Your favorite old horror movie actors.
 

Return of the fly came on a few minutes ago and reminded me of the good old days when actors could act so I thought I would ask this questionto see what your favorite old horror movie actors would be.

This would be good, but I have a few nit-picky points:

1) Betty Davis is not really a horror movie acctress, although I really liked 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?' as far as suspense goes.
2) You left out a lot of actors. I would have had this at the minimum:

1) Bela Lugosi
2) Boris Karloff
3) Lon Chaney
4) Lon Chaney Jr.

I think your poll would probably be better left off.

It's Bette Davis, Betti Page and Betty Boop.

As for Ms Davis, Vincent Price and Bela Lugosi, Karloff kicks their asses anyday, anywhere.

But if i'ts between these three, I guess I'd go with Bela. At least he's undead.


/Z8

Darn! It's actually Bettie Page. Oh well, at least I sounded sarcastic.

/Z8

Well I added Boris but for some reason he did not appear on the post when I went back to check it. As for Lon I have never seen any of his and his movies. I suppose I should have made the title horror and suspense but oh well. I was open to any other suggestions as far as actors. I was hoping that someone would post their own ideas just as you have done. I will have to check into the Mr. Chaney and his Jr. sometime. What movies were they in anyway?

bela with out a doubt.

I really miss Max Schreck in your list.....and Kinski....Kinski, of course is not a typical old horror movie actor, but anyway, those 2 are my favorites.
For those who have never heard of Max Schreck:
http://www.kjenkins49.fsnet.co.uk/max.htm

VINCENT PRICE!!! The dude could do it without props and fake fangs. And THAT voice!........
But the best is Tim Burton's clay animation of "The Boy who wanted to be Vincent Price.

WTF? You're kidding right? Tell me you're kidding!

But Vincent Price for sure. What was that movie called where he and another actor were sitting at a table telling old ghost stories? Trilogy of Terror? God, what was that tittle?
The one story I remember best was the ghoul, and Vincent really sold that shit.

And really now, Vincent was the orginial funk-master of Hammer time way before it became a popular dance craze, so there can be no real debate.

Also, a favorite cheese actor of mine was Claude Reins (is that last name spelled right?)

Junior was the Wolf Man in five films for Universal, beginning with The Wolf Man in the early forties, senior was the horror star in the twenties, Goth act London After Midnight took their name from one of his films.

The films you should see, if you are not afriad if silent movies or black and white (if you are, what are you doing on Gothic.net?) are
Senior:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Phantom of the Opera

Junior:
The Wolf Man
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

The last one has Lon Chaney Jr, Glenn Strange, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello and Bela Lugosi. And no, I won't tell you who those guys were.

/Z8

JESUS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How about this:
Peter Cushing
Christopher Lee
Bela
Lon Chaney Jr.
Lon Chaney
Karloff
Claude Rains
Vincent Price
Peter Lorre (if for no other reason than The Raven)
Klaus Kinski (best Dracula ever!! Nosferatu, Phantom Der Nach, 1979)

Actually Nemo I have seen three of the movies you listed a few times atr least. Of course I haven't watch those since I was about 10 so I couldn't have remebered the actors names to save my soul. Good movies though. When I was a kid I had this obsession with anything about Phantom of the Opera. I saw all the movies and read the books and listened to the musical on tape.

Thanks, I couldn't remember if it was Reins, or Rains.

Peter Cushin was OK, but I will continue to think of Vincent Price as the best horror actor ever, and he also did Scooby Doo and the Thriteen Ghost. What a guy!

I was going to mention Peter Lorre, god those peepers they always scared the shit out of me. Him and Marty Fieldman are two peas of a pod. But most people nowadays mix The Peter's up, and think of the Peter from the rat pack. Aside from the eyes, Peter also had that voice, and the Raven was alright but what about Arsenic and Old Lace? That was some good shit, and not with just Peter and Archie...so who played the doctor in that one Mr. Wisengamit?

But methinks you knows :)

Peter Lorre played Dr. Einstein in that one.

[quote="TStone"]...so who played the doctor in that one Mr. Wisengamit?/quote]

Boy, has IMDb taken the fun out of moviequizzing...

/Z8[/url]

actually i own that one on VHS. otherwise it probably would have been a short fact finding trip to the imdb....and i totally agree...you cant destroy anyones perception of how great their movie knowledge is anymore. EVERYONE uses imdb.

Peter Lorre
If you haven't seen it and can find it (Assuming you are not afraid of silent, B/W movies) check out M . Now there was a scarey movie.
Claude Rains was terrific as Satan in "Angel on my shoulder"
Max Shriek has to be the scariest mother fucker to ever appear in a movie.

Mike

a few years ago i went on this origonal horror movie kick and watched all, and i mean all the old flickc. night after night of no sleep, just great old movies. one hting i have to say is watching Lon Chaney Jr. go through the make-up changes was amazing.

Vincent Price; tall, strong character, his wicked voice, and overbearing nature with the women - WoW!!! Is it hot in here!

Now I know this isn't a horror movie, but "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", is one of my favorite movies. It's more of a musical comedy that makes fun of horror movies.
But my point is that I just adore Tim Curry as the misguided Dr. Frankfurter. He also has a particular voice for the imagination like Vincent Price does.

Oh, and Danny Elfman's voice just sends me as the character Jack Skeleton, in the Tim Burton movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

I obviously have a fetish for distinct voices!!! :shock:

can that really be a fetish?
i saw a site one day.. some guy in japan has a hair part fetish... he sits around in malls on the second floor taking pictures of the tops of womens heads. :twisted:

Yes, distinct, strong voices can be a fetish.
Here's the definition of fetish in the dictionary:
1. An object believed to have magical powers, esp. of protection. 2. An object of unreasonably excessive attention or reverence. 3. [/u]Something, as a material object or an often nonsexual part of the body, that arouses or gratifies sexual desire.

Do you know which definition describes my fetish? Ya, voices are very important to me. Howard Stern isn't necessarily attractive in person, but have him talk on the radio waves and I'm attracted.

Jr or sr? Oh, wait, you said actor... that rules out junior... Excellent choice! Now all you have to say is "And, oh, I forgot Karloff!" and you will have gotten full marks.

Bela Lugosi wins solely because of his role in "Dracula." I felt that he played his character more than perfectly. His voice and look alone would have made the movie a horror film.

I'd have to say Peter Cushing. The man was amazing and there's something so stark and uneasy about him, even when he's playing the good guy. When I was a kid I found myself watching the old Hammer horrors just because i was really drawn to him in a car crash kind of way: i didn't want to see it, it scared me, but i just couldn't help myself, he was so intriguing. oooooh, and Christopher Lee had a good run.

o
 

Quite true Maelstrom,although I thoroughly expected everyone to pic Bela,hands down.I'm glad that a few remember the Master.I love you because you know a true actor.

I've seen Bela's Dracula and the original Nosferatu.I hope one day to have an intimidating amount of old horror(shut up!!),and I hope most of it is black and white.I also own The Phantom of The Opera(Lon Chaney).Does anyone else think silent films are great?Shutting up now. :wink:

Re: o
 

Sorry,sorry this is about actors.My favorites are:
VINCENT PRICE!!!!!!!
Bela Lugosi
Lon Chaney Sr.
Lon Chaney Jr.
Boris Karloff
Max Schrek

Just saw White Zombie last Hallows.Good movie,Bela and Boris.What is it about Bela's widows peak that makes me start thinking in gibberish?

Deadhymn,I'm sorry dear,but there's absolutely NO way Klaus is a better Dracula or Nosferatu than Bela & Max(respectively).

Mine
 

[color=#bf00bf]Would have to be Vincent Price.[/color]

Bela Lugosi

My favourite was up on the list - Vincent Price. What an actor! What a voice! I'll watch anything that he's in, whether its a horror movie or not.

Glad that Peter Lorre was mentioned. I saw "M" over a decade ago - so very powerful a performace. I heard a little story about Peter - one afternoon a senior Nazi party official informed him that he was Hitler's favourite actor - that evening he was on the train to Paris - and on a boat to America the day after.

Peter Cushing was a beautiful man, with a beautiful voice, and apparently one of the nicest people you could wish to meet - so was Karloff - except he was in the habit of boring people crapless by showing them pictures of his grandchildren.

I'm surprised that no-one mentioned Todd Slaughter - admittedly he was an old ham, but he had his moments; the confession scene in "Maria Marten - the Story of the Red Barn" being one of them.

I also love Claude Rains: he made a movie about a murderous mistress with Bette Davis - but I can't remember the title offhand.

I's also like to give a heads-up to Conrad Veidt and Dwight Frye. Not horror film actors as such, but both famous for performances in a horror film. "Das Kabinet der Caligari" and "Dracula" respectively. OOOh Conrad - Pete Murphy wishes he was you!

Does anyone remember Una O'Connor? She was the crazy old lady in many an old horror movie. Or Ernest Thesiger? he was much the same thing.

not only are you wise.. you have the most excellent taste in actors :D

vincent rocks thought u lot might want 2 no dat

Oh, deffinitely! Some people thought he was actually a vampire... they made another movie out of that fact called Shadow of The Vampire ,that was more darkly funny than scarry.

Speaking of siglent horror films, does anyone know the names of the actors in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari?

I voted for Bela- Absolutely gorgeous (and not just his acting!)

I would have to go with Vincent Price. His unmistakable voice gets him recognition alone and he has appeared in the most horror movies, at least as a lead he has.

I would say that all the poll choices are great, but I also have to say that I would have voted for Peter Cushing if he were on the list. I am also fond of Forrest Tucker and Kevin McCarthy.

Of the ones listed in the poll, there could be only one choice for me: Bella.

Others faves of mine:

Christopher Lee
Boris Karloff
Max Schrek

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
 

The narrator, a student who makes the near-fatal error of attending a carnival with his best friend, Francis (Friedrich Feher)

Best friend, Alan (Hans Heinrich).

Man with a cabinet, Dr. Caligari (Werner Kraus)

The beautiful Jane (Lil Dagover).

Jane's father, Dr. Olsen (Rudolph Lettinger)

Skinny somnambulist guy in a black unitard, Cesare (Conrad Veidt)

Re: Your Favourite Old Horror Movie Actors.
 

Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre [the Christopher Walken of his time] & Max Shreck.

I was very suprised Christopher Lee and Boris Karloff weren't in the Poll.

Regardless, Vincent Price, without a doubt. Vincent and Peter Lorre made a great Comedy team in Comedy of Terror, they were like a demented Abbot & Costello. Which brings me to Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein. Vincent's Voice had a cameo in that, right at the end.

I think I'm dizzy now....

Lon Chaney Jr. sucked. I prefer my Horror Actors with a little less whine. :wink:

The Max Schrek Nosferatu, creepiest film of all time. My wife found (& bought) a video of that with a soundtrack by Type O Negative!!! (mostly Bloody Kisses, maybe a few Slow Deep & Hard...) but one of the only ways the film even could have been made better. :D

ever seen the 1979 "Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht" ?

While Jr. may not have been great there can be no doubt of the excellent acting abilities of Lon Chaney Sr.

I have that very same Nosferatu with TON soundtrack. In fact I created a thread about it, but it died of old age. I love watching it with the accompaniment of a heavy rainstorm. I believe that the music is from Slow, Deep & Hard, October Rust & Bloody Kisses. I fell in love with the song Love You to Death when I watched that movie.

Is that the Klaus Kinski one? If so I own it, but haven't watched it in a while... Good though, the atmosphere and connection tot eh plague was brilliant. If it wasn't the Klaus Kinski one, then what was it?

I agree about Chaney Sr., :)

I missed the Nostferatu/TON thread. I'll have to watch the movie again, I thought it was done pre-Rust, but I'll take your word for it.

It was the Kinski film. BEAUTIFUL women in that movie...

Ahh.... the main thing I remember from that movie was the scenery. Staggering.

No it's definately 'Love you to Death' at the begining, then 'Red Water'.

:)

Yep, you were right, we watched it over the weekend... I will never question your TON knowledge again... :wink:

1. Vincent Price (Theatre of Blood, the Abominable Dr. Phibes)
2. Bela Lugosi (Dracula, The Black Cat)
3. Boris Karloff (The Mummy and Frankenstein)
4. Lon Chaney Sr. (London After Midnight and Phantom of the Opera)
5. Werner Kraus (Old silent film German actor, the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)
6. Max Schreck (Nosferatu - silent film)
:-|