The Black Cat (1934) is a classic, enigmatically disturbing horror film from Universal Studios in the 1930s. It became Universal's top-grossing film of the year. The visually intriguing, austere, landmark horror film - a tale of European post-war anguish and death, was expressionistically directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Its theme of the horrors of war would be echoed in his later films. He was obviously influenced by his previous work with German director F.W. Murnau (and his film Nosferatu (1922)), and by Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (1927). Art-deco sets by art director Charles D. Hall, and stark B/W photography by John Mescall evoke the proper atmosphere.

A bus crash on a lonely Austrian road compels American honeymooners to spend the night at the house of Herr Poelzig, a sinister looking man who is engaged in an intense death-feud with Dr. Werdegast, whom the couple met on the Orient Express.