|
Top 10 From The 1930's
Wikipedia lists 68 Horror Films made in the 1930's (Listed Below)
Note: it may not be complete but it's a pretty good start. This was the decade considered by many to really launch the American Horror Film into the public eye. Your task is simple (Actually probably not so simple :) pick your personal favorites and create a Top 10 list. You need not worry about order unless you really have an order you're happy with. 1930 The Bat Whispers The Cat Creeps 1931 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Dracula Dracula (Spanish) Frankenstein The Phantom 1932 Castle Sinister Dr. X Freaks Island of Lost Souls Kongo The Mask of Fu Manchu The Monster Walks The Most Dangerous Game The Mummy Murders in the Rue Morgue The Old Dark House Tales of the Uncanny Vampyr White Zombie 1933 The Crying Woman The Ghoul The Invisible Man The Monkey's Paw Murders in the Zoo Mystery of the Wax Museum Night of Terror Supernatural The Vampire Bat 1934 The Black Cat Black Moon Roy Chloe, Love is Calling You House of Mystery Maniac The Phantom of the Convent The Tell-Tale Heart 1935 The Black Room Bride of Frankenstein Condemned to Live The Crime of Dr. Crespi Mad Love Mark of the Vampire Ouanga The Raven The Student of Prague Werewolf of London 1936 The Devil-Doll Dracula's Daughter The Ferryboat Woman Maria The Golem The Invisible Ray The Macabre Trunk The Man Who Changed His Mind Revolt of the Zombies Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street The Walking Dead 1939 Buried Alive The Cat and the Canary The Dark Eyes of London The Devil's Daughter The Face at the Window The Gorilla The Macabre Legacy The Man They Could Not Hang The Return of Dr. X Son of Frankenstein Torture Ship |
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein Son of Frankenstein Jeckyll and Hyde Island of Lost Souls Invisible Man The Old Dark House White Zombie The Black Cat Freaks Honorable Mention: Maniac What, you say, no Dracula? Though the role is synonomous with Lugosi, I find the film itself rather creaky and stodgy. I prefer Lugosi in other roles, such as Ygor in Son of Frankenstein, and the Black Cat. I consider Universal's first 3 Frankenstein films to be a perfect trilogy. All three were quality productions with excellent scripts and top notch casts, providing us with several iconic horror images. Though it didn't make my top 10, I had to throw in Maniac as an honorable mention. IMO it's the prototype example of the just plain insane low budget production that makes no sense whatsoever, yet is so bad it's good. As such, this film has a lot to answer for! |
Quote:
My favorite Lugosi film is still The Black Cat I think. I'm still thinking about my top 10. Thanks for listing your points of view too though, I like to hear them. |
So many good ones from this era...hard to choose just 10. Let me go for some of the underrated ones.
Vampyr (I would rank it as one of the best horror films ever made) Mystery of the Wax Museum (atmospheric horror at it's finest) Mad Love (Peter Lorre's best performance of his entire career) Mark of the Vampire (fans of Tod Browning should not miss this) The Raven (one of the best films of this era, Karloff-Lugosi combination) The Devil-Doll (Barrymore in a superbly original story) The Walking Dead (long before the TV series, Karloff made this his own) The Cat and the Canary (fantastic little comedy-horror gem) Son Of Frankenstein (overshadowed by it's two illustrious predecessors) and my personal favorite... The Old Dark House (genuinely creepy, horrifying masterpiece with an ensemble cast, can't get any better than this) |
Some other favorites: The Black Cat The Black Room The Mummy Mad Love The Walking Dead Maniac |
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein The Raven Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Freaks The Mummy The Black Cat Mark of the Vampire- Maybe my favourite of the era. Carol Borland is amazing, great cast, Barrymore hams it up to the max, definatley one of the best movies of the 30's, great atmosphere and set design. Kinda crazy but I think its one of Brownings best. The Hunchback of Notre Dame- Not on the wiki list (neither is king kong) but I'd stick them in the horror genre anyway and Laughton is quality. |
You're right on both counts on Hunchback and King Kong... I may have to rethink my list!
|
I guess what genre King Kong & The Hunchback Of Notre Dame belong in are up to each person individually.
King Kong was considered an "Adventure" film back in it's day. So I guess I consider it more Adventure/Fantasy or Adventure Sci/Fi. It wasn't billed as "Horrific" in the way something like Frankenstein was. The Hunchback Of Notre Dame is more of a Drama to me. It wasn't billed as a Horror film at the time either. Quasimodo wasn't a "Terror" like The Phantom Of The Opera was. |
These are my choices: Really tough!
Dracula Frankenstein Dr Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde The Black cat Island Of Lost Souls White Zombie Werewolf Of London Mad Love Freaks Vampyr The Duchess |
Not in order-
Vampyr The Old Dark House The Black Cat The Raven White Zombie Freaks Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street The Mummy Mystery Of The Wax Museum The Ghoul |
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Freaks The Old Dark House Mystery of the Wax Museum Night of Terror Werewolf of London Dracula The Raven |
Freaks
Dracula Frankenstein The Mummy The Old Dark House Mystery of the Wax Museum Werewolf of London White Zombie Murders in the Rue Morgue Bride of Frankenstein |
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:56 PM. |