D V D C R Y P T

THE CAT O' NINE TAILS

Directed by Dario Argento
Produced by Salvatore Argento
Written by Dario Argento
Music by Ennio Morricone
Cast: James Franciscus, Karl Maden, Catherine Spaak, Pier Paolo Capponi, Horst Frank, Rada Rassimov & Aldo Reggiani

1970/112 mins/Color/2.0 DD
2.35:1 anamorphic/Italian/Italy/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Anchor Bay DVD

Dario Argento' second film in his loose "Animal Trilogy" was a big commercial success at the time but most Argento fans didn't liked it very much. Well personally I think it is much better then what he was doing in the 90's.

Franco Arno (Karl Maden) is a blind man who happens to be walking by a car with his niece Lori (Cinzia de Carolis). He quickly over hears a conversation between two men in the car, one who we later find out is Dr. Calabresi. Arno ask Lori to slowly look back and describe to him the men in the car. It's night and dark outside so she can't clearly see who they are.

The next day something wrong happened at the Terzi Institute of Genetic Research. It's there that journalist, Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus) meets Arno and the lovely but sporting a very weird hairo, Anna Terzi (Catherine Spaak). There seems to be more than meet the eyes happening at this Institute. Giordani and Arno becomes good friends as they try to find out what exactly happened. Murders are starting to happen, Dr. Calabresi is the first to go down (literally) as he is thrown in the rail of an incoming train and crushed to death in one violent and graphic scene. He was supposed to meet someone important there. As more clues are becoming available for the unlikely duo, more enigmas are too. Giordani and Arno now have nine leads, like nine lives of a cat, a cat o' nine tails.

As with most films from Argento, spoiling who the killer wouldnt be the most intelligent thing to do but I can assure you his/her demise will send shivers down your spine, it did for me. This is a film that needs to be discovered or rediscovered by every giallo and Argento fan. THE CAT O' NINE TAILS has nice characters development and an involving storyline. The whole subplot about the chromosome experiments brings an almost unrealistic feel to the film. As always, Morricone score is enjoyable and atmospheric.

Anchor Bay did a very good job with this DVD as I have never seen this film looked better! Sure the image isn't perfect but this is the best we will ever get. The image, presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, is colorful and vibrant. It is enhanced for 16x9 TVs. While not groundbreaking material, the Surround track delivers the goods. We get the choice of either having the film in English, Italian or French. All three tracks sound very good. There's the "Tales of the Cat" featurette which features interviews with Argento, Morricone and co-writer Dardano Sacchetti. We also get two theatrical trailers, tv spots, poster and still gallery, bios and two radio interviews. One with Maden who seemed very nice and happy about the film, the other with Franciscus which mostly complain about the "lack" of talent with the Italian crew and how better the American cinema is... The film is separated in 27 chapters, comes in a keep case with an inlay card, the menus are static but with music and features lots of informations on the back of the cover.

Thanks to Anchor Bay

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