence: Scream of Fear (also titled Taste of Fear) is singled out as a blueprint for psychological horror and is listed with its August 22, 1961 release date, 82-minute runtime, director Seth Holt and writers Jimmy Sangster and others. Ciriaco argues these underrated classics reveal their worth over time through moral complexity, psychological depth, or emotional honesty that lingers after the credits roll.

Key Topics

Culture, Get Carter, Ida Lupino, Michael Caine, Andrea Ciriaco, The Hitch-hiker