The Black Cat (1981)
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- Release Date: April 4, 1981
- Directed by: Lucio Fulci
- Written by: Biagio Proietti and Lucio Fulci
- Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes
Even though I've seen it a few times now, I tend to forget about Lucio Fulci's The Black Cat sometimes. I think the biggest reason for this is because it was released between two classic installments in his Gates of Hell trilogy: City of the Living Dead and The Beyond. With two masterpieces of gory Italian horror on either side of it, the much more reserved Black Cat gets a bit overshadowed in Fulci's filmography. I honestly think that's a little bit unfair, as even though it's not as graphic and trippy as the Gates of Hell films, it's still a fun little horror film all on its own.
The movie is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's short story of the same name, but it only uses small bits of the story here and there. Whereas the story focused on an alcoholic man who abused and killed his cat that then came back to haunt him, this film focuses on a mad psychic who uses his cat to exact his vengeance on the townspeople who alienated him. I love re-interpretation of this story for one big reason: it's the only slasher-ish film I've ever seen where a cat is the killer! This adorable black cat runs a man off the road in his car, causes another man to fall onto a bed of spikes, suffocates two lovers in an air-tight room, and so many other things. It's such a hilarious idea in concept, but Fulci actually manages to make these killer cat sequences pretty engaging. There are a lot of point-of-view shots from the cat with the camera swooping low to the ground, and putting yourself in the perspective of a cat as it torments humans is super fun. The movie actually does adapt some events of the story, such as the hanging of the cat and the burning of a house. Because this film's black cat is such a bloodthirsty little monster, that makes the scenes where he comes back to torment his owner extremely satisfying. I can't gush about this little guy enough!
I mentioned before that this movie is more reserved in the landscape of Italian horror films, and that's true. While there are violent death scenes such as impaling and burning, the bloodshed here is nothing compared to what Fulci was doing with the Gates of Hell films. You don't get anyone vomiting up intestines or plucking out eyeballs in this movie, but you will get a black cat going absolutely berserk with its claws and teeth. Even though it may not be as out-there with its violence, I think the movie makes up for that in its story. I really enjoy the changes made to the original version, such as the cat being a puppet for a human killer. This killer is also able to talk to the dead, and him leaving some equipment in a crypt is what leads our main characters to track him down. Our lead woman and her cop sidekick are both charming and good actors, and it's nice to have some main characters in a Fulci film that aren't complete sleazeballs. Patrick Magee plays the psychic, and he has these amazing hypnotic eyes and crazy eyebrows that add so much to his performance. The first time I saw this, I remember thinking that he looked super familiar, and it turns out he was in various British horror films such as Tales from the Crypt, Asylum, and Demons of the Mind. It's always nice to have an old-school veteran of British horror to add a little bit of flair to your film's cast.
The Black Cat may not be may people's first pick when it comes to Fulci films, but it's still well worth a watch. If you can't get enjoyment out of watching an adorable cat cause car wrecks, impalings, house fires and supernatural occurrences, then I guess you just hate fun. If you own a black cat like I do, do like I did and watch the movie with them in the room. Afterwards, give them plenty of treats and kisses to assure that none of this ever happens to you!