I think it's been proposed before that THE BLACK SLEEP should get more credit as a movie that kind of bridges the gap between old horror and new. It is certainly a film that offers up some good moments for many of our favorite old horror stars.

However, it's also a picture I appreciate more as an adult; when I first saw it as a kid (maybe on New York's Creature Features), I came away really disappointed. With this many familiar genre names, I was expecting a lot more.

Also, I'm not sure how much we can really credit it as being influential; I might be mistaken, but I never got the impression it was that much of a hit. (Universal's earlier THE STRANGE DOOR and THE BLACK CASTLE were period thrillers with some old genre names, too, but neither led to a string of period horrors).

Castle did make use of name Hollywood actors then a bit past their prime (first Vincent Price, then Joan Crawford), but he usually only hired one per film; he never went for the "all-star" approach the THE BLACK SLEEP seemed to be going for. Also, his gimmick horrors were contemporary in setting (at least until MR. SARDONICUS).