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• Black Cat, Who's That?

  • William Wren
  • 10/25/12

  I watched this film on T.V. last night. It is mercifully short and dreadfully overacted; but then what should one expect from Boris Karloff and Bela Legosi. A bizarre, quirky tale which is badly written, badly directed and badly acted. The only thing of interest was the design of the house lived in by Karloff's character, who is an architect and some of the odd camera angles. Scary it's not, horror it's not - perhaps it's comedy.

• Poe no, interesting yes.

  • Oliver Cutshaw
  • 10/24/12

  One of the few movies to deal with incest, necrophilia, devil worship, post-traumatic syndrome, revenge, torture, lost love, and honeymoons. Stylish, strange, and fascinating, I have always enjoyed this film and always found it to be really odd at the same time. Both Lugosi and Karloff are excellent. And for one of the few times in their many team-ups, Lugosi is heroic, well sort of, and Karloff is the villain. Wonderful sets and direction. From commentary, it was even more lurid and bizarre but after the first preview it was edited to fit the Hayes code and perhaps to meet the standards of 1930's good taste. Unfortunately, has nothing to do really with Edgar A. Poe or his classic short story, except there is a cat in the film. Very briefly, but there is a cat. Lot's of fun. Any classic horror fan should take a look.

• Unique Antique

  • Graham Thomas
  • 8/29/12

  Bizarre, weird, macabre, stylized, and short. If you're a horror fan and haven't seen it give it a try. You have to say it's unique.

• One of the Best from Universal's Golden Age

  • Dan Grissom
  • 8/11/12

  The first pairing of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi gives them equal screen time and they both are in top form. This movie is so different than other up to its time and even today it's pretty unique. Both main characters are very complex and both actors do a great job portraying them. If you have not seen this movie take the time to do so as it's one of the Universal Horror series best! Four Stars!

• The Black Cat

  • Dashiell Barnes
  • 1/23/12

  Lugosi & Karloff lend their eerie pressence's for this creepy film. The sets are a combination of art- deco & expressionist, which adds a feeling of menace to the scenes along with the score. The final confrontation between Lugosi & Karloff is disturbing, as is the story which includes satanist & necrophilia. A great horror film. I give it a 4/5.

• The Black Cat

  • Mark Sutch
  • 4/12/11

  ***1/2

• Art Nouveau Satanism

  • brent
  • 9/25/09

  Incredibly stylish thriller with Boris Karloff as a Satanist/disgraced Army general/Madman & Bela Lugosi (in a good guy role for once) as his former victim, returned to Karloff's lair for revenge. The first Holywood movie to directly show Satan worship, with sleek 1930's art nouveau sets and Boris at his most charming and menacing. (He keeps women's corpses in aquariums in the basement)! Easily the most effective thing cult poverty row director Edgar G. Ulmer(Detour, Bluebeard)ever did.

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