The Black Cat (1989) - Movie Review

The Black Cat was written and directed by Luigi Cozzi. In Italy, the movie was marketed as Demons 6: De Profundis yet the only link to Lamberto Bava’s original or the sequels are that the husband/director in the film Marc is played by Urbano Barberini, the leading man in the original Demons. It also tries to get away with being treated as the third installment in Dario Argento’s Mother of Tears trilogy, which again it is not. It does, however, get away with plot elements similar to Suspiria. They even try dragging Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat into the mix. 

The story follows an actress and her director husband. They are in production on a film based off the book Suspiria de Profundis – the same book Argento based his Suspiria film on. This is even mentioned in the movie along with his Mother of Tears concept. The director believes that the book contained enough material for dozens of inspirations and spinoffs.

In actuality, Suspiria de Profundis is a collection of psychological fantasy written in 1845 by Thomas de Quincey, a popular English essayist.

Marc decides to focus on making a film centering on the witch Levana. While pre-production begins, Anne and her husband Marc the director are in the midst of a marital dispute and Marc has wasted no time in bedding another actress Nora, who may wind up getting the lead role instead of Anne. The production of the film causes the witch Levana to come to life. She soon begins possessing people on the set and the bloodbath begins.

The gore factor is excellent - plenty of cringe-worthy kills, gallons of blood, and entrails tossed all around. Levana’s appearance is blisteringly grotesque. The acting is not to be praised. It’s flat out bad, but you really don’t notice because the audience will spend the majority of the time asking WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! You don’t know. There are no explanations. Stuff just happens.

Other saving graces aside from the violence are the film’s atmosphere and (for me) music. Something Cozzi did well. The color schemes he uses blend well with the mood, delivering a chilling setting. The camera work is even reminiscent of Lamberto Bava, using shock-zoom features. The music is full of 80’s hair bands such as Bang Tango and White Lion, blasting out the running riffs found in many of Dario Argento’s movies; and if they didn’t steal some of Suspiria’s music themes, they sure as heck borrowed some.

The Black Cat feels like a tribute wrapped in blasphemous thievery. It is good to look at, but don’t bother trying to make sense of any of it or you’ll wind up naked at the train station slapping yourself in the face with your own saliva which you’ve gathered freshly in a bowl. If you interpret the movie as a dream, you’ll save yourself some headache. It worked for Lovecraft. 

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