The Black Cat [Edgar G. Ulmer, 1934]:
Titans of terror, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, face off in this pitch-black horror. From the title, the film at first seems to gesture to the themes and scenario of a classic by Edgar Allen Poe. Instead, it goes on to weave an altogether more sinister tale of revenge, imprisonment and a still-disturbing depiction of necromancy. Director Edgar G. Ulmer's abusive on-set treatment of actor Lucille Lund would see him rightly cancelled by modern audiences, but there's no denying his extraordinary direction of the film here, which remains a small masterwork of atmosphere and aesthetics.
