E. A. Poe's BLACK CATS

Just in time for Halloween, Arrow Films have decided to re-issue two Italian horror films in one Special Edition box set. Both films are loosely based on the famous short story by that master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe himself! Disappointingly, both films lack the chilling creepiness which the printed story has in spades!

The first film, titled Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key was made 1972 with a practically all-Italian cast. It is all too obvious from the beginning of Sergio Martino's peculiarity what treats lie in store for us. We have a naked couple cavorting in bed, suggesting that this might be It is more of softcore flick rather than a horror film and initially the famous black cat is not overly significant or so it would seem.

Burned-out writer Oliviero (Luigi Pistilli) is a bit of an asshole to say the least and treats his long-suffering wife Irina (Anita Strindberg) like dirt. Quite why she stays with him we don't initially know… perhaps she’s a natural-born masochist, or perhaps there’s method in her madness. Or perhaps she’s attracted to his wealth and large mansion on the outskirts of Venice, or… perhaps she actually DOES love him! Whatever, Oliviero is much fonder of his beloved black cat Satan. Apparently the feline belonged to his mother with whom the wife didn't get on, naturally).
The action starts when a girl from the local bookshop where Oliviero is a regular customer gets her throat cut during a secret rendezvous. The girl was a student with whom the dastardly writer had an ongoing affair and of course he’s the suspect. But hey, he also has it off with Brenda (Angela La Vorgna), the black maid of the house or rather, ‘girl for everything’. During one occasion, Brenda, is wearing the period garb of Oliverio’s dead mother – who he still worships if the huge oil portrait of hers is anything to go by. Indeed, the dress seems to have a strange effect upon the ladies of the household, turning them into sex-crazed beings. Bad move for Brenda as she is the next victim of the killer, who slashes her while she’s 'playing with herself'. Blood-soaked she stumbles into the corridor where a hysteric Irina calls Oliviero for help… who assures his distressed wife that he really is NOT the murderer. However, he doesn't want the police involved as he's already suspected of the first murder and so the couple debate what best to do with the corpse – you’d think that with the killer still on the lose in the house they have other things to worry about then get rid of the corpse. Anyway, they decide, at his behest, to bury Brenda behind the wall in the cellar (thank you, Mr. Poe). Next, a telegram arrives from Floriana (Edwige Fenech), a female friend of the family who then comes to stay with them… and all hell breaks loose when the overtly flirty and sexually liberated Flora has it off with absolutely everyone, including the milkman cum motorbike racer! A randy old lot these Italians, and a cliché of course.

As things deteriorate further and the bodies pile up, the increasingly unstable Irina gouges out one eye of Satan the cat in a botched attempt to kill it. Meanwhile, the serial killer turns out to be the manager of the very bookshop which Oliviero frequented, and finds a sticky end at the hands of a brothel madam (Ermelinda de Felice) after having slashed one of her girls. But hey, another discovery lurks just around the corner: Irina is having it off with Walter (Ivan Rassimov), the chief of police. By this time she has killed her lecherous husband and put him behind the cellar wall next to the dead maid. Meaning that obviously something is going on between Walter and Irina, and that the apparently oh so tormented woman had a plan all along. Too bad that Floriana witnessed the murder of Oliviero, because Irina now has to make double-sure she won’t get blackmailed by the fickle brunette. She sends lover Walter en route to ‘arrange’ a fatal motorcycle accident. After the nasty deed is performed, Walter and Irina meet atop a cliff to celebrate their new-found freedom and happiness when suddenly, she pushes Walter to his death. Nothing much makes sense in this film, and Irina pushing her apparent lover over the cliff makes even less sense. At least the ending harks back to the spirit of Poe when a suspicious police inspector (Franco Nebbia) arrives in the house to enquire about an incident involving a black cat… and a few minutes later we get to hear the familiar ‘meow’ from the cellar which is about to spell the end for the scheming Irina…
This film is certainly played out and occasionally is almost beyond tedium. It is really difficult to equate or sympathize with any of the characters –then again, perhaps this was the intention all along. Soft porn masquerading as horror – God knows what Poe would make of this ‘homage’!

On to Lucio Fulci’s The Black Cat (1981), another Gallic horror inspired by Poe’s story of the same title. Now here is a man with a cult following and if this isn't enough we have a major star playing the lead in this one: Patrick Magee (Samuel Beckett's favorite actor) in his last screen role. Does this sound a little more tempting? Possibly, and it is a better film... well, marginally at least. Magee, looking all of his 57 years is an ex college professor and hobby medium named Robert Miles. He is also attributed with supernatural powers but appears to be locked in a power struggle with his black cat, how did you guess it. It soon becomes apparent that the cat in question is the stronger of the two and just happens to be a psychotic serial killer to boot. Well, if humans can kill without reason why not cats? Does this all sound just a little bit silly? Pretty soon investigating Inspector Gorley (David Warbeck) turns up on his bike to look into the matter. Shortly afterwards, aspiring American photo journalist Jill Trevers (Mimsy Farmer) arrives and before you can say ‘cheese’ there’s a hint of romance between her and Gorley in the air. But this pair simply hadn't reckoned on the awesome powers of mad Miles’ familiar. A certain Mrs. Lillian Grayson (Dagmar Lassander) arrives at Mile’s house, asking him for help to find her missing daughter. In a trance-like state, Miles mentions a boathouse and sure enough, the decomposed body of Mrs. Grayson’s missing daughter is discovered inside, together with her lover. In the same evening Mrs. Grayson meets a horrific death when she gets burnt to death in her own flat – all caused by the innocent looking black feline! Even Gorley gets clawed to shreds and the cat hypnotizes him to stand in a road and wait for the inevitable accident to happen. However, he survives and is later seen merely with a small plaster oh his forehead, wow!
Jill, on the other hand, isn’t so lucky. After surviving a 'terrifying shaking bed' routine (a gratuitous rip-off from The Exorcist) she is still convinced that Miles is behind the recent murders and sneaks into his house, only to be confronted by him first, then by bats, then by the black cat, then by Miles again who knocks her unconscious and walls her up in the basement… you know the routine by now! Fear not, Grayson and helpers come to the rescue at the last second and mad Miles has to admit defeat.

This film is somewhat of a curiosity inasmuch as the location work was filmed in England - Hambledon village to be precise and also West Wycombe (known primarily for it's connection with the notorious Hellfire Club) by an Italian crew.
Magee's style of acting can easily be equated with a pint of Guinness: some thought him brilliant with those odd expressions and that bizarre accent (is that Armagh?). Others simply could not understand his strange style at all, respected stage actor that he was. If Magee is your man you can be assured that this is very much his film. Fulci's cameraman Sergio Salvati treats us to a few nice long shots. However, the amount of close-ups (Magee's eyes and his shaggy eyebrows in particular) becomes tiresome after a while, as indeed does the high angle stuff - not a lot of waists or legs about. This Black Cat is no great service to Poe and not much of a swansong for Magee in his 'biggest' part. Mimsy Farmer’s character can best be described as ‘underdeveloped’ (getting his actors to act wasn’t Fulci's forte). David Warbeck’s talents are equally wasted here, nonetheless, he went on to do a few more flicks with this director.

As usual with Arrow Films we are treated to a plethora of SPECIAL FEATURES, and interesting ones they are too:

• Limited Edition boxed-set (3000 copies) containing Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key and The Black Cat
• Brand new 2K restorations of the films from the original camera negatives
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
• Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays)
• Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
• Limited Edition 80-page booklet containing new articles on the films, Lucio Fulci’s last ever interview and a reprint of Poe’s original story

YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY:

• Through the Keyhole – a brand new interview with director Sergio Martino
• Unveiling the Vice – making-of retrospective featuring interviews with Martino, star Edwige Fenech and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
• Dolls of Flesh and Blood: The Gialli of Sergio Martino – a visual essay by Michael Mackenzie exploring the director’s unique contributions to the giallo genre
• The Strange Vices of Ms. Fenech – film historian Justin Harries on the Your Vice actress’ prolific career • Eli Roth on Your Vice and the genius of Martino
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin

THE BLACK CAT:

• Brand new audio commentary by filmmaker and Fangoria editor Chris Alexander
• Poe into Fulci: The Spirit of Perverseness – film historian Stephen Thrower on Fulci’s Poe-tinged classic
• In the Paw-Prints of the Black Cat – a look at the original Black Cat locations
• Frightened Dagmar – a brand new career interview with actress Dagmar Lassander
• At Home with David Warbeck – an archive interview with The Black Cat star
• Original Theatrical Trailer