# What is the best Boris Karloff movie?

> Universal shockers, a Corman romp and one quiet late masterpiece. The man behind the bolts made far more than monster movies.

*By YPB Team · Published September 22, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-boris-karloff-movie*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Scarface** — score 1000/1000
   Howard Hawks' 1932 gangster classic, with Karloff as the rival mobster Gaffney.
2. **Targets** — score 877/1000
   Peter Bogdanovich's 1968 debut, with Karloff playing an aging horror star.
3. **Bride of Frankenstein** — score 800/1000
   Whale's 1935 sequel, with Karloff's Monster learning to speak and meeting his mate.
4. **Isle of the Dead** — score 771/1000
   Mark Robson's 1945 Val Lewton plague thriller set on a Greek island.
5. **Frankenstein** — score 692/1000
   James Whale's 1931 Universal horror film that made Karloff a star as the Monster.
6. **The Old Dark House** — score 600/1000
   Whale's 1932 comic chiller with Karloff as a mute, scarred butler.
7. **The Mask of Fu Manchu** — score 600/1000
   The 1932 MGM adventure with Karloff as the scheming Fu Manchu.
8. **Black Sabbath** — score 491/1000
   Mario Bava's 1963 horror anthology, introduced and partly led by Karloff.
9. **The Mummy** — score 491/1000
   Karl Freund's 1932 film with Karloff as the resurrected priest Imhotep.
10. **Son of Frankenstein** — score 360/1000
   The 1939 third entry and Karloff's last turn as the Monster.
11. **The Body Snatcher** — score 0/1000
   Robert Wise's 1945 Val Lewton production with Karloff as a grave-robbing cabman.
12. **The Raven** — score 0/1000
   Roger Corman's 1963 comedy-horror with Karloff, Vincent Price and Peter Lorre.
13. **The Black Cat** — score 0/1000
   Edgar G. Ulmer's 1934 thriller pairing Karloff with Bela Lugosi for the first time.

Tags: movies, horror, 1930s, boris karloff