With so many roles under his belt, you'd think that Boris Karloff might have difficulty deciding on his favorite films that he'd been a part of.

But according to Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, written by Stephen Jacobs, the actor was confident in his decision.

"More recently, a film of mine that I liked very much was Grip of the Strangler," said Karloff. "[The film was] made over here by a young British director, Robert Day."

Grip of the Strangler, also called The Haunted Stranger and The Judas Hole, was released in 1958. In addition to Karloff, the film also starred Jean Kent and Elizabeth Allan.

Karloff played James Rankin, a writer investigating a series of murders that he's much more familiar with than he might assume.

Karloff was critical of more recent horror movies. The actor called them "cheap, tawdry and disgusting."

"They used to be classics," said Karloff, "with respectable stories and serious overtones."

That being said, Karloff also praised Day as a director. While The Haunted Strangler didn't fare too well at the box office or amongst audiences, Karloff still took pride in the picture.

The actor said that Day had "a real eye for period detail, and realizes, as I think a lot of other British horror-film makers don't, that ultimately it is the story values which carry a film, not an automatic shock every five minutes."