10 Horror Movies You'll Probably Never See
6. London After Midnight
In terms of lost movies from iconic filmmakers, they don't get much more devastating than London After Midnight - the 1927 silent vampire film from director Tod Browning (Dracula, Freaks) and the legendary Lon Chaney.
Though the film received a substantial release at the time, the last known copy was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire, along with hundreds of other works from the era. In 2002, TCM commissioned a 45-minute "reconstruction" of London After Midnight using surviving production stills, yet given that 60 years have passed since the MGM fire, it seems overwhelmingly unlikely that another print will ever be unearthed.
For many, the next best thing is the 1935 talkie remake that Browning produced, Mark of the Vampire, which subbed out Chaney - who died in 1930 - for Bela Lugosi.
Despite being wiped off the face of the Earth, London After Midnight has nevertheless influenced subsequent horror films, with the design of Chaney's antagonist inspiring the look of the title character in 2014's The Babadook.
And so, there's still a clear audience for the original movie, even if the prospect of ever seeing it is incredibly dim.