Over the Christmas Holidays I watched a 1934 movie called the Black Cat by Edgar G. Ulmer. I had seen a couple of months before a short clip of the movie where I recognized Schumann’s Quintet second movement. Needless to say that my curiosity was triggered. The movie actually has a great soundtrack with pieces from Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven and yes, Schumann and is worth a watch only for that reason. Yet, the movie is very “1934” with the actor’s exaggerated facial expressions, the emotionally weak women, and the unlikely plot’s denouement. I watched it with a friend and we did share good laughs over it, even though it is supposed to be in the horror category. Times have changed.
“The movie is starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi. The picture was the first of eight films (six of which were produced by Universal) to feature the two iconic actors. It became Universal Pictures’ biggest box office hit of the year, and was among the earlier movies with an almost continuous music score. The film 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.” (Source)
I found this blog post here where there is a good detailed description and review of The Black Cat.
And here is the clip I saw that convinced me to watch the movie :
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