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6 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Brilliant Cinematography, 2 May 2002 Author: marquis de cinema from Boston, MA
An unusually restraint film for a Fulci picture made in the early 1980s. A picturesque vision of gothic horror that's done in the style of an Italian gothic or Hammer horror film from the 1960s. I think Fulci's attempt here was to make a film in the manner of Hammer horror or Corman's Poe pictures, which would involve little of the director's usual gory antics. There are some violent scenes, and the most brutal scene in terms of gore or death is the one involving Lillian Grayson. Il Gatto Nero/The Black Cat(1980) relies more on atmosphere, mood, and tension, than gory set pieces, which was a change of tune for Fulci after the bloody violence of Zombie(1979), The Smuggler(1980), and City of the Living Dead(1980).Its not one of his best works, but it is a beautiful looking film, with some gracious camerawork, and impressive visuals. Based loosely on the Edgar Allen Poe short story, of which this film has no direct relationship to the plot of that horror story. The closet the film comes is during the sequence that comes near the very end of the picture. The climax is an encore of the climatic moment in Sette Note in Nero/Seven Notes in Black(1977). The POV of the cat prowling around during the opening credits scene is handled with visual spectre by Sergio Salvati.The casting of Patrick Magee as Robert Miles is one of the best parts of The Black Cat(1980). Magee gives a performance that shows why he was a master in playing eccentric and mentally troubled characters in films like A Clockwork Orange(1971), and Marat/Sade(1970). One of five or six excellent actors to have a role in a Lucio Fulci film. He portrays in his character emotions of fear, hate, and menace just by his expressions of his face and eyes, which are more effectively presented when viewing the film in widescreen. Atmospheric and eerie use of its British locales that rivals that of Jorge Grau's Let Sleeping Corpses Lie(1974).One scene, which reaches the dreamlike style of Fulci's other gothic pics from the early 80s is the moment when the house that Jill Travels lives in shakes, and rocks around in a frenzy after the hanging Miles cat. Its an eerie sequence that is one of the best in the film. Daniela Doria once again plays a character who comes to a gruesome end(seems to be her only function in a Fulci film). David Warbeck does ok as Inspector Gorley, but his performance here is nowhere near as good as in The Beyond(1981). The Mrs. Grayson death scene borders on the effective and ridiculous without moving totally into the realm of the latter.Mimsy Farmer gives a bland performance here that is short of the good performances given by Catriona MacColl, who was better at making a Fulci's heroine a little more dimensional. The editing is smooth looking and fluid compared to the erratic editing of City of the Living Dead(1980), which was a weakness for that film. The death of Ferguson is crafted with hand shaking suspense and a creative payoff. Fulci's director is flamboyant and yet simple in the same time. Overall, an entertaining horror film that is one of Fulci's most underrated films, and one despite its flaws is worthwhile for anyone that loves Euro-horror, Fulci horror, or just horror films in general.
7 out of 8 people found the following review useful: The Cat made him do it, 16 May 2006 Author: sol1218 from brooklyn NY
**SPOILERS** Creepy and atmospheric little horror flick, based on the writings of Edger Alan Poe, about a mysterious black cat who at first is being controlled by this whacked out professor as well as self-style medium Robert Miles to do his dirty work. Later, after Miles kills it the feline comes back from the dead to exact vengeance on him by having Miles brought to justice from what he did.As the movie starts, with the credits are rolling down the screen, we see this black cat distract a man, Foreman, behind the wheel of his car as he loses control and crashes killing himself. Miles who's the cat's master is later seen in his home playing tapes of sounds that he recorded in the local cemetery trying to contact Neil, for all we know Neil is his dead son, and we hear a number of strange and eerie sounds on the tape that sound like their from a language other then English, they sound like Greek to me.Young America photographer Jill Trevers, photographing the ancient Roman and British ruins, in and around town is at the cemetery and sees one of the crypts broken into and inside finds a recording device. That evening at the local bar in town Jill hears form a number of patrons about this nut and weirdo Prof. Miles who's known to try to communicate with the dead and hangs around at the cemetery trying to get in touch with them. Going to see Miles by using the excuse of giving him back his lost recording device Jill notices his "pet" back cat who's anything but cuddly to him but who violently attacks Miles in Jill's presence scratching him in his hand. Jill later starts to suspect that it was Miles black cat who was responsible for the death of one of the towns well known heavy drinkers, Furgerson while photographing his body for the police department after he's found dead, from a fall off a gangplank and on to a spiked fence. Jill noticed that Furgersn's hand was terribly scratched just like Miles was by his cat.We earlier saw a young couple, Stan & Maureen, lock themselves into a storehouse by the docks. As their making out the lights go out and they finds themselves locked in with the key to the door strangely missing. At first you have no idea to just what the couple have to do with the movie but later it turns out that Maureen's mother Mrs. Grayson once had an affair with Miles and broke it off, was this was Miles' way of getting even with her! How did Miles do it? Did Miles have his black cat sneak into the storehouse grab to key, thus locking them in, and then turn off the air-conditioner; causing the two lovebirds to suffocate to death?Miles eventually get's even with Mrs. Grayson, for turning down his advances, by having his cat cause her apartment house to be set on fire by knocking over a lit kerosene lamp into the fire place and then having her, totally engulfed in flames, jump to her death from the third floor window. Miles now confidently feeling that he achieved all his goals in getting even with those in town who rubbed him the wrong way gives the back cat a meal spiked with a strong sedative knocking it out. Taking the unconscious cat, stuffed in a sack, outside in the woods Miloes brutally hangs it. Miles should have known that the black cat had nine, not one, lives and that it would soon come back to get even with him for what he did to it with a wild and ferocious fury that even he,it's former master, couldn't even in his wildest dreams imagine or comprehend.Hard to find but very effective killer cat movie with Patrick McGee in his last movie role playing the crazed Professor Robert Miles who together with Mimsy Farmer, as the American photographer Jill Trevers, have some of the most extreme and mind-boggling close ups ever put on film. The black cat itself is also very scary as it moves towards and stalks it's victims and you forget for a while that it's really a common house cat.You look at the killer feline as if it were an instrument of death and terror conjure up by the Devil himself straight out of hell. The movie "Black Cat" has a very hypnotic feel to it, maybe because of it's many unusual and almost microscopic closeups, and the ending is anything but a letdown, like you would expect from a movie like it. Miles gets just what he had coming to him with the cat, as well as the local police, having him face ultimate justice for the crimes that he committed.
6 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Surprisingly good.. my favorite Fulci so far, 2 May 2001 Author: retro-45 from USA
This was a good version of the Poe story. Not quite as bloody as Fulci's other flicks, and it didn't really need to be. It tells its tale of a man who records the dead conversing (!) while his cat commits murders convincingly, and the way they present the cat as the master over the man is very fetching. The only problem with this movie-- (shudder) the EYEBALL CAM!! Wayyyy too many close-ups of a man's eyes (pause for 3-5 seconds), then to the cat's eyes (pause another 3-5 seconds) and repeat ad nauseum.Arrrgh!!! But if you can put up with that here and there, you'll be pleased with Fulci's best offering (in my opinion).
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Not A Film For Gorehounds, But Not Terrible, 3 January 2006 Author: ellamichelle from United States
Before anyone who hasn't seen this film gets excited that the adaptation of a short story helps Fulci keep hold of his often slippery grasp on the plot, "The Black Cat" has very little to do with Poe's tale until the last 15 or so minutes, and thus is full of the narrative craters B horror fans know and love.The basic plot of the film is that a Scotland yard detective (David Warbeck) and an American photographer (Mimsy Farmer) investigate a series of "accidents" in a quiet English village. All clues point to an eccentric local medium(Patrick Magee), but the real mystery is the connection between the psychic and the black cat that seems to show up at the scene of each crime.Lacking the trademark Fulci gore(what there is is very brief), the film focuses on atmosphere. There are a few nice touches (in widescreen format the cat's eye view stalking scenes and the close ups of character's eyes to show emotion work very well), but what keeps the mood from ever really taking off is the cat itself. Given enough screen time to be billed as a full cast member, Fulci never really succeeds in making the animal look possessed or menacing.In most of its close ups it looks like your average house cat, albeit a bit peeved that you were late with the kibbles and bits. The cheesy snarling sound effects every time it attacks don't help either.The humans leads are no better (across the board wooden acting), with Magee forced to carry viewer interest in the film by hamming it up as much as possible. Helped along by the overly zealous score, it's amazing that this movie manages not to be as silly as "Touch Of Death".Overall an amusing trifle, but those looking for gore are better served by just about any other Fulci horror film and those interested in atmosphere are much better served by watching "The Beyond", where the director truly mastered the form.4.5 stars
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: It may not be Fulci's best, but I like it, 20 May 2005 Author: bensonmum2 from Tennessee
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
- Fulci's The Black Cat is "freely adapted" from Poe's story. I suppose that "freely adapted" means that the last 10 minutes might bear a vague resemblance. The Black Cat is the story of a man who uses his psychic abilities to force his cat to kill for him. But the tables soon turn when the man tries to kill the cat. The cat becomes master and uses the man.- The more Fulci I see, the more impressed I become. I started out with a couple that many people list among their favorites (The House by the Cemetery and City of the Living Dead) and neither did anything for me. But now that I've seen The Beyond, The Black Cat, A Lizard in Woman's Skin, and Don't Torture a Duckling, my opinion has changed. I now see the genius of Fulci that I've heard others rave about over the years. The Black Cat may not be his best, but it's an enjoyable Gothic thriller with loads of atmosphere. While the gore quotient may be turned down, there's still a few scenes that are undeniably Fulci.- Patrick Magee, in one of his final roles, gives a very solid performance as the mad psychic. He effectively displays a wide array of emotions and is generally believable in each. Magee really was in the same class with the likes of Karloff when it came to portraying menace. Mimsy Farmer co-stars as a photographer who is as dull as dishwater.- The cinematography is another area that stands out. Sergio Salvati presents some very noteworthy camera work. Chief among the scenes that stand out are the ones shot from the cat's point of view. The way the camera moves through the grass just as a cat would are very nicely done.- The weakest point of the movie, as is so often the case with Italian horror, is the plot. Much of it makes little sense. For example, why does Magee really want these people dead? There's no clear motivation from what I could tell. Also, there are several plot threads that look interesting, but are not explored in any detail. The example I'll cite here is the exploration of the ruins. They look interesting, but we learn nothing about them and only see them in one ten minute stretch of the movie.
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Interesting and atmospheric but...., 20 April 2001 Author: Paul English from Ireland
"The Black Cat" is an interesting and atmospheric 'stab' at being an English Gothic film. The first half is has more gore and succeeds in heightening the suspense only for a rather ineffective summation and climax. Patrick Magee plays the part of a median who controls the mind of a cat.The deaths are suitably impressive and deserved by the characters concerned aside from the supremely sexy Mrs Grayson (Giallo/Sleaze/Horror favorite Dagmar Lassander) who never fails to 'light up' the screen.Not Fulci's best; but reasonably enjoyable nonetheless.6/10 (I refuse to grade films out of four stars)
6 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Pretty good horror film from the Godfather of Gore., 7 March 2005 Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland
Psychic medium Professor Robert Miles is paid a visit by a young photographer named Jill Travers whom wishes to return a piece of the professor's equipment she has found in an underground tomb.Miles wastes no time in attempting to hypnotize the woman,but is interrupted by the pestering cat as it inflicts deep scratches into the man's hand.Jill responds with a hurried exit,and soon after meets Inspector Gorley who employs her as a crime-scene photographer in the investigation of a rash of fatal accidents that have recently befallen the sleepy village.She discovers cat-like scratches on one of the hand of one of the victims,and soon learns that a black cat has been present during all of the incidents.Curiosity leads the photographer back to Miles' estate,where she learns the history of the old man's estranged relationship with the black cat."The Black Cat" by Lucio Fulci is an atmospheric horror film that works despite its relative absence of graphic gore.The cast is pretty familiar for fans of Eurohorror including David Warbeck,Patrick Magee,Mimsy Farmer,Dagmar Lassander,Al Cliver and Daniela Doria to boost.The English setting provides plenty of creepy atmosphere and the photography by Sergio Salvati is excellent.Give it a look,if you are a fan of Lucio Fulci.7 out of 10.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Underrated Fulci classic, 2 April 2006 Author: Tim Hayes from Perth, Ontario, Canada
It's too bad that Lucio Fulci's The Black Cat never really caught on. The film is really a departure for Fulci in many ways and would have marked a decided difference to his canon had he made more films like it. True, there are the requisite gore scenes that one expects from a Fulci film, but these are all quite tame compared to say City Of The Living Dead. What Fulci is doing here is creating actual suspense and atmosphere. In fact, The Black Cat would have made a fine addition to the Hammer series had it been funded by that company as much of its style and look bear a resemblance to those films. Whatvever way you cut it, the film is a slice above most of Fulci's work and deserves to be put up with his gore classics as one of his better films.
5 out of 8 people found the following review useful: The Cat kills curiosity...and everybody else, 7 December 2005 Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
In between all his gory highlights of that period ("The Zombie Flesh Eaters", "The Beyond", "City of the Living Dead"...), the masterful Lucio Fulci – this man is a God in my book – took the time to direct this stylish, Poe-inspired thriller, supposedly as a routine mandate he didn't really care for. Devoted or not, Fulci delivers another fascinating gem of Italian horror cinema, mean and bloody but mostly emphasizing on suspense and morbid atmosphere. The titular black cat is presented as a full cast member (I'm surprised she's not credited on the DVD-cover!), terrorizing the inhabitants of a small English town. The animal's owner, a tormented spiritual medium, is suspected of committing the strange murders in town but it looks like the cat is primarily HIS nemesis and he can't get rid of the devilish no matter what he tries. "The Black Cat" is a compelling film despite the silly premise and many plot holes and it's the only Fulci film in which you pray for a little less gore so that you can focus on the substance more! The gore still can't be ignored, though, as we're treated to impalement, skin-melting fires, a nasty car accident and multiple virulent cat-attacks! The sequence in which the feline stalks (and kills) a drunk villager who saw too much is almost like a lesson in genuine tension. Bravo Lucio! Patrick Magee ("A Clockwork Orange" and multiple B-horror classics) looks familiar with his role of crazy cat owner and Mimsy Farmer ("Autopsy") is very good as the American photographer unraveling the supernatural mystery. To finish up, there are some neat and unexpected plot twists, a moody score and some very imaginative camera-work. Although visually less overpowering than Fulci's other contemporary achievements, "the Black Cat" surely ranks amongst his best work. The ending remains fantastic, no matter how many times I've seen it already in other Gothic horror movies. Recommended bigtime!
5 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Murderous Moggy Madness!, 5 July 2004 Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England
This is, without a doubt, my all time favorite movie about a homicidal cat. The cat is the main masterpiece of this movie; it is personified beautifully, Lucio Fulci gives the cat it's own character which makes the whole piece very eerie indeed. The idea of having a cat, especially one that looks as evil as the one in this movie, doing the killing is different, fun and strangely, it works! The murders that the cat commits are inventive and imaginative and overall, this is a very decent movie, which deserves a lot more praise than it's getting.Lucio Fulci has directed a few movies that have won high praise among horror fanatics; The Beyond and Zombie Flesh Eaters, most notably, but this movie easily deserves equal praise. Unlike the majority of Fulci's repertoire, The Black Cat is low gore and relies more on the Gothic and eerie atmosphere to deliver it's scares - and it works a treat. The film, based on a story by the master of Gothic horror, Edgar Allen Poe, is set in a quiet town in England and follows the story of Professor Robert Miles (Patrick Magee) that is able to control the mind of his cat in order to take out his vengeance on various people. One of the best things about this movie is the way that the relationship between man and cat is presented. We can almost feel the antagonism between the two characters, shown by the cat attacking Magee, and him saying that the cat will eventually kill him. This movie features some sequences that are at the very top of horror cinema, most notably the very creepy and atmospheric sequence in which Magee attempts to strangle the malevolent animal. Lucio Fulci is able to direct this scene so it both believable and frightening. His direction throughout this movie is competent and throughout the movie, it is surprising that this is a movie by the same man that brought us the disgusting zombie gore-fests due to it's level of constraint.Overall, The Black Cat is an excellent slice of horror cinema that is unfairly criticized and criminally overlooked. Fulci fans may not like it because of the lack of gore, but if you like creepy, atmospheric horror films, you will love The Black Cat.
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