(Photo by courtesy Everett Collection)
See! Atomic monsters, sinister science, and beasts from beyond the moon!
Watch! As society exposes their deep-seated anxieties and fears!
Discover! The best horror movies of the 1950s!
After a devastating World War, America entered into the protracted Cold War with the Soviet Union, racing against the other to reach and conquer space first, while cultivating a massive arsenal of nuclear weaponry. Contrasted with the United States’ prosperous post-War economy and the rise of consumerism and suburbia, 1950s horror films reflected the pervading invisible fear of death from above. Plenty of the monsters in creature features were nuclear in origin, from Them! to Godzilla to It Came from Beneath the Sea to The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms and beyond. The Space Age launched in this decade and with it a fear of what we’ll carry from our cosmic sojourns back to Earth, as played out in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Blob, and The Thing from Another World.
Other defining highlights of the decade include psychological dramas (The Night of the Hunter, Diabolique, The Bad Seed), gimmicks (a skeleton flew overhead audiences for House on Haunted Hill, and The Tingler indeed electrically tingled seats), Hammer Films (Quatermass Xperiment, Horror of Dracula), and the Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy.
To compile this list of ’50s horror, we compiled every critically supported movie and then listed them by Tomatometer, with Certified Fresh films first. —Alex Vo
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#1
Adjusted Score: 107287%
Critics Consensus: One of the best political allegories of the 1950s, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is an efficient, chilling blend of sci-fi and horror.
#2
Adjusted Score: 105659%
Critics Consensus: Cruel, dark, but undeniably effective, Diabolique is a suspense thriller as effective as Hitchcock’s best work and with a brilliant twist ending.
#3
Adjusted Score: 100780%
Critics Consensus: Deliciouly funny to some and eerily presicient to others, The Fly walks a fine line between shlocky fun and unnerving nature parable.
#4
Adjusted Score: 103257%
Critics Consensus: Featuring Robert Mitchum’s formidable performance as a child-hunting preacher, The Night of the Hunter is a disturbing look at good and evil.
#5
Adjusted Score: 102356%
Critics Consensus: More than straight monster-movie fare, Gojira offers potent, sobering postwar commentary.
#6
Adjusted Score: 99871%
Critics Consensus: One of the best creature features of the early atomic age, Them! features effectively menacing special effects and avoids the self-parody that would taint later monster movies.
#7
Adjusted Score: 98551%
Critics Consensus: House of Wax is a 3-D horror delight that combines the atmospheric eerieness of the wax museum with the always chilling presence of Vincent Price.
#8
Adjusted Score: 96941%
Critics Consensus: Trading gore for grandeur, Horror of Dracula marks an impressive turn for inveterate Christopher Lee as the titular vampire, and a typical Hammer mood that makes aristocracy quite sexy.
#9
Adjusted Score: 98623%
Critics Consensus: As flying saucer movies go, The Thing From Another World is better than most, thanks to well-drawn characters and concise, tense plotting.
#10
Adjusted Score: 90296%
Critics Consensus: A curiously sensitive and spiritual addition to the Universal Monsters line-up, tacking on deep questions about a story who is shrinking to death.
#11
Adjusted Score: 85076%
Critics Consensus: A solid, atmospheric creature feature that entertains without attempting to be deeper than it needs.
#12
Adjusted Score: 82390%
Critics Consensus: Campy by modern standards but spooky and atmospheric, House on Haunted Hill is a fun, well-executed cult classic featuring a memorable performance from genre icon Vincent Price.
#13
Adjusted Score: 101553%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#14
Adjusted Score: 94011%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#15
Adjusted Score: 42517%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#16
Adjusted Score: 93203%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#17
Adjusted Score: 89144%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#18
Adjusted Score: 86184%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#19
Adjusted Score: 88835%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#20
Adjusted Score: 84510%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#21
Adjusted Score: 33549%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#22
Adjusted Score: 79366%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#23
Adjusted Score: 39119%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#24
Adjusted Score: 75914%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#25
Adjusted Score: 71840%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#26
Adjusted Score: 66657%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#27
Adjusted Score: 71117%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#28
Adjusted Score: 29537%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#29
Adjusted Score: 70098%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#30
Adjusted Score: 72004%
Critics Consensus: In spite of its chortle-worthy premise and dated special effects, The Blob remains a prime example of how satisfying cheesy B-movie monster thrills can be.
#31
Adjusted Score: 64136%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#32
Adjusted Score: 67446%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#33
Adjusted Score: 69995%
Critics Consensus: The epitome of so-bad-it’s-good cinema, Plan 9 From Outer Space is an unintentionally hilarious sci-fi “thriller” from anti-genius Ed Wood that is justly celebrated for its staggering ineptitude.
#34
Adjusted Score: 64776%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#35
Adjusted Score: 66707%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#36
Adjusted Score: 60340%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#37
Adjusted Score: 55475%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#38
Adjusted Score: 43364%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.