The Cat o' Nine Tails

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Ben D *We discuss this movie on Ep. 147 of TRM* You would think that given the title and Giallo subgenre, BDSM would be a focus of the plot, but the actual reference to the multi-headed whip concerns the nine (or so) leads the “investigators” take. In the podcast ep linked above, I detail some of my biggest gripes with the Giallo subgenre, many of which are featured here. Carlo (James Franciscus) is a reporter who entangles himself in a string of murders and despite being targeted by the anonymous killer, continues with his investigation. Mind you, he is NOT a detective. This is a common feature of Giallo movies — an amateur turns detective — which for the life of me I cannot understand. If a character has stakes in stopping the killer — revenge, extortion, etc. — I get it, but that has not been the case in what I’ve seen. Sometimes, the killer basically tells the protagonist to “just leave/stop chasing me” and the killer will leave him alone. And yet, the protagonist cannot let it go merely out of pure interest. Crazy and stupid. Furthermore, The Cat o’Nine Tails has some truly awful dialogue and scene staging. The fact that all actors speak their own languages and then are dubbed into English — yes, even English-speaking actors — is annoying enough, but to have that dialogue be stilted just makes some of it unbearable. Lastly, if the several false leads aren’t irritating enough, this movie commits another “cinema sin” I have no tolerance for, which is a character acting creepy and weird for no reason. Here, this comes when Franco (Karl Malden) is wielding a bloodstained cane-sword and is moving about the crypt without saying anything (he’s blind btw), making Carlo (and the audience) question whether it is in fact he who is the killer! Alas, he is not, and if he merely just said “Carlo, are you there?” the tension would be nullified. I understand tension is key for a horror/thriller, but when it’s confected it only feels cheap and lazy. The final death to this movie also stinks. It doesn’t even seem like something that would kill a man. This movie is bad. I suppose there is a BDSM aspect about it, and that’s the “blue balls” you’ll get from every “red herring”. Don’t waste your time. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/25 Full Review Landen R Though not as good as Dario Argento's first movie and nowhere near as compelling, "Il gatto a nove code" (1971) is still an entertaining movie experience. But what holds this film back from being just as good as "L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo" (1970) is its lack of cohesion between the killer's motive and the plot as a whole; the movie spends more time trying to come up with set pieces (which are easily the highlights of the film) rather than creating a comprehensive storyline that connects the two, while also dragging its feet whenever one of the characters discovers something new so it can reach its 112-minute runtime. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/10/24 Full Review CodyZamboni Watchable thriller with empathetic characters tied to a wacky, nonsensical plot. Lots of amatuerish POV sequences that ruin any kind of suspense, These demerits are compensated by nice detective work by James Franciscus and Karl Malden. and some startling brutal violence involving a train and elevator shaft. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/14/23 Full Review Cookie M Never watched, accidentally hit Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 10/17/23 Full Review Jonathan O Dario Argento did really a marvelous giallo thriller with great chilling score by mastero Ennio Morricone. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/10/23 Full Review Elvis D El segundo largometraje de Dario como director cumple como un interesante thriller de crimen y misterio al estilo de Hitchcock. Nos presenta una historia no diferente de cualquier otra sobre crimen y misterio, pero con personajes llamativos, entre ellos un hombre ciego que da un buen aporte. Tiene una prometedora banda sonora de parte de Ennio Morricone y un interesante montaje. Otra cosa a destacar es su concepto que tiene como algo fundamental la cuestión del mal como algo genético más que como algo social o psicológico y eso es lo más interesante que acaba aportando algo a la investigación en la historia. Gran parte de la película tiene una buena vibra a lo Hitchcock y eso la hace un thriller de misterio fascinante para pasar el rato. Aunque no está muy a la altura de la película anterior, es igual un clásico del cine italiano. Mi calificación final para esta película es un 8/10. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Cat o' Nine Tails

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