Movies - The Black Cat

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	Movies - The Black Cat

The Black Cat is a 1934 horror film that became Universal Pictures' biggest box office hit of the year. It was the first of eight movies to pair Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The classical music soundtrack is unusual for its time because there is an almost continuous background score throughout the entire film. Although Edgar Allan Poe is credited the film has nothing to do with Poe’s 1843 story.

The plot revolves around the hatred of Werdegast (Lugosi) and Poelzig (Karloff). Poelzig was a general who betrayed his men during the First World War, and Werdegast was a soldier who survived the battle but suffered for fifteen years in a Russian prison. Poelzig lives in a mansion on the site of the battleground, where the two men play strange games for the lives (and the souls?) of a young couple.

The film was directed and screenplay written by Edgar G. Ulmer with a notable score by Heinz Eric Roemheld, much of which is based on classical music. The extreme art deco sets, women's corpses on display, and devil worship rites remain striking today.

The following year, Karloff and Lugosi made The Raven (1935 film)
, their other sublime collaboration.

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