Classic Horror 

 

“The air itself is filled with monsters”

The "classic" or golden age of film horror spans the 1930s and '40s, coming to an end with The Creature From the Black Lagoon (or perhaps the Abbot and Costello monster comedies of the late '40s and early 50s).  Most of "Classic Horror" films have some tenuous connection to gothic novels.  Often, the "Classic" label is applied just to the Universal Studios monster films of the period, but I feel no need to stick to such limitations.  However, that doesn't mean every B&W film fits.  There is a distinction between the classics and the cheaply made, "Poverty Row," independent films distributed by PRC and Monogram that focused on mad doctors and killer gorillas.

A majority of the classics were Universal pictures, with over twenty-five films falling, with some squeezing, into six series, each staring one of the most famous monsters of film: Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, and the Creature From the Black Lagoon. 

Three actors dominated the classic era: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney Jr.  All three were superb actors, but were also personalities.  No one can forget Karloff's eyes or Lugosi's voice. 

My Classic Horror Film reviews: 

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy Bride of Frankenstein Creature From The Black Lagoon The Creature Walks Among us Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde '31 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde '41 Dracula Frankenstein Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man The Ghost Breakers

Ghost of Frankenstein House of Dracula House of Frankenstein The Invisible Agent The Invisible Man Returns The Invisible Man's Revenge The Invisible Woman Mark of the Vampire The Mummy The Mummy's Curse

The Mummy's Ghost The Mummy's Hand The Mummy's Tomb The Picture of Dorian Gray Portrait of Jennie Revenge of the Creature Son of Frankenstein The Uninvited Werewolf of London The Wolf Man

 

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Sorted by year:

1930s
Dracula (1931)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Mark of the Vampire (1935)
Werewolf of London (1935)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
1940s
The Ghost Breakers (1940)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
The Invisible Woman (1940)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
The Wolf Man (1941)
Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
The Invisible Agent (1942)
The Mummy's Hand (1942)
The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
The Mummy's Curse (1944)
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
The Uninvited (1944)
House of Dracula (1945)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Portrait of Jennie (1948)
1950s
Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
Revenge of the Creature (1955)
The Creature Walks Among us (1956)