"The Old Dark House" is the template for every old dark house movie that followed, including "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Also, the gorgeous young woman in the film is Gloria Stuart -- the old woman in James Cameron's "Titanic".
Oh yes, thank you for reminding me because I have an original movie still of the invisible man signed by gloria Stewart obtained from the collection of Forrest Ackerman. I was so enthralled when I obtained it. I didn’t bother to stop and think it was the same person. What is your favorite glorious Stewart line from Titanic? Mine has to be “wasn’t I a dish?” When I saw the movie in theaters and I heard her say that that line I nearly choked on my popcorn and had to raise my hands and cough for like five minutes lol 😂
Non-Universal horrors like Devil Doll, Dr. X, Mystery of the Wax Museum and Mad Love are wild because horror movie tropes hadn't been established yet. Agh I have so many opinions I could leave 20 comments. Devil Doll rocks. Bela's Ygor is the height of cinema. Great list man you obv put some real thought into it. 10/10 fricheks
Man, you nailed it! Great list. I have seen all of these for sure. Three that I have a soft spot for are: Secret Of the Blue Room & Supernatural from 1933 and The Man Who Changed His Mind from 1936.
I really enjoyed this. Agree with a lot of your judgments, if not all of your rankings. I suggest "The Walking Dead," a 1936 Karloff film directed by Michael Curtiz and 1939's "The Man They Could Not Hang," a terrific mad scientist film with Karloff that sort of feels like a giallo. Also two British films "The Ghoul" with Karloff and "Dark Eyes of London" with Bela Lugosi. I look forward to your choices for the Forties.
A good list - I'm glad you mentioned The Raven and Mystery of the Wax Museum (which I prefer to House of Wax, actually). A couple of my favourites not mentioned are White Zombie and The Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead, along with 1935's The Black Room, is peak Karloff. I also prefer Mystery to House. House of Wax is only really memorable for Vincent Price's performance (and the paddle-ball guy). Mystery of the Wax Museum has that gritty pre-Code energy, along with a much more interesting female lead and a strong turn from Lionel Atwill.
Your list is iconic! I've just discovered your channel and every single movie on this list is in my own DVD/Blu-ray collection 😮. I thank my parents for my classic movie obsession as I'm a huge fan of TCM!
Great! great! great! You've reminded me how much I love these golden age Hollywood movies, especially the more obscure ones. I totally enjoyed this video!
Really liked this list! The Black Cat is a great film. It made a huge impression when I first saw it and makes great use of Expressionistic set design.
Hi Daniel, great list. Glad to see Baskervilles and Mad Love in there. Another favourite of mine is The Most Dangerous Game released in 1932. It's been remade more than once but this is still the best. You should check out Svengali from 1931 with a super creepy John Barrymore as a psychotic maestro.
Another great list full of movies I need to see. I am a huge Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fan and I didn't know that version was so highly regarded. And congratulations on 10k!
I think I'd replace Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde with another Lugosi/Karloff picture, "The Invisible Ray". I never found the Jekyll & Hyde story either all that interesting or fascinating but Karloff gave me nightmares as a child, glowing in the dark and if he touches you, you die. My favorite line from The Old Dark House? "Even Welsh aught not sound like that!", LOL! The first time I saw Dracula was in about 1974 as I was 6 years old and our folks had put the old 25" console B&W tv set in our bedroom, replacing it with a smaller, portable color tv on a cart they could wheel from their bedroom at night to the living room during the day. I discovered that one of our local channels had a "Creature Feature" show every Saturday evening and I always had the bedroom to myself on Saturday evenings while my brothers were always out playing with our friends. I had nightmares for weeks, LOL! But I'd still eagerly anticipate the next Saturday evening's monster movie. The only other one I can remember watching at that age though was "The Monolith Monsters" and possibly "The Mole People". I know I saw Frankenstein and King Kong with my family when I was 7 in our living room. Of course with no such thing as us having a VCR back then, catching some monster movies was very difficult, and some I never got to see until I was an adult, like the original Raymond Burr version of Godzilla, or even "Son of Kong". I used to have the entire Universal monster's collection on VHS, then later on DVD I got the ones they put out. Never upgraded to Blu-Ray or 4K as to me it's just shelling out more money for diminishing returns as they restored most of the prints in the dvd transfers and that's been good enough for me. I'd be surprised if there's a film of Lugosi's I haven't seen at this point. Even his more obsucre films like his appearances in "You'll Find Out", "International House", "Betty Boop Meets Dracula" (Short clip), "Zombies On Broadway", etc. have all become favorites now. "Even love his serials like "Chandu, The Magician" and "The Phantom Creeps".
I met Fay Wray back in the mid-eighties. I was kind of speechless as I delivered a package to her husband, a very unpleasant person. I had passed by her house a zillion times.
@@jerryweber1768 - her husband, one miserable dude (about 70?) whom I saw regularly at West Hollywood A.A. meetings. Standing in the doorway I thought, "This is King Kong's girlfriend!" and it was a dreamy moment. She transits on August 8, 2004, almost exactly twenty years ago.
Geez!! You would think being married to Faye Ray, and living a wonderful Hollywood life that the man would have some sort of gratefulness inside his heart
@@thechaz83 - I knew him from A.A. meetings. Some folk are born (and die) cranky and yes, he heard about gratitude at every meeting, it's built in to OG A.A. Fay was charming.
A couple of things. The Mark of the Vampire is a remake of the lost silent film London after Midnight with Lon Chaney. Second. In the old dark house, the gorgeous blond in the white dress is Gloria Stuart who was not only in the 1930s Invisible Man but also the old 101 year old lady telling the story in 1997s Titanic!
I came to see if I had (possibly) missed any gems from 30s in terms of horror, but no. I have seen every film you listed many many times. But that's ok, It was still a fun list to go through. My top 3 are 1) The Invisible man 2) The Old Dark House and 3) Doctor X. But I love every darn movie you listed.
It's worth noting that Son of Frankenstein is also the mold from which Young Frankenstein sprung, with Inspector Kemp in particular being a spoof of Lionel Atwill's character.
You forgot to mention that The Devil Doll is based on the novel Burn, Witch, Burn by A. Merritt. And then you have to clarify that the movie "Burn , Witch, Burn" (aka The Night of the Eagle, which you wrote about in your Best Witch Movies video) is actually based on Fritz Leiber's The Conjure Wife. A Tangled web.
Only film I haven't seen is Murders in the Zoo, which I can't find streaming anywhere. Good list. I'd move Island of Lost Souls up and Son of Frankenstein down, but can't argue with the order much.
I love Island of Lost Souls. Doctor Moreau was a favorite book of mine as a young teen. So I got really into the movie. Also, really dig Son of Frankenstein b/c I'm obsessed with Bela and Basil Rathbone.❤❤
What about The Most Dangerous Game with Fay Wray and Joel Mcray? Fay Wray did great horror movies in the 30's like Doctor X and King Kong, The bat. She really deserves more credit. Your list? Fantastic! I might rearrange the order, but that is a really good list. The Mummy and Black Cat would have been higher, for example. Also, I would have included the Raven with Lugosi and Karloff. All in all I must commend you on a GREAT list. Well done. Oh, I too agree on Daughter of Dracula, great movie.
The ones I haven't seen are: Murders in the Zoo and Freaks. All others I've seen over the years. Most of them I have on DVD/Blu-ray. Legend has it that Todd Browning didn't tell the actors in Mark of the Vampire about the twist ending in order to get honest performances out of the actors. The actors thought they were doing a straight horror film until ole Todd told them how the film would end. Personally, I think it should have been left as a straight horror movie (he should have bagged the idea of remaking London After Midnight).
Great Video. I think that it's A Very Decent List. Although I'd have liked to see other movies in the list, especially Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932) & Bela Lugosi's performance is so good, especially when he's in The Lab & finds out that The Prostitute (I think played by a then-unknown Actress that is to become famous in later movies - Joan Blondell?) has Black Blood, which obviously is A Venereal Disease, in that we get Lugosi's performance of Disgust & Compassion (or, Regretful Mourning) regarding Her Murder. There are so many more things to comment on, that I'd be writing for hours, however, we completely agree that The Black Cat (1934) is The Best Lugosi/Karloff movie ever. Especially prominent is The Skinning Alive Scene & the looks on their faces (Lugosi's Revenge Look & Karloff's Fear Of Torture Look). FYI. Harry Cording in one of his earliest Character Actor performances, as The Man Servant of Bela Lugosi (Harry Cording would go on to play so many of these Character Roles in Sherlock Holmes Movies & Dicken, the Evil Murderous Guard of Sir Guy Of Gisborne & Prince John in The Adventures Of Robin Hood).
Loved Murders in the Zoo!! First saw it when my daughter was in middle school. She had decided that our Halloween tradition would be order Chinese take away and watching a scary movie. I started her off with Karloff's The Mummy. The next year, it was Murders in the Zoo. We sat on the sofa, in the dark, holding each other's hand because it scared the shit out of us both. Very tense. Loved 1930s horror movies. Thanks for this review.
Loved nearly all of your selections, Daniel! I especially liked seeing the inclusion of MAD LOVE and MURDERS IN THE ZOO, which are both underrated gems. I would’ve added WHITE ZOMBIE (1932) and WEREWOLF OF LONDON (1935) somewhere in the list, but overall, hard to disagree with the choices you made. Can’t wait to see your 40’s rankings.
A great list & another very entertaining video! Personally I would elevate both The Black Cat & Son of Frankenstein. I really love both of those films!
Nice job, Daniel! I’m super excited for these horror by the decades lists. I’ve been doing the same thing myself over the years. Our top 10 for the 1930s were very similar, except I had Dr. Jekyll at #1. That movie still scares me. Thanks for all the great videos!
Wonderful video, Daniel! The 30s is my favorite decade for horror movies, and i love every film on your list! I particularly appreciated your comments on "The Mummy', a fabulous film with a great Karloff performance. Id have added "The Walking Dead" , "White Zombie" and "The Ghoul" to the list. I know the latter has its faults, the second act is rather weak, but wow the rest is pretty terrific! Have you seen the silent version of "The Cat and the Canary"? Its one of my all time favorites with a fantastic visual style and great atmosphere.
I need to watch more of these! I've seen Dracula, Frankenstein, & The Mummy (all long ago). And more recently, Freaks & King Kong. I feel like Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs would have been a good mention. The Queen/Old Hag is so scary to me, probably the first ever visual that really spooked me. The sequence where Snow gets lost in the woods is also really frightening! Thank you for the list, I'm excited to see your 1950s list!👑
I love these films and Browning's Dracula is my favorite horror film period. But I think to evaluate these as films, Bride of Frankenstein is head and shouldners above the rest.
"Liked" this video as soon as you mentioned The Devil Doll. Excellent as his performance as Mr. Potter was, Lionel Barrymore deserves to be remembered for more than that. I love seeing him in more sympathetic roles (this film, You Can't Take It With You, David Copperfield, Captains Courageous). I'm among those who would put The Bride of Frankenstein at the top of the list, not only for Karloff's performance but for the strong work by Universal's stable of character actors. Dwight Frye is on hand. Blink, and you'll miss John Carradine. E.E. Clive is his marvelous pompous self (although here he doesn't get quite as wonderful a line of dialogue as "How can I 'andcuff a bloomin' shirt?"). O.P. Heggie is heartbreaking. And then, of course, we have Ernest Thesiger. I don't find the supporting cast quite as compelling in the first film. Fingers crossed that Val Lewton will get plenty of mentions in the '40s video.
Great list. I love 30s horror. I'm glad Mystery of the Wax Museum got mentioned as an honorable mention. I saw it a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. Have you seen Kongo? It was released in 1932 and would make a great pairing with Island of Lost Souls. It might be more drama than horror but I think you would enjoy it. If you want to check out another Tod Browning movie, West of Zanzibar is a solid silent flick. I don't think it has a blu ray release but they play it on TCM every once in a while. Congrats on 10k subscribers!
In Mark of the Vampire did you notice that Bela Lugosi has a bullet wound on his temple? I read somewhere that was going to be a victim of suicide, changed their minds but left the bullet hole. Loved the movie.❤
Yes the thirties were excellent for horror, that can't be said enough times or loud enough. Amazinly graphic for the time before the production codes of the forties and fifties that weren't lifted until the sixties.
Wow, I agree with your list and also you put what I thun kavout these films much better than I even could... The only I have never seen is Devil's Doll, time to correct that mistake
Definitely watch the original cut, this score is I agree more inline with the genre but gets really monotonous, but the tangerine dream score varies in up, is scored really well to the action, and is such a perfect dark 80’s synth dreamscape
I’m going to have to check out some of these movies I haven’t seen and revisit some I have. Elsa was just lovely wasn’t she? A fun watch is Ed Wood then Plan 9 From Outer Space back to back.
I'm surprised that White Zombie didn't rate a mention. Lugosi was incredibly sinister in that one. I would probably have put Island Of Lost Souls in the top 5, but that's just me.
My Top 20 Horror Movies from 1930’s 1. Vampyr 2. M 3. Freaks 4. The Bride of Frankenstein 5. Dracula 6. Frankenstein 7. The Mummy 8. The Black Cat 9. Doctor X 10. White Zombie 11. Mystery of the Wax Museum 12. The Ghoul 13. Murders in a Rue Morgue 14. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 15. Island of Lost Souls 16. The Vampire Bat 17. Dracula’s Daughter 18. The Walking Dead 19. King Kong 20. The Old Dark House
Awesome video, Daniel! Now I have new mpvies on my watchlist, it will be a long but entertaining for upcoming nights. As always, great recommendations and great video!!!
Love you included Son of Frankenstein. If you wanted to argue those first three Frankenstein films are the three best Universal Classic Monster movies, I think that's fair.
My favorite filmic decade, and certainly my favorite horror film decade (along with the 70s). My top 5: 1) The Invisible Man 2) Frankenstein 3) Dracula 4) King Kong 5) Island of Lost Souls With very honorable mentions to Bride, Black Cat, The Raven, and Jekyll/Hyde.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was made in 1948, but Bela Lugosi did play Count Dracula in the movie. Also one of my favorites, The Invisible Man, beside Claude Rains, has Gloria Stuart. Gloria was one of the stars of James Cameron's Titanic as Old Rose.
My Top 7 Horror Films of the 1930s : 7. Island of Lost Souls (1932) 3. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 6. Son of Frankenstein (1939) 2. The Mummy (1932) 5. The Black Cat (1934) 1. Frankenstein (1931) 4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
What a fantastic list! I own all of them. I'm so glad to see some of the more "Non" universal Horror Movies get attention. One question though: Do you separate your Horror from your Non-Horror? The reason I ask is, I see "The Night Of The Hunter" behind you, which is a favorite of mine, but I don't keep mine in the Horror section. Anyways, once again, great list. Can't wait for the 40's.
Surprised by how Old Dark House is so high. I know everyone rates it a lot. But I never understood it personally? I felt it quite underwhelming. Maybe I should give it another go. Whilst otherwise, Son of Frankenstein is severely under rated! I loved it on my first watch. I only ever heard about the first Frankenstein and Bride. But never heard of Son. Was wonderful! Loved this video as usual! Honestly you’re a terrific channel :)
Some really great choices!! When most people think of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, they think of Van Helsing or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the big British giant. In the books, Hyde was vicious, but small and thin. The 1931 version is the gold standard. Also, great to see the Frankenstein franchise get some love. I agree with you that Bela's role of Ygor is very underrated. Next to Dracula, that was his best role. I also respect that Boris didn't want to make his role as the monster into a parody. That's why Son of Frankenstein was his last. Bride of Frankenstein is a classic that can never be remade in my opinion. Everything about that movie is amazing. In fact, James Whale didn't want to make it. He was afraid of being typecast as a Horror movie director. Universal though pleaded and basically gave him the keys to the kingdom. I don't know if you collect the NECA figures, but they're coming out with a Bride of Frankenstein figures, complete with the chair that they chain him up in the dungeon. It's 59.99 In the states and will be available on June 2024. I pre-ordered mine because I know that sometimes they sell out. You can take a look on NECA'S homepage. Love the channel! Great video!!
When I think of jekyl and Hyde I think of this old cat cartoon that introduced kids to classic literature. I don't remember the name anymore. Never seen the original.
I hope see these on 4K disks. That "Doctor X "film ....synthetic flesh,!!! totally insane for 1930s 😅 i must get this bluray ASAP and watch it. King Kong 1933 opened my eyes to old vintage cinema. I found it much more interesting scarier (after relaxing accompanied by😅 Mary J) much more so than new CGI Godzilla King Kong.
Haven't seen the video yet but I would say: Frankenstein Bride of Frankenstein Werewolf of London The invisible man The insible man returns Son of Frankenstein The most dangerous game King Kong The black cat The mask of Fu Manchu Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde Dr.X Freaks The mummy (The last will of Dr.) Mabuse - Fritz Lang👍 And my no.1 The walking dead (1935) with Boris Karloff
@@thomaskummer9968 Certainly a lot of serial killer movies (like "Psycho" and most movies about Jack the Ripper) get lumped into the horror genre. I guess "M" really is in the "crime" genre, though.
A great list except "The Son of Frankenstein" should be higher. Although it doesn't have a monster "The Mystery in the Blue Room" is a great Mystery/Horror movie.
Great list. Nice to see the incredible Murders in the Zoo on there! Also glad that you rated Frankenstein higher than Bride, as most people seem to rate Bride higher, but I’ve always thought that, while Bride is undeniably bigger and more polished, with some great set pieces and characters, it’s not as good of a film overall, due to the often incredibly contrived script and the absolutely insufferable and pointless comic relief character of Minnie. This isn’t a slam against Una O’Connor, as I think her character of the landlord’s wife Mrs. Hall in The Invisible Man is not only believable and just the right amount of funny but also has a useful function within the story; in Bride, her character is just grating and superfluous. The only useful thing she does is open the door for Dr. Pretorius, which introduces his wonderful character. I would have found a place for Mystery of the Wax Museum, instead of an honorable mention, one of the best of the ‘30s IMO, along with its fantastic sister production for First National/WB, Doctor X, which you did find a place for. All in all though, a pretty unassailable list!
Hey thank you! Of course I love Bride, but the thing I just cannot get on board with is the tiny people scene. It just goes so far outside the reality of the rest of the film, and overall series.
Agreed 100% on that. It’s a brilliant standalone sequence on its own, but it just takes you right out of the film and is ridiculous within the context of the film as a whole. I also have a huge problem with the equally ridiculous deus ex machina lever at the end. I mean, JFC. Bride of Frankenstein definitely has symptoms of sequelitis.
I love that throughout the whole movie of " The Old Dark House " you hear the crackling of thunder and the downpour of rain.
I ended up liking that movie
Back in the 60s as a 12 year old, a local TV station played the old horror classics on the late show. It was the highlight of my week.
"The Old Dark House" is the template for every old dark house movie that followed, including "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Also, the gorgeous young woman in the film is Gloria Stuart -- the old woman in James Cameron's "Titanic".
Oh yes, thank you for reminding me because I have an original movie still of the invisible man signed by gloria Stewart obtained from the collection of Forrest Ackerman. I was so enthralled when I obtained it. I didn’t bother to stop and think it was the same person. What is your favorite glorious Stewart line from Titanic? Mine has to be “wasn’t I a dish?”
When I saw the movie in theaters and I heard her say that that line I nearly choked on my popcorn and had to raise my hands and cough for like five minutes lol 😂
I grew up with and loved these movies in the 1970s and it’s great to see them still being appreciated.
Lovely to see ‘The mummy’ get so much respect! Helen having so much agency is a real highlight.
Helen is the best heroine of 1930s horror, and it's not even close.
Non-Universal horrors like Devil Doll, Dr. X, Mystery of the Wax Museum and Mad Love are wild because horror movie tropes hadn't been established yet.
Agh I have so many opinions I could leave 20 comments. Devil Doll rocks. Bela's Ygor is the height of cinema. Great list man you obv put some real thought into it. 10/10 fricheks
This is fantastic. I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but Mark of the Vampire was supposed to be Tod Browning's "remake" of London After Midnight.
Barrymore’s old lady disguise was the inspiration for the Witch in Snow White. James Whale & Tod Browning are the two MVPs of the decade.
Man, you nailed it! Great list. I have seen all of these for sure. Three that I have a soft spot for are: Secret Of the Blue Room & Supernatural from 1933 and The Man Who Changed His Mind from 1936.
Yes, "The Man Who Changed His Mind"/"The Man Who Lived Again" is very good and has a neat sense of humor too.
I love both of the “Blue Room “ movies. I think the second one is from the forties.
I really enjoyed this. Agree with a lot of your judgments, if not all of your rankings.
I suggest "The Walking Dead," a 1936 Karloff film directed by Michael Curtiz and 1939's "The Man They Could Not Hang," a terrific mad scientist film with Karloff that sort of feels like a giallo. Also two British films "The Ghoul" with Karloff and "Dark Eyes of London" with Bela Lugosi.
I look forward to your choices for the Forties.
The 30's were great for horror movies. Universal shaped the way we watch horror films to this day. Excellent list. 💜🖤💜🤍
Thank you very much!
Very true.
I loved this video. I think you missed Werewolf of London.
I like it. I did talk about it on my Werewolf list video.
The restored version of "The devil and Daniel Webster" 1941
The Baskervilles line "Fetch my needle," reminds one how much the Author hated the Detective.
A good list - I'm glad you mentioned The Raven and Mystery of the Wax Museum (which I prefer to House of Wax, actually). A couple of my favourites not mentioned are White Zombie and The Walking Dead.
Kind of surprised "White Zombie" didn't at least get an honorable mention.
The Walking Dead, along with 1935's The Black Room, is peak Karloff.
I also prefer Mystery to House. House of Wax is only really memorable for Vincent Price's performance (and the paddle-ball guy). Mystery of the Wax Museum has that gritty pre-Code energy, along with a much more interesting female lead and a strong turn from Lionel Atwill.
You have good taste.
The atmosphere in White Zombie is incredible, and Lugosi is just pure evil. Love it. In my top ten for the 30s.
@@kelleyceccato7025 Both are very good in their own way.
Your list is iconic! I've just discovered your channel and every single movie on this list is in my own DVD/Blu-ray collection 😮. I thank my parents for my classic movie obsession as I'm a huge fan of TCM!
Great! great! great! You've reminded me how much I love these golden age Hollywood movies, especially the more obscure ones. I totally enjoyed this video!
Sweet, thank you!
The Basil Rathbone Hound of the Baskervilles was the perfect watch for a sleepless night when I was sick. Thanks for the recommendation!
Nice! Love to hear that.
And I thought of myself as a horror connaisseur. Thanks for another humbling video, sir😄
May I suggest a video on Roger Corman's Poe movies?
Thank you! And I am BIG fan of the Corman Poe films, so that’s definitely on my list.
Excellent list! So hard to narrow it down. I would add White Zombie, Werewolf of London and The Ghoul as honorable mentions too.
Really liked this list! The Black Cat is a great film. It made a huge impression when I first saw it and makes great use of Expressionistic set design.
Yes,it has a look quite unlike other movies of the time.
Hi Daniel, great list.
Glad to see Baskervilles and Mad Love in there. Another favourite of mine is The Most Dangerous Game released in 1932. It's been remade more than once but this is still the best.
You should check out Svengali from 1931 with a super creepy John Barrymore as a psychotic maestro.
I thought for sure The Most Dangerous Game would be here!
Found a few here I haven't seen, like "Mad Love," "Dr. X," and "Devil Doll." Thanks for profiling these gems!
Great list! "The Devil-Doll" is so underrated. I found my way here from Chase's channel yesterday and am bingeing everything.
Welcome! Chase is awesome.
Another great list full of movies I need to see. I am a huge Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fan and I didn't know that version was so highly regarded. And congratulations on 10k!
And another great video Daniel!!! I love how enthusiastic you are about these movies I really comes through!!
I think I'd replace Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde with another Lugosi/Karloff picture, "The Invisible Ray". I never found the Jekyll & Hyde story either all that interesting or fascinating but Karloff gave me nightmares as a child, glowing in the dark and if he touches you, you die.
My favorite line from The Old Dark House? "Even Welsh aught not sound like that!", LOL!
The first time I saw Dracula was in about 1974 as I was 6 years old and our folks had put the old 25" console B&W tv set in our bedroom, replacing it with a smaller, portable color tv on a cart they could wheel from their bedroom at night to the living room during the day. I discovered that one of our local channels had a "Creature Feature" show every Saturday evening and I always had the bedroom to myself on Saturday evenings while my brothers were always out playing with our friends. I had nightmares for weeks, LOL! But I'd still eagerly anticipate the next Saturday evening's monster movie. The only other one I can remember watching at that age though was "The Monolith Monsters" and possibly "The Mole People". I know I saw Frankenstein and King Kong with my family when I was 7 in our living room. Of course with no such thing as us having a VCR back then, catching some monster movies was very difficult, and some I never got to see until I was an adult, like the original Raymond Burr version of Godzilla, or even "Son of Kong". I used to have the entire Universal monster's collection on VHS, then later on DVD I got the ones they put out. Never upgraded to Blu-Ray or 4K as to me it's just shelling out more money for diminishing returns as they restored most of the prints in the dvd transfers and that's been good enough for me.
I'd be surprised if there's a film of Lugosi's I haven't seen at this point. Even his more obsucre films like his appearances in "You'll Find Out", "International House", "Betty Boop Meets Dracula" (Short clip), "Zombies On Broadway", etc. have all become favorites now. "Even love his serials like "Chandu, The Magician" and "The Phantom Creeps".
Great comments about a movie era I grew up with!
As a young person, you are amazing in making valid comments about movies made before you were born!
Honestly, I mostly watch movies made before I was born. haha
@@cobwebschannel Aren't 30's and 40's movies great!
I met Fay Wray back in the mid-eighties. I was kind of speechless as I delivered a package to her husband, a very unpleasant person. I had passed by her house a zillion times.
Which one was unpleasant? Her or her husband?
@@jerryweber1768 - her husband, one miserable dude (about 70?) whom I saw regularly at West Hollywood A.A. meetings. Standing in the doorway I thought, "This is King Kong's girlfriend!" and it was a dreamy moment. She transits on August 8, 2004, almost exactly twenty years ago.
Geez!! You would think being married to Faye Ray, and living a wonderful Hollywood life that the man would have some sort of gratefulness inside his heart
@@thechaz83 - I knew him from A.A. meetings. Some folk are born (and die) cranky and yes, he heard about gratitude at every meeting, it's built in to OG A.A. Fay was charming.
A couple of things. The Mark of the Vampire is a remake of the lost silent film London after Midnight with Lon Chaney. Second. In the old dark house, the gorgeous blond in the white dress is Gloria Stuart who was not only in the 1930s Invisible Man but also the old 101 year old lady telling the story in 1997s Titanic!
“Son of Frankenstein” 1939 is a personal favorite of mine. I love Bela Lugosi as Ygor in that one 🎃🍿
I came to see if I had (possibly) missed any gems from 30s in terms of horror, but no. I have seen every film you listed many many times. But that's ok, It was still a fun list to go through. My top 3 are 1) The Invisible man 2) The Old Dark House and 3) Doctor X. But I love every darn movie you listed.
It's worth noting that Son of Frankenstein is also the mold from which Young Frankenstein sprung, with Inspector Kemp in particular being a spoof of Lionel Atwill's character.
I’ve seen most of these and they’re all great choices.
You forgot to mention that The Devil Doll is based on the novel Burn, Witch, Burn by A. Merritt. And then you have to clarify that the movie "Burn , Witch, Burn" (aka The Night of the Eagle, which you wrote about in your Best Witch Movies video) is actually based on Fritz Leiber's The Conjure Wife. A Tangled web.
Another sensational *Cobwebs* decade list! Hurrah! That said, I was shocked to see *_The Bride of Frankenstein_* so low on the list.
Pun intended.
I always thought the 30s and 40s had some WILD movie titles lol. I love it.
Only film I haven't seen is Murders in the Zoo, which I can't find streaming anywhere. Good list. I'd move Island of Lost Souls up and Son of Frankenstein down, but can't argue with the order much.
I have always thought that the Frankenstein version you note, well the monster and the little girl scene is an unrecognized Great cinema moment.
Please do more lists from these decades 1920-40s
I love Island of Lost Souls. Doctor Moreau was a favorite book of mine as a young teen. So I got really into the movie. Also, really dig Son of Frankenstein b/c I'm obsessed with Bela and Basil Rathbone.❤❤
I own several of these, mostly due to my Universal collection, but some others as well. Lots of great stuff.
What about The Most Dangerous Game with Fay Wray and Joel Mcray? Fay Wray did great horror movies in the 30's like Doctor X and King Kong, The bat. She really deserves more credit. Your list? Fantastic! I might rearrange the order, but that is a really good list. The Mummy and Black Cat would have been higher, for example. Also, I would have included the Raven with Lugosi and Karloff. All in all I must commend you on a GREAT list. Well done. Oh, I too agree on Daughter of Dracula, great movie.
Thank you! And I haven’t seen Most Dangerous Game.
I love Frankenstein and King Kong ! Both are great movies. Well acted, good action scenes xx
The ones I haven't seen are: Murders in the Zoo and Freaks. All others I've seen over the years. Most of them I have on DVD/Blu-ray. Legend has it that Todd Browning didn't tell the actors in Mark of the Vampire about the twist ending in order to get honest performances out of the actors. The actors thought they were doing a straight horror film until ole Todd told them how the film would end. Personally, I think it should have been left as a straight horror movie (he should have bagged the idea of remaking London After Midnight).
Great Video. I think that it's A Very Decent List. Although I'd have liked to see other movies in the list, especially Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932) & Bela Lugosi's performance is so good, especially when he's in The Lab & finds out that The Prostitute (I think played by a then-unknown Actress that is to become famous in later movies - Joan Blondell?) has Black Blood, which obviously is A Venereal Disease, in that we get Lugosi's performance of Disgust & Compassion (or, Regretful Mourning) regarding Her Murder. There are so many more things to comment on, that I'd be writing for hours, however, we completely agree that The Black Cat (1934) is The Best Lugosi/Karloff movie ever. Especially prominent is The Skinning Alive Scene & the looks on their faces (Lugosi's Revenge Look & Karloff's Fear Of Torture Look). FYI. Harry Cording in one of his earliest Character Actor performances, as The Man Servant of Bela Lugosi (Harry Cording would go on to play so many of these Character Roles in Sherlock Holmes Movies & Dicken, the Evil Murderous Guard of Sir Guy Of Gisborne & Prince John in The Adventures Of Robin Hood).
Loved Murders in the Zoo!! First saw it when my daughter was in middle school. She had decided that our Halloween tradition would be order Chinese take away and watching a scary movie. I started her off with Karloff's The Mummy. The next year, it was Murders in the Zoo. We sat on the sofa, in the dark, holding each other's hand because it scared the shit out of us both. Very tense. Loved 1930s horror movies. Thanks for this review.
Loved nearly all of your selections, Daniel! I especially liked seeing the inclusion of MAD LOVE and MURDERS IN THE ZOO, which are both underrated gems. I would’ve added WHITE ZOMBIE (1932) and WEREWOLF OF LONDON (1935) somewhere in the list, but overall, hard to disagree with the choices you made. Can’t wait to see your 40’s rankings.
A great list & another very entertaining video! Personally I would elevate both The Black Cat & Son of Frankenstein. I really love both of those films!
A good (very good) list. But I was expecting Werewolf of London with Henry Hull in there, somewhere.
Great movies and a great video! Really enjoyed it.
Really appreciate that!
Nice job, Daniel! I’m super excited for these horror by the decades lists. I’ve been doing the same thing myself over the years. Our top 10 for the 1930s were very similar, except I had Dr. Jekyll at #1. That movie still scares me. Thanks for all the great videos!
Wonderful video, Daniel! The 30s is my favorite decade for horror movies, and i love every film on your list! I particularly appreciated your comments on "The Mummy', a fabulous film with a great Karloff performance. Id have added "The Walking Dead" , "White Zombie" and "The Ghoul" to the list. I know the latter has its faults, the second act is rather weak, but wow the rest is pretty terrific! Have you seen the silent version of "The Cat and the Canary"? Its one of my all time favorites with a fantastic visual style and great atmosphere.
The Ghoul was pretty good.
I need to watch more of these! I've seen Dracula, Frankenstein, & The Mummy (all long ago). And more recently, Freaks & King Kong. I feel like Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs would have been a good mention. The Queen/Old Hag is so scary to me, probably the first ever visual that really spooked me. The sequence where Snow gets lost in the woods is also really frightening! Thank you for the list, I'm excited to see your 1950s list!👑
Agreed Basil Rathbone is the best Sherlock Holmes 🎉
Huge congrats for the 10K+ subscribers on TH-cam! You deserve it! You should celebrate it by making a special video, a live stream or something!
I love these films and Browning's Dracula is my favorite horror film period. But I think to evaluate these as films, Bride of Frankenstein is head and shouldners above the rest.
"Liked" this video as soon as you mentioned The Devil Doll. Excellent as his performance as Mr. Potter was, Lionel Barrymore deserves to be remembered for more than that. I love seeing him in more sympathetic roles (this film, You Can't Take It With You, David Copperfield, Captains Courageous).
I'm among those who would put The Bride of Frankenstein at the top of the list, not only for Karloff's performance but for the strong work by Universal's stable of character actors. Dwight Frye is on hand. Blink, and you'll miss John Carradine. E.E. Clive is his marvelous pompous self (although here he doesn't get quite as wonderful a line of dialogue as "How can I 'andcuff a bloomin' shirt?"). O.P. Heggie is heartbreaking. And then, of course, we have Ernest Thesiger. I don't find the supporting cast quite as compelling in the first film.
Fingers crossed that Val Lewton will get plenty of mentions in the '40s video.
Fabulous list!
It’s always funny to me that the Frankenstein Monster walks into the room backwards lol
Ya! I try to rationalize it (because he was just learning how to move?) but the real reason is probably just for a good reveal shot.
Don’t you?
@@cobwebschannelonly when I fart
Lugosi reprised his role as Dracula in Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948. Campy but really good
Great list. I love 30s horror. I'm glad Mystery of the Wax Museum got mentioned as an honorable mention. I saw it a couple years ago and really enjoyed it.
Have you seen Kongo? It was released in 1932 and would make a great pairing with Island of Lost Souls. It might be more drama than horror but I think you would enjoy it. If you want to check out another Tod Browning movie, West of Zanzibar is a solid silent flick. I don't think it has a blu ray release but they play it on TCM every once in a while.
Congrats on 10k subscribers!
I haven’t, but that sounds really cool! And thank you!
I would have included Carl Dreyer's Vampyr.
In Mark of the Vampire did you notice that Bela Lugosi has a bullet wound on his temple? I read somewhere that was going to be a victim of suicide, changed their minds but left the bullet hole. Loved the movie.❤
Yes the thirties were excellent for horror, that can't be said enough times or loud enough. Amazinly graphic for the time before the production codes of the forties and fifties that weren't lifted until the sixties.
Wow, I agree with your list and also you put what I thun kavout these films much better than I even could... The only I have never seen is Devil's Doll, time to correct that mistake
Definitely watch the original cut, this score is I agree more inline with the genre but gets really monotonous, but the tangerine dream score varies in up, is scored really well to the action, and is such a perfect dark 80’s synth dreamscape
Youre getting better at this Daniel! Love your video lists, particularly these less obvious, keep up the great work
I’m going to have to check out some of these movies I haven’t seen and revisit some I have. Elsa was just lovely wasn’t she?
A fun watch is Ed Wood then Plan 9 From Outer Space back to back.
Love this list 🤓Thank you!!
Surprised that when discussing Dr Jekyll there was no mention of the 1941 Spencer Tracy version.
I'm surprised that White Zombie didn't rate a mention. Lugosi was incredibly sinister in that one. I would probably have put Island Of Lost Souls in the top 5, but that's just me.
My Top 20 Horror Movies from 1930’s
1. Vampyr
2. M
3. Freaks
4. The Bride of Frankenstein
5. Dracula
6. Frankenstein
7. The Mummy
8. The Black Cat
9. Doctor X
10. White Zombie
11. Mystery of the Wax Museum
12. The Ghoul
13. Murders in a Rue Morgue
14. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
15. Island of Lost Souls
16. The Vampire Bat
17. Dracula’s Daughter
18. The Walking Dead
19. King Kong
20. The Old Dark House
Awesome video, Daniel! Now I have new mpvies on my watchlist, it will be a long but entertaining for upcoming nights. As always, great recommendations and great video!!!
Island of Lost Souls is skin-crawling. Pun intended. The ending still creeps me out.
Great video, Daniel! There are several on your list I haven't seen yet.
Classic Thumbnail
Again a Classic upload Nice one Daniel Sir,🤘🤘
Love you included Son of Frankenstein. If you wanted to argue those first three Frankenstein films are the three best Universal Classic Monster movies, I think that's fair.
My favorite filmic decade, and certainly my favorite horror film decade (along with the 70s).
My top 5:
1) The Invisible Man
2) Frankenstein
3) Dracula
4) King Kong
5) Island of Lost Souls
With very honorable mentions to Bride, Black Cat, The Raven, and Jekyll/Hyde.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was made in 1948, but Bela Lugosi did play Count Dracula in the movie. Also one of my favorites, The Invisible Man, beside Claude Rains, has Gloria Stuart. Gloria was one of the stars of James Cameron's Titanic as Old Rose.
For me, Dracula, The Mummy, and The Invisible Man would be in a 3 way tie for #1.They would probably be followed up by Frankenstein.
A+ video!
Awesome film list! It was hard to just pick three.
My Top 7 Horror Films of the 1930s :
7. Island of Lost Souls (1932) 3. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
6. Son of Frankenstein (1939) 2. The Mummy (1932)
5. The Black Cat (1934) 1. Frankenstein (1931)
4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
One more film I'd add to the list would be 1932's "The Mask of Fu Manchu" with Karloff as the evil Dr.
What about "The most dangerous game " of 1932 ?..or "Mystery of the wax museum" "Thirteen women"...
What a fantastic list! I own all of them. I'm so glad to see some of the more "Non" universal Horror Movies get attention. One question though: Do you separate your Horror from your Non-Horror? The reason I ask is, I see "The Night Of The Hunter" behind you, which is a favorite of mine, but I don't keep mine in the Horror section. Anyways, once again, great list. Can't wait for the 40's.
I don’t organized by genre at all, I only separate out boutique labels. So the Night of the Hunter 4K is with the Kino Lorber stuff. And thanks!
Surprised by how Old Dark House is so high. I know everyone rates it a lot. But I never understood it personally? I felt it quite underwhelming. Maybe I should give it another go.
Whilst otherwise, Son of Frankenstein is severely under rated! I loved it on my first watch. I only ever heard about the first Frankenstein and Bride. But never heard of Son. Was wonderful!
Loved this video as usual! Honestly you’re a terrific channel :)
Sure were alot of storms, stranded travelers, and spooky old castles in the 30's.
the RAVEN (1935), and WHITE ZOMBIE (1932), would have to be on my list.
Some really great choices!! When most people think of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, they think of Van Helsing or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the big British giant.
In the books, Hyde was vicious, but small and thin. The 1931 version is the gold standard. Also, great to see the Frankenstein franchise get some love.
I agree with you that Bela's role of Ygor is very underrated. Next to Dracula, that was his best role. I also respect that Boris didn't want to make his role as the monster into a parody.
That's why Son of Frankenstein was his last. Bride of Frankenstein is a classic that can never be remade in my opinion. Everything about that movie is amazing.
In fact, James Whale didn't want to make it. He was afraid of being typecast as a Horror movie director. Universal though pleaded and basically gave him the keys to the kingdom.
I don't know if you collect the NECA figures, but they're coming out with a Bride of Frankenstein figures, complete with the chair that they chain him up in the dungeon.
It's 59.99 In the states and will be available on June 2024. I pre-ordered mine because I know that sometimes they sell out. You can take a look on NECA'S homepage.
Love the channel! Great video!!
When I think of jekyl and Hyde I think of this old cat cartoon that introduced kids to classic literature. I don't remember the name anymore. Never seen the original.
Hey Cobweb, I was wondering if you would be interested in appearing on the Undead Parrot Podcast where we talk everything horror.
Btw big fan
I hope see these on 4K disks.
That "Doctor X "film ....synthetic flesh,!!! totally insane for 1930s 😅 i must get this bluray ASAP and watch it.
King Kong 1933 opened my eyes to old vintage cinema. I found it much more interesting scarier (after relaxing accompanied by😅 Mary J) much more so than new CGI Godzilla King Kong.
Haven't seen the video yet but I would say:
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Werewolf of London
The invisible man
The insible man returns
Son of Frankenstein
The most dangerous game
King Kong
The black cat
The mask of Fu Manchu
Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde
Dr.X
Freaks
The mummy
(The last will of Dr.) Mabuse - Fritz Lang👍
And my no.1 The walking dead (1935) with Boris Karloff
GREAT list.
Nice!! Thank you for sharing!
I forgot Dracula and The Raven😮
By the way: ,M' isn't a horror movie in my opinion
@@thomaskummer9968 Certainly a lot of serial killer movies (like "Psycho" and most movies about Jack the Ripper) get lumped into the horror genre. I guess "M" really is in the "crime" genre, though.
The old dark house is a favorite!
A great list except "The Son of Frankenstein" should be higher. Although it doesn't have a monster "The Mystery in the Blue Room" is a great Mystery/Horror movie.
Great list. Nice to see the incredible Murders in the Zoo on there! Also glad that you rated Frankenstein higher than Bride, as most people seem to rate Bride higher, but I’ve always thought that, while Bride is undeniably bigger and more polished, with some great set pieces and characters, it’s not as good of a film overall, due to the often incredibly contrived script and the absolutely insufferable and pointless comic relief character of Minnie. This isn’t a slam against Una O’Connor, as I think her character of the landlord’s wife Mrs. Hall in The Invisible Man is not only believable and just the right amount of funny but also has a useful function within the story; in Bride, her character is just grating and superfluous. The only useful thing she does is open the door for Dr. Pretorius, which introduces his wonderful character.
I would have found a place for Mystery of the Wax Museum, instead of an honorable mention, one of the best of the ‘30s IMO, along with its fantastic sister production for First National/WB, Doctor X, which you did find a place for. All in all though, a pretty unassailable list!
Hey thank you! Of course I love Bride, but the thing I just cannot get on board with is the tiny people scene. It just goes so far outside the reality of the rest of the film, and overall series.
Agreed 100% on that. It’s a brilliant standalone sequence on its own, but it just takes you right out of the film and is ridiculous within the context of the film as a whole. I also have a huge problem with the equally ridiculous deus ex machina lever at the end. I mean, JFC. Bride of Frankenstein definitely has symptoms of sequelitis.
James Rolfe would give this a like 👍
Supposedly, Bela Lugosi got paid more for his non-appearance in Dracula's Daughter than he did for starring in the original Dracula.
Dr . Jekyll and Mr.Hyde is my favorite horror film!
here is something about the female lead in the invisiable man. she played the older version of rose in in 1997 version of titanic