In this episode of More Movies Weekly, Greg and Dave discuss The Black Cat (1934), an American pre-Code horror film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer and starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi in their first on-screen pairing. The Black Cat became Universal Pictures‘ biggest box office hit of the year, and was among the earlier movies with an almost continuous music score. The Black Cat helped to create and popularize the psychological horror subgenre, emphasizing on atmosphere, eerie sounds, the darker side of the human psyche, and emotions like fear and guilt to deliver its scares.
In The Black Cat, writer Peter Alison and his wife Joan are travelling across Hungary on their honeymoon when their path crosses that of Dr Vitus Werdegast, an eminent psychiatrist. He intends visiting an old friend of his, the distinguished Austrian architect Hjalmar Poelzig, at his house built on the ruins of the fort that he commanded during the war. When their bus crashes, the Alisons are taken by Werdegast to Poelzig’s stately residence, where they are offered a bed for the night. From here, things start to take a sinister turn.
They also have a discussion on some recent horror films and how the genre has developed over the years. A range of modern films such as Hereditary (2018), Midsommar (2019), Get Out (2017), Us (2019), The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019) are brought up in the conversation as they discuss the recent improvments to a more subtle and engaging horror film from talented directors such as Robert Eggers, Ari Aster and Jordan Peele.
You can watch the show on YouTube or listen on our audio platforms. All links are below!
The Black Cat and Modern Horror Films – More Movies Weekly – Episode 30
Check out some of these links related to the show:
- The Movie Show – Episode 5 Halloween Special
- Sinister & Spooky: All 12 Halloween Movies Ranked From Worst to Best
- More Movies React To Uncharted Trailer!
- More Movies React To Scream Trailer! (Scream 5)
- Podcaster Murdered On Air! – Clip from The Movie Show Halloween Special
- Halloween Kills and Robin Williams Biopic – More Movies Weekly – Episode 29
- The Top Ten Horror Films of the 21st Century
- Hallowed Horror – Review: Halloween (1978)
- Review: Us (2019)
- Keeping it Reel: Our Top 5 John Carpenter Films
- Dracula: A Retrospective Film Review
- Night of the Living Dead: A Retropsective Film Review
- Nosferatu and German Expressionist Cinema
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