A Century of Horror
1940s
The 7th Victim
One of the most atmospheric Val Lewton pictures (and that’s saying something!), The 7th Victim is about a woman’s quest to find her depressed sister who has mysteriously vanished in the city.
Enter a bunch of casual satanists, mysterious stabbings, a hanging noose, poison glasses and dark, dark shadows.
The Body Snatcher
This Robert Wise picture gets the rec almost solely for featuring Boris Karloff’s most menacing performance. Usually, Karloff’s innate sweetness underplays his horror (think about the pathos of his Frankenstein), but here he’s genuinely intimidating as a grave robber/murderer supplying bodies to the unethical Dr. McFarlane. Extra points for a Bela Lugosi appearance and a truly phantasmagoric finale.
Also Recommended
The Leopard Man, You’ll Find Out. The Body Snatcher, Isle of the Dead, The Beast with Five Fingers, Cat People, Dead of Night, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Son of Dracula, I Walked with a Zombie, House of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man Returns, Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, The Undying Monster