Dead Eyes

Luigi Cozzi's The Black Cat is a weird film! And it's not just the film itself, the release and marketing are a little strange too. The film was released as Demons 6 (apparently a fifth sequel to Lamberto Bava's 1985 original) and also as a second sequel to Dario Argento's masterpiece; thus making it Suspiria 3. The film actually does mention Suspiria and Dario Argento by name; but if it's any relation to the 1977 classic; then it can really only be considered a spin off because the film doesn't follow on from either Suspiria or the legitimate sequel Inferno. In style, the film much more closely resembles Lamberto Bava's film; although the 'Demons 6' title was clearly just to help the film sell. Anyway, the plot focuses on a horror movie production; and the film is to be based on a book called Suspiria de Profumis, which Dario Argento's film was also based on (apparently, there's enough material for 100 movies!). The film is to focus on a witch named Levana; but for some reason, the production causes the witch to come alive; and the lead actress is the only one who can stand in her way.

It has to be said, this film is a real mess. Things 'just happen' time and time again and I was left constantly scratching my head. How do you make a film about a witch going around killing people confusing? Well, I guess you'd have to ask Luigi Cozzi. The influence of Lamberto Bava's Demons is clear and obvious throughout; the gore is very similar to that featured in the earlier film and Cozzi has jam packed this film with cheesy eighties hair metal. Actually the atmosphere of the film is one of it's only saving graces; the director utilises a good colour scheme and the feel of The Black Cat is gritty and foreboding at times. The acting is typically weak; but while trying to work out what the hell is going on, most people probably wont notice. The witch featured is surely one of the most ridiculous things in the film. I have no idea how this production ever got to use Argento's name and call itself a sequel to Suspiria; but the fact that it did is surely blasphemy. Overall, this film is entertaining in an odd sort of way; but it's not a good film by any stretch of the imagination.

Demons 6 (1989)

* (out of 4)

Here's yet another example of the Italian horror genre and their crazy titles. Lamberto Bava made DEMONS and DEMONS 2 but when DEMONS 3 had its title changed to THE CHURCH the producers then took Bava's THE ORGE and made it DEMONS III. Then, for no reason, Michael Soavi's THE SECT was released as DEMONS 4 while Mr. Bava made THE DEVIL'S VEIL, which was pretty much a remake of his father's BLACK Sunday, only it was released under the fake title of DEMONS 5. Then, that same year, director Luigi Cozzi made a film called THE BLACK CAT, which then was released as DEMONS 6. Oh yeah, Cozzi also intended this to be the third chapter of Dario Argento's at the time incomplete "Three Mothers" series, which had SUSPIRIA and INFERNO. I'm certain most fans aren't going to consider this to have anything to do with the Argento movies and I think it's fair to say that in reality there are only two movies in the DEMONS series. The rest were simply named to cash in on something.

The film has an actress (Florence Guerin) and her director husband (Urbano Barberini) getting ready to make a movie based on the witch in SUSPIRIA. They plan on making the movie but the actress/wife begins to be haunted by the witch who doesn't want a movie based on her. Soon bodies are starting to pile up as the actress slowly loses her mind and crosses over into the world of possession. No matter if you call this DEMONS 6 or THE BLACK CAT, there's no denying that this is one major disaster that doesn't work on any level let alone fit in with the Argento films or even the earlier DEMONS flicks. There are several scenes where the Argento movie is mentioned so director Cozzi certainly wanted to at least link his films to SUSPIRIA but let's get real here. This is just a major hack fest that doesn't have a single thing going for it. For starters the screenplay is a downright joke as it never really makes too much sense. We start off with the actress making a version of Poe's The Black Cat and then we jump back and forth to other events. Most of her visions have the witch showing up in a mirror and one sequence has the mean witch puking up green slime and blood. There are a couple gory deaths scenes but they too look incredibly silly including one where a woman's heart begins beating so fast that it explodes out of her chest. Another throat slashing doesn't impress either. The performances are hard to judge thanks in large part to the horrid dubbing but Euro favorites Caroline Munro and Brett Halsey appear as another actress and producer.

Where can I start with this movie. Okay, this movie has had many titles such as "Demons 6", "The Black Cat", "Armaggedon", and the list goes on. None of the titles for the movie make any sense.

The movie starts out with a director planning to make a film about a witch called "Levana". His basis for the movie is based off of Dario Argento's "Susperia". The director decides that he is going to cast his wife as the lead in the movie. Well, apparently there is a real witch named Levana and she is not to happy with this whole project and decides to make the directors wife a living hell.

The main problems with this movie are continuity and pace. I will admit that this is a very atmosphere flick but the whole movie still falls flat on its face. There are so many moments in this flick where I had to say out loud "What the hell is going on?". For instance, many scenes just tend to wander off in to space. Literally, the camera has shots out in space and on the moon. This has nothing to do with what's going on in the movie and if it does, someone correct me because I haven't figured it out.

The pace of the film would seem to at points move farely well but for the most part the scenes just start to drag and you could care less with what's happening. The beginning of the movie is a prime example. The characters are introduced and the story starts to develop but then things just start to fall to pieces right before your very eyes.

The acting in the movie is rather humorous at moments. A certain scene when the director and his assistant meet the man who wants to produce the movie is rather hysterical. And almost all of the scenes with Lavana in them are laugh out loud funny.

I think the main thing that saves this movie is a decent original score (I'm not talking about the bad hair metal in the background) and a few moments of gore. It seems that the director of the movie (Luigi Cozzi) still loves to have people having their organs blown to pieces. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, watch Contamination.

All in all, could have been a much better film. 4/10 stars

Il Gatto Nero aka The Black Cat does not belong to the best horror movies Italian style, but still - the atmosphere is dark and creepy, the visuals top notch for a B-movie of the early 80s, on top we get some hand-made gore (not that CGI-nonsense of modern days). The story is maybe a little too confusing and misses some momentum here and there, but anyway, The Black Cat is classic horror Italian style and beats most of today's Hollywood "horror" movies easy, and it got that shot of nightmare-like state that makes it rather special. Recommended if works of Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi and Dario Argento are regulars on your menu.

I am usually very "forgiving" when it comes to horror movies, to the point where I can acknowledge and value the general idea and overlook the narrative flaws. If the film as a whole is fun to watch, it has a well developed atmosphere and it features a decent amount of horror elements, I'm pretty much okay with it ... but the story has to make SOME sense, at least. Well, "The Black Cat" (or any of the many other titles that this movie has) is an example of a flick that is just frustrating to sit through. Director Luigi Cozzi may not entirely be at fault, perhaps the producers forcibly squeezed things into the movie for the sole purpose of shock value... or something. I have read many times that several directors end up unhappy with the final results of their films, because they were asked to add random creatures, murders or over-the-top sequences, even if they only add confusion to the story, just to make the film more marketable. I don't know the reasons behind this mess, but this is just a really confusing and convoluted film that had no business being that way, because it could have been told in a much simpler way. Actually, the first half an hour of the film is decent and it keeps it simple, but "The Black Cat" progressively becomes more and more random, to the point where inexplicable situations just happen constantly, and eventually, you just stop even trying to make any sense out of it (at least, I know I did). I can only assume that several random sequences and shots were probably added at the last minute because it was unused footage from a different film and they didn't want to let it go to waste. It's the only reasonable explanation I can come up with.

As for the photography, the director clearly took inspiration in Dario Argento's "Suspiria" and "Inferno" (both films are referenced here), but the strident color scheme ends up being a little bit over the top. Besides the artificial color palette, the use of CGI, which is very frequent during the second half of the film, cheapens the visuals considerably and it could have been a lot better without it.

A few creative deaths and stylish sequences don't save this film from being a big pile of randomness, so, skip this, unless you just want to have a good laugh. "The Black Cat" is just a frustrating experience and a waste of time.