The Black Cat

Plot synopsis:
The movie opens with the airplane circling the Earth, A Universal Picture, logo, and the title and credits. At a busy train station, passengers come and go. A train official examines the papers of Peter Alison (David Manners) and his wife, Joan (Julie Bishop as Jacqueline Wells). Satisfied, he closes the door of their compartment and moves on. The Alisons settle into their comfortable accommodations, but are soon interrupted by the conductor, "Excuse me sir, lady, a terrible mistake has occurred. The half sold space in your compartment to a gentleman. It is terrible." The gentleman in question is Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi). He agrees to make himself comfortable in the passenger car, but Peter insists he join them in their compartment. Werdegast stares at Joan, then at Peter, and finally up at a precariously placed bag above the Alisons. He jumps to his feet and catches the bag before it can fall on the couple. The three introduce themselves. Werdegast explains he is going to visit an old friend. The train rolls on to the first stop where it is pouring rain. Werdegast explains to Peter he was incarcerated at a prison in Omsk on Lake Baikal in Siberia. "Many men have gone there. Few have returned. I have returned. After fifteen years, I have returned!"The bus from the Hotel Hungaria in Gombos takes the four to the hotel. Werdegast tells the driver to drop him off at the Poelzig house on the way. Werdegast's servant, Thamal (Harry Cording) sits listening to the driver explain the sights. It is still raining heavily and the driver loses control of the bus. It crashes and the driver is killed. The passengers survive, but Joan is slightly injured. Thamal carries Joan to the Poelzig house, while Werdegast and Peter carry the bags. The Majordomo (Egon Brecher) answers the doorbell and lets the weary travelers into the house. On the way to their rooms, Werdegast tells the servant to call the authorities in Visegrad and report the accident and that the driver was killed. The Majordomo informs Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff as Karloff) by intercom that Werdegast has arrived. Poelzig gets out of bed, puts on a robe and slippers while Werdegast dresses a wound on Joan and gives her a mild sedative, Hyoscine. Poelzig enters the room and Werdegast addresses him, "It has been a long time Hjalmar. The years have been kind to you." Werdegast looks towards Joan and continues, "An accident on the road below. We are all very fortunate to be alive. Mr. and Mrs. Alison are going to Gombos. Mrs. Alison is slightly injured. I took the liberty of bringing them here." Poelzig escorts Werdegast out of the room, leaving Peter to fret over his sleeping wife.Werdegast confronts Poelzig over his treachery during the war. He does admire the construction of the house, "A masterpiece of construction, built upon the ruins of the masterpiece of destruction." Werdegast reminds Poelzig of his time in prison and then asks about his wife and daughter. Werdegast knows about his wife's travels with Poelzig and traced them to this house. He asks point blank, "Where is she?" Before Poelzig can answer, Peter wanders into the room. Poelzig invites Peter to join them in a drink. Peter explains that he is a mystery writer. When Werdegast sees a black cat, he drops his glass and throws a knife at the creature, killing it instantly. Joan wanders into the room in a drug induced trance. She asks Werdegast, "You are frightened, doctor?" Poelzig explains to Joan, "You must be indulgent of Dr. Werdegast's weakness. He is the unfortunate victim of one of the commoner phobias, but in an extreme form. He has an intense and all-consuming horror of cats." Peter kisses his wife then carries Joan back to her room and puts her to bed. Poelzig escorts Peter and Dr. Werdegast to their rooms. They discuss the origins of black cat superstitions. Werdegast and Peter decide to trade rooms so Peter can be closer to his wife. He asks the doctor if his wife will be well enough to travel to Gombos in the morning and is told yes.Poelzig wanders the lab petting his cat. He examines a couple of embalmed women in display cases. He returns to Dr. Werdegast's room and is surprised to find Peter. Werdegast invites Poelzig into his room and closes the door that adjoins Peters room. Again Werdegast asks where his wife is. Poelzig replies, "Very well, Vitas. I shall take you to her." The two walk downstairs to the main room. Next they walk down another set of stairs that served as the passage to the gun turrets when the property was a fort. They walk until they arrive at the old chart room. Poelzig turns on a light that illuminates a woman hanging in a display case. "You see Vitas, I have cared for her tenderly and well. You will find her almost as beautiful as when you last saw her. She died two years after the war." When Werdegast asks how, he is told of pneumonia. Poelzig tells the doctor that his daughter is also dead. Werdegast does not believe Poelzig and pulls a gun on the architect. Before he can pull the trigger, a black cat appears and Werdegast falls back against a glass chart on the wall. Poelzig escorts Werdegast back upstairs and invites him to play another game when the Alisons leave.Poelzig returns to his room and goes back to bed. His wife inquires about the commotion below stairs. He tells Karen (Lucille Lund) to stay in her room the next day. We learn that Karen is Dr. Werdegast's daughter. In his room, Werdegast tells his servant, Thamal, to put away the knife. They must choose their time carefully. The house is undermined with dynamite, so they must be very careful. Poelzig reads his book on Satanism before turning the light out. The passage refers to a ceremony involving a human sacrifice of a woman. The next morning Werdegast looks in on his patient, Joan. She starts to remember the accident, but not the injury or treatment. Poelzig enters the room to check on his guest. Werdegast and Poelzig sit at a chess set and agree to play a game for the freedom of the girl, Joan. Werdegast is invited to witness the ceremony Poelzig plans for the evening, with Joan as the guest of honor in the ritual.Peter and Joan decide they don't like the house or Poelzig and they want to leave immediately. Two policemen arrive at the house. The Lieutenant (Albert Conti) and the Sergeant (Henry Armetta) question the three men about the accident on the road. Peter explains they were on their way to Gombos when the bus crashed. Part of the road gave way due to the rain and the bus tipped over. Peter explains that he needs to get to Visegrad so his wife can contact her parents in Vienna. All his attempts to depart are thwarted by Poelzig: inoperative car, dead telephone to call for a car. Werdegast and Poelzig continue their game of chess and Poelzig wins. Peter gets his wife and tells her they are leaving, even if they have to walk. Peter and Joan walk to the front door where Thamal stands guard. Peter commands Thamal, "Open the door." Thamal grabs Peter by the throat and knocks him to the floor. The Majordomo catches the fainting Joan. Thamal carries Joan back upstairs and tosses her on her bed. Poelzig enters her room and locks the side door, and then exits and locks the main bedroom door. As Thamal picks Peter up, Werdegast warns, "I hope you won't carry this too far, Hjalmar." The two servants take Peter down into the basement and lock him in a room with a revolving wall.Poelzig sits at an organ and plays the Tocatta in D Minor by Bach. Werdegast secrets a key into his hand and enters Joan's locked room upstairs. He assures Joan she has nothing to fear from him. He tells Joan, "Please, Child. Listen to me. We're all in danger. Poelzig is a mad beast. I know. I know, I've seen the proof. He took Karen, my wife, murdered her and murdered my child." He tells her he shall have his revenge and very soon. Werdegast tells Joan that Poelzig is a Satanist, and she will play a part in the ritual this evening. The organ music stops and Werdegast knows he must get back downstairs to Poelzig. In parting, Werdegast tells Joan, "Be brave. It is your only chance." Werdegast walks back downstairs and Poelzig motions for the key. A black cat runs into Joan's room. A woman in a long, black dress, with long blonde hair enters the room. Karen introduces herself as Mrs. Poelzig. Joan makes the connection and asks if she is Karen Werdegast. "Yes, yes how did you know my name?" When Joan explains she knows Karen's father, Karen corrects her, "Oh, no, you are mistaken. My father died in prison. Herr Poelzig married my mother. She died when I was very young." Poelzig is outside Joan's door and overhears the exchange, including Joan's news that her father is alive and in the house looking for her. Poelzig enters the room and picks up the cat. His wife scurries back to her room. The door slams shut and we hear the exchange between husband and disobedient wife. Later we will learn he killed her.It is late evening and Poelzig is outside. It is cloudy and windy. The servants prepare for the guests and the ceremony. Poelzig, dressed in ceremonial black robe, descends the stairs to greet his Satan worshipping accolades. They are dressed formally and stand before a double-X-shaped cross on a dais. Poelzig takes his place behind the cross. Werdegast joins the worshippers, who now don black robes of their own. An organ is played in the background. Poelzig begins chanting in Latin. Joan is dragged from her room by two women and two men. She pleads to be let go. She faints on the altar and slumps over the cross.Down in the basement, Peter comes to and hears the organ music. He finds the light switch and operates the moving wall. Poelzig approaches Joan. A woman in a white dress turns to observe Poelzig and screams and faints. The distraction allows Werdegast and Thamal to rescue Joan from the altar. Peter finds the correct door and escapes his confinement. He sees one of the embalmed women, hanging in the display case. Werdegast leads the way down the spiral staircase, while Thamal carries Joan. As the Majordomo enters the lab, Peter waits to ambush the man. The two struggle, but the Majordomo succeeds in escaping. He pulls his gun and shoots Thamal. Thamal is strong and kills the Majordomo. As Werdegast tries to escort Joan to safety, she tells him of Karen, his daughter. She explains that Karen is Poelzig's wife. Werdegast finds Karen's body under a sheet in the lab. He screams. Joan and Poelzig enter the room. The two men struggle on the floor. With his last bit of strength, Thamal comes to the aid of Werdegast. He first locks the door. We see blood running from his mouth. Next he grabs Poelzig and the two men carry a struggling Poelzig over to a restraint device. They secure the man's wrists high above his head. Werdegast strips the shirt off Poelzig's body. Poelzig hangs helpless on the very device he so often used on his victims. With a glee in his voice, Werdegast tells Poelzig, "Do you know what Im going to do to you now? No? Did you ever see an animal skinned, Hjalmar? Hey, hey, hey. That's what I'm going to do to you now. Flail the skin from your body, slowly, bit by bit." He retrieves a scalpel from the table top. Joan watches with horror as Werdegast taunts the struggling man, "How does it feel to hang on your own embalming rack, Hjalmar?" We see, in shadow, Werdegast skinning Hjalmar Poelzig. Peter is drawn to Joan by her screams. The door is locked and Peter implores his wife to get the key. Thamal has it in his clenched, dead hand. Werdegast helps Joan retrieve it, but Peter doesn't know Werdegast is helping Joan. He orders Werdegast to stand back, then shoots the doctor when he fails to comply. Joan opens the door for her husband. After explaining he only wanted to help, Werdegast order the Alisons to leave quickly. With his strength diminishing, Werdegast approaches the self-destruct panel. "It's the red switch, isn't it Hjalmar? The red switch ignites the dynamite." He throws the power lever and tells Poelzig that in five minutes all will be destroyed. Joan and Peter exit the house and explosions are heard. They get a safe distance away from the house as it is destroyed. They stop a passing car on the road.Safely aboard the train, the conductor punches their tickets from Visegrad to Budapest and returns their passport. Peter picks up a newspaper and sees a review of his novel, Triple Murder. "In Triple Murder, Mr. Alison's latest mystery thriller, he fulfills the promise shown by the Sixty-ninth Crime in the Purple Spot. We feel, however, that Mr. Alison has in a sense overstepped the bounds of the matter of credibility. These things could never, by the furtherest stretch of the imagination, actually happen. We could wish that Mr. Alison would confine himself to the possible, instead of letting his melodramatic imagination run away with him." We close with Peter and Joan looking at each other in amusement and the cast credits.

Tags: murder, cult, atmospheric, insanity, psychedelic, revenge

Review:
Ulmer, marks the first scream, or should I say, screen teaming of Boris ("Frankenstein") Karloff, billed in the credits only as KARLOFF, and Bela ("Dracula") Lugosi.Suggested on the immortal story by Edgar Allan Poe, the plot, compliments of screenwriter Paul Ruric, set in Hungary, gets right down to business with Doctor Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi) returning home by train after serving 15 long years in a military prison.
Karloff, dressed in black garments with a feline haircut, is very creepy, especially using gestures with his evil eyes (which do everything but glow in the dark!); Lugosi, in a rare sympathetic role, is actually the stronger character, giving one of his best performances in his career, next to "Dracula" (1931).
A big plus in this production is the underscoring montage of classical compositions by various composers, lavish sets and the teaming of two horror greats, Karloff and Lugosi.Aside from Fright Nights on commercial television back in the 1960s and 70s, "The Black Cat" formerly played on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s, and later on American Movie Classics from 2000 to 2001.
Other commentaries will fill you in on the nearly-incomprehensible plot (if that's possible) but, as has been pointed out, you don't watch a film like this for plot.Despite the story inconsistencies and implausibilities, everything here just seems to "jell:" the fabulous sets, elegant photography, evocative music (drawing heavily from Schubert, among others) and the downright creepy atmosphere woven from the themes of jealousy, lust, revenge, murder, sadism.....all sounds delightfully sick, doesn't it?
THE BLACK CAT possesses a lyrical, rhythmic quality, upon which we drift through a sleek, ultra-modern nightmare world.One of the reasons it all works is its ability to pull us into a sort of parallel universe which, though it looks more or less like reality as we know it, glides along on a barely-concealed undercurrent - an "atmosphere of death," as Lugosi's character puts it - where things happen that "could never actually happen" (an inside reference for those who know the film).There are some wonderful set-pieces, such as Karloff's tour through a most unusual basement mausoleum/museum memorializing all of his dearly departed earlier "wives." And of course, Boris and Bela deliver, with their restrained but full-bodied performances.
The opening credits claim the film was "suggested by" the Edgar Alan Poe story, but other than the title there is absolutely no connection.Lugosi gets to play a good guy for a change and he handles it very well.
All glass and steel, the house consists of sharp angles that cast long, expressionistic shadows, which gives the film its extremely creepy atmosphere.Werdegast (Lugosi) meets the Allisons on a train and later shares a cab with them.
But the larger themes -- revenge, lust and innocents caught in the grip of forces beyond their sheltered experience -- have been central themes in horror tales for centuries.Karloff is a delight as usual, and there are many fine details to his performance -- including a brief but outrageously lustful stare at the half-dressed young wife of the innocent couple and the strangely gentle way his brutal character handles a cat.
Thanks to some terrific set design, lighting, and cinematography, the modern house exudes as much atmosphere as any old castle, dungeon, tower, etc.The Black Cat contains some of the most unsettling scenes of any classic Universal horror film.
The story is totally absurd and very simple (The black cat storyline has absolutely nothing to do with the movie and serves no purpose at all) but yet that is what maybe makes this movie extremely fun and easy to watch.Watching this movie made me realize something; Bela Lugosi actually was a very good actor that was ahead of his time.
Yes I think I can now be considered one of his fans.Another great thing were the sets that were wonderful and even now 70 years later they still look very modern.Don't expect a movie with ghouls and monsters, it rather is more fun to watch then it is scary and the Lugosi/Karloff combination is what makes this movie a real classic.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff playing chess and fighting it out over old wounds and new ones.The entire supporting cast is splendid as is the direction Edgar G.
If you know me you would realize what a ringing endorsement that truly is.I think you'll be refreshingly surprised at Lugosi playing the sympathetic character, even though it's not entirely clear early on in the movie.One of the scenes that has always stood out in my mind since first watching this film is the one near the end when Lugosi ties up Karloff.
For me, Universal's 1934 film, "The Black Cat," starring big-screen titans Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, totally personifies what an effective horror movie is supposed to be.
Lugosi stars as Dr. Vitus Werdegast, who travels to the home of an well-know acquaintance, Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff), who has built his art-deco dwelling on top of what was a particularly gory battleground.
This early horror film concerns about Dr. Vitus(Bela Lugosi) and a couple have an accident.They find shelter into the impressive mansion of architect Poelzig(Boris Karloff).He built it over the corpses of thousands dead in a horrible war whose commander was Poelzig.Karloff followed his success in Frankestein with the title role in this low budget terror classic about the leader of a band of devil-worshiper who wants to steal a gorgeous young woman(Jacqueline Welles:Julie Bishop) from her new husband(David Manners:The mummy).The movie provides genuine chills,suspense, mystery and is rich and dark although sometimes ludicrous.
Ulmer and results to be one of the most unusual horror film ever made and certainly one of the most unsettling.Suggested by the immortal Edgar Allan Poe novel of the same title which was filmed like as one episode into the ¨Tales of terror¨by Roger Corman and with Vincent Price and Peter Lorre,however here bears absolutely no resemblance.This gem features sets and production design with standards usually found in movies by the major studios.The rousing mansion,lounges, rooms get an art nouveau and modernism style,besides the satanic mass is developed in a surrealistic scenario.Art director achieves some remarkable tableaux that could be removed from the movie and hung in art galleries alongside the work of famous painters.A minor classic with outstanding performance by Karloff and Lugosi in their first of many pairing.The picture is today deservedly considered a cult favorite thanks the distinguished teaming..
And yet, such is the tense discomfort of the atmosphere it succeeds in establishing so quickly, the pace as it races through its 66 minute running time, and the strangeness of the various plot twists (which, upon consideration, make no sense at all) that the viewer is just kind of swept up into the flow of events much like the Honeymooning couple who have the misfortune to stumble into the dark and bitter rivalry of the two horror icons.The film kicks off on a train to Hungary where a mix up forces honeymooning couple Peter and Joan Allison (David Manners and Jacqueline Wells) to share their carriage with a certain doctor Vitus Werdegast (Lugosi) who informs them that he is an established psychiatrist returning home to visit an "old friend".
After all disembarking at the same station the trio are involved in a coach accident and Werdegast takes the couple to the nearby house of his "old friend", an esteemed architect by the name of Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff) whose house, of his own design, is a futuristic mansion-cum-labyrinthine mausoleum in which Peter and Joan become unwitting prisoners as the two horror icons go head to head in their obsessive and consuming game of death.From here plot twists abound as all manner of secrets and past transgressions of the twisted mindsets of Werdegast and Hjalmar are revealed leaving the viewer asking "what the?" for the remainder of the film.
But there's something about the pace, the short running-time, the performances of Karloff and Lugosi, and the genuinely macabre vibe of the film which redeems it and makes it deserving of repeat viewings as long as you set out to experience it rather than understand it..
Hires Karloff AND Lugosi, buttresses them with a couple pug-ugly manservants and a truly goofy romantic-interest duo, and puts them to work: running through this outrageous modernist mansion built on a WWI bunker (they have electric clocks!), performing satanic rites and playing the organ, murdering (and stuffing) wives and daughters, settling ownership of virgins with a nice game of chess, fainting a lot, flaying each other alive, listening to stupid ass cops with feathers argue over whose home town is prettier, plus a line that EVERYONE should have implanted in their brains: "Supernatural - perhaps.
I've seen 'The Black Cat' several times over the years and I always remember it as being a very odd movie, and quite different in feel from the other Universal horror classics of the 1930s.
This was the first movie to team Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, both riding high from Universal's 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein' respectively at the time.
Add to that a very striking set, which has to be seen to be believed, a Satanic mass led by the organ playing of John Carradine, a malevolent black cat who absolutely petrifies Lugosi, and a climax involving someone being skinned alive, and you've got yourself one unforgettable piece of creepy entertainment!
The plot owes very little to the short story from Edgar Allan Poe but that slight reference is of no importance.For once, Bela Lugosi is cast against type as he is a more sympathetic character - even though he is still a bit unhinged!Boris Karloff is pure evil as the leader of his own group of Satanic followers.
Edgar Ulmer created one of the most chilling horror/fantasy odysseys in film history.Karloff and Lugosi are brilliant in their portrayals of the antagonists Hjamar Poelzig and Vitis Werdegast.
"The Black Cat" is a striking, atmospheric horror classic, marking the first of the teamings of genre icons Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
The music, though not original to the film, is used to brilliant effect throughout.This is the second of the three Universal horror films Bela Lugosi did that were inspired by Edgar Allan Poe stories.
American honeymooners in Hungary are trapped in the home of a Satan- worshiping priest (Boris Karloff) when the bride (Julie Bishop) is taken there for medical help following a road accident.Universal really made a great contribution to horror with this one, putting their actors David Manners, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff all in the same film, Karloff and Lugosi together for the first time.
While they may have objected to the level of horror in the picture, it adds to the mystery and darkness, something that has the picture standing out.Crediting Edgar Allan Poe, or even calling this film "The Black Cat" is a great mystery to me.
Not only does the plot bear no resemblance to the Poe story, but the film has pretty much nothing to do with black cats.Director Edgar Georg Ulmer brought his background in German expressionism to Universal, and we are blessed because of it.
Honeymooning mystery novelist David Manners (as Peter Alison) and pretty wife Julie Bishop (as Joan) meet feline-phobic psychiatrist Bela Lugosi (as Vitus Werdegast) on a train and join him at the art deco castle of devil-worshiping architect Boris Karloff (as Hjalmar Poelzig) for fun and games.
The first, and arguably in terms of their dual performances, best teaming of Horror legends Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi is this almost bizarre Edgar G.
Based around a story by Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat sees a young couple, Peter & Joan Allison (David Manners & Julie Bishop), who while on their honeymoon in Budapest meet the mysterious scientist Dr. Vitus Verdegast (Lugosi).
Whenever someone talks about Universal classic horror films, two names always tend to show up in the course of the conversation: Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, two very different yet still similar persons who in 1931 shared the privilege of becoming the first monsters of the sound era in two enormously influential films.
However, while Karloff makes a terrific job as Poelzig, the highlight of the film is certainly Bela Lugosi, who in this movie proves that he was truly a remarkable actor and delivers what probably is the best performance of his career.
As the young couple, David Manners (Lugosi's costar in "Dracula") and Julie Bishop are nothing surprising, but still are very effective in their performances considering that the spotlight is not on them.If there is a flaw in this marvelous horror film, is definitely the fact that it has a very short runtime (barely 66 minutes), and this forces a very fast pace that in turn makes a bit difficult to expand on the movie's plot.
The best part of The Black Cat is the fact that two of the greatest actors in horror film history are pitted against each other in this ageless tale of good vs evil which is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's short story.
"The Black Cat" (supposedly based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe) was the first and arguably the best of the seven Karloff/Lugosi collaborations.
The gleaming black and silver art deco sets, the extra embellishments (note the presence of white lillies in many of the scenes)the Oriental statuary that decorates Karloff's study (and used in many key horror sequences over the years, especially in "Dracula's Daughter")and equally important the brilliant musical score, composed of German and Russian greats, helps create a profound sense of loss and doom.
It stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in what can easily be called their prime, or top form in a film that is(albeit very loosely) based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe!
Universal studio's The Black Cat from 1934, starred Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff for the first time together, a run they would share a total of eight times.
Verdegast (Lugosi) is close to his destination: the home of his nemesis Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff) and decides to bring the young couple with him for refuge for over night - from there the movie becomes a very creepy occult horror-thriller.I have to say that Karloff's costuming and look in this film is simply awesome and very wicked!
One look at Bishop and you know Karloff's got something in mind for her that ain't good.The story of The Black Cat gets a bit confused in the telling, but the atmosphere of evil in Karloff's castle can't be surpassed, another triumph for the Gothic horror masters at Universal Studios..
From the beautiful, futuristic looking house, the dark, brooding atmosphere and two chilling performances from two master horror actors, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, this movie works very well.It's also unfortunate that Ulmer decided for style over substance because the story had much potential that is wasted due to the short running time of only an hour.
Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi spar gamely in "The Black Cat," a loose take on the Edgar Allan Poe short story.
There, cat-phobic Verdegast learns his wife's fate, grieves for his lost daughter, and must play a game of chess for Allison's life.Bela Lugosi is without a doubt my favorite horror actor of all time.i love his roles.he was the no doubt one of the greatest actors ever and Boriss Karloff who terrible in Frankenstein i guess was very good in this movie.a little bit strange movie but i recommend it..
But, I liked the movie and enjoyed watching even though it was a little rushed and at only an hour long one of the shortest feature length pictures I know of.This is the first on-screen pairing of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff and is set in Hungary.
Edgar Ulmer had a good knack for these type of films and having Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff starring doesn't hurt either!
Don't get me wrong; THE RAVEN is a favorite of mine to this day, but I've come to discover that THE BLACK CAT is - in Dr. Werdegast's own words - "a masterpiece of construction".It's Karloff and Lugosi's first film as a team and maybe the best.
David Manners, as usual, doesn't create much of an impression; but I feel that this is his best work in a Universal Horror film just the same.THE BLACK CAT has nothing to do with Poe, but it doesn't matter in the least.
As Joan recuperates, Poelzig plans to use his pretty guest in a Satanic ritual, while Werdegast plots revenge against the man he holds responsible for the death of his wife and child.Karloff and Lugosi might sound like the perfect pairing for any Universal horror fan, but for me the real star of this rather dreary potboiler is Poelzig's house, which is far more interesting than any of the dialogue heavy action that takes place within.
The cold and clinical look of Karloff's home feels like an early sci-fi set, or at least, what would be perceived as such in the 30's.All that aside, the only reason to watch The Black Cat is Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.
Black Cat, The (1934)*** 1/2 (out of 4) Legendary first team up by Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi directed by Edgar G.
Ulmer along with Universal Studios put together on the same screen two of the biggest horror legends of all time for the first time, Bela Lugosi (Dracula) and Boris Karloff (Frnakenstein).
I was a bit disappointed with this film, considering that I expected more from a movie that has like major stars the great Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and that is in the book "1001 movies to see before you die".
"The Black Cat" was the second of three horror movies released by Universal in the 1930s that took their titles from Edgar Allan Poe stories.
"The Black Cat" stars Bela Lugosi AND Boris Karloff - This fact alone should be enough to make this a Must-see for every Horror fan.
Like many, if not all, of the Universal horror films, The Black Cat stumbles at the end..