Il gatto nero

I have watched a lot of schlock and I really love 80s horror and the stuff coming out of Italy in the 70s and 80s. However, this film has no redeeming qualities, zilch. Most movies have at least 1 or 2 things going for them, be it the effects, the camera work or the atmosphere, but this movie just feels cheap, cheap, cheap.

Story sucks, the actors suck, the English dub sucks, the effects suck, the atmosphere sucks. Even a guy like Cozzi can do better, what were they thinking?

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.

I've just finished watching the late eighties Italian horror The Spider Labyrinth, which was a film devoid of cheese. This film, however, is like watching a slice of Gouda. But there's a place for films like this too, and I enjoyed it.

Some sort of sequel to Suspira/Inferno, it features some film makers getting together to make a film about Levanna, the Mother of Tears. Actress and new mother Ana is all set for the part, probably because her husband is the director, which makes script writer Dan's wife very jealous (and she's played by Caroline Munro, for the record).

Things start getting immediately weird when Ana starts having visions of a grape faced lady (you heard me) coming out of a mirror and attacking here. Seems that Levanna is real and wants to come back into our world, which involves Ana and her baby and that. You know the drill.

I though it was funny when Levanna started haunting Ana's fridge and then formed a vision of a fake repairman coming to fix it! That's just cruel. Also Bret Halsey's in this because perhaps Lucio Fulci had momentarily lost his phone number.

Anyway, the director guy and the screenwriter get in contact with some medium, who warns them off, and that's when Levanna goes nuts and starts wasting everybody, causing the medium's guts to explode out of her body, just like in Cozzi's Contamination! By this time there's also a little girl contacting Ana via a television to help her, but Levanna makes this TV explode and then spew up intestines (you heard me there too).

Things then start getting pretty unpredictable and VERY eighties, visually, but Cozzi may not be the best fan of reality, but he can sure pour on the madness and crazy set pieces. Whether or not this is a better sequel that Mother of Tears is up to you. Both are very cheesy and the later film was a lot gorier, but it also had Asia Argento in it and didn't really have the tone of Suspiria or Inferno, whereas this one is more similar in look and feel. That's up to you.

Luigi Cozzi sure had a thing for Caroline Munro, eh? In this film, you get to see her take a bath, wear lingerie, put varnish on her nails, have sex and get leggy while getting into a car. For the record, my favourite Munro moment is the musical number she does in Don't Open Til Christmas.

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

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!