Directed by:
Edgar G. UlmerScreenplay:
Peter RuricCinematography:
John J. MescallComposer:
Heinz RoemheldCast:
Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Julie Bishop, Egon Brecher, Harry Cording, Lucille Lund, Henry Armetta, Albert Conti, John Carradine, King Baggot (more)Plots(1)
After a bus crash on a lonely Austrian road, American honeymooners, Joan (Jacqueline Wells) and Peter Alison (David Manners) are forced to spend the night at the house of Poelzig (Boris Karloff), a sinister looking man who is engaged in an intense feud with Dr. Werdegast (Bela Lugosi), whom the couple met on the Orient Express. Held captive in the mausoleum against their will, they soon discover that Poelzig is the high priest at Black Mass and has chosen Joan to be the Devil's bride. The couple is then faced with trying to escape the unspeakable treachery culminating in an unforgettable climax to this horror classic. (Umbrella Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (3)
As a horror film, this film has already lost some of its charm, but there is still the great design of the house in which the story takes place and, above all, the electrifying Karloff-Lugosi duo in the role of hidden enemies. As Caligari has already written, the German Expressionism inspiration is more than obvious, and the film's charm has persisted for many years...
()
Boris and Bela exchanged murderous glances and lines laden with an indeterminate Eastern European accent in this simple variation on Dracula (or Nosferatu). Despite the attempt at humour, including one unusually mature moment of genre self-reflection (a newly married couple parodying their host), The Black Cat is laughable rather than funny and charmingly naïve rather than having any kind of charm. 60%
()
A period horror routine that, while it impresses with the meeting of two acting legends and stands out for what at the time were highly unusual futuristic themes, is flat and uninteresting to the point of shame. If it weren't for Karloff and especially Lugosi, who once again oozes charisma, it wouldn't be worth mentioning. 50%
()