Awesome Movie

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

****SPOILERS*** One of Dario Argento's lesser known movie despite it's top shelf American cast has to do with a number of murders that are connected to this genetic medical institute involving human genes effect of a person's violent behavior due to his or her chromosome imbalance. And in how by finding and studying them can prevent the person, by being isolated from society, from growing up to become a mass or serial murderer. That's about as far as the movie goes in genetic research when someone who's obviously effected by the chromosome imbalance in his brain goes on a murder spree to prevent this finding, chromosome imbalance, from becoming public. Not only that he's obviously an homicidal lunatic but that finding that out will in a way, by having him discovered and put away, financially bankrupt him as well.It's blind former ace reported Franco Arno, Karl Malden, and his not so willing at first, he thinks he's off his rocker, partner and fellow reporter Carlo Giordani, James Franciscus, who get on this very strange and confusing case after member of the genetic institute Dr. Calabresi, Carlo Alighiero, was pushed to his death from a train platform where the entire incident was photographed by news photographer Righetto, Vittorio Congia. It's Reghetto who unknowingly cropped out the most important detail in the photo, a hand that pushed Calabrise to his death, that after discovering it lead to his own murder. it now becomes apparent that someone at the institute is trying to hide the results of the chromosome study from the public and get, by murdering everyone involved in it, all the glory and credit for it all for himself!****SPOILERS**** Karl Malden as the blind former news reporter Franco Arno is missing for almost the entire movie after he made his grand appearance with his 11 year old niece Lori, Cinzia De Carolis, at the beginning of the film. He only shows up, as if he was awakened up from his sleep by the films director, in the last few moments of the movie. With him confronting the killer after his partner Carlo Ciordani did all the heavy lifting as well as leg work, and almost getting his brains beat out in the process, and with the help of his walking stick does the guy in. The sad fact in all this is that the reason he did the murderer in had nothing at all to do what he accused him of! In that his niece Lori who was kidnapped was at the time alive and well, after being rescued by the police, when he thought she was murdered! And thus prevented the killer, like Lee Harvey Oswald the suspect in the JFK assassination, from getting a fair trial and letting justice, not blind vengeance, prevail!

"Cat O' Nine Tails" which was directed by none other than Dario Argento and followed on from the brilliance of "The Bird With The Crystal Plummage", this marks another highlight in his filmography and beautifully shot and fantastically produced, giving us another exciting chapter in his animal trilogy.Like the first part the plot again revolves around a murder mystery, and okay this doesn't quite have the style of his other works, but it's definitely an interesting effort. Plot wise this has all the usual giallo trappings with plenty of twists and turns and many red herrings. It starts off with a blind man Franco and his niece Lori who are out walking one night and overhear a conversation between two men in a parked car, Lori sees one but the other is hidden by darkness. Then that same evening a robbery occurs and later leads to several murders. So Franco and Lori enlist the help of a reporter Carlo to unravel the mystery.Like I said this may lack Dario's usual visual style, but it does pack a punch and keeps the viewer interested as the plot of the movie starts to unravel and events take place, and yes at times does become predictable, like when a character knows who the killer is, only to be bumped off straight away, but the deaths lack the usual gore set pieces, therefore not being as violent, but we do get a shot of the killer's eyes which was quite thrilling and well shot. The nine leads hence from the title is another interesting aspect of the movie, but kinda goes off point and all over the place and we are then introduced to sub plots that go nowhere, okay they can be passed off as red herrings, and then there's the eventual reveal of the killer, which wasn't as shocking as it should have been, but the chase and other plot points leading to it was quite intense though.The acting in this is pretty solid the relationship between Carlo and Franco was quite spot on and excellently played by Karl Malden and James Francisous, and both strike up a likable quality which makes you want them to succeed and of course Catherine Spaak was very glamorous and seductive in her role as Anna Terzi, even though her part was pretty small, but still memorable.All in all "Cat O' Nine Tails" isn't as bloody or sleazy as the usual giallo thrillers which isn't a bad thing and still has a good plot, decent acting and plenty of fun and a definite highlight in Dario's filmography.

Great Directors can Suffer from Self Comparison among the General Public and Ardent Fans. That is, a Particular Movie is Compared to the Auteur's Other Work and Not the Work of Others. Such has been the Case with this one, the Director's Second Film where He is Obviously Finding His Niche and has yet to Develop the Pure Style and Momentum of His Later Work.Fans are Divided on this one and if Viewed in Context with the Filmography one can see Why. The biggest Problem, if Someone is Looking for a Problem, is the Pacing. It Tends to Linger and Drag in Spots. It's also fairly Long and that Doesn't Help. But there are enough Scenes of Excellence and the Plot, while a bit Dense, is Intriguing.The Train Platform Scene, among others, are Unmistakably Argento and the Odd Music can Unsettle in Parts. James Franciscus and Karl Malden are better than OK and the Little Girl is more than Fine. Argento Newbies, Do Not Start Here! This one takes some Patience and the Director has said it is one of His Least Favorites, perhaps His Worst. But even His Worst is Better than Most. Definitely Worth a Watch even for Casual Fans and Argento Cultists will want to see it for an Example of His Early Work and for Comparison.

I saw this on The Horror Channel.Having seen a few Dario Argento horror flicks on this channel now, I would dare say that Cat O' Nine Tails is the most restrained, at least in the gore/violence stakes, of those I've watched. There are moments of extreme but swift, clever nasty bits, though.I guess you'll be watching this cos it is by this so-influential 'Italian Hitchcock' maestro rather than for its story, but having said that, it's decently far-fetched enough but with enough relevance to paranoia around government testing of miracle drugs and all that...It looked to me to have been made in English, rather than dubbed, or could just that the brilliant, understated performance by Karl Malden was and everyone else were dubbed after. He plays a blind, retired journalist, who has a young orphaned girl as his visual aide and along with a current newspaper reporter,(James Franciscus) they uncover all these secrets after a man, they suspect, was pushed under a train, rather than falling and then, other murders.I'm no expert on the horror genre but would dare say that this still has signs of the director's visual stylish daring, but is less operatic than some of his, being more workmanlike and 'American'. It still works well, but is more akin to a crime thriller than out-and-out horror, though we do get moments of terror and suspense and the odd twist in the tale.This might be a lesser Argento (number of reviews and score on IMDb) but is still a heap better than many Hollywood affairs but somehow, doesn't have that magic ingredient that his best movies have. Quite good, but not great.