There have been horror films for nearly as long as there have been movies. The genre was there from the beginning, pulling in audiences who wanted to watch things they’d never imagined they’d want to see. Vampiric monsters, ghostly apparitions, and human oddities were all the stuff of nightmares a century ago, and they’re still the stuff of nightmares today. Many of the titles on this list of great black and white horror movies are well-known classics while others are minor cult favorites. They are all worth revisiting!
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a stylized nightmare of sharp angles, abstract places, diagonal stairs, and horrific landscapes. It is often considered the oldest example of horror film and the archetypal piece of German expressionism. The dramatic contrasts between the black and white colors are startling to the eye and give the psychological distortions a layered intensity. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922)
Nosferatu was an unlicensed adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, released at the height of German expressionist cinema, was nearly lost forever after Stoker’s heirs sued over the adaptation, and a court judge ordered that all copies of the picture burned. Thankfully, a few copies of the film were saved. F.W. Murnau was a pioneer, merging created sets with real locales and adding special effects. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American drama film starring Lon Chaney, directed by Wallace Worsley, and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. The supporting cast includes Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, and Brandon Hurst. The film was Universal’s “Super Jewel” of 1923 and was their most successful silent film, grossing $3.5 million. The film is based on Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel, and is notable for the grand sets that recall 15th century Paris as well as for Chaney’s performance and make-up as the tortured hunchback Quasimodo. The film elevated Chaney, already a well-known character actor, to full star status in Hollywood, and also helped set a standard for many later horror films, including Chaney’s The Phantom of the Opera in 1925. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent musical horror film adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star. The film remains most famous for Chaney’s ghastly, self-devised make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film’s premiere. The film was released on November 15, 1925. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
Dracula (1931)
Dracula is a 1931 American pre-Code supernatural horror film directed and co-produced by Tod Browning from a screenplay written by Garrett Fort. It is based on the 1924 stage play Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, which in turn is adapted from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. The film stars Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England and preys upon the blood of living victims, including a young man’s fiancée. Produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, Dracula is the first sound film adaptation of the Stoker novel. Several actors were considered to portray the title character, but Lugosi, who had previously played the role on Broadway, eventually got the part. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
The House on Haunted Hill (1959)
The House on Haunted Hill, William Castle’s magnum opus, is one of the finest haunted-house films of all time. An eccentric millionaire, played by Vincent Price to perfection, offers $10,000 to anyone who can spend a night in the titular home, which has been the scene of numerous murders. The participants confronted with a bloody ceiling, a decapitated skull, an acid vat in the cellar, and the legendary skeleton apparitions that can walk by themselves. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Carnival of Souls, hailed by many as an indie classic, plays more like an extended version of a Twilight Zone episode than a true-blue horror film. The film’s scare effect is rooted in its unusual visual imagery and dramatic light play, which is a low-budget venture with art-house sensibility. Herk Harvery, who also directs the film, plays the terrifying apparition that haunts the leading lady’s house. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962)
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die is a 1962 American science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was completed in 1959 under the working title The Black Door but was not theatrically released until May 3, 1962, when it was released under its new title as a double feature with Invasion of the Star Creatures. The film focuses upon a mad doctor who develops a means to keep human body parts alive. He keeps his fiancée’s severed head alive for days, and also keeps a lumbering, malformed brute (one of his earlier failed experiments) imprisoned in a closet. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
Dementia 13 (1963)
This “Psycho” copy produced by Roger Corman and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it’s his first non-pornographic feature film. Dementia 13 was almost completely lambasted by critics and audience members alike, with visibly rushed writing that still produced moments of genuine horror. The film, however, is a significant addition to the black-and-white horror canon. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
George A. Romero is the king of the undead and the undisputed father of modern horror cinema. This low-budget, independent film from Pittsburgh completely transformed the horror genre and gave birth to a monster that has ruled for the past 50 years. Before Romero, horror films were frequently set in remote locations, but he introduced terror to the suburbs, where families were only a short distance away. Watch it for Free on RetroMovies.top or in HD on Classic Films. Monthly subscription plans starts at €2.99 – Sign Up Now!
