Your Favorite Movies Under 90 Minutes?

The Killing / Stanley Kubrick (1956). Breakthrough film. A noir masterpiece. 85 minutes.

Run Lola Run / Tom Tykwer (1998). 81 minutes.

This Is Spinal Tap / Rob Reiner (1984) 82 minutes.

Dumbo / Multiple Credited Directors (1941) 64 minutes

High Noon / Fred Zinnemann (1952) 85 minutes

Quite a number run 88 or 89 minutes which, to me, is really no difference except in a technical sense.

The Wicker Man (1973)
Welcome To The Dollhouse (1995)
Rashomon (1950)
Stand By Me (1986)
Sexy Beast (2000)

90 mins. or less is probably my favorite length for a movie. Perhaps I have a short attention span or something, but I can’t stand movies that drag things out to 3+ hours, especially as the story doesn’t usually warrant it. (Also a reason for my apathy towards most modern TV shows.)

I have to second many of those politicidal , mikef6 , and Archelaus have already mentioned, especially the Universal horrors (particularly Dracula, Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Black Cat, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Dracula’s Daughter, all of which clock in at under 90 mins.). I also have to mention that most Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, Fields, and Paramount Marx Bros. movies are under 90 mins. long—and, perhaps needless to say, highly recommended.

Other than those, here are a few that come to mind:

Bulldog Drummond (1929, 90 mins.)

Vampyr (1932, 73 mins.)

Trouble in Paradise (1932, 83 mins.)

Jewel Robbery (1932, 70 mins.)

The Phantom of Crestwood (1932, 76 mins.)

The Night Club Lady (1932, 66 mins.)

One Way Passage (1932, 68 mins.)

The Kennel Murder Case (1933, 73 mins.)

Design for Living (1933, 91 mins.—do we let this slide?)

Counsellor at Law (1933, 82 mins.)

The Thin Man (1934, 91 mins.—see question above)

Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934, 83 mins.)

Twentieth Century (1934, 91 mins.)

The 39 Steps (1935, 87 mins.)

Remember Last Night? (1935, 81 mins.)

Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935, 73 mins.)

Charlie Chan in Paris (1935, 71 mins.)

Mad Love (1935, 70 mins.)

Mark of the Vampire (1935, 61 mins.)

Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936, 68 mins.)

The Devil-Doll (1936, 79 mins.)

The Great Garrick (1937, 89 mins.)

Young and Innocent (1937, 80 mins.)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937, 83 mins.)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939, 80 mins.)

Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939, 74 mins.)

Pinocchio (1940, 88 mins.)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941, 90 mins.)

The Palm Beach Story (1942, 87 mins.)

Laura (1944, 85 mins.)

The Scarlet Claw (1944, 74 mins.)

The Curse of the Cat People (1944, 70 mins.)

The Body Snatcher (1945, 77 mins.)

Detour (1945, 69 mins.)

The House of Fear (1945, 69 mins.)

Road to Utopia (1945, 90 mins.)

So Long at the Fair (1950, 86 mins.)

Father Brown (1954, 91 mins.)

Night of the Demon (1957, 83 mins.)

The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958, 90 mins.)

House on Haunted Hill (1959, 75 mins.)

The Brides of Dracula (1960, 85 mins.)

Cash on Demand (1961, 80 mins.)

A Hard Day’s Night (1964, 87 mins.)


I’m sure I’ve forgotten a lot, but, well, this list is long as is.

By the way, this IMDb list is a pretty good guide to 90-mins.-or-less movies.

Evil Dead 2

Horror Of Dracula(80 mins.)

Taken from my not necessarily completely up to date IMDb ratings:

10/10
Goodbye Dragon Inn – 82m
Vivre sa Vie – 85m

9/10
5cm per second – 63m
Ride Lonesome – 73m
Pickpocket – 75m
Antiporno – 76m
Daisies – 76m
A Snake of June – 77m
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders – 77m
Killing – 80m
The Red Turtle – 80m
Persona – 83m
Laura – 84m
A Geisha – 85m
Lancelot du Lac – 85m
Millennium Actress – 87m
Hausu – 88m
Paths of Glory – 88m
Street of Shame – 88m
Eraserhead – 89m
The Virgin Spring – 89m