The Black Cat (1990)
Luigi Cozzi's
The Black Cat is one of those films that left me dumbfounded, bewildered and thoroughly entertained throughout it's ninety minutes of what can only be described as madness.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the famous Poe story and is more a homage to Dario Argento as the film is about filming the potential third chapter in Argento's Three Mothers trilogy. Every time
Suspiria or the Three Mothers are mentioned we get lengthy cues from
Goblin's infamous theme to really hammer the homage home.
The plot itself concerns Florence Guerin who is starring in an adaptation of Poe's
The Black Cat until her husband announces at a dinner party that he's going to write a script for a sequel to
Suspiria and he wants his wife to star in it as the witch Levana. As Guerin prepares for the role she starts to sense the real witch Levana is beginning to take control of her.
The above takes in the first fifteen or so minutes. What follows is a mind f*cking series of set pieces that blur the lines between reality, dream and film culminating in a mental battle between two super powered beings alongside clips of the cosmos from Cozzi's inferior
Hercules movie. It can only be described as a wild ride as Guerin struggles with her demonic subconscious amid inappropriate bursts of 80's metal music.
Whilst the film does become more perplexing the longer it plays out it's certainly never dull. Barely a scene goes by without something gory or utterly bizarre playing out as Cozzi treats us to gloopy practical effects and that wild, produced on a Commodore 64 style, lighting and lasers that were only ever seen in low budget late 80's horror and sci-fi.
So to sum up. If anyone fancies a bewildering assault of psychedelic visuals that make increasingly less sense for an hour and a half then T
he Black Cat is for you.
I loved it.
½ / 5