Bela Lugosi became the icon of horror movies with his versatility and spectacular portrayal of Dracula. Due to his impressive performance in so many horror movies, today, we have shortlisted a few of his best works.
Playing Dracula came as a blessing and a curse to the actor as he wasn’t offered many big roles other than that. But what is life without a little struggle, right? Lugosi did not stop here; instead, he played all the offered roles, whether they were for low-budget movies or B-Level-productions.
Keeping Bela Lugosi’s inspiration in mind, today, we have shortlisted a few of his best horror movies like The Return of the Vampire, The Black Sheep, White Zombie, Invisible Ghost, and a few more. Lugosi has managed to charm his audience with a bold aura and astonishing charms through these movies.
Here is our list of some noteworthy performances given by the late actor. Most of the movies in our list hold up to the legacy of the great actor, and I am sure that you guys will enjoy binge-watching these movies today as well.
Spooky Alert: 12 Best Horror Movies Of Bela Lugosi
Read along the list to find which of Bela’s horror movies make it to our list today.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
The movie is set after the events of The Wolf Man and The Ghost of Frankenstein when two men break into the Talbot family crypt and accidentally remove the wolfsbane tied to Larry Talbot’s body. In doing so, they wake Larry up from his death, turning him into a werewolf because of the full moon shining on his body. The story’s plot may not sound scary to you here, but this one ranks amongst the best horror movies of all time. The movie has so many strangest facts. Will Larry ever find a cure in the fight against his demons?
IMDb Ratings: 6.5/10
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Maria Ouspenskaya, Patric Knowles
The Return of The Vampire
Next on our list of the best horror movies of Bella Lugosi is The Return of the Vampire, which follows the terrors caused by vampire Arman Tesla in 1918, London. Along with his servant(or friend) Andreas Obry, he assaults the victims and kills them brutally by draining the blood out of their bodies. Shaken up by the vampire’s merciless killings, Dr.Jane (one of the victim’s doctors) stakes the vampire through his heart and puts an end to all the bloodshed. But what will happen when the same vampire is brought back to life 23 years later?
IMDb Ratings: 6.2/10
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Freida Inescort, Nina Foch, Roland Varno
The Black Sheep
The Black sheep revolves around the life of a mad scientist who is keen on saving his dying wife by cutting open the brains of his victims so that he can find a cure for his wife’s brain tumor.
IMDb Ratings: 6.1/10
Starring: Bella Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Basil Rathbone
The Body Snatcher
The movie revolves around Wolfe MacFarlane’s life, a doctor who is supposed to perform surgery on Georgina, who is diagnosed with paraplegia. However, the surgery requires Toddy to dissect corpses to find a suitable cure for his patient. The bodies cannot just be taken from the cemetery, so he hires a taxi driver and one of his students to supply the dead bodies. But is the cemetery the true source of dead bodies? Is there a dark secret behind the corpses?
IMDb Ratings: 7.3/10
Starring: Bella Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell, Russell Wade
The Corpse Vanishes
A young bride-to-be Alice disappears on the day of her wedding. Did she run away, or is there any other mystery to her disappearance? It turns out that the bride is abducted by Dr. Geaorge Lorenz, who intends on extracting the fluids out of the victim’s body and inject them into his wife to stop her aging. What happens when the journalist investigating the case and connects the clues to the mad doctor? Will she stop the two from this act of madness, or Is she going to become the next victim? You can watch the movie on free streaming sites.
IMDb Ratings: 4.5/10
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Luana Walters, Tris Coffin, Angelo Rossitto
White Zombie
The story revolves around the transformation of Madeleine into a zombie slave by a witch doctor who intends on keeping her away from her fiance. To execute his plans, Charles takes the help of Murder Legendre, a voodoo master. When Madeleine is finally turned into a zombie and taken to his castle, he slowly starts to regret his plan and begs Murder to give her life back. When Murder refuses to do so, Charles realizes that he is slowly turning into a zombie as well. What going to happen with Charles and Madeleine? Is anyone coming to rescue them?
IMDb Ratings: 6.3/10
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Robert Frazer, Joseph Cawthorn
Son of Frankenstein
Henry Frankenstein’s son Baron Wolf is hell-bent on redeeming his Father’s reputation but seeing the wrath from the villagers, he finds it not to be an easy task. To prove his Father as a man of honor, Wolf takes the help of Ygor, who is a grave robber and survived execution for his crimes. When Wolf awakens the monster buried in his family crypt, he realizes that it only takes orders from Ygor and commits a series of murders. How will Wolf prove his Father’s innocence?
IMDb Ratings: 7.1/10
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone
The Black Cat
Next on our list of horror movies is The Black Cat. The story revolves around Newlyweds Peter and Joan’s life. They are on their honeymoon but have to take shelter at Hjalmar Poelzig’s residence along with Dr. Werdegast because of the landslide. On reaching the mansion, the doctor treats Joan’s injuries, and that’s when she starts behaving strangely due to tranquilizers. What is the dark secret buried deep within the mansion walls? Will Peter and Joan save their lives?
IMDb Ratings: 7/10
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, David Manners, Julie Bishop
Invisible Ghost
Next on our horror movies list is Invisible Ghost starring Bella Lugosi as Dr. Charles Kessler, who lives in his mansion with his daughter Virginia and servants. Charles has been depressed ever since she left him for someone else and later died in a car crash. One more reason is adding to Charles’s depression, the residents living around his house are being murdered randomly, and now the accusations are on the doctor himself. How will the doctor solve this murder mystery and prove his innocence?
IMDb Ratings: 5.3/10
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Clarence Muse, Polly Ann Young, Betty Compson
Mark of the Vampire
Sir Borton is found murdered in his house with all the indications pointing towards a possible vampire assault. The physician in charge of the victim’s body analyzes the marks and concludes that the murderer is a vampire. He is certain that the vampire is either Count Mora or his mysterious daughter, played by Carroll Borland. With very little help from the law, how will he prove them the murderer? Will Professor Zelen prove to be helpful in the case?
IMDb Ratings: 6.3/10
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Lionel Barrymore, Caroll Borland, Lionel Atwill
Murders in the Rue Morgue
The year is 1845, and Dr.Mirakle is demonstrating his theories of evolution on his ape. The doctor has chosen a carnival as a hiding place for his secret laboratory and performs the medical experiments without the audience knowing about it. The doctor has mixed Eric’s (Ape) blood with human blood and is injecting it into his victims’ body. Is the doctor involved in the killing of three prostitutes? Where has Camille gone missing? Will Pierre find Camille in time?
IMDb Ratings: 6.4/10
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Sidney Fox, Leon Ames, Bert Roach
One Body Too Many
A life insurance salesman, Albert L. Tuttle, has a terrible timing in life with his clients. While he reaches to make a deal of his life with a client, he is informed of his client’s untimely death. During this time, Albert is fascinated by late Albert’s niece, who draws him into the world of secret blood and strange tunnels and, most important of all, a vanishing corpse. Will Albert get down to the mystery of the missing corpse? What will be the outcome of his growing fascination with Carol?
IMDb Ratings: 5.4/10
Starring: Bella Lugosi, Jack Haley, Lyle Talbot, Jean Parker
Final Pronouncement:
With this, we come to an end for the best horror movies of Bela Lugosi. These movies are some of his best works, and if you are a lover of 80’s and 90’s horror movies, you will enjoy watching these movies.
Feature Image Credits: BFI
