The Cat O'Nine Tails/Il Gatto a Nove Code (1971) - Argento's solid genetics-themed giallo murder puzzle

♥♥♥♥

The content-heavy, splashy American poster for Dario Argento's The Cat O'Nine Tails pitched the film against Alfred Hitchcock's hit Psycho (1960), a very different film

A string of murders revolve around a genetics research company in Rome, where scientists believe they have found the gene for a violent disposition. A well-informed reporter pairs up with a blind man, who likes to solve puzzles, to try to get to the bottom of the affair.

 

The Cat O'Nine Tails is written by Bryan Edgar Wallace (Inspector Hornleigh (1939)) and Italian master filmmaker, co-writer/director Dario Argento (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage/L'uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970)), whose second film it was. Luigi Cozzi (Devil Fish (1984)) and Dardano Sacchetti (Turbo (2000, TV-series)) contributed story elements. It is the 2nd in Argento's Animal trilogy that starts with The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970) and ends with Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971).
It is not as thrillingly fresh and perfectly paced or achieved as Bird with the Crystal Plumage, but it is still a solid giallo crime thriller puzzle.

James Franciscus (Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)) and Karl Malden (A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) are the two American stars: Franciscus is charismatic and intriguing as the reporter, and Malden gives his character a good amount of suspiciousness, and also plays blind to an ace.

The title's 'nine tails' refer not to a whip or a real cat, but to the puzzle, which has no less than 9 suspects. As in any good giallo, several characters seem suspicious and have motives for being the killer, and it is fun to try to guess who the killer really is while basically not having a clue. The film is also peppered with some pretty horrific murder scenes, (a trademark of Argento's), and revels much more in its violence and death than Psycho (1960), which it was compared to in its US marketing campaign, (see poster above). The subjectively shot murder scenes incorporate extreme close-ups of the killer's retina, which is an uncanny motif that also deftly lends extra suspicion to at least two characters in the film.
Ennio Morricone (In the Line of Fire (1993)) has composed a nerve-wrecking score. (One of the compositions, Paranoia Prima, was re-used by Quentin Tarantino in his excellent Grindhouse homage Death Proof (2007), and you can see and hear why, when you watch Cat O'Nine Tails.)
Somewhat too late into the film, humor is introduced, - and it is appreciated, because the atmosphere, characters, and Morricone's score are all anxiety-provoking almost to a point of feeling oppressive. SPOILER One of the best scenes in the films is morbidly humorous and takes place in a barber's salon. (Hitchcock would almost certainly have loved this scene, if he saw the film, which he may have done.) There are other good scenes in a gay club, a grave yard at night (of course) and by a train station.

The eeriness of this thriller comes partly from its visuals, and partly from its plot; just about everyone is potentially a bestial killer; and not only that, but it's in that person's blood, in his - or her's - DNA, a seemingly inevitable end destination for the wretched sinner.
The identity of the killer shall, of course, not be revealed here, SPOILER only I will add that the film ends with Argento's keenness for the abrupt and cinematically impressive in a series of awesome elevator shaft shots.
While this is a solid thriller, it is not carried out with as much care or enthusiasm as Argento's debut, one detects.

 

Related posts:

Dario Argento: The Phantom of the Opera/Il Fantasma dell'Opera (1998) - Argento's Leroux adaptation is a kicker mostly for stout fans 

Demons/Dèmoni (1985) or, Cinema of Death! (co-writer/producer)

Inferno (1980) - Argento's satanic New York-set nightmare masterpiece 

Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death! (co-composer)

The Cat O'Nine Tails/Il Gatto a Nove Code (1971) - Solid genetics-themed giallo murder puzzle

Documentary about Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror (2002) - Bio. doc. of Dario Argento 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: Estimated 1 mil. $
Box office: In excess of 2.4 bil. Italian Lira
= Uncertain but likely at least a box office success

[The Cat O'Nine Tails premiered 12 February (Milan, Italy) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place from September - October 1970 in Italy, including in Rome, and in Berlin, Germany. The film was reportedly a hit in Italy, where it grossed 2.4 bil. Lira, the equivalence of which in $ is regrettably hard to ascertain. It was reportedly unsuccessful elsewhere in Europe but acclaimed in North America, where it started screening in May and June to unknown gross numbers. Argento returned with Four Flies on Grey Velvet/4 Mosche di Velluto Grigio (1971). Franciscus returned in 11 TV and animated credits prior to his theatrical return in The Amazing Dobermans (1976); Malden in Wild Rovers (1971); and Catherine Spaak (Alice (2010)) in The Boxer/Un Uomo dalla Pelle Dura (1972). The Cat O'Nine Tails is fresh at 81 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Cat O'Nine Tails?