The Black Cat

There's a lot of good stuff here, including some striking images, heavy atmosphere, and the central Karloff vs. Lugosi face-off. The plotting gets kinda dumb in the third act (a random woman suddenly screams and faints for no reason other than to allow the story to advance), but pretty good overall. The short runtime helps. The actual black cat was pointless.

Some of the most enigmatic and brutal sexual politics I've ever seen in a film. There's a manual of deviance the characters share, yet left unread to the viewer - figures of living but dead men loom dominantly over images of women, yet recoil at their touch. One woman is beaten to death, as the other listens as a prepared sacrifice. There's something about satanism somewhere but the overall dread of violation is far more frightening.

Although it has nothing to do with the Poe story, this is a terrific creepy classic. The atmosphere is high Gothic, thanks to a combination of Ulmer's expressionist direction, the moody music, and the one-two punch of Lugosi & Karloff. Rarely does the film get corny, as the humor is kept to a bare minimum. A surprisingly intense climax, with Satanic rituals and vengeful torture. Seems like some aspects could have been more fleshed out... on the other hand, I appreciate short and sweet.

It didn't take Universal to long to try an cash out on their other movies by throwing Karloff and Lugosi in the same picture, but this movie doesn't have the lasting power of either of the two's other movies. It's got one or two interesting parts, but as a whole it's a real bore.

Boris and Bela's maiden screen teaming is a suitably bizarre bout pitting good guy Bela against devil-worshipper Boris. Surreal sets, Ulmer's atmospheric direction, and Karloff's New Wave hairstyle also help make this a memorable scare gem. The fleeting appearance of a lone black feline supplies the only link with Poe's famous tale of the same name.

(Rewatched: 23/08/20): Lugosi and Karloff are great, but there are script problems which prevent this evocatively filmed, quasi-psychological horror from scaling the extraordinary heights it should. Definitely worth a look for fans of the two horror legends though as they have several noteworthy scenes together, and there is a genuine attempt to reinterpret Poe in the context of post-WW1 trauma.

Karloff and Lugosi--and a digital clock in 1934! And that house as a set! It's so cool. And all by the guy who gave us Detour.

A bizarre--in the best sense--exploration of fear and deviance and a culture of death, and the results these things have on those who practice or are scarred by them. Ulmer's camera highlights the cavernous spaces within the house, a place where, literally and figuratively, the war has never ended. The high ceilings and stone walls make for an imposing atmosphere that contributes to the sense of helplessness felt by the "innocent" American couple.

Great performances from Lugosi and Karloff, and it all looks very cool, but the story itself is pretty weak.

Very cool art deco sets, creepy bad guys, bizarre happenings....what more can you ask for? :-)

Nice performances from both Lugosi and Karloff but the whole thing seems to static and stagey and, once again, Universal saw fit to give a huge bundle of lines to the incredibly stiff and charismatically dead Manners. Why? Still, any movie that features the two greats is worth seeing at least once.

With a script that occasionally ceases to make sense (why does Lugosi feel the need to wait for revenge when he has the gun & the goon?), implausible contrivances & the usual lack of subtlety when it comes to the era, this hasn't aged well at all. Still, it's easy to see why this is so praised. In addition to some striking black & white cinematography, all the "monsters" here are reality-based (kidnappers, satantic cults) which makes all this feel much more disturbing & decades ahead of its time

Undeniably extremely silly, but at the same time it's pretty absurd to consider this was one of the most successful films of 1934. It really does come across like a very goofy Guy Maddin fever dream more than anything else (it doesn't surprise me at all that both he and Raoul Ruiz are huge fans). Or possibly like Dreyer's Vamypr but way more fun to watch. It sort of skirts the line between ironically campy and genuinely intriguing, but at least the final moments are deliciously self-aware.

this was way more ahead of its time. the setting and atmosphere alongside the solid actings by Karloff and Lugosi, made this movie one of the most important horror films of the pre-code age. yet its confusing and somehow irregular screenplay is a big big error.

Arty, morbid and quite gruesome for its time, with Bela as the hero locking horns in a losing battle with Karloff as a villain who meets an unbelievably macabre fate; losing by winning, as it were, when he succeeds in driving Lugosi right around the bend. One of the Universal Studios classics.

I can see the attraction to Lugosi and Karloff but their, and everyone else's, performances leave a lot to be desired. A lot of stilted delivery combined with awkward pacing leave us with a film with some bright moments but which is mostly a chore to get through despite being pretty short.

The paper thin story is a complete bore and nothing unusual. Nice expressionist lighting here and there and fun to see Lugosi and Karloff together, both giving fairly strong performances. But still, not worth the 65 minutes.

The entrances of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff show that they mean business; indeed, they are both excellent: imposing, magnetic and with great chemistry, they shine without overpowering each other. "The Black Cat", the two legends' first collaboration, is very intriguing. The mysterious, menacing atmosphere is enthralling and the themes are not for the fainthearted. On the other hand, the second half is a little weaker and arguably not every element of the build-up gets the desired payoff.

audiovisual 76 acting 85 overall feeling 62 avg 74

Boring and ridiculous nonsense.

This one didn't hold up completely in a rewatch. It's great to see Karloff and Lugosi together. This might be Lugosi most nuanced character (at least from this three Poe adaptations). But the plot is weak, the pacing is off and it's has an overbearing score.

Samba do criolo doido do caraleo, mistura Poe, com Barba Azul e satanismo, mas o know-ho do Ulmer salta compreensivamente aos olhos. HQTVRip no MakingOff.

Universal horror was the first pairing of Karloff and Lugosi. It's carried almost entirely by their charisma. It's pretty fun but feels unbaked (much is left unexplained), and I thought the cat phobia (one of the scenes involving this is accidental comedy, with a cut from the over the top terrified Lugosi to the completely innocuous looking cat) would play into the ending a bit more. The score drags it down considerably--it's almost silent filmy and feels wrong for much of it. Fun, though.

Such a weird, creepy mood horror piece where there is just plenty of room for Lugosi and Karloff's otherworldly presences -- a psychiatrist who's been imprisoned and now seeks revenge against an architect who runs a Satanic cult a home who breathes death, a bunch of women trapped like ghosts in glass cases, a black cat, the evil itself, walking around all the time. So much violence never really shown, but always verbalized and suggested -- Lugosi skinning Karloff seen through shadows.

79.00

High stakes chess games. Cat murder. Dead women suspended in glass. A Satanic mass with John Carradine playing the organ. Karloff being skinned alive as his house explodes around him. This film has everything.

Needs a rewatch since I wasn't paying attention. Overbearing score. Fav scene: guy breaking through the screen with the shadow of a cat imposed upon him.

Pretty bleak stuff for an early 1930s horror movie. Karloff vs Lugosi is all kinds of rad. They even play chess against one another. The rack scene is pretty infamous.

Well shot adventure flick with a horror premise, pairing the great Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Solid and tight plotting at 63 minutes and wonderfully shot, though I felt like the tone and score were a little too playful and undermined the potential atmosphere. It's a pretty dark story at its heart and could have done with leaning into that more.

This shouldn't work: the plot offers about a dozen wildly improbable diversions, the music is annoyingly overpowering, and Boris and Bela can't seem to decide whether they want to act scary or just awkward. But it's hilarious in a campy sort of way, the sets are quite impressive, and it's short enough that you don't feel like the time was wasted.

The story is kind of nonsensical, but it's fun to see Lugosi and Karloff square off.

Dracula and Frankenstein's monster play a game of chess. Let's just say that some of the characters' decisions are quite strange, and that the ending was quite messy. Also, the main female character faints multiple times for some reason; can we please talk about it? the way women used to faint in films every time the scriptwriters didn't know how to progress a scene? a choice. Regardless of all this, the film is still good and an overall easy watch at 65 minutes long.

With all fault (like among this is story Black cat of Po, it isn't), I have a high sympathy for this movie only because the rival between Lugosi and Karloff... They are in some strange way for me here very cooollll....

Truly creepy & unsettling despite the somewhat corny story. The set design & lighting alone make this worth watching, but Lugosi & Karloff are the icing on the cake.

IT'S NOT BORIS KARLOFF!!! It's just KARLOFF like a rock star! Daaaaaamn he's a stud!

great make-up and close up.

Technically the main characters are the young married couple, but the real draw is Lugosi and Karloff acting like an old married couple.

Star Rating: ★★★

Notable for pitting Bela Lugosi against Boris Karloff. Nice pacing, but the script is trite and Vitus (Lugosi) ends up deciding to do something unlikely and against character, just to contrive a grand finish.

#969

The battle between two of horror's all-time legends is undeniably fun. I want it remade with Christopher Walken and...Gary Oldman (Subject to change).

Tren, kompartiman, trafik kazasi, büyük ev, satanist ev sahibi, satanist ayini, roman yzari, evde kalmaya zorlanmak (yeni evli çift balayina çikarken trendeki görevli bir yanlislik oldugunu ve bir beyfendinin kendileriyle yolculuk yapamayacagini sorar. Adam uzun yillar esaret altinda yasamistir. Trenden inerler. Otobüse binerler. Arac kaza yapar. Orada tanidiklari bir eve siginirlar.... )

Takes a modern art deco approach to horror, with that classic hate and vengeance festering underneath the performances between Karloff and Lugosi. The script gets a little dopey but its focus on the psychological warfare between these nemesis is a refreshing and satisfying tale.

78.250

What a dream-team! Dracula and Frankenstein meet! No wonder this was a box office hit. And as visually creepy as it gets. They did a wonderful job with each shot making it both super modern and old school goth, mixing the styles effectively. And what chills as we got our first glance at Karloff. Few men has looked so damn evil! The end was unsatisfactory. With such careful build-up slowly grasping the dark atmosphere they lost focus on making a great finish to match the rest of their creation.

86.000

Interesting effort. Lugosi has a classic line: "Supernatural, perhaps... baloney, perhaps not."

The story isn't that good or even memorable but both Karloff and Lugosi are good and seem to be having a lot of fun and made this movie work as well as it did.

It's Karloff and Lugosi, c'mon!

I wasn't a huge fan. The Black Cat was pretty boring overall and the constant tense score playing in the background just made the action on the screen seem inconsequential.

Low-budget with great Bauhaus sets. The usual good work from Karloff is complemented by a surprisingly restrained performance by the typically hammy Lugosi. Edgar G. Ulmer, the king of the B's, comes through again.

Viewed January 17, 2021.

Karloff's (he looks so incredibly evil!) and Lugosi's acting make the movie really worthwhile. The story isn't too special, but since it's done well, it's no problem.