Decade
1950s Horror
The horror that defined the 1950s — ranked by Crypt Score, from era-defining classics to the deep cuts worth resurrecting.
151 titles
Dementia
›1955 · Horror, Drama · 58m · Adrienne Barrett, Bruno VeSota, Ben Roseman
In a shadowy world stitched from nightmares, a young woman's harrowing journey in a seedy hotel unveils her traumatic past. Haunted by violence and stalked through desolate streets, her psyche unravels as she confronts an abusive husband and unsettling memories.
I Married a Monster from Outer Space
›NR1958 · Horror, Science Fiction · 78m · Tom Tryon, Gloria Talbott, Alan Dexter
Aliens from Outer Space are slowly switching places with real humans -- one of the first being a young man about to get married. Slowly, his new wife realizes something is wrong, and her suspicions are confirmed when her husband's odd behaviour begins to show up in other townspeople.
Colonel March of Scotland YardSeries
›1956 · Drama · 1 season · Boris Karloff, Ewan Roberts, Eric Pohlmann
Colonel March of The Department of Queer Complaints investigates unusual cases, locked-room murders, and mysteries concerning the supernatural.
Invaders from Mars
›1953 · Science Fiction, Horror · 78m · Jimmy Hunt, Arthur Franz, Helena Carter
A boy tries to stop aliens that have taken over his town and are brainwashing its inhabitants.
A Bucket of Blood
›NR1959 · Comedy, Horror · 66m · Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Antony Carbone
Nerdy Walter Paisley, a maladroit busboy at a beatnik café who doesn't fit in with the cool scene around him, attempts to woo his beautiful co-worker, Carla, by making a bust of her. When his klutziness results in the death of his landlady's cat, he panics and hides its body under a layer of plaster. But when Carla and her friends enthuse over the resulting artwork, Walter decides to create some bigger and more elaborate pieces using the same artistic process.
It Came from Outer Space
›1953 · Science Fiction, Horror · 80m · Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake
Author and amateur astronomer John Putnam and schoolteacher Ellen Fields witness an enormous meteorite come down near a small town in Arizona. Putnam becomes a local object of scorn when, after examining the object up close, he announces that it is a spacecraft, and that it is inhabited...
Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
›NR1956 · Science Fiction, Horror · 81m · Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kôchi
During an assignment, foreign correspondent Steve Martin spends a layover in Tokyo and is caught amid the rampage of an unstoppable prehistoric monster the Japanese call 'Godzilla'. The only hope for both Japan and the world lies on a secret weapon, which may prove more destructive than the monster itself.
20 Million Miles to Earth
›1957 · Science Fiction, Horror · 82m · William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia
When the first manned flight to Venus returns to Earth, the rocket crash-lands in the Mediterranean near a small Italian fishing village. The locals manage to save one of the astronauts Colonel Calder, the mission commander. A young boy also recovers what turns out to be a specimen of an alien creature. Growing at a fantastic rate, it manages to escape and eventually threatens the city of Rome.
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
›1953 · Comedy, Horror, Mystery · 77m · Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff
As American policemen in London, Bud and Lou meet up with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The Mad Magician
›1954 · Thriller, Crime, Mystery · 72m · Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor
Don Gallico is an inventor of stage magic effects who aspires to become a star in his own right. Just before his first performance his act is shut down by capricious manager Ross Ormond who wants Gallico's brilliant buzz saw effect for the act of The Great Rinaldi, an established star. With this defeat, and the humiliation of having already lost his wife Claire to Ormond, Gallico decides it is time to take matters into his own hands.
Scared Stiff
›NR1953 · Music, Comedy, Horror · 108m · Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lizabeth Scott
A nightclub singer and his partner escape mobsters by fleeing to Cuba with a beautiful heiress, who has inherited a haunted castle on an isolated island. The trio hunt for a hidden treasure and encounter a ghost, a zombie, and a mysterious killer...
Three Cases of Murder
›1955 · Mystery, Horror · 99m · Orson Welles, John Gregson, Elizabeth Sellars
An atmospheric British omnibus film presenting three tales of murder and the supernatural. In “In the Picture,” a museum attendant is drawn into the eerie world within a painting. In “You Killed Elizabeth,” two lifelong friends become suspects when the woman they both love is murdered. In “Lord Mountdrago,” a disgraced politician seeks revenge on a powerful statesman by exploiting his dreams. Linked by a recurring figure, the film blends psychological horror, mystery, and fantasy across its three interconnected stories.
The Abominable Snowman
›1957 · Adventure, Horror · 85m · Forrest Tucker, Peter Cushing, Arnold Marlé
A kindly English botanist and a gruff American promoter lead an expedition to the Himalayas in search of the legendary Yeti.
The Monolith Monsters
›1957 · Horror, Science Fiction · 77m · Grant Williams, Lola Albright, Les Tremayne
Rocks from a meteor which grow when in contact with water threaten a sleepy Southwestern desert community.
The Man from Planet X
›1951 · Science Fiction, Thriller, Horror · 70m · Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond
While watching for a planet that may collide with earth, scientists stationed in Scotland are approached by a visitor from outer space.
Corridors of Blood
›1958 · Drama, Horror, Crime · 86m · Boris Karloff, Betta St. John, Christopher Lee
In 1840s London, Dr. Thomas Bolton [Boris Karloff] dares to dream the unthinkable: experimenting with anesthesia gases to make surgery pain-free. While doing so, his demonstration before a panel of his peers ends in a horrific mishap with his patient awakening under the knife; he is forced to leave his position in disgrace. To complicate matters, he becomes addicted to his own chemical experiments and gets involved with a criminal gang led by Black Ben [Francis de Wolff], and a ruthless killer Resurrection Joe [Christopher Lee]. Unfortunately, this shady partnership leads Dr. Bolton to further ruin, culminating in his unwitting participation in murder — for which he becomes the first victim of a blackmail scheme.
The Blob
›NR1958 · Horror, Science Fiction · 82m · Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut, Earl Rowe
A drive-in favorite, this sci-fi classic follows teenagers Steve and his best girl, Jane, as they try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches. The first to discover the substance and live to tell about it, Steve and Jane witness the blob destroying an elderly man, then it growing to a terrifying size. But no one else has seen the goo, and policeman Dave refuses to believe the kids without proof.
The Man Who Could Cheat Death
›1959 · Horror, Science Fiction · 83m · Anton Diffring, Hazel Court, Christopher Lee
Dr. Bonner plans to live forever through periodic gland transplants from younger, healthier human victims. Bonner looks about 40; he's really 104 years old. But people are starting to get suspicious, and he may not make 200.
I Bury the Living
›NR1958 · Mystery, Horror · 77m · Richard Boone, Theodore Bikel, Herbert Anderson
The new manager of a small-town cemetery becomes convinced that he triggered the untimely deaths of several plot owners by tampering with a certain map. When nobody believes him, he risks his sanity to play God once again and prove his point.
The Black Castle
›1952 · Mystery, Horror · 82m · Richard Greene, Boris Karloff, Stephen McNally
A man investigates the disappearance of two of his friends who were the guests of a sinister Austrian count.
Grip of the Strangler
›NR1958 · Horror, Crime, Mystery · 78m · Boris Karloff, Jean Kent, Elizabeth Allan
A researcher investigating a notorious serial killer who was hanged 20 years earlier seemingly becomes possessed by the long dead strangler.
The Strange Door
›1951 · Horror, Thriller · 81m · Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Sally Forrest
The wicked Alain plots an elaborate revenge against his younger brother Edmund, leading to a deadly confrontation in his dungeon deathtrap.
The Stranglers of Bombay
›NR1959 · Thriller, Crime, Horror · 80m · Guy Rolfe, Allan Cuthbertson, Andrew Cruickshank
In 1826 British-ruled India, the secret Cult of Thugee demonstrates their worship of their goddess, Kali, by the mutilation and mass murder of thousands of Indians while pirating the shipments of the British East-Indian Tea Company. As the British military leaders play down the implications of the piracy and disappearances, a lone captain realizes that they are not just coincidence and sets out to uncover the source of the deviltry, at the risk of his career. Based on history.
This Island Earth
›1955 · Science Fiction, Adventure, Horror · 85m · Rex Reason, Faith Domergue, Jeff Morrow
Aliens have landed and are hiding on Earth, but need Earth’s scientists to help them fight an inter-planetary war.