I've watched it 15 times in a row on an old VHS commercial
release that includes The Raven... what a wonderful pair!
Some comments seem to find it a plot hole when Lugosi kills a
house pet and no one is alarmed -indeed, not something
common in the world as we know it. My view is that the Black Cat is Karloff, whom Lugosi goes there to
kill slowly... does he not? Also, in a few moments we see that Karloff has the same black cat
in hand, very much alive, and he mentions the cat has nine lives. Other words are said about the two men having in effect already
died years ago... look beneath the surface of this movie... don't
take it literally, and much richness is there... the art deco, Bauhaus
architecture... the wondrous infusion of Beethoven's 7th after the
2nd appearance of the Black Cat. I could watch this movie a hundred more times and not tire of it.