The Black Cat (1934)

I can't imaging how this movie would have been without both Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, probably very very bad. The chemistry between the two is amazing.

This is one of those movies in which the story absolutely doesn't matter. 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. The way he delivers his lines and his eye for details shows that acting was a great passion for him. 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.

7/10

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Fmovies: This isn't the best film ever made - my vote goes to All About Eve - but it by far my favorite. The combination of favorite actors, wonderful music, excellent sets, good cinematography and excellent direction make it the best horror film ever made. Other reviewers are right: it doesn't make a lot of sense. I liken it to having a strange dream that is completely compelling at the time but upon awakening, seems unbelievable.

Many reviewers have described the plot so I'm not going to repeat it here. I want to take on some the interesting aspects that you may not have noticed. Much of the music is arranged for full orchestra that was originally for smaller pieces, piano quintets, concertos, etc. Heinz Reimheld is to be commended for seeing the possibilities in these thinner pieces. I've done my best to acquire original versions of all the works used. I find the chosen music and timing among the best in any film. Think of Karloff grabbing the statue during Shubert's Unfinished. In the recent restoration of The Magacian (1926)for Turner, the orchestration leaned heavily on The Black Cat music.

The coven is full of interesting actors besides John Carridine. Michael Mark (little Maria's father in Frankenstein) helps tie up the heroine. King Baggott was in films since about 1912 and did horror roles in early silents. And then there's John George, the hunchback dwarf who added interest to so many films: Prisoner of Zenda, The Bells, Don Juan, The Unknown, Mark of the Vampire, Bride of Frankenstein, Tower of London and Picture of Dorian Gray among many. You won't remember him because he's usually part of the scenery. But if you look for him he pops up in films like A Streetcar Named Desire, The Killing and Ocean's Eleven.

Some reviewers comment that the set is cheap. Nothing could be further from the truth. In "the phone is dead" scene you can see a fully furnished dining room in the background that went unused in the film. Details like these make the set completely believable.

Some of the scenes were re-shot after Uncle Carl saw the finished product and had a fit. You can read the details in Gregory William Mank's: Karloff and Lugosi, A Haunted Collaboration. I have the 1990 edition. Mank expanded the work in a 2009 edition. I don't know if he added more to what is known of The Black Cat. Used 1990 editions may be had for about $17.00 at Amazon. During the re-shoot a costuming error is obvious. David Manners' jacket shoulder is ripped in some scenes but not in others.

Now for some personal remarks. Early in our marriage my wife and I adopted a puppy. We named him Koolgar so that when people asked about the name I could quote Bela: "Have you ever heard of Koolgar? It is a prison below Amsk....' We live in a modern house with an intercom system. When my wife calls me to dinner she says over the intercom, "Docter Vertigast has arrived." And finally, I've toured the so-called "Black Cat House" in the Hollywood hills. It is the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Ennis-Brown House. It has been used in many other horror and adventure films besides House on Haunted Hill. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer the exterior was used for Angel's hideout. The interiors were used in Rocketeer. Last I heard tours are held one Saturday a month by reservation only.

Now, I'm not a nut case over this film. I've visited many obscure movie sites. And I've tried to identify music used in other films. It's that this f

Travelling across Eastern Europe, Peter and Joan Allison meet Dr Werdegast on the train. When the bus taking them to their destination crashes, the Allisons go with Werdegast and stay with him at the foreboding castle of Hjalmar Poelzig. However the Allisons find themselves in danger when it becomes apparent that Werdegast and Poelzig have a deadly history with each other.

Although it carries the title of his book and a credit for him on the titles, this film has little to do with Poe's work. In fact, in terms of plotting, it owes very little to anybody because, aside from the actual set up, the plot just goes all to hell very quickly. The set up is interesting and I wanted to know more about the history between these two men, then there is the thing about the black cat and Werdegast, not to mention the fact that Poelzig seems to be very interested in reading about satanic cults! However, none of this is really fully explained - this is partly due to the short run time and so much material, but it must also be blamed on the film not having a strong focus other than atmosphere.

The film still works well as the plot crumbles, but it is a little unsatisfying as it leaves so many half stories and unanswered questions. What it does do well though is atmosphere, the direction is cheap but effective and the lighting works wonders in a cheap set! The cast also contribute to this focus on atmosphere (or style) over plot (or substance). Karloff overdoes things, but he overdoes them very well! There is no real need for him to be as ominous as he is at the start but it is what we have come to expect from him. Lugosi may have tarnished his reputation towards the end of his career, but he is good here. It's hard not to laugh when seeing him convulsed with fear over the cat but he plays it well for the most part. Manners and Wells are both OK but are very much the onscreen representation of the audience and simply have to act shocked by everything and run away lots!

Overall this is a good film but only because of the atmosphere and the influence of two legendary stars in the cast. The plot had potential but not enough time is allowed for it to be explored and the focus is more on the atmosphere than the construction.

The Black Cat fmovies. I won't comment about the acting or plot -- there's plenty of that here already. What I'd rather do is call attention to the visuals -- the cinematography, lighting, costuming, and especially the set design.

Normally, horror films take place in ancient settings -- crude medieval fortresses and rustic castles that are dark, cluttered and gloomy. But this one is set in a perversely utopian sci-fi fantasy -- the clean lined, impeccably detailed, generously glazed modernistic and (usually) radiantly lit white-and-silver upper floor interiors of the house.

The lower floor is an expressionistic prison, also clean lined, but still dungeon-like with its windowless walls of exposed board-formed concrete. An elegant steel spiral staircase connects the two, and the angular expressionism reaches its culmination in the chamber used for the black mass.

Karloff's costumes recall Oskar Schemmer's Bauhaus-produced work -- angular, broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted and elegant. Even the haircut of this man of the future in sharp and angular. His character is an engineer and architect and is given the name -- Poelzig -- of a famous expressionist German architect and film set designer of the time, who was a colleague of the director on an earlier film. The elegant futurism in carried down to the detail level, including a digital night-table clock and an abstract chess set. Much of the genius of this movie is that it breaks the horror-movie visual mold, and floods it with light, creating a fascinating tension between plot and setting.

The Black Cat is, quite simply, a horror masterpiece. Almost everything about this film is perfect. I'm not going to go into detail on the story, because if you haven't seen it, you should.

The acting is some of the best you'll ever see in a horror film. Lugosi is at the top of his game. His portrayal of Ygor in Son of Frankenstein may be Lugosi's only better performance. Karloff is wonderfully creepy and mysterious (and has some of the most bizarre hair I've ever seen). Seeing the two work together in The Black Cat is a real pleasure. Although Karloff gets top billing, this is Lugosi's film and he makes the most of it. David Manners and the rest of the cast are more than adequate.

The futuristic house in which the film is set is a departure from the more Gothic, Victorian settings of most of the Universal films. And it works. 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. It is, IMO, the darkest of any of these films. I just wonder how it was viewed by audiences in 1934. Two scenes that immediately come to mind are the black mass performed by Karloff and the torture scene at the end of the film. These scenes are not typical of the Universal classics. They have the power to stick with you long after the movie is over.

But what I really like is the way the story unfolds. At the beginning, you know nothing of what's really going on. Bit by bit, the story unfolds. Many of the plot points are revealed by Lugosi. In fact, if it weren't for Lugosi's monologues, I wonder if anyone would have any idea of what was taking place.

Made in 1934 by the then 30 year old Director Edgar Ulmer and with the stunning set design by Charles D. Hall the film paired Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi for the first time together on the screen. This was to cement the two icons together in a screen partnership that would last for several years.

Set in the modern house of Hjalmar Poelzig (no creepy old castle's here) whose home is one of the most stunning modern houses of our time this is a dark story about Devil worship. Poelzig has a room set aside for his evil black masses and has a penchant for the ladies, but only when they are being put to the devil's business. Into this walks a young couple who due to circumstances out of their control end up having to stay the night at his home. They arrive with Dr.Verdegast (Lugosi) who is returning after a absence of many years to settle some unfinished business with his old friend. This is the set up for an explosive encounter between the two into which the young honeymooning couple are thrown.

Truly a masterpiece it should be viewed over and over again.

Watch out for the finale Black Mass in which Karloff spout's authentic sounding incantation's to raise the Devil, he says Latin phrases "Cave Canium" (Beware of the Dog), "In Vito Veritas" (In Wine there if truth) and Cum Grano Salis (with a grain of salt). I could'nt put it better myself.