Wow! Such a good movie.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Suddenly is quite odd to watch a movie made in England in an italian language,it's sounds pretty weird but it's Fulci's way,sometimes he did it,the story is fine but somehow didn't make sense nearly to final of it,the black cat hanged and buried comes alives seems a bit contrive,nevertheless the picture was well done by the master of gore and certainly was approved by many of Fulci's counteless admires around the world including myself!!!Resume:First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

This is an engaging, interesting Lucio Fulci film that tends to get overlooked a little as it was made during the period where he was mostly making very gory horror films. It's a supernatural thriller made with more restraint on Fulcis' part than usual (not that there isn't any gore; there's still some nice gruesome bits to enjoy). It's full of familiar faces and is filmed on a variety of real English locations and sets.Set in England, it's "freely adapted" from the Edgar Allan Poe tale, as it tells of mysterious deaths occurring in a small country village populated by people such as snooping photographer Jill Trevers (Mimsy Farmer) and Professor Robert Miles (old pro Patrick Magee, in one of his final roles), a crotchety old man attempting to communicate with the dead. As Jill and the intrepid Inspector Gorley (David Warbeck, also of Fulcis' "The Beyond") work the clues, she can't help but notice the cat scratches left on more than one victim. Could a demonic little feline really be the culprit?Beautiful cinematography (by Sergio Salvati), extremely impressive camera-work (by Franco Bruni and Roberto Forges Davanzati), wonderful music by the prolific Pino Donaggio, and a pervasive, weird atmosphere are all assets of this well told, reasonably absorbing mystery. It's certainly fun to watch the cast in this thing. Warbeck is a delight as the cop, Mimsy is very sincere in her performance, Magee is excellent as always, and Fulci regular Al Cliver ("Zombi 2", "The Beyond"), sexy Dagmar Lassander ("The House by the Cemetery"), and the lovely Daniela Doria (recipient of a lot of abuse in Fulci films) round out the cast."The Black Cat" is entertaining stuff that finds its director in fine form, always keeping his audience on edge. He does go for the close-up (of human and feline eyes) an awful lot, but this doesn't distract too much from the various spooky goings on, including one absolutely harrowing scene of a house (and person) catching on fire.Recommended to Fulci fans.Eight out of 10.

Somewhat atmospheric but ultimately a rather pedestrian affair from Fulci. The story is pretty lame and the pacing is off in this "re-imagining" of the Poe classic, which by itself isn't a bad thing 'cause the story has been filmed countless times.Made at the time when Fulci was at full force, making such classics as The Beyond, City of the Living Dead and House By The Cemetery and this one, all in two years time, it is reported that Fulci's heart wasn't all together in this project. Out grabbing a smoke this time around are frequent script collaborator Dardano Sacchetti and composer Fabio Frizzi and, honestly, they're sorely missed. Although Pino Donaggio contributes a solid score, the writing here is below par and Sacchetti, who more or less was responsible for Fulci's nightmarish visions in The Beyond and City of the Living Dead (two very effective horror films), would probably have injected more life into the proceedings and delivered some better dialogue.Dialogue wise, this is pretty stupid. Fulci has some fine talents here; Patrick Magee is menacing as the local medium who has a strange relationship with the black cat, Mimsy Farmer is always welcome in an Italian production and David Warbeck is always likable. But poor dubbing and shitty lines do count for much here, the actors own voices aren't even in sync. Another thing that bothered me here; the cinematography. Sometimes it's scope photography is very effective when it's focusing on the town village which is covered with fog and at times it builds up quite an atmosphere. But the insane (and very frequent) close-ups on the actors eyes is way too much. It happens nearly in every scene to some extent.The pacing here is off and it drags quite a bit, despite only just reaching 90 minutes. In the beginning the story looks promising when Magee is attempting to communicate with the dead (you immediately think of The Beyond and City) but it veers off in another direction altogether once the psychic link between him and the cat starts taking control. That part of the story never really gels (and it's here that the story is similar to Poe's original but it has a twist) and although some of the death sequences are handled well it doesn't make up for the remainder of the film which is a bit too slow and impassionately executed. The ending is also pilfered wholesale from Fulci's earlier The Psychic (aka Seven Notes in Black) and that leaves a nasty aftertaste.I must say, however, that the scenes with the cat are amazing. That's one impressive cat and a damn fine actor to boot. Quite the acrobat and problem solver and I'd be scared of him too.

When a film by this title turned up on Cable TV, I hoped it would be the Fulci version; actually, it was Luigi Cozzi's 1989 stab at the venerable Edgar Allan Poe short story - which I then missed (and now regret having done so, after recently watching Cozzi's fine giallo THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN [1975]). Anyway, even if by the early 80s Fulci was well into his "gorehound" days, this loose adaptation of the much-filmed classic is a generally restrained affair - and all the better for it.Following a less than promising start (with a teenage couple shacking up in a remote cabin), the film settles down to being an atmospheric and fairly interesting psychological thriller (it's neither giallo nor straight horror) with slick cinematography by Sergio Salvati and a fine score by Pino Donaggio. The humans-threatened-by-a-feline plot recalls Hammer Films' THE SHADOW OF THE CAT (1961) and Roger Corman's THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964; based on another Poe tale); actually, Corman had filmed "The Black Cat" as part of his compendium TALES OF TERROR (1962) and, interestingly enough, Fulci borrowed the ending from it for his film - though the director's earlier giallo THE PSYCHIC (1977) had already featured a similarly claustrophobic finale (besides, here he revamped the attack-by-bats from his own A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN [1971])! The familiar cast is well chosen: Italian horror regulars Mimsy Farmer, David Warbeck and (a plumper-than-usual) Dagmar Lassander are okay - but the film belongs to nominal star Patrick Magee (in one of his last roles), whose distinctive voice (making the English-language soundtrack, for once, the version of choice - not that I had any!) and intense countenance (particularly when engaged in his mediumistic activities and the ongoing battle of wits with the sinister title creature) are enough to enliven any film. The voices and sounds from the beyond which he records with his cumbersome and archaic equipment lend the film an eerie tone, which actually complements the supernatural idea that a cat may be able to control a person's actions or vice versa; still, the poltergeist scene following the feline's 'death' at Magee's hands - with its spirit apparently possessing the room inhabited by the Mimsy Farmer character - is rather baffling.In the end, THE BLACK CAT may not be top-tier Fulci but it's a satisfying, indeed underrated, chiller nonetheless - one that's actually superior to most of his better-known and effects-heavy zombie flicks!