Public domain horror films for Halloween

Halloween is when public-domain horror gets used the most: watch parties, YouTube uploads, projections, remixes. But "public domain" usually describes only the film print. The music on the copy you downloaded, the restoration it came from, and the monster's trademark can each still be owned by someone.

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104 films fully researched

Evidence-backed public-domain research for creators — every verdict shows its receipts: renewal records, case law, and working archival links. No green checkmarks without proof.

104 fully-researched dossiers · 422 titles in the research backlog (backlog = not yet researched — not a public-domain list)

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Researched films

4 Devils1928 A Dog's Life1918 All Quiet on the Western Front1930 Animal Crackers1930 Any Old Port!1930 Ben-Hur1925 Beyond the Rocks1922 Blind Husbands1919 Blood and Sand1922 Broken Blossoms1919 Camille1921 Carnival of Souls1962 Charade1963 Cinderella1914 Dementia 131963 Detour1945 Faust1926 Foolish Wives1922 Girl Shy1924 Go West1925 Greed1924 Hallelujah!1929 His Girl Friday1940 House on Haunted Hill1959 In Old Arizona1929 Intolerance1916 King Kong1933 London After Midnight1927 McLintock!1963 Metropolis1927 Morocco1930 Nanook of the North1922 Night of the Living Dead1968 Nosferatu1922 Orphans of the Storm1921 Our Hospitality1923 Outside the Law1920 Plan 9 from Outer Space1957 Robin Hood1922 Robot Monster1953 Safety Last!1923 Seven Chances1925 Sherlock Holmes1916 Sherlock Jr.1924 Steamboat Bill, Jr.1928 Steamboat Willie1928 Street Angel1928 Sunrise1927 Tarzan of the Apes1918 The Ace of Hearts1921 The Big Parade1925 The Big Trail1930 The Birth of a Nation1915 The Black Pirate1926 The Broadway Melody1929 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari1920 The Cameraman1928 The Cat and the Canary1927 The Circus1928 The Cocoanuts1929 The Covered Wagon1923 The Crowd1928 The Dawn Patrol1930 The Divorcee1930 The Docks of New York1928 The Dragon Painter1919 The Extra Girl1923 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse1921 The Freshman1925 The General1926 The Gold Rush1925 The Haunted Castle1921 The Hollywood Revue of 19291929 The Hunchback of Notre Dame1923 The Iron Horse1924 The Jazz Singer1927 The Kid1921 The Kid Brother1927 The Last Man on Earth1964 The Last Warning1928 The Little Shop of Horrors1960 The Lost World1925 The Magic Cloak1914 The Man Who Laughs1928 The Mark of Zorro1920 The Monster1925 The Navigator1924 The Paleface1922 The Patchwork Girl of Oz1914 The Penalty1920 The Phantom Express1925 The Phantom of the Opera1925 The Shadow Returns1946 The Sheik1921 The Son of the Sheik1926 The Ten Commandments1923 The Terror1963 The Thief of Bagdad1924 The Unholy Three1925 The Unknown1927 The Virginian1929 The Wind1928 The Wishing Ring1914 Way Down East1920

January 1, 2027: the next public domain class

Every film published in 1931 enters the US public domain on January 1, 2027. See what's coming →

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