Despite the title, Luigi Cozzi's The Black Cat has only the most tenuous connection to Edgar Allen Poe's classic tale: there are a few random black cats thrown in for no real reason, and the lead character, actress Anne Ravenna (Florence Guérin), recently starred in a movie based on Poe's novel.
Anne's next role is to be that of witch Levana, inspired by the ancient occult tome Suspiria de Profundis, the same work that provided the basis for Dario Argento's Three Mothers trilogy. As Anne prepares for the part (to be directed by her husband Marc, played by Urbano Barberini), she is menaced by the ugly old hag, who isn't too happy to be the subject of a horror movie.
The bulk of the film consists of random supernatural events, all lit using coloured filters borrowed from Cozzi's pal Argento: Levana emerges from a mirror to spew green slime over Anne's face, makes the Ravenna's fridge malfunction (how evil!), causes intestines to spill from their TV (she really has it in for home appliances), grabs Anne through a wall, conjures up an otherworldly repairman to fix the fridge (no, really), and in the film's goriest moment, sends a woman's guts flying through the air (an effect borrowed from Cozzi's own Alien rip-off Contamination). Meanwhile, Anne's friend Nora - Caroline Munro, still looking good at 40 - is having an affair with Marc, which adds nothing to the plot (not that there is much of a plot anyway).
It's all incredibly dumb and makes no sense whatsoever, with pointless shots of planets and stars, and a foetus only adding to the confusion, while the bizarre use of sudden bursts of rock music at inopportune moments only adds to the silliness (Bang Tango's Someone Like You is used at least four times, Cozzi getting his money's worth).
2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for the erupting stomach (an oldie but a goodie). It says a lot that The Black Cat is even worse than Argento's own, seriously sub-par Mother of Tears.
Anne's next role is to be that of witch Levana, inspired by the ancient occult tome Suspiria de Profundis, the same work that provided the basis for Dario Argento's Three Mothers trilogy. As Anne prepares for the part (to be directed by her husband Marc, played by Urbano Barberini), she is menaced by the ugly old hag, who isn't too happy to be the subject of a horror movie.
The bulk of the film consists of random supernatural events, all lit using coloured filters borrowed from Cozzi's pal Argento: Levana emerges from a mirror to spew green slime over Anne's face, makes the Ravenna's fridge malfunction (how evil!), causes intestines to spill from their TV (she really has it in for home appliances), grabs Anne through a wall, conjures up an otherworldly repairman to fix the fridge (no, really), and in the film's goriest moment, sends a woman's guts flying through the air (an effect borrowed from Cozzi's own Alien rip-off Contamination). Meanwhile, Anne's friend Nora - Caroline Munro, still looking good at 40 - is having an affair with Marc, which adds nothing to the plot (not that there is much of a plot anyway).
It's all incredibly dumb and makes no sense whatsoever, with pointless shots of planets and stars, and a foetus only adding to the confusion, while the bizarre use of sudden bursts of rock music at inopportune moments only adds to the silliness (Bang Tango's Someone Like You is used at least four times, Cozzi getting his money's worth).
2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for the erupting stomach (an oldie but a goodie). It says a lot that The Black Cat is even worse than Argento's own, seriously sub-par Mother of Tears.