The Sound of Screaming: Early Horror Films

A composite image of six stills from the series. All are images from 1930s horror films.
Get twice the fright this Halloween season with three nights of best early horror films.
Oct 09, 2024 – Oct 31, 2024

$8 members and adults 55 and over 
$10 general public 
$5 students

Today, horror is one of the most popular genres in both film and television, blossoming in all sorts of creative and creepy directions. But as long as movies have been around, filmmakers depicted the darkest things imaginable: nightmarish monsters, evil motivations, and every possible violent act. Following the widespread adoption of sound in cinema Hollywood entered what is now called the Pre-Code era—a time known for more frank depictions of sex, violence, social ills, and general weirdness. Before it all came to an end in 1934 with the enforcement of the restrictive Production Code, Hollywood produced some of the most outlandish horror films ever put to celluloid. Celebrate spooky season with these handpicked, early horror gems that continue to inspire today’s best filmmakers.

IMAGE CAPTION
Clockwise from top left: Island of Lost Souls, courtesy of Universal Pictures; Freaks, Mystery of the Wax Museum, Doctor X, courtesy of Warner Bros.; Dracula, Murders in the Rue Morgue, courtesy of Universal Pictures.

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A man and woman stand next to each other facing two creatures covered in hair. A man confronts a woman who is tied to a large x-shaped frame in a lab.
35MM Print
past Film/Video

Island of Lost Souls | Murders in the Rue Morgue (Erle C. Kenton, 1932) | (Robert Florey, 1932)

Wed, Oct 9, 2024
Multiple Dates/Times Available
Close up of a woman screaming at a man with a disfigured face to the left of the frame. Close up of a man with a disfigured face.
35MM Print
past Film/Video

The Mystery of the Wax Museum | Doctor X (Michael Curtiz, 1933) | (Michael Curtiz, 1932)

Thu, Oct 10, 2024
Multiple Dates/Times Available
A woman descends the steps of a circus wagon. A little person and a man without legs are looking up at her. Close up of a vampire gripping the wall in front of him.
35MM Print
past Film/Video

Freaks | Dracula (Tod Browning, 1932) | (Tod Browning, 1931) Free Halloween candy!

Thu, Oct 31, 2024
Multiple Dates/Times Available
An assemblage of images from the six early horror films in the series The Sound of Screaming
Read, Watch & Listen

Intro: Pre-Code Cinema

Tue, Oct 08, 2024

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
National Endowment for the Arts 
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Rohauer Collection Foundation