Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Black Room Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 7, 2021

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as a part of Karloff at Columbia.

Boris Karloff has one of the more amazing filmographies in the annals of show business history, with the IMDb listing over 200 (!) acting credits for the venerable performer. One of the kind of interesting if at times kind of weirdly unstated aspects of that success is the fact that Karloff managed his career in at least some of the 1930s and 1940s without the traditional “seven year contract” that was regularly doled by the major Hollywood studios in the Golden Age of filmmaking. In fact, many online biographies of Karloff don’t even mention any contracts, though the fact that a 1931 contract Karloff signed with Universal fetched over eleven thousand dollars in an auction is certainly more than enough evidence that (of course) some kind of contract was signed for various appearances. That said, Karloff at Columbia provides clear separate evidence that Karloff, unlike many other major stars of that same general period, was never officially tied down to one particular studio (many film fans almost automatically associate Karloff with Universal during this period), at least for any extended period of time. The fact that Karloff was also a guiding light behind the then nascent Screen Actors Guild may give credence to the hunch that Karloff was eerily prescient in being able to see that a studio’s contractual “hold” over a performer was something to be avoided, not chased, in an awareness that arguably came years before such heavyweights (and, notably, women) as Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis started actual legal proceedings to chip away at the “seven year indentured servitude” that studios often required of their stars. Eureka Entertainment has now assembled six of Karloff's Columbia features made between 1935 and 1942 (the same period when Karloff was also appearing in films bearing the studio imprimaturs of everyone from Universal to Monogram to RKO) in an appealing set that may not include any outright masterpieces, but which show quite clearly just how versatile an actor Karloff was.

In a way, The Black Room makes it easy to see why Karloff might have wanted to take a break from Universal, since the actor was (according to the interesting commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby) on record as stating this film finally gave him the opportunity to act. Karloff gets to portray two wildly different twin brothers, Gregor and Anton, who may be subject to a long foretold family curse that states that the younger brother (Anton) may kill the older brother (Gregor). Knowledge of this curse is overtly shown in a kind of prefatory scene which announces the births of the twins, and later it's disclosed the twins themselves have evidently been haunted by it for most of their lives, with Anton leaving his family home as a result. The main story picks up with Anton's return home after Gregor pleads that he needs help. Suffice it to say that when "evil twin" Gregor then claims Anton as one of his (many) victims, the prophecy would seem to have it backwards, though the film has a few sly surprises up its veritable sleeve. Karloff delivers two (and actually three, for reasons which will become clear to any viewers of the film) fun performances, and longtime Sherlock Holmes director Roy William Neill invests the proceedings with a good amount of Gothic style.

The Black Room Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Black Room is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Eureka only sent check discs for purposes of this review, and so I'm not privy to any information on the transfer that might be included in the insert booklet. This is often a quite striking looking presentation, though it almost looks like it may have been sourced from two elements. At its best, this has really nicely articulated contrast, with some impressive blacks, and with generally good fine detail levels, though the prevalence of dimly lit material may work against that aspect at times. In less impressive moments, the already pretty thick grainfield has a noticeable uptick in grittiness, and clarity also suffers a bit, with more of a general "dupey" look. Damage is rather minimal, all things considered.

The Black Room Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Black Room features an LPCM 2.0 Mono that certainly shows the limited fidelity and dynamic range of that era's recording technologies, but which has not outright damage to speak of. Certain elements, like the cimbalom (or maybe hammered dulcimer, it's hard to tell due to the framings utilized) that is played in the local tavern, sound pretty bright and tinny, but another musical moment with love interest Thea (Marian Marsh) playing the harp and singing sounds reasonably full bodied and warm. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Black Room Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby


• Stills Gallery: Production Stills (HD)


• Stills Gallery: Artwork and Ephemera (HD)

The Black Room Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Because it's not part of the so-called "Mad Doctor Series" of Columbia films starring Karloff, The Black Room sometimes gets overlooked in Karloff's Columbia filmography, but in some ways it provides Karloff the clearest opportunity to show his performance chops of any of the Columbia outings in this set. Technical merits are a bit variable but generally solid, and the commentary and still galleries enjoyable. Recommended.