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Information
- Year
- 1934
- Runtime
- 65 min.
- Director
- Edgar G. Ulmer
- Genres
- Crime, Romance, Adventure, Thriller, Horror
- Rating *
- 7.1
- Votes *
- 6,754
- Checks
- 2,871
- Favs
- 133
- Dislikes
- 41
- Favs/checks
- 4.6% (1:22)
- Favs/dislikes
- 3:1
Top comments
-
Wise Jake
I found it to be a masterpiece, personally. Bizarre, sadistic, and original. The chemistry between the actors is miraculous. 12 years 3 months ago -
Siskoid
The Black Cat, "suggested by" a story by Edgar Alan Poe, has very little to do with that literary classic. The first pairing of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, it toys with the audience's expectations concerning those actors. Is the true villain Lugosi's intense psychologist who drugs the heroine after a car accident? Or is it Karloff's famous architect who keeps beautiful dead women (a Poe trope, at least) in his basement? The film does try to do new things with Gothic, in particular with a slick, modern house as its setting, but a lot of the ideas on show seem unfinished. Characters might not react normally to seeing something shocking, for example, and the more supernatural elements are never explained. And somehow, it's never not watchable, strange to the point of inviting cult status. The music is sometimes a bit heavy-handed, almost silent film-style, and I could do without the final punchline, but as a creepy struggle between two Universal Monsterverse stars, it has real spark. 6 years 6 months ago -
PrinceJax
Surprisingly really good! The atmosphere steadily builds to a chilling creep factor, the chemistry between karloff and lugosi is perfect and the directing is pretty inspired at times - many of the shots and cuts felt modern and clever. It watches like a short story reads (if that makes sense lol). Worth the watch IMO. 7 years ago
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 8 official lists
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This movie ranks #63 in TSZDT's The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films
TSZDT's The 1,000 Greate…
63 -
This movie ranks #85 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See…
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This movie ranks #100 in Time Out's 1000 Films to Change Your Life
Time Out's 1000 Films to…
100 -
This movie ranks #153 in Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema
Jonathan Rosenbaum's Ess…
153 -
This movie ranks #178 in 366 Weird Movies
366 Weird Movies
178 -
This movie ranks #257 in Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time
Empire's The 500 Greates…
257 -
This movie ranks #328 in Eureka!'s The Masters of Cinema Series
Eureka!'s The Masters of…
328 -
This movie ranks #575 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films: 1001-2500
TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…
575