Movie Listings by Genre

Director: Tod Browning    More Info
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, David Manners, Herbert Bunston, Michael Visaroff, Frances Dade, Joan Standing, Charles K. Gerrard

 This film–based on Bram Stoker's novel about the Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi)–is a classic. While visiting London, The Count searches for victims who can supply him with the blood he needs to survive.

Director: James Whale    More Info
Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Edward Van Sloan, Dwight Frye, Lionel Belmore, Michael Mark, Pauline Moore, Francis Ford

 Boris Karloff plays Frankenstein's monster in this "father of horror films." It is the story of Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) who digs up new graves in search of body parts for his experiments in the creation of human life. Frankenstein does succeed, but the life he creates has a violent and murderous brain. When Frankenstein's fiancee Elizabeth (Mae Clarke) arrives at his laboratory with Victor (John Boles) and Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan), they find an eerie scene and a totally changed Frankenstein obsessed with the creation of his monster.

Director: Archie Mayo    More Info
Starring: John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Bramwell Fletcher, Donald Crisp, Luis Alberni, Lumsden Hare, Paul Porcasi, Carmel Myers, Ferike Boros, Adrienne D'Ambricourt

 In this film adaptation of George du Maurier's "Trilby," John Barrymore is superb in the title role of Svengali, the mentor who casts a spell that provides the impetus for young singer Trilby (Marian Marsh) to reach stardom. Trilby has left her family to pursue her career, but what Trilby is not aware of is that she is being manipulated hypnotically and can only perform under Svengali's command. Meanwhile, young artist Billee (Bramwell Fletcher), who is in love with Trilby, has discovered the ruse and follows Svengali and Trilby to Egypt.

Director: Michael Curtiz    More Info
Starring: Lionel Atwill, Lee Tracy, Fay Wray, Preston Foster, Mae Busch, Robert Warwick, Tom Dugan

 While investigating a series of grisly murders involving cannibalism, Lee (Lee Tracy) finds the trail leads to Doctor Xavier's (Lionel Atwill) clinic.

Director: Rouben Mamoulian    More Info
Starring: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Halliwell Hobbes, Holmes Herbert, Edgar Norton, Douglas Walton, Sam Harris, Tempe Pigott, Eric Wilton

 Fredric March won the Oscar for his performance in this, the first, sound production of the famous tale by Robert Louis Stevenson. Dr. Jekyll (March) experiments with good and evil and drinks a potion after which his dark side emerges as the evil Mr. Hyde whose lecherous appetite is unrestrained. Dr. Jekyll is unable to restrain Mr. Hyde, and tragedy ensues.

Director: Tod Browning    More Info
Starring: Wallace Ford, Olga Baclanova, Leila Hyams, Roscoe Ates, Henry Victor, Edward Brophy, Matt McHugh, Rose Dione, Harry Earles, Daisy and Violet Hilton

 This is producer Irving Thalberg's classic film about circus sideshow "freaks." "Little person" Hans (Harry Earles) marries trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova), but Cleopatra is planning to kill him, collect his money, and run off with strongman Hercules (Henry Victor). However, there is a code of honor among circus freaks, and they are keeping an eye on Cleopatra. The freaks uncover Cleopatra's scheme after she poisons Hans, and they transform her into a Feathered Hen. This insightful horror film forces the viewer to rethink preconceived ideas about those who are "different."

Director: Charles Brabin    More Info
Starring: Boris Karloff, Lewis Stone, Karen Morley, Charles Starrett, Myrna Loy, Jean Hersholt, David Torrence, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Lawrence Grant, Herbert Bunston

 Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) plots to obtain the mask of Genghis Khan, which will give him the necessary means to rule the world. Falling into his torture chamber are Terrence Granville (Charles Starrett) and Sheila (Karen Morley), but Scotland Yard's Investigator Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) enters the picture and saves both the hapless couple and the world from the influence of Fu Manchu.

Director: Frank R. Strayer    More Info
Starring: Rex Lease, Vera Reynolds, Sheldon Lewis, Mischa Auer, Martha Mattox, Sidney Bracey, Willie Best

 Ruth (Vera Reynolds) inherits an estate from her scientist father who also left her an ape used in his experiments. Ruth and Ted (Rex Lease) arrive at the estate to claim the inheritance. But, nasty Uncle Robert (Sheldon Lewis) wants the estate for himself. So, he plots to have the mentally challenged son (Mischa Auer) of his housekeeper (Martha Mattox) and the ape take care of Ruth. But things go wrong in this "Old Dark House" tale.

Director: Karl Freund    More Info
Starring: Boris Karloff, David Manners, Zita Johann, Edward Van Sloan, Arthur Byron, Bramwell Fletcher, Noble Johnson, Leonard Mudie, Eddie Kane, Henry Victor

 Boris Karloff takes on the title role in this classic horror film about a third-millennium Egyptian mummy who comes to life. A curse had been placed on anyone who disturbs his tomb when he was buried alive. Now, the tomb is disturbed, the mummy comes to life in the persona of an Egyptologist, and sets out to reincarnate his lover from 3000 years before. He falls in love with Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann) who he believes is the shadow of his lost love. He abducts her and plots to kill her so they can be reunited forever in the Hereafter. Only Frank Whemple (David Manners) and Dr. Muller (Edward Van Sloan) can save her, but will they arrive in time?

Director: Robert Florey    More Info
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Sidney Fox, Leon Ames, Brandon Hurst, Arlene Francis, Bert Roach, Noble Johnson, D'Arcy Corrigan, Herman Bing, Betty Ross Clarke

 Dr. Mirakle (Bela Lugosi) is especially fiendish in this film adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's story of the attempt to cross an ape with a woman.

Director: James Whale    More Info
Starring: Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart, Raymond Massey, Lilian Bond, Ernest Thesiger, Elspeth Dudgeon, Eva Moore, Brember Wills

 Coming in from the cold was not necessarily good for a group of travelers–Philip and Margaret Waverton (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart) and their friend Penderel (Melvyn Douglas)–who seek shelter in a spooky old house. After banging on the door, they are coldly greeted by butler Morgan (Boris Karloff) and the Fenn family–Horace (Ernest Thesiger) and his deaf sister Rebecca (Eva Moore). Wind-blown travelers Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and chorus girl Gladys (Lilian Bond) also seek refuge at the house. Matters deteriorate when Morgan gets drunk and releases psychotic pyromaniac Saul Fenn (Brember Wills) who tries to kill Penderel and set the house on fire.

Director: George Archainbaud    More Info
Starring: Irene Dunne, Ricardo Cortez, Myrna Loy, Jill Esmond, Florence Eldridge, Kay Johnson, Mary Duncan, C. Henry Gordon, Peg Entwistle, Harriet Hagman

 Years after her alienation from a group of sorority sisters, a woman (Myrna Loy) is determined to seek revenge for their callous racial biases.

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer    More Info
Starring: Julian West, Henriette Gerard, Jan Hieronimko, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Albert Bras, N. Babanini, Jane Mora

 In this bizarre tale, David Gray (Julian West) visits a European inn in the village of Courtempierre where the Lord of the Manor (Maurice Schutz) gives him a package and tells David to open it if he dies. He does turn up dead, and David meets the Lord's daughters Gisele and Leone (Rena Mandel and Sybille Schmitz). When David opens the package, he finds a copy of "Strange Tales of Vampires," and then he sees a series of eerie sights (presented through trick photography). David is now convinced that there is a vampire in town, and he must save Gisele, Leone, and himself before they also become victims.

Director: Victor Halperin    More Info
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorn, Robert Frazer, John Harron, Clarence Muse, Brandon Hurst, George Burr Macannan, Frederick Peters, Annette Stone

 Monsieur Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer) is the wealthy owner of an island, and he uses zombies led by "Murder" Legendre (Bela Lugosi) to control his world. Charles convinces Madeleine (Madge Bellamy) and Neil (John Harron) to get married on his plantation. Then, Charles gets Legendre to turn Madeleine into a zombie. Using Madeleine as a hold over Charles, Legendre refuses to release her soul. A grieving Neil, with help from missionary Dr. Bruner (Joseph Cawthorn), searches for and rescues Madeleine from a Living Death.

Director: T. Hayes Hunter    More Info
Starring: Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger, Dorothy Hyson, Ralph Richardson, Anthony Bushell, Kathleen Harrison, Harold Huth, D.A. Clarke-Smith, George Relph

 An eccentric Egyptologist, Professor Morlant (Boris Karloff), was buried with a jewel that guaranteed immortality. After his grave is robbed, Morlant's corpse rises from the crypt during the next full moon. He sets out after the robbers, and murders ensue before Morlant retrieves the jewel and then returns to his crypt with it.

Director: James Whale    More Info
Starring: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, Una O'Connor, Henry Travers, William Harrigan, Holmes Herbert, E.E. Clive, Dudley Digges, Walter Brennan, John Carradine

 H.G. Wells wrote the story, which was then adapted to film in this excellent, early-era movie that marks the film debut of Claude Rains. The plot involves a scientist (Rains) who invents an invisibility serum with one bad side effect: using it causes the person to go insane, and he does.

Director: Erle C. Kenton    More Info
Starring: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, Kathleen Burke, Leila Hyams, Arthur Hohl, Stanley Fields, Randolph Scott, Tetsu Komai, Alan Ladd

 Adapted from the H.G. Wells story, "The Island of Dr. Moreau," this film is about a mad scientist who turns wild animals into monster humans. Better than the more recent versions, despite its age. That's young Alan Ladd and Randolph Scott as ape-men.

Director: Michael Curtiz    More Info
Starring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Allen Vincent, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gavin Gordon, Edwin Maxwell, Holmes Herbert, DeWitt Jennings

 Following his hideous disfigurement in a fire at his London wax museum, the owner relocates to America where he opens a new museum. This time his figures are his own murder victims encased in wax. This is the first horror film not set in the usual old, gloomy manse and was remade with Vincent Price in the lead as "House of Wax."

Director: Benjamin Stoloff    More Info
Starring: Sally Blane, Wallace Ford, Tully Marshall, Bela Lugosi, George Meeker, Edwin Maxwell, Bryant Washburn

 A psychotic lurks on the grounds of a large estate with its occupants as the intended victims.

Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack    More Info
Starring: Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Frank Reicher, John Marston, Victor(2) Wong, Ed Brady, Lee Kohlmar, Clarence Wilson, Kathrin Clare Ward, Noble Johnson

 In this follow-on to the highly successful "King Kong," explorer Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) returns to the place where he found Kong. He also had to get away from the hassles of the aftermath of Kong's "visit" to New York City. Upon his return, he finds Kong's son who befriends the party after they save his life. Together, they fight the many beasts in the area. Lighthearted and comedic but cheaply made, and it shows.

Director: Frank R. Strayer    More Info
Starring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas, Maude Eburne, George E. Stone, Dwight Frye, Robert Frazer, Rita Carlyle, Lionel Belmore, William V. Mong

 There's an epidemic of murders in a European village, with the victims having their blood drained. The villagers are set on the bat theory, since the town is infested by bats–but police inspector Karl (Melvyn Douglas) isn't so sure. After the townsfolk kill a bat-loving outcast (Dwight Frye), things heat up as Karl consults Dr. Otto von Niemann (Lionel Atwill), who believes in the vampire theory. But we all know that Lionel Atwill has been the mad doctor/scientist in many other movies.

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer    More Info
Starring: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Julie Bishop, Henry Armetta, Albert Conti, Harry Cording, Luis Alberni, Lucille Lund, Herman Bing

 This is the first film starring both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and concerns a young couple–Joan and Peter Alison (Julie Bishop and David Manners)–who meet Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Lugosi) on a train while honeymooning in Budapest. Werdegast offers them a ride from the station, but after an accident the trio ends up at the home of Hjalmar Poetzig (Karloff). Poetzig is a satanic cult leader who has stolen Werdegast's wife and daughter. The wife has died and her corpse is hidden in the house. Meanwhile, Werdegast has married the daughter. Now the chess game begins as Poelzig and Werdegast engage in mind games, and the Alisons become the pawns in this deadly game.

Director: Marshall Neilan    More Info
Starring: Olive Borden, Reed Howes, Georgette Harvey, Philip Ober, Francis Joyner, Augustus Smith, Jess Cavin, Richard Huey, Molly O'Day

 A Black voodoo priestess, Mandy (Georgette Harvey), and her daughter, Chloe (Olive Borden), leave the swamps to take revenge against Colonel Gordon (Francis Joyner) who led the mob that killed Mandy's husband 20 years ago. When it is revealed that Chloe is really the Colonel's daughter, Mandy calls for the sacrifice rituals to be performed on Chloe.

Director: Roy William Neill    More Info
Starring: Boris Karloff, Marian Marsh, Robert Allen, Thurston Hall, Katherine DeMille, Henry Kolker, Colin Tapley, Edward Van Sloan, John Buckler, John Bleifer

 Condemned by his neighboring villagers, a baron–Gregor (Boris Karloff)–has murdered his twin brother for ill-begotten gains.

Director: James Whale    More Info
Starring: Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa Lanchester, Valerie Hobson, O.P. Heggie, Una O'Connor, E.E. Clive, Walter Brennan, John Carradine

 In Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," Dr. Frankenstein considers making a bride for his monster and then realizes the folly of his idea. But in this sequel, Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is coerced into creating a female companion (Elsa Lanchester) for his monster (Boris Karloff).