The dark themes may be reason enough to watch this one, but many of those story elements seem to be there strictly for the shock value.
No explanation is given to Karloff’s “collection”, or his leadership of a Devil cult, and Lugosi’s fear of cats was shoehorned in to simply keep the character from his goal so the story could continue.
The Black Cat
Things you never said before nor even dreamed of!
Rating
2.5 (1)
Release Date
5/7/1934Runtime
65 minsGenres
Overview
After a road accident in Hungary, the American honeymooners Joan and Peter and the enigmatic Dr. Werdegast find refuge in the house of the famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig, who shares a dark past with the doctor.
Status
ReleasedOriginal Language
EnglishBudget
$95,745Revenue
$236,000Homepage
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How It Feels
Read from this film's synopsis, keywords and credits, and used to work out what it sits beside.
A disorienting fever dream of a thriller where a honeymoon gone wrong spirals into nightmare when trapped in a modernist mansion with sinister architects and hidden horrors. The film moves between mundane peril and surreal psychological terror, leaving you unsure what's real.
Mood
UnsettlingDread-soakedParanoidClaustrophobic
Themes
ObsessionRevengeBetrayal
Tone
Bleak
Pacing
Slow-burn
Look
Black and whiteFormalistHigh-contrast
Structure
Single location
Heads up
Graphic violenceSexual violence
Boris Karloff
Hjalmar Poelzig
Bela Lugosi
Dr. Vitus Werdegast
David Manners
Peter Alison
Julie Bishop
Joan Alison
Egon Brecher
The Majordomo
Harry Cording
Thamal
Lucille Lund
Karen
Henry Armetta
The Sergeant
Albert Conti
The Lieutenant
John Carradine
Cult Organist
John George
Cultist (uncredited)
Albert Pollet
Waiter (uncredited)
Reviews
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