Decade
1940s Horror
The horror that defined the 1940s — ranked by Crypt Score, from era-defining classics to the deep cuts worth resurrecting.
87 titles
The Monster and the Girl
›1941 · Science Fiction, Horror, Crime · 65m · Ellen Drew, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas
After a young woman is coerced into prostitution and her brother framed for murder by an organized crime syndicate, retribution in the form of an ape visits the mobsters.
You'll Find Out
›1940 · Comedy, Horror, Romance · 97m · Kay Kyser, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff
The manager of Kay Kyser’s band books them for a birthday party bash for an heiress at a spooky mansion, where sinister forces try to kill her.
House of Frankenstein
›1944 · Horror, Science Fiction · 71m · Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carrol Naish
Deranged scientist, Gustav Niemann, escapes from prison and overtakes the director of a traveling chamber of horrors, soon reviving the infamous Count Dracula, the frozen Frankenstein Monster, and the Wolf Man.
Invisible Agent
›1942 · Horror, Science Fiction, War · 81m · Ilona Massey, Jon Hall, Peter Lorre
The Invisible Man's grandson uses his secret formula to spy on Nazi Germany.
Horror Island
›NR1941 · Mystery, Comedy, Horror · 60m · Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo, Peggy Moran
A 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.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
›NR1943 · Horror, Science Fiction · 74m · Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Patric Knowles
After being resurrected by grave robbers, Larry Talbot searches for Dr. Frankenstein in the hopes of being cured of his lycanthropy. The mad scientist may turn out to be dead, but his monster is just waiting to be found…
Son of Dracula
›1943 · Horror · 77m · Lon Chaney Jr., Robert Paige, Louise Allbritton
Carpathian Count Alucard is invited to the U.S. by a young heiress. Her boyfriend and local officials are suspicious of the newcomer, who is interested in the "virile" soil of the new world.
The Mummy's Hand
›1940 · Horror, Fantasy · 67m · Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, Wallace Ford
A couple of young, out-of-work archaeologists in Egypt discover evidence of the burial place of the ancient Egyptian princess Ananka. After receiving funding from an eccentric magician and his beautiful daughter, they set out into the desert only to be terrorized by a sinister high priest and the living mummy Kharis who are the guardians of Ananka’s tomb.
The Mad Ghoul
›1943 · Science Fiction, Horror · 65m · George Zucco, David Bruce, Evelyn Ankers
A university chemistry professor experiments with an ancient Mayan gas on a medical student, turning the would-be surgeon into a murdering ghoul as part of a plan to steal his lover.
The Boogie Man Will Get You
›NR1942 · Comedy, Horror · 67m · Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Maxie Rosenbloom
A young divorcee tries to convert a historic house into a hotel despite its oddball inhabitants and dead bodies in the cellar.
House of Dracula
›1945 · Horror, Science Fiction · 64m · John Carradine, Onslow Stevens, Lon Chaney Jr.
A scientist working on cures for rare afflictions, such as a bone softening agent made from molds to allow him to correct the spinal deformity of his nurse, finds the physical causes of lycanthropy in wolf-man Larry Talbot and of vampirism in Count Dracula, but himself becomes afflicted with homicidal madness while exchanging blood with Dracula.
The Climax
›1944 · Music, Horror, Thriller · 86m · Boris Karloff, Susanna Foster, Turhan Bey
Dr. Hohner, theatre physician at the Vienna Royal Theatre, murders his mistress, the star soprano when his jealousy drives him to the point of mad obsession. Ten years later, another young singer reminds Hohner of the late diva and his old mania kicks in. Hohner wants to prevent her from singing for anyone but him, even if it means silencing her forever.
One Body Too Many
›NR1944 · Comedy, Mystery, Thriller · 75m · Jack Haley, Jean Parker, Bela Lugosi
An insurance salesman, Albert Tuttle, is hired as a body guard for a millionaire.
The Devil Bat
›NR1940 · Horror, Science Fiction, Crime · 68m · Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren, Dave O'Brien
Dr. Paul Carruthers is frustrated because he thinks his employers, Mary Heath and Henry Morton, have cheated him out of the company's profits. He decides to get revenge by altering bats to grow twice their normal size and training them to attack when they smell a perfume of his own making. He mixes the perfume into a lotion, which he offers as a gift to Mary and Henry. When they turn up dead, a newspaper reporter decides to investigate.
Voodoo Man
›1944 · Horror, Mystery · 62m · Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, Tod Andrews
After several female motorists begin disappearing en route to Twin Falls, a Hollywood screenwriter and the cousin of his bride-to-be discover that they've all been abducted by the mysterious Dr. Marlowe, who is attempting to resurrect his dead wife.
Bowery at Midnight
›NR1942 · Crime, Horror, Action · 62m · Bela Lugosi, John Archer, Wanda McKay
A seemingly charitable soup kitchen operator (who moonlights as a criminology professor) uses his Bowery mission as a front for his criminal gang. Police attempt to close in on the gang as they commit a series of robberies, murders and bizarre experiments on corpses.
Zombies on Broadway
›NR1945 · Comedy, Horror · 69m · Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Bela Lugosi
Two bumbling press agents must search for a zombie to fulfill a commitment to their ex-gangster boss's new nightclub or face the consequences.
Unknown Island
›1948 · Science Fiction, Horror, Adventure · 75m · Virginia Grey, Phillip Reed, Richard Denning
Adventure-seeker Ted Osborne has convinced his finacee Carole to finance his expedition to an uncharted South Pacific island supposedly populated with dinosaurs...
Cry of the Werewolf
›1944 · Horror · 63m · Nina Foch, Stephen Crane, Osa Massen
A young gypsy girl turns into a wolf to destroy her enemies.
The Invisible Man's Revenge
›1944 · Horror, Science Fiction · 78m · Jon Hall, Evelyn Ankers, Alan Curtis
A fugitive, dangerous madman reaches an English village where he confronts his former partner who left him for dead in the jungle after their discovery of a diamond mine. When the former partner also claims to have since lost the mine and all its wealth, which he took all for himself, and though the partner is still living in a state of luxury , the madman takes up an offer from a crazed scientist to make him invisible, something the scientist has already done with experimental animals, so that he can take revenge.
Captive Wild Woman
›1943 · Horror, Science Fiction · 61m · John Carradine, Evelyn Ankers, Milburn Stone
An insane scientist doing experimentation in glandular research becomes obsessed with transforming a female gorilla into a human...even though it costs human life.
Spooks Run Wild
›1941 · Comedy, Horror · 65m · Bela Lugosi, Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan
A group of delinquents on their way to summer camp get stuck in a haunted house.
Invisible Ghost
›NR1941 · Horror, Crime, Thriller · 64m · Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, John McGuire
The town's leading citizen becomes a homicidal maniac after his wife deserts him.
King of the Zombies
›NR1941 · Horror, Comedy · 67m · Dick Purcell, Joan Woodbury, Mantan Moreland
During World War II, a small plane somewhere over the Caribbean runs low on fuel and is blown off course by a storm. Guided by a faint radio signal, they crash-land on an island. The passenger, his manservant and the pilot take refuge in a mansion owned by a doctor. The quick-witted yet easily-frightened manservant soon becomes convinced the mansion is haunted by zombies and ghosts.