5 Must-See Classic Horror Films: From Nosferatu to Dracula

Watching horror movies, whether classic or new, is one of many Halloween traditions observed by today's culture. It has become so popular that the American Movie Classics (AMC) channel has set aside 10 days in its programming schedule for Monsterfest. Besides showing movies, AMC's Web site has a special section for Monsterfest, which gives the programming schedule, a horror movie photo gallery, and special Halloween games.

I visited AMC's website and decided to see just what movies would be shown this Halloween season. As I glanced through the Monsterfest movie schedule, I noticed that there were no "classic" horror movies being played. By "classic" I mean the old black and white movies that were the beginning of the horror genre as we know it today. I have to admit I was rather disappointed and saddened. In honor of those pioneers of terror, I have come up with my own top 5 list of must see classics for Halloween.

#5 - Freaks (1932)

I enjoyed this movie, but was rather disturbed by it at the same time. Tod Browning created this little gem about a group of sideshow performers, both "normal" people and "freaks". Harry Earles was cast as Hans, a midget, who falls in love with Cleopatra, played by Olga Baclanova. Cleopatra is a beautiful woman of normal stature who marries Hans. Unbeknownst to Hans, Cleopatra is having an affair with Hercules the strong man, who is also of regular height. To top it all off, Cleopatra is slowly poisoning Hans in order to gain his inheritance upon his untimely demise. Frieda (Daisy Earles) is in love with Hans and can't stand what Cleopatra is doing to him. One of Hans' friends hears Cleopatra and Hercules discussing their plan to harm Hans and run off with his money. Several of the "freaks" get together and turn Cleopatra into a freak. Earlier in the movie, during the wedding dinner, Hans' friends had toasted Cleopatra in acceptance and chanted, "We accept her! We accept her! One of us! One of us!" This became too eerily true in the end.

#4 - The Mummy (1932)

I watched "The Mummy" starring Brendan Fraser before I watched this original version, directed by Karl Freund. While I enjoyed the later version, I adore Boris Karloff as Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian high priest who was embalmed alive for attempting to resurrect a deceased vestal virgin. Imhotep is unwittingly brought back to life by a team of archaeologists, who have no idea what they have unleashed. The mummified former high priest is seeking his long lost love, the enchanting Ankhesenamun, who was sacrificed in a ritual over 4,000 years earlier. Instead of finding her, Imhotep finds Helen Grosvenor, played by the lovely Zita Johann. Imhotep is bent on sacrificing Helen and resurrecting Ankhesenamun in her body. Fortunately, the archaeologists who brought him back to life manage to stop Imhotep before he can carry out his twisted plan. This movie was so popular in its day that it spawned four other "Mummy" movies for Universal Studios: "The Mummy's Hand", "The Mummy's Tomb", "The Mummy's Curse", and "The Mummy's Ghost". These movies plus "The Mummy" can all be found on "The Mummy - The Legacy Collection", which was put out by Universal Studios in 2004. I own this collection and I love it.

#3 - Frankenstein (1931)

Mary Shelley wrote the book, Peggy Webling created the play, and James Whale directed this thriller that also stars Boris Karloff. This time Mr. Karloff is "The Monster" created by Dr. Henry Frankenstein, who was played by Colin Clive. Dr. Frankenstein has pieced the monster together from various human body parts. Unbeknownst to the good doctor, the brain he used for his new creation formerly belonged to a criminal. Dr. Frankenstein, with the help of his assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) and the wonder of electricity, bring the monster to life. The monster is, of course, angry and destructive. He ends up locked in the lower level of Dr. Frankenstein's castle. In the meantime, Dr. Frankenstein's fiancée Elizabeth (Mae Clarke) is upset over all this. Just days before the wedding Fritz is strangled, the monster escapes, and Dr. Frankenstein's former medical professor Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan) steps in to shut the monster down. Or so he thought. Just a little while later, Dr. Waldman is found dead and the monster is the prime suspect. Frankenstein and the local villagers gather together to hunt the monster down. The monster finds Frankenstein first. He grabs his creator and hauls him off to an old mill, where the two struggle. The villagers finally find Dr. Frankenstein and just in the nick of time. During the fight between creator and created, Frankenstein is thrown over the railing and is miraculously caught by the windmill vanes. He is taken home safely and, presumably, the villagers destroy the monster. I thoroughly enjoy Boris Karloff as the inhuman yet sometimes gentle monster. The makeup artists did such an excellent job that I forget that it is actually Mr. Karloff on the screen. At one point I caught myself wanting to cry for the poor monster.

#2 - Dracula (1931)

This is my all-time favorite horror movie and having Bela Lugosi as its star is part of its appeal for me. "Dracula" was produced by Tom Browning and directed by Carl Laemmle, Jr. and was based off the book written by Bram Stoker. Dracula was the first of the Universal Studios monsters. Bela Lugosi is just amazing as Count Dracula, a rather strange gentleman from Transylvania who is only seen out and about in the evening hours. The Count buys Carfax Abbey and uses Mr. Renfield (Dwight Frye) as his real estate agent. Unfortunately, Mr. Renfield ends up becoming the Count's servant of sorts. Carfax Abbey happens to be next door to Dr. Jack Seward's home and mental hospital, of which Mr. Renfield becomes a resident. The Count meets his new neighbors and falls for the beautiful and wholesome Mina, played by the pretty Helen Chandler, who is set to marry John Harker (David Manners). Count Dracula tries all manner of ways to get to the fair Mina, but he is continuously thwarted by the ever present (and slightly arrogant) Professor Abraham Van Helsing, who was portrayed quite well by Edward Van Sloan. Dr. Van Helsing is on to Count Dracula and he is determined to stop him no matter what. In the end he succeeds, with the help of the young Mr. Harker. You can't help but feel a bit sorry for Count Dracula and, in some strange way, you wish everyone would leave him alone and let him take off with Mina.

#1 - Nosferatu (1922)

I ranked Nosferatu as my number one pick, even though Dracula is my favorite, simply because this is the movie that started it all for the horror genre. This was the first silent film I had ever watched, and that made it all the more interesting to me. Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau created this film and loosely based it on Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula". Names and other details were changed since Mr. Murnau could not obtain the rights to the novel. Max Schreck stars as Count Orlok, a rather scary version of Count Dracula. Count Orlok purchases a home and uses one Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) as his real estate agent. Count Orlok attempts to make Mr. Hutter his servant but is foiled. Instead, he makes Knock (Alexander Granach), Mr. Hutter's employer, his slave. Mr. Hutter is left alone in Count Orlok's castle at one point and, after nosing around quite a bit, discovers that Count Orlok is a nosferatu. He freaks out and goes to tell the good townsfolk about this new development. Count Orlok finds out and boards the next ship, with his numerous coffins in tow. He lands in Germany, Mr. Hutter's home country. Mr. Hutter makes it home in one piece to his loving wife Ellen (Greta Schröder). He tells Ellen everything that has happened. Ellen decides that she will be the one to put an end to the nosferatu. Count Orlok arrives at her window one evening and she calls him in. As she goes to open her window, she faints. Orlok, the blood thirsty Nosferatu, begins to drink her blood. He has forgotten that daylight is fast approaching. As he finishes, the sun comes out and Orlok disappears in a puff of smoke. Leave it to a woman to put a stop to an evil male nuisance.

Just for laughs - Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

Plan 9 From Outer Space isn't really a horror movie, but it does have an appearance by a horror movie icon, and there are quite a few people in costume. Edward Wood, Jr. wrote, produced, and directed this science fiction/horror/comedy which has been called "The Worst Movie Ever Made". While I do have to agree with that title, I love watching it because it is funny, because Bela Lugosi makes a posthumous cameo appearance, and because it's just plain hokey. The story begins with the death of a recently widowed man (the appearance by Bela Lugosi via old footage). The old man had been mourning his wife's death when he was struck by an automobile. Both he and his wife are buried in the local cemetery, which is being visited by UFO's. The UFO's have been turning corpses into zombies. Jeff Trent, a pilot played by Gregory Walcott, and his wife Paula (Mona McKinnon) have been watching the cemetery. Due to some disturbances, the police come out to investigate and find several zombies, who then proceed to kill one of the officers. Someone finally figures out that the disturbances are actually UFO activity, which sets off a flurry of sightings and newspaper reports. The UFO's have been trying unsuccessfully to capture the attention of the people of Earth and have finally had it. They decided to implement the infamous Plan 9, which involves resurrecting the recently deceased. After much discussion by the Pentagon, the aliens finally come down and kidnap Paula Trent in an attempt to lure Jeff and Pentagon officials to the space ship. It works like a charm. Once everyone is on board, Eros, the head alien played by Dudley Manlove, precedes to berate the humans for not taking heed to his call for help in regards to the possible demise of the universe by sunlight molecule explosions. A fight erupts, the humans escape, the ship takes off, and the aliens are fighting amongst themselves as the space ship explodes. The plot has holes big enough to drive a freight train through. The set is atrocious. The costumes for the aliens are hilarious. There are more mistakes in this movie than I can remember. But, all in all, it's good for a few laughs on a night that is generally reserved for the frightening.