Hjalmar Poelzig builds his temple upon the corpses of those he betrayed in the Great War, and chance brings a sacrificial maiden to his doorstep on the eve of his Satanic Ritual on the dark of the moon. But Dr. Vitus, a survivor of his wartime perfidy, hopes to balance the scales of Justice and Honor and seeks vengeance upon Poelzig, the man who also stole his wife and daughter. Director Edgar Ulmer directs with economy and style, utilizing the talents of DP John J. Mescall to their fullest extent!
I’ve seen this film labeled as a “Post-Code” creation but it was released in May of 1934, two months before the rigid enforcement of the Hays Code, and the First Act alone will convince you of its Pre-Code status! The vulgar description of the wartime atrocities upon which Poelzig’s (Poe, get it?) modern abode was constructed will be the first clue, but they soon increase in intensity. We are soon introduced to scantily clad women, some of which are dead and preserved in glass coffins for display(!), drug use and their amorous side effects, and our antagonist and his wife (the young daughter of his first wife, mind you) sleeping in the same bed (gasp!). Poelzig also reads the book of Satanic Rights for bedtime enjoyment. We also get flaying and torture, a Satanic black mass, and a suicide for good measure. Holy shit, this film is great!
Poelzig (Boris Karloff) is an irredeemably evil beast, a man whose treachery kills tens of thousands of his own soldiers during the Great War then builds his home atop their corpses. Yet Karloff infuses him with a momentary humanity when he and Dr. Vitus (Bela Lugosi) gaze upon the preserved corpse of their shared adoration. Lugosi summons a deep despair and grief, tears streaming down his face as he stares at his lover’s corpse, but Karloff simply bows his head and mutter, “She was my true love too”. Fucking beautiful. Both Karloff and Lugosi hit a “home run” with their performances, but here Lugosi is the good guy though still a tortured soul. He and his henchman are the ultimate saviors of the young naïve couple Peter (David Manners) and Joan (Julie Bishop) who are merely victims in the battle between the two stars. However, Manners plays the milquetoast husband quite well, while Bishop has a bit more range, veering into a drugged sensuality that is quite unsettling. She also gets to scream a lot.
The story does raise some questions. Why does Poelzig not disarm the self-destruct system on the fort that he built his house upon? What does a black cat have to do with the story? Though Dr. Vitus suffers from Ailurophobia, and he faints from anxiety, it actually plays no part in the denouement. However, these questions may occur to you, but the film is so well-paced that it doesn’t matter.
Final Grade: (B+)
