Murders in the Rue Morgue
One of the most unheralded of Universal’s 1930s horror films, though perhaps the purest example of the form during that era, Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) comes off as early-Hollywood torture porn by way of German Expressionism.
Island of Lost Souls
It begins with an immense, creaking ship emerging from a silver fog and closes with an island on fire, the myriad beast-men who inhabit it exacting orgiastic revenge on their self-proclaimed creator.
Thirteen Women
Behold the power of Myrna Loy! In Thirteen Women, she propels a man to throw himself in front of a moving subway train using only her intense gaze.
The Black Cat
A paragon of queer perversity, Edgar G. Ulmer’s unfathomable Universal horror hit gave major stars Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff two of their greatest roles. In the first of many films together, the erstwhile Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster play a pair of intensely bonded frenemies locked in an epic sadomasochistic pas de deux.
Murders in the Zoo
After a curiously cutesy opening-credits sequence featuring Murders in the Zoo’s cast members mirrored with similarly posed animals, a quick tonal shift occurs, transitioning to perhaps the most gruesome film scene of its day.
Doctor X
A peculiar pre-Code concoction of horror, sci-fi, murder mystery, and slapstick romantic comedy, Doctor X was filmed simultaneously in two-color Technicolor and black and white (for the smaller markets and foreign distribution).
Supernatural
This pre-Code offering packs a lot of story into its typically brisk running time, with several plot threads weaving together a (not always successful) tapestry of spooky and criminal doings.