The Black Cat – USA, 1934

‘Things you never saw before or ever dreamed of!’

The Black Cat – aka The Vanishing Body (reissue) and House of Doom (UK title) – is a 1934 American horror film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer from a screenplay by Peter Ruric (better known as pulp writer “Paul Cain”). It stars Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners and Jacqueline Wells.

The classical music soundtrack, compiled by Heinz Eric Roemheld, is unusual for its time, because there is an almost continuous background score throughout the entire film.

The Black Cat was part of a boom in horror “talkies” following the release of Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931. The film exploited the popularity of Poe and the horror genre, as well as a sudden public interest in psychiatry. It has little to do with Edgar Allan Poe‘s short story ‘The Black Cat‘, though Poe’s name is listed in the credits.

The film – and by extension, the character of Hjalmar Poelzig – draws inspiration from the life of infamous British occultist Aleister Crowley. The name Poelzig was borrowed from architect Hans Poelzig, whom Ulmer claimed to have worked with on the sets for Paul Wegener’s silent film The Golem.

The Black Cat was Universal Pictures’ biggest box office hit of the year.

Two young honeymooners, Peter and Joan Alison, are vacationing in Hungary when they learn that due to a mix up in the reservations, they must share a train compartment with Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi), a psychiatrist. The doctor explains that he is traveling to see an old friend, Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff), an Austrian architect. Werdegast had left his wife to go to war 18 years ago, and has spent the last 15 years in an infamous prison camp.

Later, when the bus the three share crashes and Joan is injured, they take her to Poelzig’s home, built upon the ruins of Fort Marmorus, which Poelzig commanded during the war.

After Werdegast treats Joan’s injury, he accuses Poelzig of betraying the fort to the Russians, resulting in the death of thousands of Hungarians. He also accuses Poelzig of stealing his wife while he was in prison. Poelzig plans to sacrifice Joan Alison in a satanic ritual…

Reviews:

“The Black Cat features Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff at the peak of their formidable screen powers. That would be enough to recommend the film right there, but it has much more to offer. It is unique among the classic Universal horror titles in both subject matter and presentation. For all their iconic monsters, the better-known UniHorrors certainly don’t feature devil worship, sadistic torture (not at the hands of the villain) and a hint of necrophilia…” Eccentric-Cinema.com

Strange, hypnotic, tormented ane eliciting the best performances of their careers from Karloff and Lugosi, The Black Cat is one of the masterpieces of the genre.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“In purely visuals terms, the Bauhaus/art deco sets and costumes make this one of the most striking pictures ever made, regardless of genre. Karloff and Lugosi do some of their best work in quiet roles. It’s quite clear throughout that the horrors being invoked are born in modern warfare. They’re show in architecture, image, and character.” Mike Mayo, Videohound’s Horror Show

” …unfolds like a nightmare that involves necrophilia, ailurophobia (Lugosi collapses at the sight of a cat), drugs, a deadly game of chess, torture, flaying, and a black mass with a human sacrifice. This bizarre, utterly irrational masterpiece, lasting little more than an hour, has images that bury themselves in the mind, and is essentially the creation of the legendary Viennese writer, designer, producer and director Edgar G Ulmer…” Philip French, The Observer, 2007

“A heady mixture of Satanism, sadism and necrophilia… Ulmer’s direction and Charles Hall’s bizarre art direction create a splendidly macabre atmosphere. It’s very much a triumph of mise-en-scène over a complex and silly plot.” Alan Frank, The Horror Film Handbook

” …the classic high point is the game of chess for the life of the heroine. Sumptuously subversive … one of the very best horror movies Universal ever made.” Tony Rayns, Time Out (London)

“The staging is good and the camera devotes a proper amount of attention to shadows and hypnotic eyes. There are also some good workmanlike screams from the various imperilled beauties. But The Black Cat is more foolish than horrible. The story and dialogue pile the agony on too thick to give the audience a reasonable scare.” A.D.S., The New York Times, May 19, 1934

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