Bela Lugosi's 10 Best Horror Movies, Ranked

One of the most celebrated names associated with the genre, the late, great Béla Lugosi is regarded as horror royalty to this day. Starring in some of the most revered cinematic offerings that the golden age of horror had to offer and renowned for his frequent collaboration with fellow horror icon Boris Karloff, the Hungarian-American actor announced his arrival on the scene in Hollywood during the 1930s with Tod Browning’s Dracula – a legendary role that he is now virtually synonymous with – and never looked back.




While he often lamented the fact that he was forever typecast as a villain courtesy of his thick accent and imposing physical appearance, Lugosi embraced this status quo by breathing life into an array of the genre’s most enduring dastardly characters. While many of his films were decidedly not perfect, the actor provided the foundations for many of horror’s most archetypal character molds, producing a number of acclaimed performances that have stood the test of time.


10 The Raven (1935)

Directed By Lew Landers

While it may be loosely inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem of the same name, Lew Landers’ The Raven breathes life into a nightmarish new story of its own. The 1935 film sees Lugosi take on the lead role of Dr. Richard Vollin, a sadistic neurosurgeon obsessed with Poe who secretly keeps a hellish torture chamber inspired by the author’s works in his basement.


Igor talks to the monster in Son of Frankenstein

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Casting Lugosi across from fellow horror icon Boris Karloff, Landers’ film had lofty aspirations but received a lukewarm critical response upon release, with many critics arguing that Karloff was miscast in his role as bank robber Edmond Bateman. In spite of this state of affairs, The Raven’s redeeming aspect was universally agreed to be Lugosi’s unsettling performance as the villainous Vollin, horrifying and captivating audiences in equal measure with his Machiavellian plotting and abject lack of morality.

9 The Invisible Ray (1936)

Directed By Lambert Hillyer


1936’s The Invisible Ray is renowned as the rare Lugosi outing that features the actor in a non-villainous role. Lambert Hillyer’s movie sees the actor play Dr. Felix Benet, a brilliant doctor who comes into conflict with Boris Karloff’s Janos Rukh. The driving antagonist of Hillyer’s picture, Karloff’s character is slowly driven mad by the insidious effects of a mysterious element known as “Radium X”.

A polished blend of science fiction and horror that was well received by critics, The Invisible Ray underlined the fact that a Béla film could still be excellent even in cases where he wasn’t playing a despicable villain. While the horror icon doesn’t have a great deal to do apart from serve as a sympathetic foil to Rukh while he begins his descent into madness, Lugosi’s enviable screen presence and charisma serve to make the most of what is a fairly minimal role in proceedings.


8 Mark Of The Vampire (1935)

Directed By Tod Browning

Another vampire-centric offering from Dracula director Tod Browning, 1935’s Mark of the Vampire is one of horror’s earliest genre-subverting offerings. Loosely inspired by Browning’s silent film London After Midnight, the movie chronicles the investigation of Professor Zelen, an occult expert who is called to the scene of an array of purported vampiric attacks in Prague, only to discover an elaborate web of deceit and subterfuge.

Lugosi’s trademark eerie presence as “Count Mora” coupled with a compelling narrative and some haunting cinematography from James Wong Howe combine for a first-rate horror experience that holds up to this day. Mark of the Vampire’s choice to implement a twist ending was years ahead of its time, a decision that could have easily gone up in flames but instead serves to underline the film’s quality nearly a century after it was first conceived.


7 The Human Monster (1939)

Directed By Walter Summers

Bela Lugosi in The Human Monster

Also referred to as The Dark Eyes of London, 1939’s The Human Monster sees Lugosi take on what is arguably his most irredeemably wicked role. An adaptation of Edgar Wallace’s novel of the same name, Walter Summers’ picture saw the actor step into the shoes of Dr. Feodor Orloff, a morally devoid scientist who murders an array of unfortunate individuals for insurance money before dumping their corpses in the Thames.

The Human Monster
became the first British horror film to receive an age rating of “H”. The “H” stood for “horrific” and was reserved for films deemed inappropriate for those under the age of 16.


Lugosi is superb as Orloff, perfectly capturing the essence of his sinister charge with the panache that audiences had come to expect from the actor following his star-making turn in 1931’s Dracula. While the rest of the movie is bogged down by some particularly uninspiring set designs and an array of wooden performances, the actor’s inspired turn as Orloff keeps proceedings ticking over until the film’s macabre conclusion.

6 The Body Snatcher (1945)

Directed By Robert Wise

While Lugosi’s career was on the decline when The Body Snatcher was released in 1945, his supporting role in Robert Wise’s picture stands as one of his more underrated bodies of work. Based on a Robert Louis Stevenson short story of the same name, The Body Snatcher follows the exploits of an unhinged doctor who hires a grave robber to obtain bodies for him to experiment upon.


Lugosi only plays a relatively minor role in proceedings; his character, Joseph, is duly murdered by Boris Karloff’s John Gray after he attempts to blackmail the latter. With that being said, The Body Snatcher is such a superb piece of film-making that it eclipses many of the productions in which Bela played a more prominent character. Wise’s film may not be regarded as one of the actor’s most famous roles, but it’s undoubtedly one of the most impressive outings that he appeared in.

5 The Black Cat (1934)

Directed By Edgar G. Ulmer

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The Black Cat, released in 1934, recounts the tale of American honeymooners Joan and Peter who, following a road accident in Hungary, find refuge in the home of architect Hjalmar Poelzig. They are accompanied by Dr. Werdegast, who shares a mysterious and troubled history with their host.

Director
Edgar G. Ulmer

Release Date
May 7, 1934

Cast
Bela Lugosi , Boris Karloff , David Manners , Julie Bishop , Egon Brecher , Harry Cording , Lucille Lund , Henry Armetta , Albert Conti , John Carradine , John George , Albert Pollet

Runtime
63 minutes

Writers
Peter Ruric


The first of eight films to feature Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, 1934’s The Black Cat is one of the finest collaborations between the two horror icons. Named after Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same name, Edgar G. Ulmer’s film follows a mystery novelist and his new wife on honeymoon, who soon find themselves caught up with a nightmarish Satanic cult in a Hungarian castle.

Every Béla Lugosi and Boris Karloff Movie

IMDb Rating

The Black Cat (1934)

6.9

Gift of Gab (1934)

4.9

The Raven (1935)

6.8

The Invisible Ray (1935)

6.5

Son of Frankenstein (1939)

7.1

Black Friday (1940)

6.3

You’ll Find Out (1940)

6.1

The Body Snatcher (1945)

7.3


Stepping into the shoes of WWII veteran Dr. Vitus Werdegast, Lugosi shines in this revenge-soaked horror outing from start to finish. Featuring graphic subject matter like torture and necrophilia in a manner that was practically unheard of at the time of its release against the backdrop of a nail-biting plot, The Black Cat is a legitimately unnerving watch and remains one of Lugosi’s most underrated pieces of work.

4 White Zombie (1932)

Directed By Victor Halperin

Contentiously the first feature length zombie movie ever made, 1932’s well received horror outing White Zombie thrust Lugosi into the macabre role of Murder Legendre. A dastardly voodoo master who owns a sugar mill entirely operated by the zombified remains of anybody foolish enough to oppose him, Victor Halperin’s picture chronicles Legendre’s despicable efforts to transform a young woman into one of his undead minions through the use of his dark magic.


white zombie bela lugosi with zombie

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Comical choice of character names aside, Lugosi is gloriously evil in his role as Murder, turning in one of the most striking performances of his career as the insidious witch doctor. The limited amount of dialogue bestowed upon the actor for this film actually works in his favor; Lugosi’s hypnotic presence and a perpetual wicked smirk do the heavy lifting, combining to produce one of his most memorable roles.

3 Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932)

Directed By Robert Florey


A blood-curdling adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 short story that was heavily censored upon its initial release, Robert Florey’s Murders in the Rue Morgue served as the springboard for Lugosi’s subsequent typecasting as cinema’s foremost horror villain. The actor stars as Doctor Mirakle, a charlatan scientist running a carnival sideshow who abducts Parisian prostitutes and performs twisted scientific experiments on them in an attempt to create a mate for his talking ape, Erik.

While Murders in the Rue Morgue suffers from the stilted dialogue and awkward performances typical of its contemporaries, the lasting cultural impact of Bela’s starring turn cannot be overstated. Lugosi’s unnerving performance as Mirakle arguably provided the archetype for the modern cinematic “mad scientist”, a role that laid the foundations for a number of the most enduring and celebrated characters in cinematic history.


2 Son Of Frankenstein (1939)

Directed By Rowland V. Lee

Bela Lugosi as Ygor and Boris Karloff as Frankenstein in Son of Frankenstein.

Lugosi’s most celebrated performance outside of Dracula saw him take on the role of Ygor in Rowland V. Lee’s Son of Frankenstein, the acclaimed third film in Universal Pictures’ Frankenstein movie series. A hunched blacksmith left with a broken neck after a failed hanging, Lugosi is virtually unrecognizable as Ygor; a state of affairs that worked to the benefit of the famously typecast actor.

There have been more than 180 films made about Frankenstein


Effortlessly outshining credentialed co-star Boris Karloff in the role of Frankenstein’s Monster, the actor’s accomplished performance carries one of early horror’s most enduring cinematic offerings with textbook ease. Son of Frankenstein is the rare example of a franchise film that maintains the original quality of its source material despite being the third installment in the series – a status quo that is due in no small part to Lugosi’s sterling work as Ygor.

1 Dracula (1931)

Directed By Tod Browning

Arguably horror’s most iconic and instantly recognizable supernatural villain, Count Dracula is a role that many acclaimed actors have tried and failed to unequivocally make their own. This is due in large part to Bela Lugosi’s inimitable performance as the Prince of Darkness in 1931’s Dracula, a genre redefining turn that remains unsurpassed to this day despite countless imitations.


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Earning the role after his acclaimed performance in a Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, Lugosi is mesmerizing as Dracula from start to finish. The actor steals every scene he appears in, affecting a spellbinding cocktail of elegant charm and dread in a timeless performance that serves as the bedrock for one of the genre’s most seminal offerings and the greatest Dracula movie of all time. In many senses, Béla Lugosi was a victim of his own performance’s success; the actor never came close to surpassing the dizzying heights attained during his name-making bow.

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