Note: This Special Edition Blu-ray release is now available courtesy of Arrow Video.
One of the most famous directors in Italian shock cinema is the late, great Lucio Fulci. While he worked in a variety of genres during his career, his late 70s and early 80s horror output is his most remembered. A few months back, Arrow Video released a Blu-ray of one of his less familiar scare efforts, The Black Cat.
It’s an unusual film in that it came right in the middle of his most famous entries. Specifically, just after Zombie (1979) and City of the Living Dead (1980) aka The Gates of Hell, and only a few months before what many consider magnum opus, The Beyond (1981). By comparison, The Black Cat is certainly a weaker effort. However, there are a couple of interesting elements that make it of interest to Fulci aficionados. The screenplay isn’t very good, but there’s oodles of style on display to make up for it.
Adapted from the Edgar Allan Poe story in the loosest manner possible, this feature is set in a tiny village and tells the tale of a malevolent cat with strange powers. The nasty feline taunts his owner, an eccentric professor (Patrick Magee, sporting some crazy eyebrows) who studies the paranormal and believes he can talk to the dead. A local disappearance invites the attention of a London police detective (David Warbeck). Of course, he disbelieves in any sort of otherworldly nonsense. Also caught up in events is a visiting American photographer (Mimsy Farmer), who is recruited into taking pictures of crime scenes.
As mentioned, the story isn’t particularly strong, nor does it make any logical sense. You won’t really get a clear idea as to why the cat picks its victims. Frankly, as violent and cruel as the animal is, in many instances it never really feels like a physical threat. And the movie also falters when it attempts to emulate the most memorable aspect of the Edgar Allan Poe story. The brick wall finale is cut together in a manner that doesn’t build much tension, lead to a rather uninspired close.
What does work is the photography. The locations are gorgeous and cinematographer Sergia Salvati captures them beautifully. There are foggy, night-lit scenes in the movie that look absolutely gorgeous. With a cat as the main antagonist, the camera has a lot of fun, low POV shots and well as some impressive steadycam imagery that follows the cat around on its travels. This widescreen imagery looks great, especially for such a low-budget flick. It’s been impeccably transferred too. As someone who hasn’t seen the movie in more than a decade, this sharpness on display is a big upgrade.
Fulci has always had an eye for disturbing death sequences, and while this effort is more subdued, there are two graphic scenes. One involves a drunken local pursued by the cat who comes to a spike-ridden end. The other involves an individual whose apartment is lit on fire by, you guessed it, the fuzzy feline. These moments are bizarre, yet still effective and disturbing. Amazingly, the striking score is by well-known composer Pino Donaggio (Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Raising Cain). I’m not quite sure how they landed him for the gig, but his melodic theme helps raise the production value tremendously.
Again, the disc is loaded with features. Besides the brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative, both the English and Italian language audio tracks (although in this case, most of the actors speak English, so you’re better with this particular version) and other impressive technical specs, there’s a brand new audio commentary by Fangoria editor Chris Alexander and an informative documentary on the film called From Poe into Fulci. Additionally, there’s a trailer, a featurette on the locations used in the movie, a new interview with actress Dagmar Lassander.
The biggest highlight may be the 70 minute archival interview from 1995 with late actor David Warbeck. While the video quality is poor, this feature is quite insightful. He goes over several of his appearances in Italian genre pictures. Warbeck dishes dirt on how the films were made, his approach to acting and which onscreeen performers were easy (and difficult) to work with. Let’s just say he didn’t get on well with Black Cat co-star Farmer.
Even if it isn’t the greatest picture in the director’s oeuvre, there’s still plenty here for fans of the director (or cheesy Italian horror flicks) to enjoy. These extras really push this release over the top. So while you probably won’t understand why the events in The Black Cat are occurring, but at least they keep your baffled attention with their impressive and well-designed imagery.