Horror Movies from the 1930s
A list of every horror movie from the 1930s
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- DirectorRichard OswaldStarsBrigitte HelmAlbert BassermannHarald PaulsenA scientist, Professor Jakob ten Brinken, interested in the laws of heredity, impregnates a prostitute in a laboratory with the semen of a hanged murderer. The prostitute conceives a female child who has no concept of love, whom the professor adopts. The girl, Alraune, suffers from obsessive sexuality and perverse relationships throughout her life. She learns of her unnatural origins and she avenges herself against the professor.
- DirectorWilliam CampbellStarsSir Hubert WinsteadCharles GemoraArthur ClaytonAn expedition enters an area of the Congo jungle to investigate reports of a gorilla-worshipping tribe. After many dangerous adventures, they come upon the tribe they sought, only to watch as a virgin is sacrificed to a huge gorilla, who takes her away. The expedition follows the gorilla in an attempt to save the woman.
- DirectorGeorge MelfordStarsAntonio MorenoLupita TovarAndrés de SegurolaStrange happenings and disappearances take place in an old dark house.
- DirectorDave FleischerWillard BowskyStarsMargie HinesBilly MurrayBetty Boop (with dog's ears) can't sleep on a scary night, so she sings the title song and meets the gentleman in question... a surreal version of Bimbo.
- DirectorWalter LantzStarsPinto ColvigWalter LantzThe Phantom of a cheap opera house helps an aspiring singer by putting a phonograph machine down her skirt. When she spurns him for Oswald the Rabbit, the Phantom takes his revenge.
- DirectorDave FleischerTed SearsStarsBilly MurrayBimbo is seen late at night, trying to steal a chicken. He runs away from a policeman and enters a haunted cemetery. Various ghosts and monsters tell him that he will be punished for his sin.
- DirectorRoland WestStarsChester MorrisUna MerkelWilliam BakewellA master criminal terrorizes the occupants of an isolated country mansion.
- DirectorRupert JulianJohn WillardStarsHelen TwelvetreesRaymond HackettNeil HamiltonDisappearances and strange goings-on in a spooky old mansion.
- DirectorUb IwerksThe Cuckoo Bird residing in an old clock in a creepy old mansion is shot dead by an unknown assailant; Flip the Frog is called in to investigate (and finds more than he bargained for).
- DirectorJames ParrottStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyFrank AustinIn order to claim an inheritance, the boys present themselves at a creaky, bat-filled mansion on a stormy night.
- DirectorRowland V. LeeStarsWarner OlandO.P. HeggieJean ArthurThe villainous master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu sets out to destroy the people he holds responsible for the death of his family.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsLon ChaneyLila LeeElliott NugentProfessor Echo, a ventriloquist, forms a burglary ring. He disguises himself as an elderly pet store owner selling talking birds to the wealthy, using his skills to make the birds seem to talk while casing the homes for robberies.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsFredric MarchMiriam HopkinsRose HobartDr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that transforms him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde.
- DirectorTod BrowningKarl FreundStarsBela LugosiHelen ChandlerDavid MannersTransylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.
- DirectorGeorge MelfordStarsCarlos VillaríasLupita TovarBarry NortonCenturies-old vampire Dracula preys upon the innocent Eva and her friends.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
- DirectorWalter FordeStarsJack HulbertCicely CourtneidgeAnn ToddThe story, about the social interaction of a group of railway passengers who have been stranded at a remote rural station overnight who are increasingly threatened by a latent external force, Part talkie mostly silent.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsWalter MillerNora LaneTom SantschiAmerican adventurer Richard Grant is falsely accused of murdering an Indian noble and escapes to Africa in search of diamond field and the real culprit.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
- DirectorEdward SlomanStarsWilliam 'Stage' BoydLilyan TashmanIrving PichelAn elderly woman installs a horn in her crypt in case she's buried alive.
- DirectorLeo MartenStarsJan W. SpeergerMilada MatysovaJirí HronDisillusioned with his marriage which has ended in divorce, Petr Leroy goes off to the Riviera to the place where he first met his wife and where he hopes to be spiritually revived. Here he meets his friend Jan and together they enjoy the joys the Riviera has to offer. Jan meets a charming girl at the casino and he takes her off into the mountains. On his return he speaks of the beautiful Olga with whom he has spent a wonderful three days. Olga, however, does not appear for a meeting they had arranged, so Jan goes to look for her in the mountains. Then he sees her in a village and tries to catch up with her in his car. He has an accident. Olga takes him to the nearest sanatorium where everyone behaves very strangely to the newly-arrived patient.
- DirectorUb IwerksFlip the Frog finds himself in a house haunted by crazy skeletons.
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsJohn BarrymoreMarian MarshDonald CrispThrough hypnotism and telepathic mind control, a sinister music maestro controls the singing voice, but not the heart, of the woman he loves.
- DirectorHarcourt TemplemanOscar Friedrich WerndorffStarsDonald CalthropJane WelshEdward SinclairMathias, an Alsatian innkeeper, murders a rich Pole staying at his inn But Mathias' conscience will not let him rest, and the murdered man's spirit drives the innkeeper nearly mad. The victim's brother calls for an inquest and brings with him a sideshow mesmerist supposedly able to read minds. Mathias, as burgomaster, is called upon to conduct the inquest, but under the intuitive eye of the mesmerist cannot resist torment of his own conscience.
- DirectorHamilton MacFaddenStarsWarner OlandSally EilersBela LugosiThe unsolved murder of a Hollywood actor several years earlier and an enigmatic psychic are the keys to help Charlie solve the Honolulu stabbing death of a beautiful actress.
- DirectorWilfred JacksonStarsRuth CliffordMarion DarlingtonWalt DisneyThe family cat, out for the night, stalks and catches a bird singing atop the weathervane, but it flies off, pulling the cat and weathervane down and knocking the cat out. The cat has a vision of giant birds, lacking the tailfeathers he pulled out, tormenting him, and soon, everything in the autumn landscape is animated and scary.
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsWarner OlandJune CollyerLloyd HughesA mad doctor is determined to take revenge on the family he believes is responsible for his daughter's death.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJohn BarrymoreMarian MarshCharles ButterworthA crippled man finds a boy and vows to make him a great dancer.
- DirectorAlan JamesStarsGuinn 'Big Boy' WilliamsAllene RayNiles WelchA group of people are stalked by a masked killer in an old mansion.
- DirectorJohn FosterVernon StallingsTwo passengers refuse to pay their cab fare, so the taxi drives chase after them.
- DirectorArthur DavisDick HuemerSid MarcusToby organizes a Halloween celebration. Some witches and elves join the party.
- DirectorDave FleischerGrim NatwickStarsMargie HinesBilly MurrayWilliam PennellBimbo the dog is initiated into a secret society in a sadistic 'fun house'; then Betty Boop (with dog's ears) takes a hand.
- DirectorGareth GundreyStarsJohn StuartRobert RendelFrederick LloydWhen a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.
- DirectorChang-Chun LeeStarsJin Jang
- DirectorPhil WhitmanHampton Del RuthStarsRegis ToomeyJune ClydeLucille La VerneA police lieutenant and a female reporter investigate a series of murders comitted by a hooded killer in an old dark house.
- DirectorJohn Francis DillonStarsJack HoltConstance CummingsBoris KarloffAn undercover Federal officer serving time in prison fakes his escape in order to infiltrate a heroin smuggling ring.
- DirectorAlbert DeMondStarsMorton LowryMae ClarkeLawrence GrantA wisecracking narrator mocks footage featuring Frankenstein's monster and Count Dracula.
- DirectorWidgey R. NewmanStarsHaddon MasonEric AdeneyWally PatchA crazed scientist attempts to transplant a young girl's brain into the body of an ape.
- DirectorWilliam Cameron MenziesMarcel VarnelStarsEdmund LoweIrene WareBela LugosiWhen delusional madman Roxor kidnaps a scientist in hopes of using his death ray to achieve world dominance, he is opposed by Chandu, a powerful hypnotist and yogi.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsLionel AtwillFay WrayLee TracyA wisecracking New York reporter intrudes on a research scientist's quest to unmask The Moon Killer.
- DirectorPál FejösStarsThomy BourdelleTania FédorJean WormsThe Marquise de Langrune invites her friends at her castle in Beaulieu. Among them is Lord Beltham who also came to bring her a significant sum of money. The mysterious Fantômas kills the Marquise during the night. Inspector Juve is sent on his trail.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.
- DirectorMack V. WrightHugh HarmanRudolf IsingStarsJohn WayneDukeSheila TerryJohn and Janet get a weird letter telling them to go to a ghost town which has an abandoned mine. There they contend with bad guys looking for hidden gold. They are aided by a mysterious Phantom.
- DirectorErle C. KentonStarsCharles LaughtonBela LugosiRichard ArlenA mad doctor conducts ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor who finds himself trapped there.
- DirectorWilliam J. CowenStarsWalter HustonLupe VelezConrad NagelThis remake of West of Zanzibar (1928) made four years later tries to outdo the Lon Chaney original in morbidity. From a wheelchair a handicapped white man rules an area of Africa as a living god. He rules the local natives through superstition and stage magic and he rules the few white people through sadism, keeping them virtual prisoners. He lives for the day he can avenge himself horribly on the man who stole his wife and crushed his spine. Strong and macabre stuff in a nearly forgotten horror film.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsBrigitte HelmJohn StuartTela TchaïTwo French Foreign Legionnaires are lost amid the shifting sands of the Sahara Desert when they stumble across the entrance to an underground world. Searching this new found subterranean passage, our heroes are surprised to find the lost city of Atlantis. Ruling over this fantastic underworld realm, an evil queen sets her sights upon these strangers to her kingdom.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsJosephine DunnJack MulhallEddie BolandMad scientist works on a death ray in his mountain hideaway.
- DirectorRobert FloreyStarsBela LugosiSidney FoxLeon AmesA mad scientist seeks to mingle human blood with that of an ape, and resorts to kidnapping women for his experiments.
- DirectorDavid HowardStarsGeorge O'BrienCecilia ParkerCharles MiddletonAn undercover ranger investigates a deranged rancher who acts as a law unto himself, finding a girl held as a prisoner until she agrees to marry the madman.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsGwili AndreGregory RatoffFrank MorganA burglar is recruited to aid the police in finding his kidnapped girlfriend, a lovely but impoverished flower girl. Meanwhile, a deranged Russian emigre has been claiming that his ward is actually Princess Anastasia, last survivor of the Tsar's family--but she seems to behave strangely in the presence of flowers.
- DirectorArmand SchaeferStarsJack MulhallPhyllis BarringtonCrauford KentDuring a séance at an elderly millionaire's house, the millionaire is murdered. The detectives investigating the crime discover that everyone who was at the séance had a motive for killing the man.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsZasu PittsEugene PalletteLucien LittlefieldBodies start mysteriously disappearing from the city morgue. An investigator tries to determine what is going on.
- DirectorH. Bruce HumberstoneStarsZasu PittsJames GleasonBen LyonA group of amateur detectives sets out to expose The Crooked Circle, a secretive group of hooded occultists.
- DirectorMaurice ElveyStarsIvor NovelloElizabeth AllanA.W. BaskcombA landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
- DirectorCharles BrabinCharles VidorStarsBoris KarloffLewis StoneKaren MorleyEnglishmen race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan before the sinister Fu Manchu does.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsH.B. WarnerWalter ByronBette DavisRonald Quayle escapes from prison. He was sent there for murdering his father, based on the testimony of his stepmother, Caroline. An explosion disfigures him, but plastic surgery gives him an opportunity to return to England and investigate his father's murder under a new identity. As Robert Crockett he romances his stepmother, ultimately trapping her by creating the appearance of a double-cross among her accomplices, now guests at her house.
- DirectorFrank R. StrayerStarsMischa AuerMartha MattoxRex LeasePeople in an old dark house on a stormy night are menaced by a killer ape.
- DirectorIrving PichelErnest B. SchoedsackStarsJoel McCreaFay WrayLeslie BanksA psychotic big game hunter deliberately strands a luxury yacht on a remote island, where he begins to hunt its passengers for sport.
- DirectorKarl FreundStarsBoris KarloffZita JohannDavid MannersA resurrected Egyptian mummy searches Cairo for the girl he believes to be his long-lost princess.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsBoris KarloffMelvyn DouglasCharles LaughtonSeeking shelter from a storm, five travelers are in for a bizarre and terrifying night when they stumble upon the Femm family estate.
- DirectorJ. Walter RubenStarsRicardo CortezKaren MorleyAnita LouiseJenny Wren is found dead after threatening to blackmail some prominent men, and it's up to a detective to find out what happened to Jenny.
- DirectorGeorge ArchainbaudStarsIrene DunneRicardo CortezJill EsmondA young woman plots astrological revenge on schoolgirls from her past.
- DirectorAlan JamesStarsKen MaynardCecilia ParkerSheldon LewisMaynard hears the cry of the weird masked "phantom" of Tombstone Canyon. The plot thickens when Maynard discovers a man with a key to his past has been murdered by the phantom.
- DirectorRichard OswaldStarsPaul WegenerMaria KoppenhöferBlandine EbingerA crazed scientist murders his wife, walls her up, then flees. A reporter sets out to track him down.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsJulian WestMaurice SchutzRena MandelA drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.
- DirectorVictor HalperinStarsBela LugosiMadge BellamyJoseph CawthornA young man turns to a witch doctor to lure the woman he loves away from her fiancé, but instead turns her into a zombie slave.
- DirectorWilliam VanceStarsWilliam VanceDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorWalter FordeStarsArthur WontnerGillian LindGordon HarkerSentenced to death, a murderer uses hypnotism skills to make a judge go out and kill the people who had accused him of the crime.
- DirectorDave FleischerWillard BowskyStarsCab Calloway and His Cotton Club OrchestraCab CallowayBilly MurrayBetty Boop and Bimbo run away from home, but that night they are scared by a chorus of ghosts singing the title song.
- DirectorGeorge CroneStarsRichard TalmadgeShirley GreyFred MalatestaA young girl who is about to receive a large inheritance is abducted to an isolated sanitarium where a crazed doctor is performing strange experiments.
- DirectorTed EshbaughA young Eskimo and his animal friends build a snow man, only for it to come to life and terrorize the local wildlife.
- DirectorJose NepomucenoStarsRosa Del RosarioRogelio de la Rosa
- DirectorLeslie S. HiscottStarsRaymond MasseyIsla BevanClaude HulbertA crime story about a detective's efforts to expose a Paris nobleman as a bank robber.
- DirectorTom WallsStarsTom WallsRalph LynnMary BroughAldwych farce. Acting as legal guardian of Kitty Stratton, Sir Hector Benbow sells the titular country house to Mrs Frush - who then complains that it is haunted. Various investigators and occupants spend a night searching for the ghost.
- DirectorBud PollardStarsLeslie KingNyreda MontezReed Brown Jr.A young woman in a creepy old house is terrorized by a killer and an ape-like monster.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsBela LugosiDavid MannersAdrienne AmesMurder during film shoot sparks search for a killer.
- DirectorErich EngelsStarsTheodor LoosElse ElsterHans Adalbert SchlettowSeveral unsolved murders in a locked room years before are rehashed when more tragedy strikes in the same place.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsStuart ErwinDorothy WilsonWarner OlandSinister forces compete to find the million dollars in gold hidden by recently deceased gangster Joe Valerie in his family's old dark house 15 years earlier,
- DirectorLambert HillyerStarsRalph BellamyJune CollyerClaude GillingwaterDetective tries to figure out who killed a man who predicted his own death.
- DirectorDave FleischerWillard BowskyStarsBonnie PoeBetty Boop hosts a Halloween party with aid from a scarecrow, but an uninvited gorilla threatens havoc.
- DirectorWalter LantzStarsTex AveryWalter LantzPooch the Pup, his camera, and his girlfriend go to Africa to make a movie of a giant gorilla. Things proceed roughly as in King Kong (1933), though with various comic twists.
- DirectorMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackStarsFay WrayRobert ArmstrongBruce CabotA film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
- DirectorRamón PeónStarsRamón PeredaVirginia ZuríCarlos OrellanaIn modern day Mexico, a man on the street is supernaturally killed after hearing the eerie sound of a wailing woman. We then arrive at the manor of an upper class family, who are celebrating their young son's birthday. A mysterious cloaked figure is eavesdropping on them, taking advantage of secret rooms and passages. Eventually, the intruder (who appears to be possesessed) kidnaps and attempts to murder the boy at a pagan altar using a sacrificial knife and stone. While this story unfolds, two flashbacks to the Elizabethan and Inquisition era are related, explaining the origins of the "wailing woman". In one, a woman with an illegitimate child has been abandoned by her lover. His formerly faithful friend forces him to a duel over this betrayal. The woman kills her baby and herself, and upon her death a wraith ascends skyward from her corpse. In the other story, an Indian woman has her baby taken from her by the authorities, and she descends into madness and suicide, with her spirit also leaving her body upon death. An ancient ring worn by the principals, as well as the knife and stone, are the bonds between the stories.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsCharles RugglesLionel AtwillGail PatrickA monomaniacal zoologist is pathologically jealous of his beautiful but unfaithful wife Evelyn and will not stop short of murder to keep her.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsLionel AtwillFay WrayGlenda FarrellThe disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor.
- DirectorBenjamin StoloffStarsBela LugosiWallace FordSally BlaneThe heirs to a family fortune are required to attend a seance at the spooky old family mansion. However, throughout the night members of the family are being killed off one by one.
- DirectorKurt NeumannStarsLionel AtwillGloria StuartPaul LukasTwenty years after 3 murders occur in a castle's "blue room", three men who each want to marry a beautiful girl decide to spend a night in the room to prove their bravery to her.
- DirectorErnest B. SchoedsackStarsRobert ArmstrongHelen MackFrank ReicherThe showman who brought Kong to New York returns to Skull Island and finds Kong's son, a spunky 12-footer with a winning personality and his dad's awesome strength.
- DirectorVictor HalperinStarsCarole LombardRandolph ScottAlan DinehartA serial black widow murderess returns to life in the body of a young woman to exact revenge on a former lover, a phony spiritualist who betrayed her.
- DirectorPaul SloaneStarsJohn HallidayCharles RugglesShirley GreyAn ocean liner is found at sea with everyone on board dead. An investigation is begun to find out what happened.
- DirectorT. Hayes HunterStarsBoris KarloffCedric HardwickeErnest ThesigerAn Egyptologist returns from the dead to take revenge on those who have violated his tomb.
- DirectorAlbert RayStarsLila LeeMonte BlueGwen LeeA murder is committed aboard a cruise ship just before it sinks in a storm. The survivors, including the killer, land on a mysterious jungle island.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsClaude RainsGloria StuartWilliam HarriganA scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.
- DirectorDavid HandWilfred JacksonStarsBilly BletcherPinto ColvigWalt DisneyMickey must save Pluto from a mad doctor's lair.
- DirectorWesley RugglesErnest B. SchoedsackStarsIvan F. SimpsonLouise CarterC. Aubrey SmithA mother wishes for the return of her dead son--a wish that is granted by the severed paw of a dead monkey.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsLionel AtwillSheila TerryTheodore NewtonA man known to be a mute is suspected of committing a murder, as he was noticed at the scene. However, witnesses saw and heard him talking as he was leaving the scene of the crime. The police must determine if he is the actual killer or if he is being framed.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeOtto WernickeThomy BourdelleA criminal mastermind uses hypnosis to rule the rackets after death.
- DirectorFrank R. StrayerStarsLionel AtwillFay WrayMelvyn DouglasWhen corpses drained of blood begin to show up in a European village, vampirism is suspected to be responsible.
- DirectorColbert ClarkAlbert HermanStarsBela LugosiViva TattersallMalcolm McGregorA mysterious criminal known as The Whispering Shadow commits crimes by means of a gang he controls by television and radio rays. Jack Norton, whose brother was murdered by The Whispering Shadow, suspects that the eerie Professor Strang - whose ghostly wax museum contains figures far too lifelike - may be involved in the crimes.