Plot: The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, becomes the target of a murder plot hatched by an unlikely duo – his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women, brought together by their mutual hatred for the man, pull off the crime but become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle’s corpse mysteriously disappears.

Scene: The Hallway

KBZ’s Take: Arguably one of the best films of the 1950s (not just in horror), this stylish psychological thriller with supernatural undertones was remade in 1996 with Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani. However, the remake pales in comparison to the original and is a must-see for any fan of 1950s horror.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discover a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon. The explorers capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay, fiancée of one of the expedition, with whom it has fallen in love.

Scene: The Tent

KBZ’s Take: “The Creature” is often relegated to second tier status after Universal Pictures’ “Big Three’ stable of monsters which included Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy. But as a horror film (and icon) released decades after the original trio, it still holds up surprisingly well with many creepy scenes.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Rich oddball Frederick Loren has a proposal for five guests at a possibly haunted mansion: show up, survive a night filled with scares and receive $10,000 each. The guest of honor is Loren’s estranged wife, Annabelle, who, with her secret lover, Dr. Trent, has concocted her own scheme to scare Loren‘s associate, Nora Manning, into shooting the potentially crazy millionaire. However, more spooks and shocks throw a wrench into the plan.

Scene: The “Witch”

KBZ’s Take: Another 50s horror film that borders on classic status where it’s eventual 1999 remake doesn’t hold up against the original’s genuine scares. Though the 1950s weren’t known for creepy horror, The House on Haunted Hill helped establish a trend of creepy and atmospheric horror that would be much more common in the following decades.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Teenagers Steve (Steven McQueen) and his best girl, Jane (Aneta Corseaut), try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches. The first to discover the substance and live to tell about it, Steve and Jane witness the blob destroying an elderly man and grow to a terrifying size. But no one else has seen the goo, and policeman Dave (Earl Rowe) refuses to believe the kids without proof.

Scene: The Blob exits the movie theater

KBZ’s Take: The Blob is an oft-remembered horror film of the 1950s that blended scares with subtle camp humor. Though it is a fine horror film, it is one film on our list where the 1988 remake is arguably better.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.

Scene: The Alien Hand

KBZ’s Take: No disrespect intended to Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds (2005), but the original film is still the much better film adaptation of H.G. Wells novel – even 70 years later.

Even with outdated special effects from 1953, the original adaptation uses core elements of the novel with updated themes of The Cold War added for the film. It’s also the film that not only inspired Spielberg’s remake but also other Alien Invasion classics including – Independence Day (1996).

Additional Lists: Best Alien Invasion Films #3

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Industrialist François Delambre is called late at night by his sister-in-law, Helene Delambre, who tells him that she has just killed her husband, André. Reluctant at first, she eventually explains to the police that André invented a matter transportation apparatus and, while experimenting on himself, a fly entered the chamber during the matter transference.

Scene: The Fly reveal

KBZ’s Take: Another classic horror film of the 1950s where the remake is often cited as superior to the original. We enjoy both versions of the film and though we didn’t select the “Help Me! Help Me!” scene which is a classic scene of creepy horror (but a spoiler), we did select the first time The Fly is revealed which has its own entirely different creepy vibe.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: As a result of nuclear testing, gigantic, ferocious mutant ants appear in the American desert southwest, and a father-daughter team of entomologists join forces with the state police officer who first discovers their existence, an FBI agent and, eventually, the US Army to eradicate the menace, before it spreads across the continent, and the world.

Scene: “Them” are head in the distance

KBZ’s Take: Them! is one film on our list (and of the 50s) that uses atmospheric and off-screen horror to great effect. Though the designs of the mutated ants are dated, there’s no denying the effective creepiness that occurs throughout the film when the ants are ‘heard’ in the distance.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: A man exposed to a radioactive cloud begins shrinking with no cure in sight.

Scene: The cat attacks

KBZ’s Take: Written by the great Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Legend of Hell House), this is a film that has stood the test of time. Even the special effects used over 69 years ago are still a wonder to watch and don’t take away from the film (like older and dated films will tend to do).

If you still haven’t seen this classic film, it’s one of the best sci-fi horror films of the decade and worth watching (even for a film in black and white).

Additional Lists: Top Sci-Fi Biotechnology Films You Haven’t Seen #4

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Scientists and U.S. Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.

Scene: The Thing appears

KBZ’s Take: It’s hard to judge the original “Thing” film from the 1950s given it’s remake by John Carpenter is considered not only a classic horror film but often cited as the best horror film of all time. But there wouldn’t be a version of 1982’s The Thing without the original. And though the 1951 film is very dated and not as scary (compared to its remake), you can see glimpses of the creepy horror in the film that inspired Carpenter’s horror classic.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

Scene: “It’s You! It’s You!”

KBZ’s Take: Jack Finney’s The Body Snatchers novel is a classic sci-fi horror novel that has been adapted numerous times throughout the decades. While the overall theme of the body snatchers involves a new and muted personality (of the alien duplicate), it’s the sub-themes used throughout the decades that have made the thought of an alien invasion by ‘pod people’ truly terrifying.

In the 1950’s, Cold War themes and communism were used as a sub-theme to great effect. In the 1970’s version of Body Snatchers it was conspiracy and paranoia that mirrored society at the time. And later versions, such as the loosely adapted Assimilate (2019), would utilize sub-themes of self-identity for a maturing and anonymous digital age.

If there’s one 1950s horror film to watch, this is it. But we would also recommend watching all the film’s remakes to see how the body snatcher’s theme resonated over the decades with the fears that gripped society at that particular time.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon