Between 1934 and 1967 the motion picture industry was subject to “The Motion Picture Production Code” or “The Hays Code” whose purpose was to set guidelines for motion pictures prohibiting profanity, nudity, graphic or realistic violence, sexual persuasions, rape, and other “sins”. Prior to that filmmakers had carte blanche to present whatever they wanted in films. The code was put into place in 1930 but wasn’t enforced until 1934. Films produced after the advent of “talkies” but before the enforcement of the code are referred to as pre-code films. Many of these films, particularly those of the horror genre, included so called “objectionable content”.
The following is a list of films that fall into the pre-code category, and are usually considered horror and or science fiction in nature.
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42nd Street |
1933 |
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6 hours to Live |
1932 |
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9th Guest, The |
1934 |
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All Quiet on the Western Front |
1930 |
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Bat Whispers, The |
1930 |
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Beast of Borneo, The |
1934 |
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Beauty and the Beast (short) |
1934 |
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Behind the Mask |
1932 |
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Betty Boop- The Robot (short) |
1932 |
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Betty Boop's Museum (short) |
1932 |
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Bimbo's Initiation (short) |
1931 |
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Black Cat, The |
1934 |
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Black Moon |
1934 |
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Blood of a Poet, The |
1932 |
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Boo! (short) |
1932 |
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Bosko's Mechanical Man (short) |
1933 |
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Cat Creeps, The (lost) |
1930 |
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Cat's Out, The (short |
1931 |
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Chandu the Magician |
1932 |
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Chloe, Love Is Calling You |
1934 |
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Crime Without Passion |
1934 |
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Cuckoo Murder Case (short) |
1930 |
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Death Takes a Holiday |
1934 |
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Deluge |
1933 |
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Der Andere |
1930 |
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Devil's Cabaret, The |
1930 |
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Doctor X |
1932 |
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
1931 |
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Dracula |
1931 |
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Drácula (Spanish version) |
1931 |
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Drums o' Voodoo |
1934 |
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Drums of Jeopardy, The |
1931 |
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Frankenstein |
1931 |
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Freaks |
1932 |
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Ghost Train, The |
1931 |
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Ghost Walks, The |
1934 |
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Ghoul, The |
1933 |
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Gold Diggers of 1933 |
1933 |
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Golden Age, The |
1930 |
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Gorilla, The |
1930 |
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Great Expectations |
1934 |
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Headless Horseman, The |
1934 |
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House of Mystery, The |
1934 |
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Invisible Man, The |
1933 |
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Island of Lost Souls |
1932 |
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It Happened One Night |
1934 |
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King Kong |
1933 |
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Kongo |
1932 |
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La Llorona |
1933 |
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Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, The |
1930 |
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Liebe, Tod und Teufel |
1934 |
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Living Dead, The |
1932 |
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M |
1931 |
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Mad Doctor, The |
1933 |
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Mad Genius, The |
1931 |
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Man Who Knew Too Much, The |
1934 |
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Maniac |
1934 |
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Mascot, The (short) |
1933 |
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Mask of Fu Manchu, The |
1932 |
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Medium, The |
1934 |
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Mickey's Mechanical Man (short) |
1933 |
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Minnie the Moocher (short) |
1932 |
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Monkey's Paw, The |
1933 |
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Monster Walks, The |
1932 |
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Most Dangerous Game, The |
1932 |
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Mummy, The |
1932 |
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Murder by the Clock |
1931 |
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Murders in the Rue Morgue |
1932 |
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Murders in the Zoo |
1933 |
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Mysterious Mose (short) |
1930 |
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Mysterious Mr. Wong, The |
1934 |
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Mystery at the Villa Rose |
1930 |
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Mystery of Mr. X, The |
1934 |
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Mystery of the Wax Museum |
1933 |
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Night of Terror |
1933 |
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Old Dark House, The |
1932 |
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Outward Bound |
1930 |
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Peanut Vendor, The (short) |
1933 |
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Phantom Fiend, The |
1932 |
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Phantom of the Convent, The |
1934 |
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Phantom, The |
1931 |
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Private Life of Henry VIII, The |
1933 |
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Rasputin and the Empress |
1932 |
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Rawhide Terror, The |
1934 |
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Return of Chandu, The |
1934 |
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Return of Dr. Fu Manchu, The |
1930 |
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Scotland Yard Mystery, The |
1934 |
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Secret of the Blue Room |
1933 |
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Secret of the Loch, The |
1934 |
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Shiver Me Timbers! (short) |
1934 |
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Snow-White (short) |
1933 |
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Son of Kong |
1933 |
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Sphinx, The |
1933 |
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Spider, The |
1931 |
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Spooks (short) |
1931 |
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Supernatural |
1933 |
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Svengali |
1931 |
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Swing You Sinners! (short) |
1930 |
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Techno-Cracked (short) |
1933 |
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Tell-Tale-Heart, The |
1934 |
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Testament of Dr. Mabuse, The |
1933 |
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Thirteen Women |
1932 |
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Three's a Crowd |
1932 |
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Two Monks |
1934 |
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Vampire Bat, The |
1933 |
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Vampyr |
1932 |
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White Zombie |
1932 |
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Wot a Night (short) |
1931 |