The Phantom of the Opera may very well be his masterpiece. No article about classic movie monsters would be complete without the inimitable Lon Chaney, Sr., the aptly-named “Man of a Thousand Faces” who starred in a long series of disturbing silent horror movies. Image via Jewel Productions and Universal Pictures Caligari is one of the most influential films ever made, especially in the horror genre practically every monster movie that follows owes this film - which still has the power to unnerve - a debt of gratitude. It looks as though Cesare and his victims are wandering through black-and-white, borderline abstract paintings because they really are, and the impact is maddening and terrifying. Caligari is a landmark masterwork of German Expressionism, a filmmaking style that pioneered the use of impossible imagery to evoke powerful reactions in the audience. Caligari is frequently considered, as Roger Ebert put it, “the first true horror film.” It’s not merely a catalogue of gruesome events, it’s a deep dive into a fragmented and terrified mind, in which a malevolent hypnotist named Caligari ( Werner Krauss) manipulates a sunken-eyed somnambulist named Cesare ( Conrad Veidt) into committing murders. So get the fireplace going in your ancient gothic castle, and fire up the Tesla coils… it’s time to explore our picks for The 25 Best Classic Monster Movies!Īnd for even more spooky horror lists, check out our rundowns of the best vampire, zombie, and werewolf movies.Īlthough films about murders and monsters had been made before, The Cabinet of Dr. Sardonicus, but we had to set the cut off somewhere.) The films must also have been released in the year 1960 or earlier. Ultimately we settled on the following: the films must be of excellent quality, with some extra consideration awarded for films with a lasting artistic or cultural influence. You can feel their pain all they want, but when they come calling… run! Run for your lives!Ĭhoosing the parameters for what counts as a “classic” monster movie was a lot trickier than choosing the parameters for what counts as a monster. If they have to drink human blood or turn into a man-eating panther to do it, then that’s just what they have to do. Like the rest of us, they’re just trying to survive. They are sometimes inexplicable but often sympathetic. They are the enemy without, although they often represent the enemy within. Monster movies are movies about unnatural creatures, usually stemming from supernatural folklore or science fiction, that threaten us with physical or psychological violence. Of course, not all horror movies are monster movies.
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