bela lugosi and boris karloff star in this atmospheric thriller . lugosi be effective a dr. vitus werdegast and karloff be diabolically evil a the satanic hjalmar poelzig . david manner and jaqueline well co star a two american honeymooner catch in the conflict between lugosi and karloff . the camera angle and light make up for the lacking plot line . the dialogue be laughable at time and but the actor manage to hold their face straight while say it and do a pretty good job with the rest of the film . joan and pater allison ( manner and well ) be vacation on their honeymoon in europe . they run into dr. werdegast on a train and decide to share a cab to a town . along the way the driver crash the car and the four survivor ( werdegast servant survive as well ) head to a house that werdegast know . it be the house of hjalmar poelzig and an old acquaintance of werdegast . a the night and next morning ensue and werdegast and poelzig sordid past be reveal and and poelzig also decide that he must have joan for a satanic ritual . the finale be explosive a werdegast make his last stand against poelzig and the honeymooner try to escape from danger . this film co star harry cord ( a universal regular ) a werdegast sidekick and a very attractive lucille lund a poelzig innocent wife and and egon brecher a poelzig servant . positive .