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Retrospective: The Black Cat (1941)

01 Saturday Aug 2020

Posted by in retrospective, Universal Horror

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The film derives its title from a classic Edgar Allan Poe short story, but its usage should be held lightly as it’s a far cry from its inspiration, only vaguely connected via said black cat who mysteriously arrives when a dead body is found.

Having traversed through the early Universal horror films and into the 1940s, it becomes apparent the strikingly familiar storyline that is at its helm, primarily based on The Old Dark House, which had been a winning formula for the giant film production house. 

The trouble is, this feels all too stale and tired in comparison to its predecessors that I felt beyond caring for the characters plight and you just long for Tim Curry to prop up and “camp” his way through a whodunnit spiel, just to spice things up a bit.

Instead we’re faced with a couple of bungling sleuths in the guise of antique dealers, there to praise the value of some of the elderly Henrietta Winslow’s estate. Henrietta is aware that she is to bequeath her fortune to a greedy family, so she writes up a will against their knowledge with a caveat stating that they will not be able to lay their hands on her money, until her housekeeper Abigail and her many cats have died.

Cue the death of Henrietta, the reveal of her will, and then a pursuit of Abigail from a mysterious assailant, leaving the two antique dealers to try and solve the murder before the night is through and to prevent a higher body count. 

The Black Cat boasts an incredible cast in Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert (who admittedly is slightly annoying with his comic relief), Broderick Crawford, Anne Gwynne, the brilliantly melodramatic Gale Sondegaard, a young Alan Ladd (“Shane!”) and a criminally underused Bela Lugosi as the ‘red herring’ character. So it’s a shame then that this is a massive misfire and never utilises the talent on display with essentially an incredibly poor script that tries to rest on intrigue and a narrative template.

It lacks substance and therefore the likes of Rathbone simply have nothing to play with on screen and the comedy moments just doesn’t connect, leaving the whole debacle feeling flat.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Son of Frankenstein (1939)

13 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by in Movie review, Universal Horror

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We’ve barely a decade of horror under their Universal belts, the powerhouse production company was struggling once more to pull in the numbers at the box office. So it’s with some sense of irony that the movies that started it all in Dracula and Frankenstein would be screened as a double feature and reignite the craze all over again. The stunt would be so successful that Universal Pictures would look to producing another instalment of their beloved monster franchise with Son of Frankenstein, in what would be the third of the series.

In Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, Universal had created two classic features, thanks to the direction of James Whale, where some have argued that the latter outweighed its predecessor. Whatever your views on the matter, it would be a touch act to follow and into the directors shoes steps Rowland V. Lee (The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers) to try and accomplish this task.

The result is one that is worthy of the Frankenstein name, despite it bordering on silliness and camp on occasion. (A sign of the direction that Universal would fall into down the track.)

With grand plans to shoot the film in colour using Technicolor only to be disbanded due to artistic and budgetary reasons, Son of Frankenstein would be presented to the audience in black and white and reunite the horror icons, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. In this instance, the latter donning the Monster mask for the last time in a feature film. The two would once again prove to be a winning formula with Lugosi playing the deformed Ygor and practically stealing the show with his performance. In an interesting turn of events, it is Ygor who is the dominant presence and has The Monster at his beckoning call, as he commands the creature to kill those that have proved him ill in the past.

Leading the cast as the son of Frankenstein is Basil Rathbone (The Adventures of Robin Hood) who cuts a fine figure of a man trying to right his fathers’ wrongs and changing the perceived conception of his family name. It would have been interesting had Peter Lorre had played the role as he had been cast, but had to withdraw due to illness. It’s a shame because I’m a huge fan of Lorre and would loved to see him cast against Lugosi and Karloff, but as I said, Rathbone more than proves his worth.

A worthy nod should also be assigned towards Lionel Atwill (Mark of the Vampire) as Inspector Krogh, a character whose past encounter saw his arm torn off his limb as a child when he came into contact with The Monster. It’s a stoic performance and Atwill shines in an already crowded cast of personalities.

The Diagnosis:

It’s a fitting end to this chapter in the Universal Horror history.
Son of Frankenstein manages to harness all the right ingredients to make it a worthy companion to its predecessors, whilst falling on the right side of drama and terror for its time.

Lugosi and Karloff are in their element and would ride out on a high. Around the corner a new king to the throne would lay in wait in Lon Chaney Jr… but that’s another tale.

  • Saul Muerte