Wicked Love: Karloff, Lugosi, and Poe
After the massive success of Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931, Universal Studios eventually combined their two biggest horror stars in a couple of films inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe. In 1934 Universal Studios released The Black Cat, and in 1935 the studio released The Raven, both films starred Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff and both films are drastically different in style and presentation but share a common element besides cast and source material, what they share are a theme of dark and obsessive love driven by the main antagonist, so what makes The Black Cat and The Raven about Wicked Love and how do the films share this common element?
Though the two films were released just a little over a year apart, the two are drastically different in tone and style due to the inception of the Hays Code in mid-1934 which began reviewing and censoring films based on a morality code that was created by members of the catholic church and conservative politicians.
The Black Cat tells the story of Dr. Werdegast (Lugosi) who is traveling to the home of Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff), Poelzig is a traitor of World War I whose actions lead to the death or imprisonment of 10,000 allied soldiers, one of whom was Dr. Werdegast. Poelzig fled the country with Werdegast’s wife and daughter and eventually married Werdegast’s daughter after his wife died; while on their honeymoon in Eastern Europe, an American couple becomes mixed up in this deadly game of chess between Polezig and Werdegast. Along the way, we discover that not only is Poelzig a Satanist, but he is also a necrophiliac, keeping the bodies of dead women entombed in glass cases in the basement of his large home, one of whom was Werdegast’s wife.
The film is one of the better movies to come out of the first wave of horror films released by Universal in the 1930’s. Though the conflict between Poelzig and Werdegast is at the forefront of the movie, the theme of love AND obsessive love are what bind the story together in a perfect blood-soaked bow. The presence of the newlyweds gives the audience characters they can attach to, while the suggestion of necrophilia provides a great combination of sex and death that audiences subliminally crave from horror movies.
The Raven, by contrast, is much more subdued and formulaic than The Black Cat. Released shortly after the inclusion of the Hays Code, The Raven tells the story of Dr. Vollin (Lugosi), a retired surgeon with an obsession for the works of Edgar Allen Poe. A local judge brings Vollin out of retirement to perform a delicate procedure that will save the life of his daughter, Vollin is also a narcissist and views himself as a god. After the surgery is a success and the daughter heals, Vollin begins to fall in love with the daughter, much to the objection of the judge.
The judge forbids Vollin to see her again, which causes Vollin to go crazy and implement a plan to kill the judge, the daughter, and her fiancé using methods from Poe's stories like The Pit and the Pendulum. He enlists the help of a wanted robber and killer (Karloff) to help him by offering to fix the face of the wanted man (which was disfigured by Vollin to blackmail the criminal). Karloff plays a sympathetic character, much like the creature in Frankenstein, but is more two-dimensional than his role of the monster.
The idea of love in the context of The Raven is once again very nontraditional. The daughter of the judge does seem to have feelings for Vollin and even tells her father that she’s developing feelings for Vollin, which prompts the father to forbid the Doctor to see her again. Vollin feels that he’s been both betrayed and disrespected, which causes him to hatch his evil revenge scheme to utilize Poe’s methods of torture as inspiration.
For the first two movies to include both Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, they both are entertaining and don’t present the same story twice. The Black Cat incorporates moving shots, emphasizes shadows and strange architecture, and does things differently by making Lugosi the hero or antihero while making Karloff the antagonist. The topics touched upon are shocking and disturbing, especially by 1934 standards, and the plot keeps you interested from beginning to end. 4 out of 5 stars.
The Raven is much more straightforward and traditional, keeping the concept of Lugosi as the villain and Karloff as the sympathetic monster alive and well. The camera doesn’t move and is obviously made with the idea of money in mind over artistic expression. That being said, it is still a welcome entry to the Universal Horror library and gives Lugosi and Karloff their moments to shine. 3 out of 5 stars.
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