Being the best part of every movie they're in should be in any great actor's criteria. They help masterpieces achieve their greatness and make cinema's most odious stinkers a little easier to endure. No other actor better embodies this attitude than my all-time favorite, Boris Karloff. Not only was the man engaged in some of the classic horror greats, he took on the admittedly many turkeys of his career with dignity and professionalism. Thus, I've assembled my picks for Mr. Karloff's 10 best performances, which aren't all necessarily from his finest films but still showcase his acting chops at their most effective. They're ranked as #1 being what I feel is Karloff's best performance.

1) The Body Snatcher (1945)

If you recall my Top 10 Classic Horror Movies article from 2009, then you know I can never say enough about 1945's The Body Snatcher. This story of a doctor in dire need of cadavers for his medical school is atmospheric gold on its own, but the addition of Karloff as a seemingly omniscient graverobber really puts it over the edge. Karloff's cabman bides his time teasing Henry Daniell's surgeon about the information he holds and how he plans to embroil him in his own extracurricular killings. In a role that could have easily descended into one-dimensional villainy, Karloff brings equal parts gravitas and creepiness, walking away with arguably the finest performance of his career.  

2) The Mummy (1932)

Karloff's other famous Universal monster may have borrowed liberally from 1931's Dracula, but he also provided his similar story with the verve and versatility that Tod Browning could not. Karloff dons ye olde bandages to play Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian mummy resurrected in modern times who sets his sights on the reincarnation (Zita Johann) of a lost love. But whereas Bela's Dracula preyed with wanton bloodlust, Imhotep had his heart in the right place -- romance was all he desired, and he only struck against those who immediately opposed him or stood in his way. Like the Frankenstein monster, Universal's future Mummy pictures would drain this figure of any and all dignity, but for one sterling movie, Boris Karloff brought tragedy to a creature that's since become a genre laughingstock.

3) Frankenstein (1931)

No Karloff compendium is complete with mentioning the character that made him the Robert Englund of the 1930s. But for which outing as Colin Clive's creature is a whole other question. The Bride of Frankenstein is often considered the best of the series and justly admired for his off-the-wall qualities, but as far as Karloff goes, the 1931 original was the better walk in the monster's massive boots. In a wordless performance and adorned in all that make-up, Karloff delivered  viewers a sympathetic behemoth in a time when the horror genre was still finding its footing. The '40s saw fit to make Frankenstein's monster the lumbering brute he's seen as these days, but Karloff deserves kudos for inciting fear and tugging at our heartstrings right from the get-go.

4) The Black Cat (1934)

No holds were barred in Karloff's first of many pairings with fellow Universal icon Bela Lugosi. While Lugosi acted against type as a wronged prisoner of war, Karloff lived it up as the womanizer and Satanist extraordinaire who ruined his life. Projecting so much menace with nary a spoken word, Karloff lets his funky hairdo and sinister smile speak volumes about the evil his character has committed. The more desperate Lugosi becomes to exact revenge, the more detached Karloff's part is played, resulting in one of the eeriest villains in Universal's repertoire.

5) How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)

Okay, so I'm cheating by including a half-hour television special that only features Karloff's voice, but anyone who disputes this holiday treat's impact is gonna get more than a lump of coal from yours truly. Aired just a few years before Karloff died, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was far from the pandering crud so many horror stars of his time got stuck with in their twilight years. This Dr. Seuss story used Karloff's memorable voice to its fullest extent, having you sneering at the Grinch's curmudgeonly ways before getting you to cheer on his redemption during the sugary-sweet third act. Flesh-and-blood actors have a hard time earning empathy in two-hour feature films, but a fraction of the time, Karloff helped create an animated icon still fondly remembered over four decades down the line.

6) Corridors of Blood (1958)

More a historical thriller than an outright fright fest, Corridors of Blood demonstrated Karloff's knack for lending grace to an erstwhile lurid premise. Karloff takes on the role of Thomas Bolton, a surgeon in 1840s England bent on developing an anesthetic gas to relieve his patients of their pain. Unfortunately, Bolton forms a crippling addiction to the stuff, and Karloff's turn has you following his tragic descent each step of the way. He truly is the heart of a very grim film, and the terrible lengths Bolton will go to in the name of a good cause inspire more suspense than your traditional shock and awe campaigns.

7) Targets (1968)

Just one year prior to his passing, Karloff got one last filmic hurrah courtesy of Peter Bogdanovich's Targets. Ostensibly another Roger Corman-backed quickie, the tale of a fading horror star (Karloff, natch) ran parallel to that of a more realistic terror, an unhinged young man (Tim O'Kelly) on a murderous rampage. At once harrowing and darkly humorous, Targets was a great deal more profound than the era's usual drive-in fare. Although Karloff's character was as stock in his era as it is today, he still played it with great respect, making his showdown with one of real life's monsters at the end as chilling as it could be.

8) The Man They Could Not Hang (1939)

As you can probably tell, Karloff spent a good deal of his time playing menacing figures you still cared about, but all that is put to the ultimate test in The Man They Could Not Hang. In this unique spin on the mad scientist grind, Karloff plays a doc sentenced to death for a revolutionary experiment he didn't have time to finish. But once brought back from the grave, Karloff is as evil as they come, taking revenge on those who wronged him by way of pre-Jigsaw deathtraps. It's great when Karloff plays emotionally complex characters, but as The Man They Could Not Hang goes to show you, seeing him as a straight-up bastard is every bit as fulfilling.

9) The Black Room (1935)

Decades before Jean-Claude Van Damme boiled down portraying twins to a cheesy science, Karloff nicely pulled off the act in one of his more underrated outings. Boris not only plays a tyrannical nobleman to a tee but also his kindly brother, whom is prophecized to kill the former. As the maniacal sibling sets about saving his own skin, fate finds a way to bite him in the aft end in an entertaining tale of suspense and betrayal bettered by Karloff's effortless turn as two brothers cut from very different cloths.

10)  The Haunted Strangler (1958)

Definitely one of the kookiest films to bear the Criterion Collection label, The Haunted Strangler is still plenty entertaining in its own right. On the hunt for a serial murderer's true identity, Karloff's own character becomes possessed with homicidal urges and the desire to start a new wave of terror. Sure, Karloff in psycho mode looks like he's trying his best Popeye impression, but it's an eerie image nevertheless, and once again, the man proves to be a pro at getting us to feel sorry for someone responsible for all manner of heinous misdeeds.