Review of The Black Cat (1981) by Tristan P — 26 Apr 2008

Well I do so like cat horror, and I do like quite a few Fulci films so this was something I just bought without thought. The only trouble is that the movie didn't quite live up to my expectations. Yes, there is a black cat which is obviously evil (we get many shots of the cats eyes, then someone else's eyes and back and forth). We do get a good death or two, and a couple of neat ideas, but what we don't get something which really holds the attention. Also and I hate to say this, but I don't like Mimsy Farmer as an actress. I've seen her in a couple of things and she never seems to suit the roles she's cast in, so that doesn't help matters any either.

As nicely as it was shot and everything still after the first half hour I felt like I was forcing myself to watch despite the fact that little was happening. Definitely more of a throw back to folks like Argento here, but without the style unfortunately. As far as gore goes, there is very little so fans of Fulci's gore stuff will probably walk away unhappy. This is definitely more "adult" and really I had hoped for a heck of a lot more, especially since the idea isn't all that bad here. I'm sure Fulci fans will still need to watch, but I doubt I'll go out of my way to watch this again any time soon.