The Black Cat 1934 DivX-NvadR

The.Black.Cat.1934.DivX-NvadR http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024894/ The Black Cat was Universal Film’s second excursion of the 1930s into the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Like Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) and the later The Raven (1935), the link between Poe’s work and the end film is minimal – indeed here only Werdegast's irrational fear of cats links the film with the story of its title. Originally to have been much stronger in its violent themes, test-audience outrage meant reshoots were in order and a number of changes were made to the final picture. The story boasts a solid opening 45 minutes of intrigue and character build-up - from the moment we meet Lugosi's Werdegast it is as though the characters have entered a nightmare (a theme that was sadly not exploited in this film), the introduction of Poelzig only further compounds the mystery as both men act courteously yet threateningly to each other. The two play a game of chess over Joan, with Poelzig determined to keep her in his house if he should win - sadly though this game is never really shown in any detail and could have provided a lot of tension. The film really starts to take a downturn when the local police arrive to investigate the bus crash, their comedy relief destroying the eerie, isolated atmosphere that the film had boasted up to the point. In the last twenty minutes the pace picks up rapidly, much to the detriment of the film - suddenly there is a Satanic ritual and just as quickly it ends for no reason; Joan bumps into Werdegast's daughter and suddenly she is dead, for no obvious reason. The ending comes as a real cop-out considering the tension built up and the comic-relief epilogue just breaks the camel's back. On the plus side, direction is decent and the set designs are outstanding. Although the build-up suggests that Poelzig will be living in a gothic castle, he in fact inhabits an ultra-modern (1930s) house with sliding metal doors and large windows. This helps to keep the film away from the normal horror clichés and gives it an interesing new edge. Although the camerawork is quite standard for the most part, there are a few standout scenes. In one, the camera moves along a corridor around the house as Karloff continues to talk in the background - while Poelzig's introductions, first in silhouette and then coming through a door that he does not seem to open (see: The Mummy (1932)), look very impressive. The music is a standard Universal affair, with the usual hints of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on the organ. Karloff and Lugosi are together on screen for the first time and they don't disappoint. Both actors seem to be trying to outdo each other with creepy voices and look very impressive when switching from threatening each other to being hospitable to Peter when he bumbles into scene. David Manners, as Peter, gives a typically meek performance although one well suited to the role. The Black Cat is the start of a very good film but sadly suffers from a rushed and confused finalé. For fans of Karloff and Lugosi who enjoy their distinctive style, this film is a dream come true and finds them both at the peak of their acting prowess. Recommended to fans of the duo, or of Universal Horror pictures - this one of their best entries outside of the well-known monster pictures. --------------- SCREENSHOTS ---------------- http://www.postimg.com/33000/photo-32692.jpg http://www.postimg.com/33000/photo-32694.jpg http://www.postimg.com/33000/photo-32695.jpg http://www.postimg.com/33000/photo-32696.jpg http://www.postimg.com/33000/photo-32697.jpg --------------------------------------------- INFO Format : AVI Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave File size : 700 MiB Duration : 1h 5mn Overall bit rate : 1 494 Kbps Writing library : VirtualDub-MPEG2 build 24586/release Video Format : MPEG-4 Visual Format settings, BVOP : Yes Format settings, QPel : No Format settings, GMC : No warppoints Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263) Muxing mode : Packed bitstream Codec ID : DX50 Codec ID/Hint : DivX 5 Duration : 1h 5mn Bit rate : 1 405 Kbps Width : 640 pixels Height : 480 pixels Display aspect ratio : 4:3 (1.33:1) Frame rate : 23.976 fps Resolution : 24 bits Colorimetry : 4:2:0 Scan type : Progressive Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.191 Stream size : 658 MiB (94%) Writing library : DivX 6.8.4 Audio Format : AC-3 Format/Info : Audio Coding 3 Codec ID : 2000 Duration : 1h 5mn Bit rate mode : Constant Bit rate : 80.0 Kbps Channel(s) : 2 channels Channel positions : L R Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz Stream size : 37.5 MiB (5%) Alignment : Aligned on interleaves Interleave, duration : 42 ms (1.00 video frame) Interleave, preload duration : 512 ms Source DVD - Region One 720 x 480 4:3 (1.33:1) NTSC (29.970) B&W 192 Kb/s AC3 Dolby Mono 48.0 KHz NO SUBS ---------- CURRENT TORRENT STATS ---------- http://torrent-stats.info/6585/81d093c2.png

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pira7e (2011-07-07)

Thank You

Nancy2B (2012-03-02)

What an Amazing find - an extremely rare classic
Thank You so very much

azza1969 (2014-04-12)

cheers for this rare gem!