Best horror film of the 40s & 50s

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Before moving on to the disappointing 90s, let's have a look at a few classics. Really a period I know a lot less about - so please post any title you think should be included!

Some films I left aside, if you need inspiration, a lot of them I haven't seen:

Godzilla
Night of the Hunter
The Blob
The Ghost of Frankenstein
House of Dracula
Frankenstein Meets the WolfMan
House of Frankenstein
Black Friday
King of the Zombies
The Leopard Man
The Queen of Spades
The Lodger
The Spiral Staircase
Son of Dracula
Gaslight (this one I left aside because I was tired of borderline horror films getting most of the votes, I expect it to be voted in!)

The previous polls are still open:

Psycho is running away with the 60s poll
https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/best-horror-film-of-the-60s.2728529/

The Exorcist and Alien are still battling for king of the 70s:
Best horror film of the 70s

The Thing seems to have control of the 80s:
Best horror film of the 80s

Click to read more...

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Admittedly haven't seen many of these, but The Bad Seed did have a profound effect on me as a child.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Admittedly haven't seen many of these, but The Bad Seed did have a profound effect on me as a child.

Indeed a very good film, that aged a lot better than most.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Voted Cat People, though Les Diaboliques is my favorite among this batch.

 

[Trap Jesus]

Yeah, I really have no opinion on this. I think Rear Window is the only pre-1960 movie I've seen that I've liked.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Yeah, I really have no opinion on this. I think Rear Window is the only pre-1960 movie I've seen that I've liked.

I think you can live without these films, but not without the earlier German films - probably next poll.

 

[kihei]

Voted Cat People, though Les Diaboliques is my favorite among this batch.

Same for me, other way around, with Les Diaboliques my #1 seed and Cat People my #2 seed, on merit, true, but also because I would have voted Tourneur's Night of the Demon as my second pick if I could have. Love both movies, but Night of the Demon was genuinely scary in a delicious sort of way. There are many days, though, when my vote would just as likely be Les Diaboliques and the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers which I still think is by far the best version ever of that story.

I think these decades were wonderful for horror movies, rich in atmosphere even when wanting in execution sometimes. I certainly wouldn't want to do without them.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Same for me, other way around, with Les Diaboliques my #1 seed and Cat People my #2 seed, on merit, true, but also because I would have voted Tourneur's Night of the Demon as my second pick if I could have. Love both movies, but Night of the Demon was genuinely scary in a delicious sort of way. There are many days, though, when my vote would just as likely be Les Diaboliques and the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers which I still think is by far the best version ever of that story.

I think these decades were wonderful for horror movies, rich in atmosphere even when wanting in execution sometimes. I certainly wouldn't want to do without them.

Night of the Demon added (haven't seen it!!). And yeah, the Body Snatchers...

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Nobody has even seen these.

 

[Fantomas]

The only thing from the 40s that scares me is a Maya Deren movie. The mirror face guy. I think it's Meshes of the Afternoon, or it might be one of the other shorts.

But some of these are still enjoyable. They're just not scary.

 

[Unholy Diver]

House of Wax and The House on Haunted Hill for me

 

[Tofveve]

I got nothing going this far back. Have seen bits and pieces of a few of these and just bought an Alfred Hitchcock collection with some mysteries from the 50s, but they're not horror.

Cool threads!

 

[Chili]

I'm a fan of Claude Rains (Casablanca, Invisible Man) so I enjoyed that version of Phantom of the Opera. Also chose The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Haven't seen many of the others, best one listed was Night of the Hunter, recommend that movie.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

4 way tie with only 3 votes each....... not a lot of old horror films fans around here

1) Cat People
1) House of Wax
1) Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1) Les diaboliques

I don't think we'll need any more entries from this decade.

 

[Osprey]

If you'd like a tie-breaker, I would've voted for Les Diaboliques and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

I watched Cat People a few months ago and was not impressed. It's hardly horror and more psychological melodrama. It struck me as a B movie, the kind that's part of a double feature with an A movie. Whatever was attractive about it in 1942 just didn't translate to 2019 for me.