USA, 1934
66m 57s
35mm film, black and white, 1.37:1
mono, English
An American horror film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer.
Plot Summary
A honeymooning couple, Joan and Peter Alison, and a doctor, Vitus Werdegast, find themselves stranded and seek refuge in the imposing home of satanic cult leader Hjalmar Poelzig. In World War I, Poelzig had betrayed Werdegast, leading to him being imprisoned, and Werdegast has been plotting his revenge, hoping that he will soon be reunited with the wife and daughter that Poelzig stole from him. Poelzig plans to sacrifice Joan in a ritual and its up to Werdegast to safe her and survive the bizarre games played by his rival…
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Directed by: Edgar G. Ulmer
Copyright MCMXXIV [1934] by Universal Pictures Corporation, Carl Laemmle, president
A Universal picture. Carl Laemmle presents
Producer: Carl Laemmle *
Associate Producer: E.M. Asher *
Screenplay: Peter Ruric
Story: Edgar G. Ulmer, Peter Ruric
Suggested by the Edgar Allan Poe classic
Additional Dialogue: Shirley Kassel *
Camera: John J. Mescall
Film Editor: Ray Curtiss
Music Director: Heinz Roemheld
Sound Supervisor: Gilbert Kurland *
Costumes: Edgar G. Ulmer *, Vera West *, Ed Ware *
Make Up: Jack P. Pierce *
Special Effects: John P. Fulton *
Special Photography: Jack Cosgrove *
Art Director: Charles D. Hall
Cast
Karloff [real name: Boris Karloff] (Hjalamar Poelzig)
Bela Lugosi (Dr Vitus Verdegast)
David Manners (Peter Alison)
Jacqueline Wells (Joan Alison)
Lucille Lund (Kaaren Verdegast Poelzig )
Egon Brecher (the majordomo)
Harry Cording (Thamal)
Henry Armetta (the sergeant)
Albert Conti (the lieutenant)
John Carradine [organist – uncredited]
Paul Weigel [station master – uncredited]
Anna Duncan [maid – uncredited]
André Cheron [conductor – uncredited]
George Davis [bus driver – uncredited]
Tony Marlow [border patrolman – uncredited]
Rodney Hildebrand [brakeman – uncredited]
Michael Mark, Paul Panzer, Symona Boniface, Frazer Acosta, King Baggot, Louis January, Peggy Terry, Virginia Ainsworth, Duskal Blaine, Harry Walker [cultists – uncredited]
Luis Alberni [train steward – uncredited]
Cast Gallery
Alternative Titles
House of Doom – UK title
The Vanishing Body – re-release title
Links
See also
The Kiss of the Vampire (1962)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Extracts included in
Head (1968)
Universal Horror (1998)
Press
1934
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.1 no.8 (September 1934) p.68
This screen adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s mystery thriller […] is unimpressive. The effects are forced and the setting artificial. There is mystery, which remains a mystery to the end, many of the incidents having, apparently, no rhyme or reason, and the picture culminates in a series of anti-climaxes. Yet the acting is good and there are a number of clever shots; for those who are easily thrilled the film may do. – from a review by R.M.F.
1975
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.42 no.498 (July 1975) p.164
This was the first and best of Universal’s three admirable co-starring duels for Karloff and Lugosi… Very finely written, acted and directed, and marred only by one brief scene of comic relief, which fortunately doesn’t break the hypnotic spell, The Black Cat has every right to be considered as one of the masterpieces of the horror genre. – from a review by Tom Milne
References
Periodicals
- American Cinematographer vol.65 no.10 (October 1984) pp.34-47 – article
- Avant-Scène du Cinéma no.338 (March 1985) pp.20-51 – illustrated script
- Cinema Journal vol.43 (Winter 2004) pp.3-25 – illustrated article (Perennial detour: the cinema of Edgar G. Ulmer and the Experience of Exile by Noah Isenberg)
- Classic Images no.381 (March 2007) pp.20-21 – illustrated article (The Black Cat, or Dracula meets Frankenstein in 1934 by Grey Smith and John Petty)
- Empire no.221 (November 2007) p.201 – illustrated DVD review (At home: DVD reissues: The Black Cat by Simon Crook)
- Film International vol.4 no.1 (2006) p.77 – DVD review (Short Takes: The Bela Lugosi Collection by Michael Tapper)
- Filmfax no.57 (October/November 1996) pp.31-32 – illustrated review (by Bryan Senn)
- Filmfax April/May 1999 pp.39-40 – illustrated article (The Black Cat (1934) by Anthony Slide)
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.1 no.8 (September 1934) p.68 – review (by R.M.F.)
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.42 no.498 (July 1975) p.164 – review (by Tom Milne)
- Positif no.400 (June 1994) pp.122-123 – illustrated article (Numero 400 by Raul Ruiz)
- Sight and Sound vol.10 no.2 (February 2000) p.61 – video review (Video reviews: retail by Geoffrey Macnab)
- Sight and Sound vol.16 no.6 (June 2006) pp.28-31 – illustrated article (Torture garden by Kim Newman)
- Sight and Sound vol.17 no.12 (December 2007) pp.101 – DVD review (Reviews: DVDs: The Black Cat by Kate Stables)
- We Belong Dead no.29 (Autumn 2021) pp.12-13 – illustrated article (The black laboratory of John Llewellyn Probert: The black cat o’nine tales by John Llewellyn Probert)
Newspapers
- Expresso, Cartaz 6 November 1998 – review (by Manuel Cintra Ferreira)
- Expresso, Cartaz 28 November 1998 – review (by Manuel Cintra Ferreira)
Books
- Creature Features Movie Guide Strikes Again by John Stanley pp.43-44 – review, credits
- Hoffman’s Guide to Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991-1992 p.44 – review, credits
- Horror and Science Fiction Films II by Donald C. Willis p.33 – credits
- The Horror Factory by Bruce Dettman and Michael Bedford pp.42-45 – article
- Human Monsters: The Bizarre Psychology of Movie Villains by George E. Turner and Michael H. Price pp.57-62 – article
- Of Gods and Monsters by John T. Soister pp.170-176 – illustrated credits, article
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.36 – review
- Sound Films, 1927-1939: A United States Filmography Volume 1 by Alan G. Fetrow p.52 – credits, review
- Universal Horrors by Michael Brunas, John Brunas and Tom Weaver – credits, review
- Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror by Michael Mallory pp.180-183 – illustrated article
