Halloween season
simply isn’t Halloween season without a regular dose of golden age Universal
horror (1923-1963). Every day this October, I’ll be giving you a steady IV drip
of it by counting down Psychobabble’s
31 Favorite Universal Horrors!
#8. The Black Cat
(1934- dir. Edgar Ulmer)
Universal horror did not always rely on supernatural horror.
In fact, what may be it’s most horrifying horror of all had no supernatural
elements, though its characters deeply believe in the powers of evil. Karloff
is no longer the conflicted creature of Frankenstein.
He’s all evil as an Alistair Crowley stand-in who matches wits with Bela Lugosi
as a psychiatrist out for revenge. Universal tried to pass The Black Cat off as a Poe adaptation, but it has zilch to do with its
namesake story. Yet, as many have pointed out, Poe would likely have approved
of the film’s perversity and bleakness. Edgar Ulmer’s noir-ish style and the
Art Deco sets give The Black Cat a
personality distinct from any of the other Universal horrors of its era.
However, it is Karloff and Lugosi who make this picture such delicious fun, and
they get to wrap their tongues around some of the most memorable dialogue they
ever spoke: “Supernatural perhaps, boloney perhaps not.” “The phone is dead;
even the phone is dead.” Even when the dialogue isn’t especially clever, the
actors’ relish makes it so, as when Karloff makes the line “He has an intense
and all-consuming horror of cats” sings like a Stradivarius.
