Il gatto nero

This is one of those movies that tries hard to have a plot, but kinda veers off in different directions for the sake of horror and imagery. The "Black Cat" title came from the U.S. Producers using their licensing rights...a cat shows up, but nothing to do with the plot! The 'Three Mothers' references are kinda cool (including a small bit of Goblin's main "Suspiria" theme thrown in for good measure), but If anything, this film is closer in spirit to the "Demons" movies by Lamberto Lava..a creepy score, hard rock soundtrack, lots of blood, gore & goo, ugly ghouls & beautiful women, especially the ALWAYS gorgeous Caroline Munro..what more do you need? Just turn your brain off and enjoy it for what it is!

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.

'Black Cat' (1989) (aka 'Demons 6: De Profundis') I saw this today on Amazon Prime Videos. It's an Italian made horror film. This description intrigued me "Ann Pritcher is a new mother and actress in her husband's film. A film about a terrible witch, Levana, whom Ann is playing. But when Ann starts researching the part of Levana, she is haunted by visions." I like older Italian made horror films like those starring Barbara Steele. Often they had a haunting Gothic look and off beat stories compared to run of the mill American made movies. I cut all foreign films some slack because maybe the English dubbing isn't always the best and the film might be better in its native language. This film even beyond the laughable dubbed English is a total mess. The effects are laughable and the story is dragged out with nothing of real interest to it. Who ever did this seems obsessed with bright neon like lights for a scary effect. They like to have the bright light, especially green, emitting from windows, refrigerators, drinking glasses, eyes...everything but the black cat's butt. And the gore was also laughable. They also seem to like using green goo...just looks like pea soup. I don't like overly gory films, this didn't bother me because it was so phony looking. It seems anyone using the title 'Black Cat' or the like can pretend it's based on a story by Edar Allen Poe to attract viewers. About the only tie in to this is Mr. Poe's name may have been mentioned someplace in the dialog. Frankly this film, and I use the word "film" loosely, was not worth my time. I give it a 0 rating but the IMDb forces me to make 1 the lowest.

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.

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.