Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of The Black Cat. Before we get into it, here are my ratings:
Story - 1.25
Direction - 1.25
Pace - 1.25
Acting - 0.75
Enjoyment - 1.00
TOTAL - 5.50
This version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic is not the best. However, nor is it the worst. And it even has some original concepts.
The writer and director, Harold Hoffman, gives the audience a passable and enjoyable horror flick. I appreciated the fact he made the villain a writer of the macabre: A slight nod to Poe, respect for that. But this writer is not so successful, and his money is just enough to keep him and his wife in the family home. He begins to work more and more. As he works at night, his wife is upset at not seeing too much of him. Slowly he starts to turn to drink. With the drink comes his cold callousness towards his pets, the black cat in particular, who he mains by plucking out its eye. The newly developed violence is one of the original concepts I mentioned. It shows the writer's slow change into an uncaring, brutal, dispassionate, and depressed alcoholic. Meaning, that things won't end well for his loving wife or the black cat. The other original element I relished was the band. The writer slinks off work to go and get drunk at his local club. Luckily for the viewer, the band who are playing are damn good. They even sing a couple of tunes you may know - Bo Diddly and Brown-Eyed Man. Then later, after he's relieved the cat of his right eye, he goes back to the club, and the band are now wearing eyepatches...over their right eyes. And the song they have chosen to sing is Sinner Man. "The Devil's gonna get you for all the evil that you have done." And the last original element is the ending itself, where the black cat gets his ultimate revenge.
Hoffman proves to be as good a director as a writer. His pacing is varied and creates a rollercoaster flow of tension, mystery, and action. And his eye for creating an eerie atmosphere with light and shadow is near perfect. It helps that he is filming in black and white to add an extra chill.
Unfortunately, the cast is not as skilled as Hoffman. Maybe he should have played all the roles himself! Most verge on the sinful side of average, except for the lead, Robert Frost. Frost appears to have learnt his trade at the HAM School of Over-Acting. OMG, everything Frost does is over the top and horrid. From his facial expressions to his screaming fits to the delivery of his crucial dialogue. It's this awfulness that hinders the film the most. It's a shame Hoffman couldn't pull more out of his cast.
The Black Cat, however, remains enjoyable, though, with a better cast and a less substantial soundtrack, which seems to be from another film, it could have been a classic. If you are a fan of Poe, I would say, give this film a look-see, as I would if you've watched any of the other Black Cat films. But if you're just a horror fan, make a note of it so you can come back to it later. It's worth one watch - but not the rush to watch it.
Feel free to check out my Absolute Horror and Monstrous lists to see where I have ranked The Black Cat.
Take Care & Stay Well.
