The Uninvited (1944) is probably the first serious Hollywood ghost movie, plus you get "Stella by Starlight" and Cornelia Otis Skinner being very very sinister. The ghost effects are gorgeous.
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I love this movie! I have had a terrible time tracking it down.
jul 25, 2025, 8:49 pm • 0 0 • view
Beautiful Gail Russell! My intro to C O Skinner was “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay” (total giggle fest) so it was a 🤯🤯 to see her being so….eeeevil…
jul 26, 2025, 8:49 pm • 0 0 • view
OK, it's not really a horror movie, but I'm going to tout The Time of Their Lives, Abbott and Costello's 1946 ghost comedy, because it's a lot of fun and Gale Sondergaard presides over a seance. So it counts. Sort of.
jul 25, 2025, 6:36 pm • 76 2 • view
Well it scared me when I was a novice TV user
jul 25, 2025, 7:22 pm • 1 0 • view
Doctor X (1932) Early Technicolor, Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray (screaming, of course), lots of implied and explicit perversion, some cannibalism, and one of those great cliffside Long Island mansions. A little Lee Tracy goes a very long way, though.
jul 25, 2025, 6:39 pm • 43 2 • view
This is an excellent list.
jul 25, 2025, 6:40 pm • 2 0 • view
Not to be confused with The Mystery of the Wax Museum, which is not in fact "Better Than Dr. X," but it's very good. More Lionel, more Fay, more Technicolor, plus you get the invaluable Glenda Farrell.
jul 25, 2025, 6:41 pm • 37 0 • view
This movie made me wish that Glenda Farrell got to make a series of The Night Stalker-esque movies investigating the paranormal. At least we got the Torchy Blane films.
jul 26, 2025, 12:18 am • 1 0 • view
Mark of the Vampire (1935) is almost brazenly incompetent and makes absolutely no sense, but it looks amazing (cinematography by the great James Wong Howe) and has one wonderfully breathtaking special effect, which I won't spoil for you. (And Bela. ❤️)
jul 25, 2025, 6:43 pm • 63 3 • view
This one is a fascinating could-have-been, knowing the little bit that Skal wrote about it.
jul 25, 2025, 7:02 pm • 0 0 • view
That was exactly as advertised. Excellent.
aug 3, 2025, 12:25 pm • 1 0 • view
All roads lead eventually to Freaks, so here we are.
jul 25, 2025, 6:44 pm • 51 2 • view
The Mummy (1932), directed by Karl Freund, with a great early Karloff performance and Zita Johann (probably most famous for starring on Broadway in Machinal, I'm thinking). Very elegant.
jul 25, 2025, 6:47 pm • 46 3 • view
I saw a restored version in the theater a couple of years ago (Fathom Events) and it was so good, I mean whatever they did to the soundtrack especially was amazing.
jul 25, 2025, 6:56 pm • 0 0 • view
That poster, holy mackerel
jul 25, 2025, 6:52 pm • 0 0 • view
Karl Freund's other great horror film is Mad Love, with Peter Lorre. As reattached-hands films go, this one's probably the best. Plus Lorre in that astounding getup you've seen in all the stills, and yes you'll see a couple of Citizen Kane pre-echoes, courtesy of cinematographer Gregg Toland.
jul 25, 2025, 6:51 pm • 52 0 • view
OK, taking a break. I'll be back with *checks notes* another 127 recommendations, none of which will star Lon Chaney Jr.
jul 25, 2025, 6:52 pm • 34 0 • view
Well, as apparently I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life, I can pace myself and just offer a few at a time. I always wanted to see the part-talkie The Last Warning (1928, directed by Paul Leni) because of this still, which alas the film doesn't live up to, but it's fun.
jul 25, 2025, 7:12 pm • 31 0 • view
The Corpse Vanishes is a cheap Monogram film, if that's not redundant, and the heroine is preternaturally irritating, but there's also the great Elizabeth Russell and Minerva Urecal (whom you'll recognize from 7 Faces of Dr. Lao) as... ...Fagah. And Bela. ❤️
jul 25, 2025, 7:17 pm • 24 1 • view
You should have put a cap on the likes.
jul 25, 2025, 9:35 pm • 1 0 • view
I've loved this film since I saw it on Saturdays as a child.
jul 25, 2025, 7:10 pm • 1 0 • view
Is this the one “‘bout a ghost from a wishing well?” (Thank you, Gordon Lightfoot).
jul 25, 2025, 9:39 pm • 0 0 • view
I'm a sucker for Abbot & Costello movies.
jul 25, 2025, 10:16 pm • 0 0 • view
The perfume!
jul 25, 2025, 10:37 pm • 1 0 • view
One of my all-time faves. Also has a good “Well played, sir!”
jul 25, 2025, 6:35 pm • 2 0 • view