TheBlackCat

The Black Cat (1981)

There is a black cat that is stalking and killing the inhabitants of a small English Village. The same cat, which belongs to a local psychic, is also apparently trying to kill it’s master. When a police inspector arrives in town to investigate the sudden surge in accidental deaths he ends up recruiting an American woman to help him photograph the scenes of what he eventually feels are crimes. The woman, Jill, is in town to take pictures of the local architecture and eventually stumbles upon the psychic and his cat. Putting the pieces together she begins to understand that something very strange is going on, but is the creature even acting from it’s own intelligence, or is there something else behind the killings?

Fulci’s take on a Poe story, how much cooler could a movie be? Fulci does take some liberties and switches things up, but for me that just keeps things interesting. Especially since I’m very familiar with the Poe story, so instead of knowing what was going to happen next I was guessing and trying to figure out what was going on. Which of course was half the fun of watching the movie. The story is very tight and while it does keep things vague it still makes sense when it reaches the finale. Given how often Fulci films can wander off into some very strange territory this is a good thing. The performances are solid and should be with a cast made up of genre vets Al Cliver (Zombie), David Warbeck (Trog), and in one of his final performances Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange).

I know that I’ve mentioned this before, but I think that so many people get caught up in the gore that they miss the fact that Fulci was a great director. Here the visuals are stunning with some killer camera work. There are several scenes from the cats perspective where it is stalking it’s victims that are slick and work really well. Also I noticed several scenes where doorways were used to frame shots. This is a simple trick, but when done right can be visually interesting. There is also a bit with some mirrors that everyone should look out for. The special effects are good, but be warned the movie isn’t nearly as bloody as some of Fulci’s other films. Though we get to see a couple of cool kills much of the bloody stuff is implied or happens off screen.

The Black Cat is a slick little supernatural mystery that I think everyone should take the time to check out. This is especially the case for those looking to check out a Fulci movie for the first time. Blue Underground has put out a great DVD of the film and is what I watched for this review. For more information about this release and their other killer movies check them out at http://www.blue-underground.com/

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer