Il mistero della camera nera

I love Boris and in this movie he shines as the set of twins. I saw it for the first time last year. I recorded it and have watched it numerous times since. If you are his fan...this movie can not be missed. All the supporting actors are wonderful as well, and the beautiful Marion Marsh easy on the eyes. I knew Karloff was an under rated actor...But this movie proves it. Why more fuss was never made about this film, I just don't know. I will tell you I never saw the out come of this movie coming. Or maybe I just didn't want to spoil the shock for myself. Thank goodness for Halloween movies and TCM's airing of them or I would have caught this flick. Enjoy it, I know you will.

This film is competently directed and photographed, yet it is not noteworthy from either point of view. The story, concerning human compassion versus cruelty, and the cold, merciless workings of fate, is clever and interesting, all the more so since it does not linger too long and overstay its welcome...this film clocks in at 1 hour and change.

By Columbia Pictures standards, this film is almost opulent, having several sets and a number of outdoor shots, and having good actors, costumes, technicians and atmosphere all around. But, since it is a Columbia Picture, central Europe looks amazingly like Southern California. Still, it proves that Universal did not have a monopoly on horror in the 1930's.

This is not a supernatural film, except perhaps in the fact that it deals with the subjects of prophecy and fate...it is instead a psychological horror film and so it helps to have the right set of expectations going in. In a way, this film is a kind of precursor to the ambiguous metaphysics and psychological themes of the 1940's Val Lewton horror/noir classics.

What makes this film stand out is Karloff's brilliant performance in the double role of twin brothers, one evil and one good. Karloff is completely convincing in both parts, and it is a genuine pleasure to watch him. It is also striking that even without monster make-up Karloff can scare the pants off you, when he chooses.

Modern horror fans are liable to have trouble accessing this film, but it is recommended to fans of classic horror and classic film in general.

Boris Karloff only made a handful of movies that demonstrated he had some real range as an actor, and of that handful, THE BLACK ROOM has to rate as one of the best. In this work, Karloff plays twin brothers of a family of aristocrats. The older brother Gregor is a nasty piece of work. He is the titular head of the family of land barons, and has long developed a reputation for brutality in the region he governs. His estate is notorious for having disappeared several young women. Anton, the younger of the twins, is a cosmopolitan sort, has been away travelling and studying for many years. Both men are haunted by a family prophecy, in which the younger of the two twins is supposed to slay the older in order to complete a family curse, which apparently began in the "black room" of the film's title.

The room itself was ordered sealed shortly after the birth of the twins in order to avert a repeat of the tragedy. Unbeknownst to the villagers, Gregor has found a hidden passage into the black room, and it is the torture pit of the room where he disposes of the bodies of his victims.

Anton, the younger brother, returns home upon the urging of his brother Gregor, who has, after several attempts on his life, realized that he must step aside in order to calm the people down. Gregor has in mind a phoney abdication in which he seems to step aside in favor of his twin. His actual plan is to murder Anton, and to continue to reign in Anton's identity, in his own twist on the family curse. He falls over his own hubris for a number of personal reasons, but before film's end, he manages to indulge in a round of crafty Karloffian mayhem.

Karloff plays both the monstrous and benign brothers, but in addition, he portrays the nasty brother imitating the gentle one. That's what makes this piece fun. Seventy minutes of the grand old man of the gothics at his best. I've probably seen it about thirty times now, and it holds up well.

The Black Room: 7 out of 10: In the Tim Burton film "Ed Wood" Martin Landau's Bela Lugosi complains about his rival Boris Karloff continuing to work even though he played Frankenstein which required only grunting under heavy make-up as opposed to accented seductive Dracula.

Well I hate to point this out to a long dead actor but Karloff can really act. The Black Room is a tour de force performance.

Karloff plays three roles (two twins and one twin pretending to be the other) and manages to give them such a distinctive nuanced performances I squinted at the screen to make sure it really was the same actor in the roles.

The story itself is quite a good set-up. With one brother a devilish tyrant with a taste for village girls and the other a slightly fey traveler with a birth defect. Hanging over their head is a family curse that states one brother will kill the other in the titular Black Room.

There are twists and turns and as many reviews have pointed out this is more a costume drama/mystery than straight horror film. The supporting cast is competent and the sets are well done but this is Karloff's show and he runs away with it.

I must agree with the other posts on this site, Karloff is excellent here. In fact, this is just about the best example of his acting skill I've come across. In this film, he is not just a generic Halloween ghoul, but shows a very nice range of characterization, as he plays twin brothers who are polar opposites. The film is beautiful to look at, and well paced and plotted. Even if you see the ironic ending coming at you a mile and a half away, it's still fun to anticipate it.

Incidentally, is it just me, or does the loud brass fanfare that occurs in the title sequence, and throughout the film at dramatic moments, sound like part of the song "Come Rain or Come Shine" ("days may be cloudy or sunny...")? I just found it a bit distracting to suddenly picture Judy Garland in my mind at all the most tense and dramatic moments of the story.