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.
"Things you never said before nor even dreamed of!"
Top Billed Cast
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
Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews
J John ChardVerified TMDB Critic
2018-10-01
Weird and hypnotic creeper.
The first, and arguably in terms of their dual performances, best teaming of Horror legends Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi is this almost bizarre Edgar G. Ulmer directed piece. Based around a story by Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat sees a young couple, Peter & Joan Allison (David Manners & Julie Bishop), who while on their honeymoon in Budapest meet the mysterious scientist Dr. Vitus Verdegast (Lugosi). When the bus taking them to the hotel crashes and Joan is injured, the trio wind up at the home of Verdegast's old acquaintance Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff). Where th...
C CinemaSerfVerified TMDB Critic
2022-06-13
This great pairing of Messrs. Karloff and Lugosi make for a fun, if not particularly scary, horror movie from Universal. An honeymoon couple are travelling through Hungary when their bus is involved in an accident near the castle of "Hjalmar Poelzig" (Karloff). Together with fellow traveller "Vitus Werdegast" (a slightly theatrical Lugosi) they seek refuge and find themselves caught up in a tale of retribution between the two men that results in a game of chess not seen since the "Seventh Seal". It doesn't hang about - only just over an hour of creepily shot, tautly directed drama that makes f...
