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Note: This review contains spoilers!!
Released by: Arrow Video
Release Date: Feb. 10th, 1984 (Theatrical)
Apr. 5th, 2016 (Blu-ray)
Region Code: REGION FREE
Run Time: 1h 32m
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0
Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0
Video: 1080p (2.35:1 Aspect Ratio)
THE FEATURES: [3.5 out of 4]
Poe into Fulci:
Spirit of Perverseness (25m 37s, HD)
Film Historian Stephen Thrower sits down to talk about Fulci’s
version of the Edgar Allen Poe story of the same name. He speaks with much
affection towards the film, even when he talks about some of the stranger
elements of the film (ie Patrick Magee’s character’s talking to the dead that
never comes up after it is introduced, as well as how the cat was able to steal
a key from a locked room and then relock the door). He points out some of the
homages in the film, like the bed levitating (taken from The Exorcist) and also
talks about the scenes that the producers forced on Fulci (the same bed scene).
Thrower does bring up something that really isn’t talked
about much anymore and that is the release of ‘scope’ films (shot in the 2.35:1
aspect ratio) onto VHS in the 80s and 90s in the Pan and Scan format. He talks
about how Fulci uses the ‘scope’ frame and fills it to the brim without leaving
much room for anything else. When these films were released on VHS, the picture
was zoomed into until the black bars wouldn’t be seen any more on a 4x3 (or ‘fullscreen’)
TV. When the film was viewed at home, it wouldn’t make too much sense because
all you would see is the nose when it came to a close-up.
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This is a great look at the film and a nice history lesson
for those who are too young to remember what a fullscreen VHS lookd like.
In the Paw-Prints of
the Black Cat (8m 28s, HD)
Stephen Thrower is once again our host, this time taking us
to the small town in England where the film was shot. He shows us what things
look like now as oppose to what they looked like back in 1980 when the film was
shot.
I am not usually a big fan of these tours, but there is
something about the town that I liked. I guess it could be that we don’t have
small towns that look like this one here in the states. I don’t know. It could
have been worse.
Frightened Dagmar
(20m 12s, HD)
This is a career-spanning interview with actress Dagmar
Lassander and it is pretty good. She
talks about her start in films before moving on to, what she thinks is her best
film, ‘Femina Ridens’, a film that I had never heard of until now. When she
talks about The Black Cat she does so with a warm remembrance except when
talking about the ‘Fire Scene’ which almost killed her. She speaks of Fulci
very warmly but admits that he was probably a bit of a sadistic. We also learn
that she didn’t know that the film was a cult hit until she went to Horror
Hound Weekend in Indianapolis.
Ms. Lassander comes across as someone you could have lunch
with and learn something. I liked this interview. (German with English Subtitles)
At Home With David
Warbeck (1h 10m, SD)
Here we have an interview that was conducted in 1987 (I think)
and it is rather long and kind of boring. Warbeck goes on and on about films
that I have either never heard of or don’t care about. He comes across as a
person who has a nice exterior, but is a bit of a devil inside. When he gets to
The Black Cat he talks at lengths about how he didn’t like Mimsy Farmer.
The video quality here is poor as this was taped on a
camcorder and then forgotten about until Arrow found it and put it on this
blu-ray. The sound is ok, but there were times when I couldn’t understand most
of what Warbeck said. This is a ‘fans only’ special feature and would probably never watch
this again.
Theatrical Trailer
(3m 1s, HD)
This trailer gives away too much, but it does capture some
of the atmosphere from the film.
Audio Commentary with Chris Alexander
I came into this commentary with high hopes. I find that
writers can give some of the best commentary tracks. Alexander was the
editor-in-chief when he recorded this commentary, but even he wasn’t sure that
he would have the position for much longer. (spoiler: he didn’t) He knows his
stuff about the film, but admits that he is not a scholar or aims to be. He is
a fan of the film, but offers us no insight to what is happening onscreen, nor
does he give us anything about the film in terms of history or even about the
story it is based on.
I was really disappointed with this commentary. Sometimes
Alexander would come off as a guy who know what he was talking about, but most
of the time he would narrate what was onscreen as well as offer his opinion on
the film. I liked hearing his opinion, but then he would say that he is not a
scholar. Frankly, I was bored by this track.
THE PACKAGING: [N/A]
Normally I would talk about the packaging here (hence the
name), but I was sent a ‘check disc’ by Arrow Video and, thus can not talk
about the packaging. There are plenty of videos on the web where you can find
out what this thing looks like. The ‘check disc’ itself is the real deal, this
is the disc going to retailers, just not with the packaging nor the booklet.
THE FILM: [3 out of 4]
I am not that familiar with Fulci’s work (I have been
watching the different ‘giallos’ from Argento and have seen Zombie by Fulci) so I was sure what to
expect from the film except for a lot of gore. I was disappointed with the lack
of gore, but I found the film to be pretty good.
Fulci is a director who is in control of his camera and his
actors and does not have to resort to ‘shaky cam’. His actors move where he
tells them to move and then his camera does the same. His approach to a film is
very much like Hitchcock and De Palma. He gets the idea across in beautifully
composed shots that tell us a lot about what is going on.
Fulci uses close-ups a lot in this film. During every death
scene, there are a few close-ups of the victims and he even has one scene where
two people are talking through a hole in a fence and all we see are their eyes.
The plot is pretty simple: A Scotland Yard detective (David
Warbeck) is called out to a small town to help in the investigation of the murder
of a couple. There is no sign of forced entry, in fact they are locked inside
the room, so the detective starts to think that maybe the suspect is not human.
Fulci brings a lot of atmosphere to the film. The town is
covered with a thick layer of fog every night, which gives the town a claustrophobic
feel. This, combined with the close-ups, which also gives us a sense of
claustrophobia, makes this a film where anything can happen, even a murderous
cat.
The deaths are staged in much the way a slasher film would
stage them. There is a little build up, with the person or persons doing normal
things. Then we get a shot of the cat showing up and BAM, the person is taken
out by the cat. The deaths are not gory, but they are a bit unsettling due to
the editing and sound mix used.
I have been looking around and reading about this film and a
lot of people say that the cat is a terrible killer because the victims should
have been able to shoo it away or just grab it and kill it. I say this to those
individuals: Have you ever tried to grab a cat that doesn’t want to be grabbed.
They will do whatever they can to get away from you. Now, add that to a
murderous cat and you have a semi-plausible killer. It is kind of strange to
have a cat killing people in the ways it does here, but there are plenty of ‘killer
animal’ films out there.
OVERALL: [3 out of 4]
I liked The Black Cat.
It is a well made horror film that doesn’t always go where you think it will go
and has a director that can lend the film some credibility. This is a perfect
film for people who don’t like a lot of gore, but would like to see what Italy
has (or had) to offer.
Arrow has given us a nice package. The interviews with the
film historian and the actress are nice, but I don’t see myself sitting through
any of the other features again. The picture is nice looking (and in its
correct aspect ratio) and we are given the option to watch the film in English
or Italian. This is not Arrow’s best work in terms of special features, but
they have given us a nice film to look at and have fun.
 (Arrow Video) Blu-ray Review + Screenshots){kind=link}
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