La morte negli occhi del gatto

"Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye" (1973) is a very unusual kind of giallo film, taking place as it does not in modern times, but rather in what appears to be the early 20th century. Is it a giallo or is it a Gothic murder mystery with a high body count? I suppose the answer must be "Who cares?" when a picture is as fun as this one. The film shows us what happens when the young, pretty Corringa (Jane Birkin) returns to her aunt's ancestral Scottish castle of Dragonstone after an extended absence; namely, a series of increasingly bizarre murders amongst the oddball inmates of the house. The picture combines some slightly graphic homicides (you know how many, and which household pet witnesses them, from the film's title, right?) with vampire lore, some hinted-at lesbianism, a maddened orangutan (who looks like a "Jungle Jim" gorilla), ravenous rats, bats, secret passageways, cemetery exploits, and incest to make one wild and heady melange. The film also features stylish direction by Antonio Margheriti, as well as gorgeous set decoration (the picture is very handsomely produced) that is shown to good advantage on this stunning-looking DVD from Blue Underground (although it's a shame that no subtitles option is offered). And how nice to see Anton Diffring, whose performance in 1960's "Circus of Horrors" so impressed me, here again playing another suave slimeball! As regards the potential viewer of "Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye" and his or her ability to guess the identity of the killer, my advice would be to not even try. Just emulate the titular tabby, sit back and enjoy the show!

"La morte..." has all the ingredients of a horror movie, but isn't one. It tells the story of Corringa (Jane Birkin) who arrives at a castle to meet her relatives. Soon after, several people are murdered, and the only witness is a cat - who unfortunately cannot tell anything, but is mentioned in the movie title, anyway ;-). Tales about vampires are told, candles are flickering, Corringa has strange nightmares, while rats discover another corpse in the dark cellar - you get the picture, it's as gothic as gothic can be. Director Margheriti ("E Dio disse a Caino") and cinematographer Carlini ("Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide") shared the same stylistic obsession, it seems. The castle is full of scary details, and they put it to the best use. One direct quote from "Once Upon A Time In the West", unexpectedly, with Hiram Keller and Jane Birkin replaying Henry Fonda and Claudia Cardinale, try if you can discover it. This little-known movie was a pleasant surprise for me, as I have watched a couple of really bad movies from the same director (but good ones, too). "La morte..." has atmosphere, tension, baroque visuals. It's got a lot more in common with Hammer Draculas than the usual 70s Italian slasher flicks.

Quite standard Spaghetti slasher is nowhere near excellent, but also too far from awful to merit serious critical assault. The usual Gothic castle goings-on are given no special treatment here, and the psycho-killer's carnage is strictly PG on the shocks and gore board.

This film is, moreover, surprisingly atmospheric. The mossy, rustic exterior of the castle, as well as its rich baroque antique decorum, make for a great looking European horror setting. Too bad, though, that the film never really gains much momentum...I found myself looking around the room after the first 30 minutes. Fortunately, the fairly intense closing scenes make up heartily for these shortcomings.

SEVEN DEATHS is a watchable enough seventy-odd minutes, but if you're an unwaning viewer of connate movies, then chances are you've seen all this done before, and probably more successfully.

*** Were they feeding that cat bacon-wrapped tater-tots or something? That thing was a freakin' tank!

5/10

A nice Italian Gothic semi-giallo in which it is remarkable to see French singer Serge Gainsbourg play a Scottish speaking (dubbed) police-inspector. The next remarkable role is of course played by the beautiful Jane Birkin - well, not the role itself so much, but Birkin is. Hard to miss also (in a negative way) is that man in the monkey suit... who thought up that one?

Very pleasant camera-work (although some parts were a bit too dark), a highly effective soundtrack (Ortolani) and a beautiful setting in and around a Scottish castle (+ adjacent graveyard) make this a thoroughly enjoyable feat. But, as often is the case with many Italian films like these, the story is quite far fetched, and that gorilla did not help.

But, given the fact that there is also some naughtiness and gore to be enjoyed, my rating must at least be on the plus side.

A ravenous beast alllegedly slaughters people in a small Scottish village. And at a nearby castle appear more murdered bodies, and suspects fall upon the inhabitants. At the mysterious castle arrives a young student, Jane Birkin, to find her mother. As the strange residents are haunted by a bizarre curse involving a rare cat and a killer gorilla. Who is the murderer.. ...perhaps a suspicious servant : Luciano Pigozzi nicknamed Allan Collins or the Italian Peter Lorre, a strange young : Hiram Keller, a lecherous doctor : Anton Driffing , a priest : Franco Ressel, a beautiful girl : Doris Kunstmann, or Lady Alicia : Dana Ghia, or Father Robertson : Venantino Venantini. Later on, a police inspector, Serge Gainsbourgh-in real life married to Jane Birkin- investigates the weird deeds. Death means nothing to the beast with nine lives.This flick reveals a little known fact about felines.

Terror movie based on a novel by Peter Bryan, in which mingles ordinary Italian Giallo with Gothic horror, taking parts here and there of these genres. Creepy movie packs thrils, chills, eerie details , baroque scenarios , gore and blood. The plot is plain and simple, in a small Scottish village terrible killed corpses keep showing up, and suspicion falls on the residents of a nearby chateau. This is a very dark tale of killings with a fantastic horror backdrop and so-so filmmaking from Anthony M Dawson. It stars the beautiful Jane Birkin, she is well-suited for the role of a young girl who finds horrible happenings. Adequate cinematography by Carlo Carlini, shot on location in Castello Massimo Arsoli, Rome and Incir de Paolis, Rome, Lazio. And frightening and thrilling musical score by the prolific Riz Ortalani.

The motion picture was professionally directed by terror expert Antonio Margheritti, though it displays some failures and flaws. Antonio often used pseudonym Anthony M Dawson, he was born in Italy 1930 and passed away in 2002 . Italian writer director of horror and exploitation films, a former university engineering student who began shooting in 1956. Antonio directs with ordinary aplomb and being especially known for films as Yor, Virus and Horror castle. He was specialist in model-making, optical effects , FX, miniature as floods, scale models and explosions . He directed all kinds of genres such as wartime :The last hunter, Tornado, Codename Wild geese, Der Commander, Command Leopard . SCIFi :War of planets , Planet of the prowl, Criminal of the galaxy, Yor the hunter from the future, Treasure planet . Spaghetti Western as Joko, Dynamite Joe, The stranger and the gunfighter, Take a hard ride, Ghosts go west, Joe implacable, God said to Cain. Terror as Virgin of Nuremberg, Cannibal Apocalypse, Alien from deep, Flesh for Frankenstein. Action :Operation Goldman, Indio, The squeeze, Cyberflic. Rating :5.5/10. Acceptable and passable.