Directed by: Edgar G. Ulmer
Written by: Edgar G. Ulmer and Peter Ruric (Suggested by Edgar Allen Poe)
Starring: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, and Julie Bishop
1 Hour, 5 Minutes
Mr. and Mrs. Allison are on a train to Budapest for their honeymoon. There’s been a mistake, and they have to share their cabin with Dr. Verdegast, Bela Lugosi. He had been a prisoner of war for fifteen years, but he’s finally back. They arrive at the station, and transfer to a bus. The bus driver runs off the road, and he is killed in the wreck. They make off on foot towards… a big house on a hill.
It’s a very futuristic-looking house, or at least what passed for futuristic in 1934. Mrs. Allison was injured in the wreck, but Verdegast fixes her up. Poelzig (Boris Karloff) enters the room, looking creepy as ever. He and Verdegast argue. Poelzig had the house built on the site of the huge deadly battle where Verdegast was taken prisoner. He wants to kill Poelzig’s soul, but slowly. Allison walks in and they all get much more friendly.
As the three men talk, a black cat wanders into the room. Verdegast recoils with a look of terror on his face and throws a knife at the cat, killing it. Mrs. Allison comes in during all this, and Poelzig explains that Verdegast has an extreme cat-phobia.
They all turn in for the night, in adjoining rooms. Meanwhile, Poelzig walks through his museum of women under glass. He releases a not-at-all-dead cat, and then confronts Verdegast and Allison.
Verdegast insists on seeing his wife, who Poelzig seduces after he wound up in prison. They head deep down into the tunnels beneath the house. They see Verdegast’s wife, who died of pneumonia many years ago. She’s preserved in a glass coffin. Verdegast pulls out a gun to kill Poelzig, but at that moment, another cat shows up and he freaks out.
The two agree to have a duel after the Allisons leave. Poelzig goes to bed, and he ays down next to Verdegast’s daughter, whom he claimed was dead. He settles in for a little lite reading… “The Rites of Lucifer.”
Verdegast claims the Poelzig plans to keep Mrs. Allison there indefinitely. They play chess, with her life as the stakes. Poelzig wins. Mr. Allison is knocked out, and Mrs. faints on the spot. They lock Mr. Allison in the very cool rotating dungeon cell while Poelzig plays organ music. Verdegast explains to Mrs. Allison that Poelzig is a Satanist, and she’s going to be a sacrifice.
Karen Verdegast walks into Mrs. Allison’s room, and they talk about Karen’s father not being dead, as she was told.
That evening, the rest of the satanists drop by for a ritual. Verdegast and his servant steal the unconscious Mrs. Allison just as Mr. Allison lets himself out of prison. Verdegast finds that his daughter has just died, and then he and Poelzig fight. He locks Poelzig up with chains and skins him alive. Mr. Allison shoots Verdegast in the back, but before he dies, Verdegast ignites the dynamite under house. This house has a self-destruct switch!!!
Commentary
Almost at exactly halfway through the film, it started to drag. The conclusion was just a bunch of stuff thrown together and feels far too rushed. Who builds a self-destruct device into their home? Why did Karen just fall over dead? Was Verdgast’s servant a yellow-faced actor? Why did Verdegast wait until there were more than a dozen satanists standing around to make his move when he was alone with Poelzig all afternoon? There’s just no logic to any of this. The sets were cool, and Karloff looked like a creepy satanic architect.