Starring Boris Karloff
Directed by Roy William Neill
Cinematography by Allen G. Siegler
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“People turn into something else in the mirror.”
-Dialogue from Rampo Noir (2005)
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Review by William D. Tucker.
In a fairy tale European kingdom, a royal family finds itself cursed by a prophecy: what was founded in blood shall end in blood. A pair of twin brothers set the curse in motion when one murdered the other inside a secret room, and the prophecy states that a final pair of twin brothers shall end the dynasty in the fullness of time in the same manner.
The royal family tries to defy the prophecy by bricking up a sinister chamber with reflective onyx walls-after all, a prophecy only has power if one believes in it, right? Take the scene of the crime out of the crime, and you have no space for the theater of cruelty.
But if the belief in such a dark and fated scheme persists, will it yet find some way of coming true?
Is it all just a matter of faith?
In the beginning, Cain slew Abel, and so shall it be at the end.
Boris Karloff plays the final set of twins-one a murderous, depraved tyrant; the other dandyish and of good cheer. You get the full spectrum of Karloff’s capacities as an actor, from the creepily aggressive to the counterintuitively charming.
The ill-mannered evil brother preys on the women and girls of the kingdom as a kind of Bluebeard figure. The good brother has a non-functioning right arm, yet he has lived life to the fullest travelling abroad as a perpetual student, acquiring culture and charm.
Yes, you get to see Boris Karloff acting with Boris Karloff years before, say, Nicholas Cage played his own sibling in Adaptation, and it’s all pretty seamless. No computer effects. It’s all in cleverly concealed edits, in-camera opticals, and tactical use of body doubles. In 1935. Take a look. Then think about that. If you know how movies are made, then you can suss out all the tricks, but I contend that you will nevertheless choose to believe what’s in front of your eyes because it is so well executed.
Karloff alternately embodies sadistic evil and good-will-towards-all with but the simplest of gestures, a specific tone of voice, different costumes, and conflicting postures. The sneering evil brother slouches and puts his leg up over the arm of his chair while peeling a pear with a knife. The good brother is impeccably dressed and carries himself with perfect posture while always greeting the world with a sincere smile. Sure, we’re in the realm of melodrama, but it is done with such simplicity and wit that it cannot be denied.
Combine all this with pristine black and white photography, evocative-if theatrical-sets of castles and graveyards and cavernous church interiors-
-and only 68 minutes . . . although some sources list the running time as 69 minutes which is nice . . . The Black Room doesn’t waste your time.
How does it all play out? Will the prophecy be fulfilled as it was in times of yore?
Do prophecies only come true when we believe in them enough that our actions are influenced to make it come true?
You’ll just have to see for yourself.
I will say this: if you remember Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster, you might recall how that piteous abomination was persecuted by mobs of pitchfork and torch brandishing villagers . . . well, in The Black Room Karloff does indeed play at least one character who deserves an angry mob on his ass.
You’ll just have to see for yourself.
