CAT O NINE TAILS / (WS DOL) - CAT O NINE TAILS / (WS DOL)

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Product Description

The Classic Shocker from DARIO ARGENTO, Director of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and SUSPIRIA

When a simple robbery at a research institute leads to a series of brutal murders, a blind puzzle maker (Karl Malden of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE) and a tenacious reporter (James Franciscus of MAROONED) begin their own investigation of the crimes. With nine different clues to follow, they uncover a shocking web of twisted genetics and dark sexual secrets that will finally lead them to a shattering climax of violence and suspense.

Originally released in 1971, THE CAT O'NINE TAILS secured the international reputation of director Dario Argento as `The Italian Hitchcock.' This is the definitive version of Argento's masterful second film, now fully restored from its original camera negative and presented completely uncut and uncensored.

• Actors: James Franciscus, Karl Malden, Catherine Spaak
• Director: Dario Argento
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language (Original Language): English
• Language (Original Language): French
• Language (Original Language): Italian
• Region Code: 0
• Release Date: 2007-09-25
• Running Time: 112 minutes
• Theatrical Release Date: 1971

Customer Reviews

Reviewed on 2008-05-04 Cat O'Nine Tails This movie is bizarre! It is well-cast and beautifully filmed, but the storyline is absoltely insane. Karl Malden is terrific.

Reviewed on 2007-11-05 Good example of early Argento Cat O'Nine Tails is one of the "animal" trilogy, preceeded by Bird With The Crystal Plumage (also available). The script and acting are great, as are the typical Argento set pieces. Blue Underground have produced another great package and I hope that someday they will be able to release the final part of the trilogy, Four Flies On Grey Velvet.

Reviewed on 2007-11-03 A Cat Best Left in the Bag As a fan of Dario Argento's debut giallo shocker, "The Bird With the Crystal Plumage", I had long harbored an interest in seeing his difficult-to-find followup film, "The Cat O'Nine Tails". Unable to find a copy to rent, even in the independently owned video stores, I finally ran across a copy at a local Border's, of all places, and snatched it up. I'd read all the negative reviews over the years, but wanted a chance to see it and make up my own mind. Besides, it was on sale for Halloween, and I didn't figure I had a whole lot to lose. The Blue Underground transfer is very nicely done. The first time I saw "Bird With the Crystal Plumage", it was a very bad copy on VHS. When Blue Underground released "Bird" on DVD a year or so ago, I grabbed it and was happy to see what a beautiful job they had done. However, the quality transfer is about all "Cat O'Nine Tails" has going for it. Despite a more coherent storyline than many of Argento's films, "Cat" drags badly in places. Ostensibly a thriller, the plot concerns a series of murders plaguing a top secret project involving scientific research into a rare chromosonal mutation that results in the carrier committing uncontrollable acts of violence. The plot sounds more interesting than it actually is, although I think that, considering his talent, Argento was more than capable of making a terrific, intriguing shocker had he shown more interest. However, Argento's ennui, for whatever reason, is only one of "Cat"'s weak links. With a couple of exceptions, the acting is almost uniformly bad. James Franciscus is both blonde and bland, and totally unbelievable as a hardened Italian journalist on the trail of the killer. As the younger and (evidently) more virile of the film's two leading men, Franciscus is handsome enough but has the charisma of a chest of drawers. As the alleged femme fatale, Catherine Spaak shows about the same amount of charisma, while demonstrating even less acting ability. The actors playing the police and the scientists aren't much better, and certainly don't add much to move the story along. Karl Malden does an acceptable job as the film's other hero, a blind former newspaperman, although he occasionally skates dangerously (and creepily) close to a bad Bette Davis impersonation in her Baby Jane/Charlotte Hollister phase. Maybe it's the way he rolls his eyes madly in the crypt scene, or, during the film's climax, when he's roaming around the roof. Of everyone, the best performance comes from the child actor, Cinzia de Carolis, playing Malden's "adopted" daughter--a theme that is echoed eerily, in one of the film's few genuinely unexpected revelations involving different characters. Despite the intermittent murders and accompanying histrionics from Malden and de Carolis, this movie seems to go on forever. When the denouement at last comes and an exciting climax seems to be getting underway, the movie just....ends. It's almost like the production ran out of money and they had to wrap the film in mid-climax--resulting in the cinematic equivalent of coitus interruptus, and it's just about as frustrating. And, my last complaint is that, as much as I love the work of composer Ennio Morricone, his scoring of "The Cat O'Nine Tails" just doesn't fit. Whenever the music would well up, I had the discombobulating feeling that a Clint Eastwood western was lurking just below the surface of this film. Had that only been the case. "The Cat O'Nine Tails" is a preposterous muck, and as dressed up by Blue Underground, it is altogether a gorgeous, preposterous muck.

Reviewed on 2007-10-27 Glimpses of brilliance..and of things to come. Wow, after so many years I've just revisited this very fine film. It's so funny how things have changed. The last time that I saw this was probably on VHS or BETA, required an exorbatant deposit, and probably played in French with Greek subtitles. The story is rather convoluted with quite a few implausabilities but it's nice to see where Argento's seed was planted with his emphasis on visuals and well executed murder sequences. The twists and red herrings are entirely welcome and the suspense is adequate and builds nicely to a very satisfiying finale that would do Hitchcock proud. Some complain of the film's lack of direction and pacing issues. I agree the pacing occasionally lags. However, the gorgeous cinematography, Karl Malden playing a blind man (!), and a hip and hot jazz score by the genius Ennio Morricone elevate this into a much better Giallo than I remember! A good follow up to the flawless The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (2-Disc Special Edition) and Blue Underground's version is quite good!

Reviewed on 2007-10-17 Decent film from the master The Cat o' Nine Tails was the 2nd feature film made by Dario Argento and in my opinion it was a bit of a letdown compared to his brilliant debut The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. Sometimes I hear people say The Cat o' Nine Tails is a pretty good film, but not for Argento. I have to disagree with that. Looking back now The Cat o' Nine Tails may not be one of Argento's strongest flicks, but he was still learning his craft. I'm as big of an Argento fan that you'll find, but quite honestly I wasn't all that into this flick. While by no means is The Cat o' Nine Tails a bad movie, it just wasn't able to hold my interest through out the picture. Dario Argento also wrote the script and while the concept wasn't bad nor was the execution of the script it just sort of lacks in some areas. Despite what some people say, Argento can write a good screenplay and here it wasn't so much bad as it was just not all that interesting in my opinion. There was also a lot of good in The Cat o' Nine Tails; this is an Argento movie so one thing is clear you know visually it's gonna look really good. From a visual side this isn't Tenebre or Suspiria, but The Cat o' Nine Tails still looks good. The POV shots are quite impressive and personally I would rate them as some of the best I have ever seen. The murder scenes aren't all that violent, but they do have a great creepy feel, which is made even better by the score done by Ennio Morricone. Argento and Morricone made for a good team in the movies they have done together; the two together are just as good as Argento is with Goblin. With Argento's visual style and Morricone's music it adds to the tension on the kill scenes. About 52-minutes into the picture features one of my favorite Argento kill scenes, while the F/X aren't all that great it's still a well-done and excellent creepy scene. You'll be hard pressed to find a filmmaker who can film a murder scene better than Dario Argento. They are so amazingly shot. But the problem for me is just that the investigation just isn't that interesting at times, while it does have it's moments I just felt there weren't enough. The 112-minute running time didn't help matters as well. Simply put in my opinion The Cat o' Nine Tails just drags in some areas. For what it's worth though The Cat o' Nine Tails is still a pretty good film, but a major letdown after his brilliant debut, but Argento was still learning his craft and after this would go on a great run of some of the very best horror movies ever made. The thing with Dario Argento is a lot of his movies you must see more than once. Anybody who knows me can tell you how much I idolize Dario Argento. But to be quite honest upon my first viewings of a lot of his work I found it average or below average. But after going back and watching them I became a die hard Argento fan. Maybe The Cat o' Nine Tails will be one of those films I come to like more with another viewing. In closing, The Cat o' Nine Tails is a good film in the career of Dario Argento, but not everything works and we have a good film, nothing less, nothing more.

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