Boris Karloff Filmography

Born:: November 23, 1887 in London, England, UK
Occupation:: Actor
Birth name:: William Henry Pratt
Biography:: The long-reigning king of Hollywood horror, Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on November 23, 1887, in South London. The youngest of nine children, he was educated at London University in preparation for a career as a diplomat. However, in 1909, he emigrated to Canada to accept a job on a...Read More

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Historic Reruns, Vol. 13: Colonel March

1995
Monsters and Maniacs

1988
The Hollywood Collection: The Horror of it All

Synopsis: Directed by Philip Martell, music director of such horror films as Snake Woman (1961) and Die, Monster, Die! (1964), this documentary recounts the history of horror movies, with footage and scenes from major horror films such as Nosferatu and The Horror of Dracula. Highlights include footage of Read More

1983
Isle of the Snake People

Actors: Boris Karloff

Synopsis: The inhabitants of a small, remote island have been practicing voodoo rites and worshipping an evil priest named Damballah for years, but the local law officials generally turn a blind eye to this death cult's bizarre activities. Captain Labesch (Rafael Bertrand) arrives from the mainland Read More

1971
Targets

Actors: Boris Karloff, Tim O'Kelly, Nancy Hsueh, James Brown, Sandy Baron

Synopsis: Together with Orson Welles' Citizen Kane and John Singleton's Boyz 'n the Hood, director Peter Bogdanovich's Targets is among the most impressive first features ever made. When Bogdanovich's cinematic mentor Roger Corman suggested that Bogdanovich might want to make his directorial debut, he Read More

1968
The White Birch

Synopsis: This suspenseful drama chronicles political upheaval in Czechoslovakia. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

1968
La Invasion Siniestra

Actors: Boris Karloff

Synopsis: One of four low-rent Mexican horror productions from the 1960s which featured an ailing Boris Karloff in supporting roles (and released after his death), this sci-fi/horror quickie features Karloff as a 19th-century scientist who invents a powerful energy device capable of rendering any weapon Read More

1968
Mad Monster Party

Synopsis: The only theatrical feature from Rankin/Bass -- the outfit behind countless animated holiday TV specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman -- this quaint and colorful production pays amusing homage to nearly every movie monster in Universal's catalog, even to the Read More

1968
The Crimson Cult

Actors: Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Mark Eden, Barbara Steele, Michael Gough

Synopsis: In this spooky thriller, an evil sorcerer invites an innocent young man and his girl friend to his dark and scary mansion. The two have no idea that the black magician is planning to sacrifice the young man to atone for the evil misdeeds of his ancestors who 200 years ago burned the wizard's Read More

1968
Fear Chamber

Actors: Boris Karloff, Julissa, Carlos East, Isela Vega

Synopsis: A brilliant geologist sends a team to search the depths of the earth in an effort to learn the origin of some strange signals they've been picking up on their equipment. They discover a rock formation with an interior life that can communicate telepathically. They bring the mass to the surface and Read More

1968
Dance of Death

Synopsis: One of four low-budget Mexican horror productions to star an ailing Boris Karloff in a supporting (but top-billed) role, this odd little number features the horror legend as the dying forebear of an eccentric family, whose heirs descend like vultures on his palatial home when they learn of his Read More

1968
The Sorcerers

Actors: Boris Karloff, Catherine Lacey, Ian Ogilvy, Elizabeth Ercy, Victor Henry, Susan George

Synopsis: Made by the then 23-year-old director Michael Reeves, who died after making only one more movie, the notable Witchfinder General (1968), this is an unusual horror film concerning an elderly couple who conduct experiments with mind control, hoping to experience the lost excitements of youth through Read More

1967
The Venetian Affair

Actors: Robert Vaughn, Elke Sommer, Felicia Farr, Karl Heinz Böhm, Ed Asner, Boris Karloff

Synopsis: In this spy thriller, Robert Vaughn, who then starring on TV's The Man from U.N.C.L.E., plays Bill Fenner, an ex-CIA agent who is called upon by his former boss, Frank Rosenfeld (Ed Asner), to investigate an apparent murder-suicide in Vienna. An American diplomat exploded a bomb at a peace Read More

1967
El Coleccionista de Cadaveres

Synopsis: Also known as Cauldron of Blood, Blind Man's Bluff is a Spanish-made horror film long on gore but short on logic. Several beautiful models have disappeared, and the prime suspect is blind sculptor Boris Karloff, a surly and secretive sort who produces skeletal statues. Lovely model Rosanda Monteros Read More

1967
The Daydreamer

Actors: Cyril Ritchard, Paul O'Keefe, Jack Gilford, Ray Bolger, Margaret Hamilton, Hayley Mills, Burl Ives, Terry-Thomas, Victor Borge, Ed Wynn, Boris Karloff, Sessue Hayakawa

Synopsis: Four stories from Hans Christian Andersen appear in The Daydreamer, a feature using the Animagic process that uses live action combined with stop-motion puppets. Included are "The Little Mermaid," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "Thumbelina," and "The Garden Of Paradise." Songs and dances compliment Read More

1966
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini

Actors: Deborah Walley, Tommy Kirk, Aron Kincaid, Basil Rathbone, Quinn O'Hara, Boris Karloff, Dwayne Hickman, Jesse White

Synopsis: American-International's Beach Party series came to an abrupt end with Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Because of such tangible reasons as contractual commitments, coupled with such intangibles as illness and death, most of the series "regulars" are absent. Deborah Walley and Aron Kinkaid fill the Read More

1966
How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Actors: Boris Karloff

Synopsis: Chuck Jones' animated version of the classic Dr. Seuss book How the Grinch Stole Christmas originally aired on television in 1966 and has since become a holiday family favorite. Voiced by Boris Karloff (who also narrates), the Grinch lives on top of a hill overlooking Whoville with his dog, Max. Read More

1965
Die, Monster, Die!

Actors: Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson, Suzanne Farmer, Terence de Marney

Synopsis: Also known as Monster of Terror, this British-made horror opus is very loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft's story "The Colour Out of Space". The story begins with an American scientist (Nick Adams) paying a visit to the remote estate of his fiancee's family (located in Lovecraft's fictional Arkham Read More

1965
Mondo Balordo

Synopsis: The excesses and eccentricities of the 20th century once again go under the cinematic microscope in this shockumentary inspired by the international hit Mondo Cane. Mondo Balordo documents a wide variety of strange and unsavory behavior, ranging from teenage dueling clubs in Berlin where facial Read More

3/28/64
The Comedy of Terrors

Actors: Joe E. Brown, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone

Synopsis: On the verge of bankruptcy, undertaker Vincent Price hits upon a novel method of drumming up business. Together with his cringing assistant Peter Lorre, Price sneaks into the homes of wealthy old men under cover of night and smothers the sleeping occupants to death--then collects a hefty Read More

1964
Bikini Beach

Actors: Boris Karloff, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Martha Hyer, Keenan Wynn, Harvey Lembeck

Synopsis: The Beach Party gang is back in this third episode. This time out, the gang is visited by the handsome British pop star Potato Bug (Frankie Avalon in a dual role) who has come to CA for a little r&r. When Potato Bug sees the perky Dee Dee (Annette Funicello), he falls head over heels. This doesn't Read More

1964
Black Sabbath

Actors: Boris Karloff, Michele Mercier, Mark Damon, Lydia Alfonsi, Jacqueline Pierreux

Synopsis: This anthology features three chilling horror stories. "Il Telefono" is credited to Guy de Maupassant, although he never wrote such a story, and concerns a woman (Michele Mercier) receiving telephone calls from beyond the grave. "Wurdulak", by Alexei Tolstoi, stars Boris Karloff as an aging Read More

8/17/63
The Raven

Actors: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Hazel Court, Olive Sturgess

Synopsis: Although Roger Corman narrowly managed to avoid self-mockery in his pulpy, flamboyant adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe tales, it appears that the director chose this opportunity to let loose with outright parody; the result is a wonderfully entertaining romp with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The Read More

1963
The Terror

Actors: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller, Dorothy Neumann

Synopsis: In this horror chiller, an intriguing, beautiful woman (Sandra Knight) keeps re-appearing to early 19th-century Lt. Duvalier (Jack Nicholson), and he is led to a castle where he finds an imposter of Baron Von Leppe (Boris Karloff). He becomes trapped in the ancient castle and tries to make sense Read More

1963
Thriller: The Grim Reaper

1961
Thriller [TV Series]

Actors: Boris Karloff

1960
Dupont Show of the Month: Treasure Island

Synopsis: This dramatic presentation of "Treasure Island" was created specifically for television and includes all of the immortal characters, along with the original DuPont commercials. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

1960
Corridors of Blood

Actors: Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee

Synopsis: This enjoyably twisted British thriller was shot back-to-back with the equally warped Haunted Strangler and is one of the first films of any genre to address the subject of drug addiction. It stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Thomas Bolton, a London surgeon who believes he has developed a safe and Read More

1959
Playhouse 90: Heart of Darkness

1958
This is Your Life: Boris Karloff

1958
The Veil [TV Series]

Synopsis: The Veil, produced in 1958, was a made-for-television series of creepy, supernatural dramatizations hosted by Boris Karloff. Only finishing ten episodes before going bankrupt, the production company was never able to get the shows aired before it went under. Episodes include "Vision of Crime," Read More

1958
Frankenstein 1970

Actors: Boris Karloff, Tom Duggan, Jana Lund, Don "Red" Barry, Charlotte Austin

Synopsis: This is one of the more off-beat entries into the Frankenstein sub-genre, in that it features the original Creature, Boris Karloff (who really hams it up) playing the disfigured grandson of the famed mad baron in a style that combines gothic horror with the awe and fear created by the newly dawned Read More

1958
Jack the Ripper

Actors: Boris Karloff

Synopsis: Four terrifying stories from The Veil television series are introduced by Boris Karloff with titles "Summer Heat," "Vision of Crime," "Food on the Table" and "Jack the Ripper." ~ All Movie Guide Read More

1958
The Haunted Strangler

Actors: Boris Karloff, Anthony Dawson, Derek Birch, Dorothy Gordon, Elizabeth Allan, Tim Turner, Jean Kent, Vera Day

Synopsis: There's a bit of Oedipus Rex in The Haunted Strangler, though it's not readily apparent at first. Boris Karloff plays 19th-century novelist James Rankin, who becomes obsessed with the long-closed case of the Haymarket Strangler. Twenty years earlier, a man named Styles (Michael Atkinson) was Read More

1958
Voodoo Island

Actors: Boris Karloff, Beverly Tyler, Murvyn Vye, Elisha Cook, Jr., Rhodes Reason

Synopsis: Boris Karloff amiably walks through his undemanding starring role in Voodoo Island. Lensed in Hawaii, the film casts Karloff as Phillip Knight, a professional skeptic who enjoys skewering those who believe in the supernatural. Accompanied by his secretary, Sara (Beverly Adams), Knight arrives on a Read More

1957
The Juggler of Our Lady

1957
Playhouse 90: Rendezvous in Black

Synopsis: Cornell Woolrich, whose written works have served as the basis for many an Alfred Hitchcock production, was the author of this Playhouse 90 drama. After arranging to meet his fiancee at a busy downtown street corner, a young man arrives at the appointed destination--only to find that the girl is Read More

1956
Colonel March of Scotland Yard [TV Series]

Actors: Boris Karloff

Synopsis: Based on the stories by Carter Dickson, this series finds Boris Karloff portraying Colonel March, who works for the Department of Queer Complaints and investigates the cases that baffle Scotland Yard. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide Read More

1954
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff, Craig Stevens, Helen Westcott

Synopsis: This was the last in a string of spoofs that found the comedy duo tangling with various classic Universal Studios monsters. In this case, Slim (Bud Abbott) and Tubby (Lou Costello) play American detectives who cross wits with Dr. Henry Jekyll (Boris Karloff) in Edwardian-era London when they Read More

1953
Sabaka

Actors: Boris Karloff, Lou Krugman, Reginald Denny, June Foray

Synopsis: Filmed on location in India, The Hindu is an outgrowth of the "Gunga Ram" episodes originally seen on TV's Smilin' Ed's Gang (later known as Andy's Gang). Nino Marcel stars as adventurous young mahout Gunga Ram, with Vito Scotti (of all people!) as his timorous sidekick. Top billing is bestowed Read More

1953
The Monster of the Island

Synopsis: An elderly Boris Karloff headlines this low-budget Italian crime drama. He plays the owner of a financially struggling nursery who finds himself hopelessly involved in a kidnapping. A group of drug smugglers did the abducting and now Karloff and a detective team up to find them. The investigator Read More

1953
Island Monster

Synopsis: This obscure Italian crime potboiler features a nominal performance from a slumming Boris Karloff as wealthy businessman Don Gaetano, who assists a narcotics detective (Franca Marzi) in rescuing his kidnapped daughter from a drug-smuggling ring based on the island of Ischia. The syndicate's leader Read More

1953
Colonel March Investigates

Actors: Boris Karloff

Synopsis: This murder mystery is comprised of three pilot episodes of a British television series. The story centers around the odd cases that come into the Department of Queer Complaints at Scotland Yard. The protagonist is the head of the department and wears a black eye patch and cloak. His job is to Read More

1952
Studio One: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Synopsis: The classic Mark Twain time travel fantasy comes to vivid life on the small screen in this television production starring Barry Kroeger, Thomas Mitchell, and Boris Karloff. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide Read More

1952
The Black Castle

Actors: Richard Greene, Boris Karloff, Stephen McNally, Lon Chaney, Jr.

Synopsis: Boris Karloff returns to his old Universal stamping grounds in the mild horror item Black Castle. The plot is motivated by a brace of 18th-century aristocrats, Beckett (Richard Greene) and Count Von Bruno (Stephen McNally). Invited to visit Von Bruno's castle in Austria, Beckett accepts, hoping in Read More

1952
The Strange Door

Actors: Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Sally Forrest, Richard Stapley, Michael Pate

Synopsis: Reunited for the first time since 1932's The Old Dark House, Charles Laughton and Boris Karloff star in the second-echelon Universal melodrama The Strange Door. Based on a Robert Louis Stevenson story, the film casts Laughton as unhinged French aristocrat Alan De Maletroit. Angered when his Read More

1951
Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff

Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff, Lenore Aubert, Gar Moore

Synopsis: This Abbott & Costello vehicle was originally planned as a Bob Hope comedy titled Easy Does It. The Hope role is fairly evenly divided between Bud Abbott, as hotel house detective Casey Edwards, and Lou Costello, as bumbling bellhop Lou Costello. When a much-hated criminal attorney (Nicholas Joy Read More

1949
The Emperor and the Nightingale

Actors: Boris Karloff, Jaromir Sobota, Helena Patockova

Synopsis: The Emperor's Nightingale relates the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale through utilization of stop-motion puppet animation. The film was produced by the Prague-based "Trick Brothers" studio, owned and operated by Jiri Trnka. The story, adapted by Trnka and Jiri Brdecka, is the traditional one of Read More

1948
Tap Roots

Actors: Van Heflin, Susan Hayward, Boris Karloff, Julie London, Whitfield Connor

Synopsis: Set at the beginning of the Civil War, Tap Roots is all about a county in Mississippi which chooses to secede from the state rather than enter the conflict. The county is protected from the Confederacy by an abolitionist (Ward Bond) and a Native American gentleman (Boris Karloff). The Read More

1948
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

Actors: Ralph Byrd, Boris Karloff, Lyle Latell, Anne Gwynne, June Clayworth, Skelton Knaggs

Synopsis: Befitting his status as a genre star, Boris Karloff earns top billing over leading man Ralph Byrd in RKO's final Dick Tracy caper. The former Frankenstein monster plays an escaped convict masterminding a daring bank robbery. To get in and out of the bank without being noticed, the gang uses an Read More

1947
Lured

Actors: George Sanders, Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn, Alan Mowbray, Cedric Hardwicke

Synopsis: Lucille Ball is an American taxi-dancer living in London whose roommate has disappeared. The missing girl had left to answer a job offer in the "personal" column of the Times...just like several other women who've vanished without a trace. Scotland Yard detective George Zucco suggests that Ball Read More

1947
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Actors: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Boris Karloff, Fay Bainter, Ann Rutherford

Synopsis: James Thurber wasn't too happy with the Sam Goldwyn film adaptation of his 1939 short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but the Technicolor musical comedy proved to be a cash cow at the box office. Danny Kaye stars as Walter, a milquetoast proofreader for a magazine publishing firm. Walter is Read More

1947
Unconquered

Actors: Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva, Boris Karloff, Katherine de Mille, Ward Bond

Synopsis: Cecil B. DeMille's first postwar production, the $5 million Technicolor historical spectacular Unconquered lacks only the kitchen sink. The story begins in England in the 1760s, as Abigail Martha Hale (Paulette Goddard), unjustly accused of a crime against the Crown, is sentenced by the Lord Chief Read More

1947
The Body Snatcher

Actors: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell, Edith Atwater, Donna Lee, Russell Wade, Rita Corday

Synopsis: Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were given top billing in the Val Lewton-produced The Body Snatcher, but the film's protagonist is played by Henry Daniell. A brilliant 18th century London surgeon, Daniell can only make his humanitarian medical advances by experimenting on cadavers, which is strictly Read More

1945
Bedlam

Actors: Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Billy House, Glenn Vernon, Jason Robards, Sr.

Synopsis: Bedlam is one of the costlier psychological-horror efforts from RKO producer Val (Curse of the Cat People) Lewton. Boris Karloff stars as the supervisor of the notorious 18th century British insane asylum St. Mary's of Bethlehem, better known as "Bedlam." Anna Lee, who co-stars as the feisty Read More

1945
Isle of the Dead

Actors: Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Alan Napier, Jason Robards, Sr., Helene Thimig

Synopsis: Inspired by Swiss artist Arnold Böcklin's famous painting, this seminal horror film marked the first of three collaborations between RKO producer Val Lewton and British genre star Boris Karloff. Set during the 1912 Balkan Wars, Isle of the Death featured Karloff as Greek general Pherides who Read More

1945
The Climax

Actors: Boris Karloff, Susanna Foster, Turhan Bey, Gale Sondergaard, Thomas Gomez

Synopsis: The Climax was hurriedly and economically filmed on leftover sets from Universal's super-production The Phantom of the Opera. In his Technicolor debut, Boris Karloff plays Dr. Hohner, a brilliant but unstable theatrical physician who murders a beautiful opera star when she rejects him. Ten year Read More

1944
House of Frankenstein

Actors: Boris Karloff, J. Carrol Naish, Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, Anne Gwynne, Lionel Atwill

Synopsis: In many ways the most endearing of Universal's B-grade "monster rallies" of the 1940s, House of Frankenstein manages within its 70-minute time span to make room for Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange), Dracula (John Carradine) the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.), and a couple of new recruits, mad Read More

1944
The Boogie Man Will Get You

Actors: Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom, Jeff Donnell, Larry Parks

Synopsis: In this silly but enjoyable rip-off of Arsenic and Old Lace, Boris Karloff plays an addlepated scientist who is experimenting with bringing the dead back to life. To do this, he has "killed" several travelling salesmen and placed them in suspended animation in his basement. Karloff is fiercely Read More

1942
The Devil Commands

Actors: Boris Karloff, Richard Fiske, Amanda Duff, Anne Revere, Ralph Penney, Kenneth MacDonald

Synopsis: Also known as When the Devil Commands, this cheap but lively Columbia melodrama was the last of Boris Karloff's "mad doctor" series (the official denoument of the series, The Boogie Man Will Get You, was a farcical lampoon). The film begins on an ominous note, as Anne Blair (Amanda Duff) makes a Read More

1941
Black Friday

Actors: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Stanley Ridges, Anne Nagel, Anne Gwynne

Synopsis: Told in flashback as Dr. Ernest Sovac (Boris Karloff) is marched into the gas chamber, Black Friday concerns kindly college professor George Kingsley (Stanley Ridges), who is seriously injured when he is caught in the middle of a gangster shootout. Kingsley's best friend Sovac performs an Read More

1940
Devil's Island

Actors: Boris Karloff, Nedda Harrigan, James Stephenson, Adia Kuznetzoff, Rolla Gourvitch

Synopsis: Veteran movie heavy Boris Karloff plays a sympathetic role in Devil's Island. Karloff portrays a humanitarian physician, arrested for treating the wounds of a treasonous fugitive. Sent to the Devil's Island penal colony, Dr. Karloff runs afoul of sadistic commandant James Stephenson, who seems Read More

1940
British Intelligence

Actors: Boris Karloff, Margaret Lindsay, Maris Wrixon, Leonard Mudie

Synopsis: Though set during WW1, British Intelligence was obviously thrown together to capitalize on the outbreak of WW2. A remake of the 1930 espionager Three Faces East, the film stars Boris Karloff as Valder, the sinister butler of a British cabinet minister. It is quite possible that Valder is a German Read More

1940