Evolution of Horror Movies 1895-2020
A Big Spoopy list of horror for Halloween. Best enjoyed by sorting by release date :)
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- DirectorAlfred ClarkStarsRobert ThomaeMrs. Robert L. ThomasThis short film, one of the first to use camera tricks, depicts the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyJules-Eugène LegrisGeorges MélièsWith the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAt a solitary cheap inn, a distant traveller overcome with fatigue has a close encounter with the supernatural.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsAn astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsSatan appears in a convent and takes the guise of a priest. Before long he is causing all manner of perturbation and despair.
- DirectorArthur MarvinStarsAnonymousSherlock Holmes enters his drawing room to find it being burgled, but on confronting the villain is surprised when the latter disappears. Holmes initially attempts to ignore the event by lighting a cigar, but upon the thief's reappearance, Holmes tries to reclaim the sack of stolen goods, drawing a pistol from his dressing gown pocket and firing it at the intruder, who disappears. After Holmes recovers his property, the bag vanishes from his hand into that of the thief, who promptly disappears through a window. At this point the movie ends abruptly with Holmes looking "baffled".
- DirectorWalter R. BoothAn old proprietor is startled by the sudden appearance of a skull. Just as he draws back from the uncanny object, the doors of a mediaeval wardrobe fly back and a hand prods him with a sword. He turns to confront his assailant when it vanishes, and at the same instant the skull flies to the other end of the room. He clutches at the skull, when it turns into the half form of a girl from the waist up, suspended in mid-air. As he gazes in amusement, the other half of the girl, fully dressed from her waist down, walks across the room, and the two halves of the figure join, making a girl complete. In an amorous fashion the old man folds his arms around the girl's waist with the intention of stealing a kiss, but the girl immediately changes into an old woman, who grins in evident delight at the old man's discomfort. In great anger he throws her into the wardrobe and locks the door. Unseen by him, the woman has again become a girl. A great effect is here produced. Through the doors, which are solid and closed, the form of the girl appears through the woodwork. Hastily opening the door, the old man is then confronted by an Egyptian mummy. Other strange things happen. As the pawnbroker flies from the room a large and grotesque head arises from the smoke and slowly advances toward the spectators. Larger and larger the head grows until it fills the entire picture, and appears as though it would swallow the whole audience. A most laughable and mystifying scene.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAn energetic Russian Cossack dancer who knows how to impress his audience with his extraordinary set of moves has a trick up his sleeve designed to capture applause.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsJehanne d'AlcyBleuette BernonA young woman becomes the eighth wife of the wealthy Bluebeard, whose first seven wives have died under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsTwo demons throw helpless captives into a boiling cauldron, and then try to summon forth their spirits.
- DirectorAlice GuyA re-telling of the classic tale of Faust in all of two minutes by French filmmaker Alice Guy (later known as Alice Guy-Blaché).
- DirectorPercy StowDuring a game of hide and seek a bride hides in a chest and is found 30 years later.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA traveler at an inn is harassed by a mischievous devil in his room.
- DirectorGaston VelleStarsFernand RiversAn entomologists is found guilty for trying to collect rare insects.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónFerdinand ZeccaStarsJulienne MathieuA demonic magician attempts to perform his act in a strange grotto, but is confronted by a Good Spirit who opposes him.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónThree friends go on a trip and decided to rest at an abandoned house. Everything seems pretty normal until really weird things start to happen.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonMarion LeonardHenry B. WalthallA king exacts vengeance upon his faithless mistress and her lover.
- DirectorJ. Searle DawleyStarsMary FullerCharles OgleAugustus PhillipsThe first filmed version of Frankenstein. The young doctor discovers the secret of life, which he uses to create a perfect human. Things do not go according to plan.
- DirectorFrancesco BertoliniAdolfo PadovanGiuseppe de LiguoroStarsSalvatore PapaArturo PirovanoGiuseppe de LiguoroLoosely adapted from Dante's Divine Comedy and inspired by the illustrations of Gustav Doré the original silent film has been restored and has a new score by Tangerine Dream.
- DirectorTheodore WhartonStarsFrancis X. BushmanHarry MainhallMartha RussellAn accidental death on a hunting trip results in an innocent young man being accused of murder.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishDorothy GishElmer BoothA brother and his two younger sisters inherit a modest amount from their father. When the brother is away, their shady housekeeper decides to take it for herself.
- DirectorHanns Heinz EwersStellan RyeStarsPaul WegenerGrete BergerLyda SalmonovaBalduin, a student of Prague, leaves his roystering companions in the beer garden, when he finds he has reached the end of his resources. He is scarcely seated in a quiet corner when a hideous, shriveled-up old man taps him upon the shoulder and whispers vaguely of a big inheritance for Prague's finest swordsman and wildest student if he will enter into a certain agreement. Balduin rebuffs him, satirically asking his weird companion to procure him "the luckiest ticket in a lottery or a doweried wife." The old man goes off chuckling and thence onward persistently shadows Balduin, exerting a sinister influence over him, while Balduin is still disconsolate under the frowns of fortune. The Countess Margit Schwarzenberg, hunting with her cousin, to whom her father has betrothed her, meets with an accident. She is thrown over her horse's head into a river, but Balduin, who has been directed to the spot by his evil genius, plunges in and rescues her. Subsequently Balduin calls to inquire as to her condition at the castle of her father, the count, but be makes a hurried departure when Baron Waldis arrives, the contrast in their appearance discrediting him. His desire to win the countess and to humiliate the baron becomes so pronounced that he readily accedes to the compact suggested by Scapinelli, the old man, who has so pertinaciously dogged his footsteps, particularly when he learns that untold wealth and power will be his when he assigns to the other the right to take from his room whatever he chooses for his own use as he desires. The agreement is signed. Balduin receives a shower of gold and notes as his portion; Scapinelli takes Balduin's soul exposed in concrete form by his shadow. Balduin prosecutes his love affair assiduously and with apparent success, till the baron is informed of it by a jealous gypsy girl. He challenges Balduin to a duel, and the latter, assured of his superiority as a fencer, readily agrees. Count Schwarzenberg learns of the impending duel and appeals to Balduin not to kill "my sister's child, my daughter's future husband, and my heir." Balduin gives his promise, but when he goes to the venue of the duel he meets, his own counterpart stalking away derisively wiping his gory sword on his cloak. Balduin turns and in the far distance sees the dying victim of the deed he swore he would not do. He rushes from the spot horror-stricken. When he regains sufficient composure he makes his way to the castle of the count, but is refused admission. Determined to explain that he had no complicity in the death of the baron, Balduin climbs into a room in which the countess is seated. She receives him coldly, but soon succumbs to his ardent wooing. Just as he seeks to leave her she notices he has no shadow and that the mirror gives no reflection of him; and she drops back affrighted, the ghastly apparition of himself which takes shape in the corner of the room sends Balduin scuttling away from the castle in a paroxysm of terror. He makes a frenzied flight through a woodland estate and the streets of Prague, but wherever he stops to recover his breath he is haunted by the counterpart of himself. He reaches his rooms and draws a murderous looking fire-arm from its case. As the phantasmagorical figure strides towards him with a sinister grin, he fires, and in a few minutes the blood gushes from his own side from a fatal wound.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsHenry B. WalthallSpottiswoode AitkenBlanche SweetPrevented from dating his sweetheart by his uncle, a young man turns his thoughts to murder.
- DirectorJames YoungStarsJames YoungMary MauriceJames MorrisonKeen competition is aroused among a group of young artists in New York City by the announcement of a valuable prize for the greatest portrait of the year, six months being given as the time limit of the competition. Dryden, a brilliant young artist, before starting his prize picture, decides first to take a trip to the country in search of inspiration. He meets with an accident near the cottage of Rosemary Blair, a quaint old lady. Mrs. Blair's one topic of conversation is her son, David, who has gone to New York to study art, and of whom she has lost all trace. She tells Dryden the story of the boy's venture into the world, and shows the artist his sketches. Dryden, out of compassion, hides from her love-blind eyes the artistic impossibility of the boy's work and promises, if possible, to get in touch with David upon his return to New York. Five months later, Dryden is busily at work on his portrait, the subject of which he will not divulge. David, half-starved, sullen and resentful at his failure in the art world, drifts into the student's quarter. He steals a loaf of bread and is saved from arrest by Hoyt, a skillful but unscrupulous artist. Hoyt is trying for the great prize and knowing that Dryden is the only artist who can compete with his work, determines to eliminate him. Between threats and bribes, he prevails upon David to visit Dryden's studio the night before the exhibition and mutilate the carefully guarded picture. David gains access to the studio and is about to rip the picture into ribbons when he sees it is his own mother's portrait. Dryden, hearing a noise, enters and learns the identity of the intruder. Thinking of David's mother, Dryden forgives him and offers to accept him as his pupil. David's mother is sent for to witness the hanging of the portrait of herself and Dryden wins the prize. The dear old lady, while congratulating him, also says she considers him fortunate in having discovered David's undoubted talent. Her faith in her son is so strong and her mother-love so touching. Dryden does not disabuse her mind.