Some really old classic horror movies?

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Permalink Reply by Gojira Boy on October 12, 2009 at 2:09pm

Here are my "dirty dozen" TOP 12 Classic Horror Films of the 1920's and 30's *and before! *

Not to be forgotten, one of the first horror films ever, certainly the first film adaptation of Shelley's Frankenstein:

1) "Frankenstein" (1910) Edison Studios film directed by J. Searle Dawley, with Charles Ogle as "the Monster".


The 1920's heralded a great boom of German Expressionist Films including German Horror classics such as:

2) "The Golem: How He Came Into the World" (1920) the third film in Paul Wegener's "Golem" trilogy of films.
Rabbi Loew brings to life a clay man -monster meant to protect the Jews from impending disaster,
runs amok.


3) "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) another classic Silent German Horror film, with Conrad Veidt
as Cesare. Evil Dr. Caligari has his somnambulist Cesare do his bidding and murders the good
people of Holstenwall.


4) "Nosferatu" (1922) F.W. Murnau's classic adaptation of Stoker's Dracula, was too close for
Stoker's widow's taste she sued to have the film banned for many years. A true Horror classic
with Max Schreck as Graf (Count) Orlok.


Next are some Classic American Silent Horror Films:

5) "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1920) Starred the great John Barrymore *Drew Barrymore's grandfather*,
as the titular scientist, and his Evil "alter ego" Mr. Hyde


6) "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1923) The great Lon Chaney * Man of a 1,000 faces * uses his
makeup FX to star as Hugo's bell-ringer Quasimodo. One of the first films where the audience feels
sympathy for the "monster".


7) "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925) Lon Chaney masterfully stars as Leroux's anguished "Phantom".


Then came the Universal Classics!

8) "Dracula" (1931) Tod Browning's classic with Bela Lugosi as Stoker's infamous blood sucking Count.

9) "Frankenstein" (1931) James Whale's incredible film with exquisite lighting & camera work,
not to mention undoubtedly the MOST Memorable makeup for the "monster" played tragically
by Boris Karloff. * A Must See*

10) "Freaks" (1932) Tod Browning's controversial film *banned for many years*, depicts a group of
circus freaks both sympathetically *humanely*, and quite eerily at the end of the movie.

11) "The Mummy" (1932) Karl Freund's horror classic with Boris Karloff starring as the eternal Imhotep.

12) "The Bride of Frankenstein" James Whale reteams with Boris Karloff, to reprise the monster,
who this time forces the good doctor to create for him a "companion" ( Played by Elsa Lanchester ).
Widely regarded as one of the few sequels to outshine the original.

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Permalink Reply by steven cowie on November 26, 2009 at 11:14am

loved "frankenstein", the edison version(great blue filter at end etc), "golem" slightly less..though amazed at all to be watching them!!! I thought that the edison print was destroyed etc?? no "vampyr" though???

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Permalink Reply by Harvald on October 12, 2009 at 3:27pm

Nosferatu is also my favorite.But after all it is widely considered to be the best silent horror film an the best vampire film of all time.

Yes Phantom of the Opera has Lon Chaney but Nosferatu has Max Schreck.Both of their characters are scary but still the Atmosphere and the Music in Nosferatu make the best horror to see on a dark, silent night.

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Permalink Reply by Stanley Kubrick on October 12, 2009 at 3:57pm

Quite suprised no-one ever mentioned "Cat People":

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2921241600/tt0034587

or the freaky "Carnival of Souls" which is well worth checking out:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3904347392/tt0055830

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Permalink Reply by Gojira Boy on October 12, 2009 at 5:16pm

Hey, SB, I thought Shootguy asked for your favorite classic Horror movies from the 1920's and 30's?

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Permalink Reply by Stanley Kubrick on October 12, 2009 at 5:34pm

ok, ok its not 20's and 30's but 40s and 50s films (Cat People and Carnival of Souls) but hey they're great 'old' films, the actors / actresses in these two movies are doing well if they're doing well.

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Permalink Reply by Gojira Boy on October 12, 2009 at 5:43pm

Hey, I agree there are some Masterpieces of Horror from the 40's, 50's and 60's "Carnival of Souls" (1962).
If he'd asked for those time periods, I would have greatly expanded my list to include those as well.
Irregardless of time period "Cat People" & "Carnival of Souls" are great films.

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Permalink Reply by Lagomorph on November 26, 2009 at 10:14am

Oh man I *LOVE* Cat People.

The bus scene is imho one of the greatest scares in movie history.

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Permalink Reply by Brock on October 12, 2009 at 4:02pm

The Invisible Man was always my favorite.

Such a technological marvel for it's time period.

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Permalink Reply by I.Koval on October 12, 2009 at 5:52pm

It's not really a 'horror' film, though, is it? It's closer to sci-fi, I would say. Great movie, though, even today.

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Permalink Reply by Brock on October 13, 2009 at 6:21am

That's kind of like saying "Alien" wasn't a horror film but instead a sci-fi.

It still had plenty of scares, to be a horror movie. However it also made me laugh a lot to, so I guess it could also be a comedy. If you ask me, this may have been one of the first Science Fiction Horror Comedies ever made.

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Permalink Reply by Guitaro Man on October 13, 2009 at 7:10pm

Its considered one of the great Universal Horror Movies of the 30's so I guess it is considered a horror film.

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