Criteria:
Must be a horror film or film with horroresque elements
Must have been made between 1930-1939
But first, some background...
At the turn of the decade, sound had just entered cinema. It was an amazing innovation, now you could hear the music on screen rather than from the theater's in-house orchestra, you could hear what the characters were actually saying, and not just tread it on title cards. One the negative side, this ended many a silent star career, as many of them had either thick accents or squeaky voices that would either confuse the audience or send them into uncontrollable bouts of laughter. But, for certain stars, such as Greta Garbo or Bela Lugosi, their distinct accents matched their looks perfectly and enhanced their characters.
Around the early 30's, studios were looking for the next big fantasy and horror stories to adapt into films. They began with Mary Shelley's modern classic Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus. After the success of that made stars out of both actor Boris Karloff and director James Whale (one of the first openly gay film directors), they moved on to Irish author Bram Stoker's large and, at-the-time, hard-to-stomach novel Dracula, which was inspired by both vampire-related folklore and the real-life story of ruthless Romanian dictator and warrior Vlad the Impaler, who was rumored to eat his dinner amidst the agonized victims of his wrath (he enjoyed the screams, apparently) and dip his bread in their blood. This success made star Bela Lugosi a film icon and got underrated director Tod Browning more work in the horror genre.
This boom in horror films was the subject of controversy, and certain key scenes were edited out of Frankenstein because the studio felt them to graphic, but they were later restored and put back in after critics' argued they improved the film immensely, and they have since become as individually iconic as the larger film they inhabit. The two stars of these films, Lugosi and Karloff, later went on to be even more successful in films such as White Zombie and The Man Who Wouldn't Hang, and in films featuring both, such as Son of Frankenstein and The Black Cat. Karloff later became a regular in cheap Edgar Allen Poe films of the 1950's, and eventually voiced both the narrator and the titular character in the 1966 special How the Grinch Stole Christmas. These two were made genre icons, to say the least.
The List:
10. Island of Lost Souls (1932): This is by far the best adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, and is also the first. The exceptionally dark tone for a film of this time and performances by Bela Lugosi as one of Moreau's "beast men", and Charles Laughton as Moreau himself make this film definitely worthwhile.
9. The Old Dark House (1932): This strange little film from Frankenstein director James Whale features some great returning cast members from his other films, most notably Boris Karloff and Ernest Thesiger, as well as some newer talent such as Gloria Stuart or Melvyn Douglas, and even Charles Laughton. It tells the story of a sroup of travelers taking shelter from a rain storm by being guests in an eerie mansion in Wales, where they are hosted by the strange and crazy Femm family and their monstrous butler. It's just a fun movie to watch and it gets so crazy that it's hard to believe this was made in 1932, when one of the strictest production codes in cinema history was in place.
8. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931): This classic RKO film is actually kind of hard to find nowadays. The DVD copies are sort of rare and, I believe, out of print, and there's no Blu-ray release planned. I was very pleased with this film, as Frederich March seems to really get the double role. While a bit hammy as Jekyll, he really relishes the role of Hyde. This movie is one of the more violent and provocative of the 1930's American horror films, as it was Pre-Code and therefore not subject to studio scrutiny and extensive editing. It's a crazy and almost shocking horror film (if you consider what time it was made) and it's got a great lead actor. Not to mention the fact that Wally Westmore's Hyde makeup forever shaped the way the character was portrayed in media. The effects are still seen today in how filmmakers and artists choose to portray him, in an almost ape-like manner.
7. White Zombie (1932): Now, to clarify: this film is not about zombies as we know them today. The notion of zombies as flesh-eating dead people didn't come around until about the 1950's or 60's; these zombies are in the more traditional sense of a hypnotized person who has been enslaved to a voodoo priest or priestess, as in Haitian folklore. Who really shines is Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's role as the voodoo practitioner Legendre is eerie and hypnotizing. This film was made during the whole zombie movie boom of the 30's and 40's, and this is by far the best one. Rob Zombie even named his first band after it.
6. M (1931): Classic director Fritz Lang's dark and disturbing noir-thriller focuses on a psychotic murderer played by Peter Lorre who kills children. Pretty bleak for a 1930's film, no? Lang considered this his finest work, and it was hist first film made with sound. Lorre's disturbing and iconic performance forever typecast him as the mysterious foreigner/creepy villain in movies, especially in British and American productions.
5. The Invisible Man (1933): James Whale's sci-fi/horror story is the perfect adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic novel. Claude Rains (in his first American film role) is great as Dr. Griffin, the man driven insane by his incurable invisibility. Gloria Stuart also stars as Griffin's love interest. A less serious horror film that's also one of the best of the Golden Age of Hollywood, in any genre.
4. King Kong (1933): This epic monster movie and adventure film is one of the greatest films ever made, as well as possibly the most influential of this decade. With a good cast, iconic action scenes, and Willis O'Brien's groundbreaking stop-motion effects, it's no wonder how this film influenced countless filmmakers, including Peter Jackson (who produced a well-done remake in 2005), Sam Raimi, Ray Harryhausen, and countless others.
3. Freaks (1932): Tod Browning's disturbing and weird film is memorable for a number of reasons. The most notable is that it used real freakshow performers in it's cast, something that would not be done today, for many good reasons, but the performers in the film all do fantastic jobs and you actually get on their side. Why? Well the plot follows a gold-digging trapeze artist and her strongman boyfriend's scheme to trick a rich sideshow performer out of his money. This backfires when the performer's fellow "freaks" hear of this plan and devise a brutal revenge to exact on these selfish people. This film continues to have any influence on horror cinema and television, most notably the upcoming season of Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story, whose new storyline is called Freakshow.
2. Dracula (both 1931 versions): Now, this is technically cheating, as I'm counting two films and they're technically the exact same film. The only difference is one is in Spanish. Now, the 1931 English version is undoubtedly a classic, mostly due to Lugosi's influential portrayal of Dracula and Dwight Frye's turn as the crazed Renfield, despite over-acting a bit. Edward Van Sloane is also great as Abraham Van Helsing. The Spanish version, despite Carlos Villarias' obviously inferior portrayal of the vampire, is actually the better version. It was shot on the same sets as the English film at the same time, right after the U.S. crew would leave for the night. Because Spanish production codes were looser, there were more provocative costumes and less censored dialogue. Thought to be lost to time, it was re-discovered in the 1970's and restored. The Spanish version is so good it makes you wish Bela Lugosi was in this rather than the U.S., although he wouldn't be as famous.
1. Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein (1931 and 1935; tie): I couldn't decide which Frankenstein film was superior, as they're both excellent and they have most of the same cast and the same director. Where do I begin? It's got iconic imagery, one of the most famous lines from any form of media ever ("It's alive!"), and a sympathetic and imposing monster played by Boris Karloff. The makeup was specifically designed for the film by famed makeup artist Jack Pierce, as the actual descriptions of the monster in the novel are vague and leave it to your imagination. The image that Jack Pierce created as forever been associated with the name Frankenstein. Colin Clive and Dwight Frye are excellent as Dr. Frankenstein and his hunchbacked assistant Fritz, respectively. Edward Van Sloan is also great as Dr. Waldman, and as the opening announcer who gives the audience a warning about how scary the film is, which is kind of funny to watch today. The sequel, Bride, is equally as iconic and is one of the few follow-ups that is on par with the original. Boris Karloff returns as the monster, who now speaks in this film. Colin Clive returns as Frankenstein, now in competition with the evil Dr. Pretorius, played by Ernest Thesiger, who keeps shrunken people in jars for his own amusement. Elsa Lanchester plays the monster's titular love interest, with her iconic hairstyle. I'm convinced the title of this movie contributed to the confusion about the name of the monster, as the "bride of Frankenstein" does not actual web Dr. Frankenstein, but his creation, which has no name. Despite that, this movie continues to be an influential piece of cinema, as does it's predecessor.
(Images: Wikipedia)
Runner-ups: The Mummy, The Mummy's Curse, The Raven, The Black Cat, Vampyr.
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