The Black Cat

An old Universal horror flick. The Black Cat is quite famous for having Karloff and Lugosi pitted against each other, the fact that the film was based on a short story by Edgar Allen Poe may also raise people's expectations, but the result was way too dialogue-driven for my taste. Even at 65 minutes it felt sluggish.

After suffering an accident on the road, a newly married couple find themselves in the mysterious house of Poelzig, an eerie man with some dark secrets. Poelzig's intentions are less than amiable, but he puts on a clever facade. The couple is unaware that they're being held captive, until it's already too late.

The camera work is static and the first half is just way too dialogue-driven. There's just endless conversation that stands in the way of building up a moody atmosphere. The second half is ever so slightly better, but by then the film had already lost me. Wasn't too impressed by the performances either and the horror elements are miniscule. This felt more like a bad stage play to me.