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The Black Cat

Original title: Gatto nero
  • 19811981
  • RR
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
3.8K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
24,532
3,221
The Black Cat (1981)
"IT PURRS, IT STALKS, IT KILLS!

We all know director Lucio Fulci for his depraved nasties like New York Ripper, but if you're wondering why in France he's held in the same esteem as Hitchcock, then the deliciously eerie The Black Cat is a great place to start.
Inspired by the Edgar Allen Poe tale, this black cat is a malevolent moggy that stalks through a sleepy English town appearing to fulfil the murderous wishes of its owner, the sinister psychic medium Professor Miles (Patrick Magee in fine deranged form). What Professor Miles has not reckoned on is his cat turning him into the next mouse to slowly kill!

High on gothic atmospheric thanks to the moody cinematography of Sergio Salvati, this unusual Fulci tale of claustrophobic terror is a little seen gem that compares to the best output of the Hammer and Amicus studios.

THE BLACK CAT is released uncut on DVD by Shameless Screen Entertainment. The film will be presented remastered in 1.85:1 with English 2.0 sound. Also included on the disc is a Shameless original trailer gallery.
Play trailer0:57
1 Video
64 Photos
Horror
A professor with the psychic ability to communicate with the dead uses his powers on his pet cat in order to take vengeance upon his enemies.A professor with the psychic ability to communicate with the dead uses his powers on his pet cat in order to take vengeance upon his enemies.A professor with the psychic ability to communicate with the dead uses his powers on his pet cat in order to take vengeance upon his enemies.
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
3.8K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
24,532
3,221
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Lucio Fulci
    • Writers
      • Biagio Proietti(story)
      • Edgar Allan Poe(story: "The Black Cat")
      • Lucio Fulci(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Patrick Magee
      • Mimsy Farmer
      • David Warbeck
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Lucio Fulci
    • Writers
      • Biagio Proietti(story)
      • Edgar Allan Poe(story: "The Black Cat")
      • Lucio Fulci(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Patrick Magee
      • Mimsy Farmer
      • David Warbeck
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 56User reviews
    • 66Critic reviews

    Videos1

    The Black Cat
    Trailer 0:57
    The Black Cat

    Photos64

    The Black Cat (1981)
    The Black Cat (1981)
    The Black Cat (1981)
    The Black Cat (1981)
    The Black Cat (1981)
    Al Cliver in The Black Cat (1981)
    Dagmar Lassander in The Black Cat (1981)
    Daniela Doria in The Black Cat (1981)
    Mimsy Farmer in The Black Cat (1981)
    Mimsy Farmer in The Black Cat (1981)
    Patrick Magee in The Black Cat (1981)
    Patrick Magee in The Black Cat (1981)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Patrick Magee
    Patrick Magee
    • Prof. Robert Miles
    Mimsy Farmer
    Mimsy Farmer
    • Jill Trevers
    David Warbeck
    David Warbeck
    • Inspector Gorley
    Al Cliver
    Al Cliver
    • Sgt. Wilson
    Dagmar Lassander
    Dagmar Lassander
    • Lillian Grayson
    Bruno Corazzari
    Bruno Corazzari
    • Ferguson
    Geoffrey Copleston
    • Inspector Flynn
    Daniela Doria
    Daniela Doria
    • Maureen Grayson
    • (as Daniela Dorio)
    Lucio Fulci
    Lucio Fulci
    • Doctor
    • (scenes deleted)
    Vito Passeri
    • Warehouse Watchman
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Lucio Fulci
    • Writers
      • Biagio Proietti(story) (screenplay)
      • Edgar Allan Poe(story: "The Black Cat")
      • Lucio Fulci(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The role of Prof. Myles was offered to Peter Cushing, but he refused to accept the part because of director Lucio Fulci's reputation for making gory horror-movies.
    • Goofs
      As Ferguson throws a rock at the black cat during his drunken encounter with the feline in an alley, he misses. The next successive shot shows the rock hitting the cat as it scurries away.
    • Quotes

      Maureen Grayson: The air conditioning is not working - please find the key - I'm frightened.

    • Alternate versions
      The Anchor Bay release is the complete, uncut version of the film.
    • Connections
      Featured in Fulci Flashbacks: Reflections on Italy's Premiere Paura Protagonist (2011)

    User reviews56

    Review
    Top review
    Brilliant Cinematography
    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.
    helpful•12
    3
    • eibon09
    • May 2, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 10, 1984 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Italy
    • Language
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • El gato negro
    • Filming locations
      • Hellfire Caves, West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Italian International Film
      • Selenia Cinematografica
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 32 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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