Favorite Horror Films 1940-1949
Updated: 06/20/2022
I have watched 105 horror films with a release date between 1940-1949. I have listed them here ranked from best to worst (in my opinion).
I have watched 105 horror films with a release date between 1940-1949. I have listed them here ranked from best to worst (in my opinion).
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105 titles
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiCharles CrichtonBasil DeardenStarsMervyn JohnsMichael RedgraveRoland CulverGuests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality.
- DirectorCharles BartonWalter LantzStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloLon Chaney Jr.The Wolf Man tries to warn a dimwitted porter that Dracula wants his brain for Frankenstein monster's body.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloRichard CarlsonAfter inheriting a fortune from a gangster, two dim-witted service station attendants find themselves stranded in a haunted house.
- DirectorAlbert LewinStarsGeorge SandersHurd HatfieldDonna ReedA corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsCary GrantPriscilla LaneRaymond MasseyA Brooklyn writer of books on the futility of marriage risks his reputation after he decides to tie the knot. Things get even more complicated when he learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are habitual murderers.
- DirectorJames AlgarSamuel ArmstrongFord Beebe Jr.StarsLeopold StokowskiDeems TaylorThe Philadelphia OrchestraA series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.This is only for the Night on Bald Mountain sequence.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiHenry DaniellA ruthless doctor and his young prize student find themselves continually harassed by their murderous supplier of illegal cadavers.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsBarry FitzgeraldWalter HustonLouis HaywardSeven guests, a newly hired secretary and two staff are gathered at a manor house on an isolated island by an unknown absentee host and are killed off one-by-one. They work together to determine who the killer is before it's too late.
- DirectorFord BeebeStarsBela LugosiLionel AtwillLeif EricksonKurt Ingston, a rich recluse, invites the doctors who left him a hopeless cripple to his desolate mansion in the swamps as one by one they meet horrible deaths.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsBob HopePaulette GoddardRichard CarlsonA radio broadcaster, his quaking manservant and an heiress investigate the mystery of a haunted castle in Cuba.
- DirectorFrank McDonaldStarsJack HaleyJean ParkerBela LugosiAn insurance salesman arrives at a creepy mansion to discover his potential eccentric millionaire client already dead. Instead he gets embroiled in a house full of greedy, murderous relatives competing for the inheritance.
- DirectorJames AlgarClyde GeronimiJack KinneyStarsBing CrosbyBasil RathboneEric BloreAn animated adaptation of "The Wind in the Willows" followed by an adaptation of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".This is for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow sequence only.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsBoris KarloffEllen DrewMarc CramerOn a Greek island during the 1912 war, several people are trapped by quarantine for the plague. If that isn't enough worry, one of the people, a superstitious old peasant woman, suspects one young girl of being a vampiric kind of demon called a vorvolaka.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsGene TierneyRex HarrisonGeorge SandersIn 1900, a young widow finds her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.
- DirectorLewis AllenStarsRay MillandRuth HusseyDonald CrispA composer and his sister discover that the reason they are able to purchase a beautiful gothic seacoast mansion very cheaply is the house's unsavory past.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsFrances DeeTom ConwayJames EllisonA nurse is hired to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner, who has been acting strangely, on a Caribbean island.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsBela LugosiLeo GorceyBobby JordanThe boys are stranded in a small rural town, they hear about a "monster killer" roaming the countryside. At night, they sneak out. Peewee is shot by a grave-digger, and they are forced to seek aid at an old mansion.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsGeorge SandersMargaret LindsayVincent PriceBased on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, this classic film follows a family feud between two brothers and an ancient curse that haunts them.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiStanley RidgesDr. Sovac transplants the brain of a gangster into his professor friend's body to save his life, but there is a side effect that causes a dangerous split personality.
- DirectorCharles BartonStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloMarjorie ReynoldsA psychiatrist stays in a mansion haunted by prankish ghosts from the Revolutionary War.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsWally BrownAlan CarneyBela LugosiTwo bumbling press agents must search for a zombie to fulfill a commitment to their ex-gangster boss's new nightclub or face the consequences.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsFredric MarchVeronica LakeRobert BenchleyA beautiful 17th-century witch returns to life to plague politician Wallace Wooley, descendant of her persecutor.
- DirectorJules DassinNorman Z. McLeodStarsCharles LaughtonRobert YoungMargaret O'BrienThe descendent of a ghost imprisoned for cowardice hopes to free the spirit by displaying courage when under duress.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallBobby JordanThe East Side Kids try to fix up a house for newlyweds, but find the place next door "haunted" by mysterious men.
- DirectorCharles BartonStarsBud AbbottLou CostelloBoris KarloffTwo employees of a secluded hotel investigate a murder on the premises in which the goofy bellboy is the prime suspect.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsBela LugosiJohn ArcherWanda McKayKindly soup kitchen operator and professor of criminology Bela Lugosi uses his soup kitchen as a front for a criminal gang who commit a series of daring robberies and murders.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsDon 'Red' BarryVirginia CarrollMilburn StoneStan Borden with the help of the stooge Sheriff is out to get the Toreno ranch. Kicking the peons off the ranch, they kill Miguel's father. Miguel then becomes the masked El Lobo and when Jim Lawrence arrives, the two team up to fight Borden and the Sheriff.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsJoan BlondellRoland YoungCarole LandisA fun-loving young woman is murdered after trading bedrooms with her wealthy friend. Her ghost seeks aid from Topper to find the murderer.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsGeorge SandersLucille BallCharles CoburnBritish police are after a serial killer who lures his female victims through newspaper personal ads and sends cryptic poem clues to the cops.
- DirectorFriz FrelengStarsMel BlancArthur Q. BryanThis time Elmer Fudd goes after Bugs using hypnotism, only the plan backfires.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallGabriel DellCandy on a toothache turns Sach into a prognosticator, which attracts the attention of an exploitative Slip and a personality-switching doctor hoping to create an obedient super race.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffMarjorie ReynoldsGrant WithersWhen Captain Street's best friend Dan Grady is murdered, Street receives help from Chinese detective James Lee Wong and local newspaper reporter Bobbie Logan.
- DirectorDel LordStarsMoe HowardLarry FineCurly HowardThe stooges are salesman selling a weight reducing machine. They have no luck until they show up at the house of an eccentric inventor where they are hired as caretakers. When the scientist goes to Washington to demonstrate his death-ray machine to the government, the boys are left to guard his house and must contend with enemy spies and a mysterious pie thrower.
- DirectorJules WhiteStarsMoe HowardLarry FineShemp HowardThe stooges are movers for an express company and on a rainy night are sent to move some junk, including a suit of armor, from a spooky old house. The armor is haunted by the ghost of Peeping Tom, who has no intention of leaving. The ghost foils the stooges attempts to take the armor, until Lady Godiva shows up and the two ride off together.
- DirectorAlfred L. WerkerStarsStan LaurelOliver HardyDanteStan and Ollie get involved with con men, crooks, a genial magician, and two interchangeable coffins with disastrous but funny results.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsClaude RainsWarren WilliamLon Chaney Jr.Larry Talbot returns to his father's castle in Wales and meets a beautiful woman. One fateful night, Talbot escorts her to a local carnival where they meet a mysterious gypsy fortune teller.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsBoris KarloffAnna LeeBilly HouseNell Bowen, the protégé of Lord Mortimer, wants to help change the conditions of notorious St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum (Bedlam). Though she tries to reform Bedlam, the cruel Master Sims who runs it has her committed there, but ultimately, it's the lunatics who've taken over the asylum.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsWayne MorrisBrenda MarshallAlexis SmithAn heiress seems to be cursed as each of her intended grooms meets with a horrible end.
- DirectorFrank McDonaldStarsJack HaleyAnn SavageBarton MacLaneThe jumpy chess editor at a newspaper accidentally gets involved in some murders at a sleazy tavern run by a pair of bizarre brothers.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsLon Chaney Jr.Ilona MasseyPatric KnowlesThe resurrected Wolf Man, seeking a cure for his malady, enlists the aid of a mad scientist, who claims he will not only rid the Wolf Man of his nocturnal metamorphosis, but also revive the frozen body of Frankenstein's inhuman creation.
- DirectorEdward A. BlattStarsJohn GarfieldPaul HenreidSydney GreenstreetPassengers on an ocean liner can't recall how they got on board or where they are going yet, oddly enough, it soon becomes apparent that they all have something in common.
- DirectorJohn EnglishStarsGene AutryChampionNan LeslieGene Autry's stolen horse turns up in a ghost town where Gene goes after he is left stranded during a stagecoach race.
- DirectorWallace FoxStarsBela LugosiLuana WaltersTristram CoffinA scientist, aided by an old hag and her two sons, kills virginal brides, steals their bodies, and extracts gland fluid to keep his ancient wife alive and young.
- DirectorJoseph H. LewisStarsBela LugosiPolly Ann YoungJohn McGuireThe town's leading citizen becomes a homicidal maniac after his wife deserts him.
- DirectorErle C. KentonStarsBoris KarloffLon Chaney Jr.J. Carrol NaishA deranged scientist escapes from prison and recruits Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the Wolf Man to get revenge on his behalf.
- DirectorChuck JonesStarsMel BlancPorky and Sylvester spend the night in an old dark house where a cult of killer mice try to eliminate them both. Sylvester tries warning Porky, but he is convinced that Sylvester is a coward.
- DirectorBernard VorhausStarsTurhan BeyLynn BariCathy O'DonnellOn the beach one night, Christine Faber, two years a widow, thinks she hears her late husband Paul calling out of the surf; then meets a tall dark man Alexis, who seems to know all about such things.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsDick PurcellJoan WoodburyMantan MorelandOn a spooky island, three stranded travelers find an evil doctor working with foreign spies and in control of zombies.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffMarjorie ReynoldsGrant WithersMr. Wong and a girl reporter investigate a shipping magnate's murder.
- DirectorEdward BerndsStarsMoe HowardLarry FineShemp HowardThe stooges are trainers of Chopper, the boxer, and they bet their bank roll on his next fight. But his manager is a gangster who orders them to have Chopper lose or else. When Chopper's girl goes for his opponent, Stooge things happen.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsBasil RathboneNigel BruceAlan MowbrayWhen the fabled Star of Rhodesia diamond is stolen on a London to Edinburgh train and the son of its owner is murdered, Sherlock Holmes must discover which of his suspicious fellow passengers is responsible.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsBasil RathboneNigel BruceHillary BrookeSherlock Holmes investigates when young women around London turn up murdered, each with a finger severed. Scotland Yard suspects a madman, but Holmes believes the killings to be part of a diabolical plot.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsDick ForanLeo CarrilloPeggy MoranA down-on-his-luck businessman organizes an excursion to Sir Henry Morgan's Island for a treasure hunt only to encounter a mysterious phantom and murder.
- DirectorGeorge ArchainbaudStarsWilliam BoydAndy ClydeRand BrooksAt the reading of his late cousin's will, California learns the estate will be divied among whoever remains of the seven relatives. With one already dead, another immediately murdered, and the Lawyer telling them the ranch is almost worthless, Hoppy investigates. Finding the ranch valuable and the Lawyer embezzling money from it, Hoppy confronts him.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsHelen ParrishDick PurcellTim RyanA woman of twenty-one opens her grandfather's will left to her thirteen years earlier, per his instructions. Murder soon follows.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsDorothy McGuireGeorge BrentEthel BarrymoreIn 1916, a shadowy serial killer is targeting women with "afflictions"; one night during a thunderstorm, the mute Helen feels menaced.
- DirectorChristy CabanneStarsDick ForanPeggy MoranWallace FordArchaeologists defile the tomb of mummified Kharis, who was buried alive for falling in love with an Egyptian princess.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsLionel AtwillLon Chaney Jr.Anne NagelA mad scientist turns a man into an electrically-controlled monster to do his bidding.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsGeorge ZuccoMary CarlisleNedrick YoungThe twin of a kindly small-town physician returns from the grave for vengeance against his brother, who secretly killed him because the twin served Satan.
- DirectorErle C. KentonStarsCedric HardwickeLon Chaney Jr.Ralph BellamyDr. Frankenstein's plans to replace the brain of his monster are hijacked by his scheming and malevolent assistant Ygor.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsDennis O'KeefeMargoJean BrooksA seemingly-tame leopard used for a publicity stunt escapes and kills a young girl, spreading panic throughout a sleepy New Mexico town.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsBuster CrabbeAl St. JohnJean CarlinDawson is running rustled cattle across the abandoned Trenton ranch and has given it the reputation of a ghost ranch to keep people away. When Henty Tenton arrives from England to take over the ranch, Dawson tries to get rid of him. But Billy and Fuzzy are on hand to help Henry and it's not long before they have to go into action.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsVirginia BruceJohn BarrymoreJohn HowardAn attractive model with an ulterior motive volunteers as guinea pig for an invisibility machine.
- DirectorHarold YoungStarsLon Chaney Jr.Dick ForanJohn HubbardThe ancient Egypt Mummy, Kharis, is transported from his homeland with the high priest Mehemet to wreak vengeance on the family who has defiled the sacred tomb of his beloved Princess Ananka.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsJohn CarradineJean ParkerNils AstherIn Paris, an artist hires portrait models, and after he finishes their portraits, he strangles them.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJohn LoderAudrey LongEdgar BarrierA remake of Richard Connell's famous short story, "The Most Dangerous Game," about a madman who hunts human prey on his personal island habitat.
- StarsDelta Rhythm Boys
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsLon Chaney Jr.Robert PaigeLouise AllbrittonWhen Katherine, a beautiful Southern girl obsessed with thoughts of eternal life, invites Count Alucard to come to her mansion in the U.S., she unleashes a Pandora's box of horror on unsuspecting relatives and neighbors.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsLeo GorceyHuntz HallDouglass DumbrilleNewly graduated from exterminator college, Slip and the boys open a pest control business. Their first job leads to a doctor who wants to transplant Sach's brain.
- DirectorJohn EnglishStarsBob SteeleTom TylerRufe DavisIt is 1937, but the life out West has not changed much. The boys are working at the Wyoming ranch of Captain Marvin herding horses which he sells to Kurt Redman. Marvin will not sell any horses to any army, but the boys find out that Redman is a German agent shipping the horses directly to the Third Reich. When Marvin tries to stop Redman, his son Tad, who is studying medicine in Germany, is arrested and held hostage. Marvin must fire the boys as the sneaky German agents take over the ranch, but the boys will not give up their attempt to stop them.
- DirectorArthur PiersonStarsVincent PriceTaylor HolmesPatrick WhyteDickens' classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and three Christmas Ghosts that change his perception of life. Narrated by Vincent Price.
- DirectorPhil RosenStarsKeye LukeLotus LongGrant WithersDetective James Lee Wong is on the scene as archaeologist Dr. John Benton, recently returned from an expedition in China where a valuable ancient scroll was recovered, is murdered while giving a lecture on the expedition.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsBasil RathboneNigel BruceLionel AtwillSherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson must protect a Swiss inventor of an advanced bomb sight from falling into German hands.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsSimone SimonTom ConwayKent SmithAn American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.
- DirectorAlbert HermanStarsDave O'BrienKay AldridgeAlan MowbrayA theatre critic (Dave O'Brien) teams up with a cop (Jack Mulhall) to investigate the murder of a Broadway actor.
- DirectorTex AveryStarsMel BlancWalter TetleyA hungry cat makes his way into a ghost town and finds nothing but a spectral mouse.
- DirectorRobert ClampettStarsMel BlancRobert ClampettBugs encounters wartime sabotage and takes to the air to do battle.
- DirectorReginald Le BorgStarsLon Chaney Jr.John CarradineRobert LoweryKharis the mummy is given a sacred potion that grants him eternal life to search for his lost love, Princess Ananka, despite the unending curse that haunts them.
- DirectorLeslie GoodwinsStarsLon Chaney Jr.Peter CoeVirginia ChristineShipped to Louisiana, the mummy Kharis from Egypt roams the bayou, tormented by his forbidden love for Princess Ananka.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsNelson EddySusanna FosterClaude RainsAn acid-scarred composer rises from the Paris sewers to boost his favorite opera understudy's career.
- DirectorErle C. KentonStarsOnslow StevensJohn CarradineLon Chaney Jr.The Wolf Man and Count Dracula beg Dr. Edelman to cure them of their killing instincts but Dracula schemes to seduce the doctor's nurse.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsCarl EsmondLenore AubertAdele MaraAre mysterious killings in Paris of 1896 the work of man or monster?
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsDon PorterJune LockhartSara HadenA young heiress finds evidence suggesting that at night she acts under the influence of a family curse and has begun committing ghastly murders in a nearby park.
- DirectorErnest B. SchoedsackStarsTerry MooreBen JohnsonRobert ArmstrongA young woman who has raised a giant gorilla from an infant brings him to Hollywood years later seeking her fortune.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsBasil RathboneNigel BrucePatricia MorisonSherlock Holmes sets out to discover why a trio of murderous villains, including a dangerously attractive female, are desperate to obtain three unassuming and inexpensive little music boxes.
- DirectorChristy CabanneStarsBela LugosiGeorge ZuccoMolly LamontFrom a slab in the morgue, a dead young woman tells the bizarre tale of how she got there, through a maze of murder involving a hypnotist, a midget and a mysterious figure in a green mask.
- DirectorWilliam BeaudineStarsJames DunnJoan WoodburyPaul McVeyA retired detective, Nick Trayne, is hired to look for a missing banker. During the investigation, the aforementioned banker returns in a zombie-like state. Trayne must track down the madman responsible for the banker's state.
- DirectorCharles LedererStarsLew AyresLaraine DayBasil RathboneAn unemployed actor in Chicago aims to solve the mystery concerning a string of axe murders, apparently committed by a "lunatic".
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsLaird CregarMerle OberonGeorge SandersA landlady suspects that her new lodger is Jack the Ripper.
- StarsBela LugosiRobert KentDorothy ArnoldNot a feature, but an edited version of the 1939 serial "The Phantom Creeps" which was released to TV in 1949.
- DirectorA. Edward SutherlandStarsHarry CareyC. Aubrey SmithCharles WinningerThe ghosts of three elderly industrialists killed in an airplane crash return to Earth to help reunite a young couple they initially brought together.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsCedric HardwickeVincent PriceNan GreyThe owner of a coal mining operation, falsely imprisoned for fratricide, takes a drug to make him invisible, despite its side effect: gradual madness.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBela LugosiJoan BarclayGeorge PembrokeA cabal of American industrialists, all fifth-columnists intent on sabotaging the war effort, are methodically murdered by the malevolent Monsieur Colomb. It is only until detective Dick Martin is assigned to the case that everyone's true motives and identities are revealed.
- DirectorIvan BarnettStarsGwen WatfordKaye TendeterIrving Steen1950. Horror. A traveller arrives at Usher mansion to visit his friend Roderick (Kaye Tendeter) and discovers that Roderick and his sister (Gwen Watford) have been inflicted with a strange disease.
- DirectorJean YarbroughStarsRondo HattonTom NealJan WileyA facially-deformed and mentally-unhinged man wreaks his revenge, with a series of brutal murders, on those who deformed him.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffMaris WrixonGene O'DonnellDr. Bernard Adrian is a kindly mad scientist who seeks to cure a young woman's polio. He needs spinal fluid from a human to complete the formula for his experimental serum.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsJohnny DownsGeorge ZuccoAnne NagelA mad scientist changes his simple-minded handyman into a werewolf in order to prove his supposedly crazy scientific theories - and exact revenge.
- DirectorSam NewfieldStarsJ. Carrol NaishRalph MorganTala BirellA mad scientist injects his enemies with an acromegaly virus, causing them to become hideously deformed.