Cat O’ Nine Tails (1971)

Time for another entry into Argento’s Animal Trilogy. I’ve already covered Four Flies on Grey Velvet, so I suppose it is time to check out Cat O’ Nine Tails. Yes, I also just realized that I’m covering them in the reverse order that they were released. That wasn’t on purpose, but since they don’t connect to each other it isn’t a big deal.

The action starts off with Karl Malden’s character, Cookie, a blind man, walking down the street with his young niece. Because he is blind his hearing is much better than normal, so he overhears a conversation in a parked car about blackmail. Stopping further along he asks his niece to look back and see who is in the car. This bit becomes important later. The next day there is a ruckus across the street from Cookie’s house, where he also heard the threat. It is a medical facility doing special research on genetics and a guard was assaulted during a break in. Though it appears nothing was stolen. Later a doctor from that facility is killed and Cookie’s niece notices from his picture in the paper that he was the man from the car.

Cookie seeks out the reporter who wrote the story about what at first appeared to be an accident. But when they have the photographer blow up the picture, he tells them someone shoved the man in front of a train. Before they can see it for themselves the evidence is stolen, and the photographer killed. This leads to even more murders as they attempt to solve the case. Eventually the murderer tries to warn them off and when that doesn’t work targets them. All of this leads to an explosive and fun conclusion.

I love this movie and in general really dig all of the Argento directed Gialli. Here the story is solid and easy to follow. While it maintains the mystery until the very end nothing feels forced or overly coincidental. The characters do rational things, except maybe the killer who is supposed to be unbalanced so that is okay. The bodies pile up as the suspect list is narrowed. Many times the pool is narrowed because the suspects end up dead. The story is setup so that we see both Cookie and the journalist doing their own poking around before coming together to pool resources. That keeps things fresh as we jump back and forth between them. When we get to the end it all makes sense. Though I was a bit put off by the fact that the reveal points us towards a character that we hardly get to meet. Then again, the characters are also shocked so I guess that was the point.

The kills in the movie are very brutal and well-staged. We only get five, but they are memorable. The first is a crazy gag where someone is rolled between a train and the platform as they are crushed. It is obviously a dummy, but I’ve not seen that before and it was interesting. We get a couple strangulations that linger on the person slowly dying. While not graphic it is disturbing and will stick with you. Finally, there is a bit with an elevator and hands getting shredded by a cable that was nice and bloody. All in all, this was some good stuff.

In case you were wondering yes, the movie does check the sleaze and nudity boxes that most fans expect when sitting down to watch a Giallo. I also wanted to mention the leads. Malden is great as Cooke and James Franciscus does a fine job as the journalist. When they are on the screen together the movie is even better. We also get some of the creative shots and lighting you would expect from an Argento project. There is even a killer car chase as well as a foot pursuit on a rooftop that are staged awesomely.

Cat O’ Nine Tails is a fantastic entry into the Giallo genre. If you haven’t checked out one of these movies yet and are looking for a place to dip you toe into the waters this is another excellent place to start. I highly recommend it.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)

The Gialli keep coming. I realized I haven’t covered any of the classics so I have decided to fix that and there is nowhere better to start than with one of Dario Argento’s “Animal Trilogy”, Four Flies on Grey Velvet. 

I’m going to do my best with the plot synopsis, but this is an Argento movie, so somethings are sort of left up to interpretation. Our main character is Roberto, a drummer for a rock band. After a recording session he sees a man who has been following him around and gives chase. Eventually cornering him he is angry and wants to know what his issue is. The man pulls a knife and in the struggle is stabbed and killed. What is really weird is that there is a strange figure wearing a kewpie doll mask taking pictures. 

Using those pictures, the masked figure starts to torture Roberto by slipping copies into some records during a party and sending threatening letters. But since this all started off with him killing someone and running from the scene, he obviously can’t call the cops. Instead he turns to a motley crew of friends that I think are either bohemians or just homeless. One of them is played by the late great Bud Spencer who is wonderful in his limited role. He also hires a flamboyantly gay detective to help him figure things out. That might not seem like a big deal, but this was the early seventies so I’m sure it was shocking to see that character on screen. 

I enjoy the hell out of Four Flies on Grey Velvet. While it might not be the best Giallo I’ve seen and might not even be the best of the “Animal Trilogy” it is a solid flick that delivers what I expect. The identity of the killer is kept from the audience until the very end of the movie, but when it is revealed it is a great twist. Have to be careful as to not give anything away. If you go back and revisit the movie, which I have on several occasions, it is entirely plausible. Nothing worse than watching a flick like this only to realize the plot doesn’t support the big reveal. I know that a lot of fans complain about Argento’s movies having very thin plots, and in some cases they are correct. But here it is well constructed and thought out. 

You have to have a bit of sleaze in your Giallo and we get some here. While Argento doesn’t wallow in it like some of the other directors there is a bit where Roberto jumps into bed with the cousin of his wife after she leaves him. Just because she is scared and leaves the city after the killer keeps breaking into the house, he gets annoyed and at the first opportunity beds her cousin? This leads to some naughty stuff and a bit of nudity. The Giallo genre more or less hangs its hat on scenes like the above so it was a must. 

What I didn’t expect was the comic relief. Between the detective and the bohemians that come to help Roberto we get some very funny scenes and dialogue. I’ve already mentioned how much I loved seeing Bud Spencer in his supporting role, but the other actors are equally as entertaining. There is a bit of important dialogue delivered to move the plot along in a scene that takes place at a casket or undertaker convention/show. Pay attention in the background for some subtle physical humor. What could have been a boring exchange is livened up by where it takes place. 

The killer looks cool!

There are five deaths in the movie with a couple of them being off screen. The others are decent with the highlight being a slow needled into a chest to induce a heart attack. That is what I would say is the most explicit of them. If I have a criticism of Four Flies on Grey Velvet, it is that I think they missed a chance to go all out on the onscreen deaths. Even by the standards of the early seventies this is a bit tame. Then again, I can see an argument being made that this isn’t that kind of movie. 

I have a final thing to mention before I wrap things up. One of the best parts about Gialli are the titles. They normally all give some clue to an important plot element or twist. Sometimes they are giving you a giant hint as to the identity of the killer. Here Four Flies on Grey Velvet refers to an image they pull off of one of the victim’s retina’s after their death. The science isn’t very good, but as far as plot devices goes it is fun. 

If it isn’t obvious yet I really like this movie. This was the hardest of the Argento movies to find for many years and I was really excited when MYA announced a DVD release about ten years ago. That is the disc that I watched for this review, but I think that there might be better releases put out since then. Regardless I think it is well worth your time tracking down a copy of Four Flies on Grey Velvet. If you are new to the genre this is a wonderful place to start and if you are already a fan this is a must see. I highly recommend it. 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Road Trip to the Nightlight Theater – Suspiria

When I think of Italian horror I think Fulci’s Zombie and Argento’s Suspiria. When I heard the news that a local art theater was going to play the new transfer of the movie, courtesy of the fine folks at Synapse, I had to go. Now convincing my lovely wife to attend with me took a bit of effort but I was successful. Friday night after work we jumped in the car for the forty-five-minute drive to what I hoped was going to be an awesome night of cinematic goodness.

Before I proceed I thought it would be a good idea to lay things out for you. Since this is both the first time that I’m seeing the new transfer as well as being my first trip to the Nightlight I’m going to talk about both of them. But first I figure that I would review Suspiria in case you are new to the movie. If you are… shame on you!

I’ve seen Suspiria a lot. Like I said it is one of those movies that is the epitome of Italian horror so it has always been in heavy rotation for me since I first picked it up on VHS back in the day. The movie follows an American Ballet dancer, Suzi, who travels to Germany to attend an exclusive school. She arrives on a rainy night and as she steps to the front door of the school she passes a woman who is yelling about secrets and flowers. The door slams leaving Suzi in the rain. When she tries to get in she is turned away by a woman who we never see on only hear. The action then moves away from Suzi as we watch the woman run off to a friend’s apartment. There we find out she has been expelled from the school and is going to leave town. She never makes it as a mysterious killer shows up and does her in. The next day Suzi goes to the school and receives a much friendlier welcome. But clearly there is something dangerous and unsavory going on at the school. Soon she is caught up in figuring out the mystery.

Hopefully I’ve told you just enough to create some interest in the movie if you haven’t seen it. If I say much more there will be spoilers and I certainly don’t want to do that. What I will say is that I love this movie! The story is solid but what really makes Suspiria special are the visuals and sound. The way that Argento shot the movie makes it feel like a piece of art. Every time that I watch it I see some new visual cue that I missed on the previous viewings. He tells the story not just with the dialogue but also with the picture.

Sadly, this leads to the most common complaint about the movie. If you don’t pay attention or just want the story stuck under your nose you probably will think Suspiria is “boring”. It isn’t you just have to pay attention to what is happening on the screen all the time. Adding to the spectacular visuals is an amazing soundtrack from Goblin with an assist from Argento. The music helps to create the mood in most if not all the important scenes. It helps to set the stage for what we are watching in a way that most other soundtracks don’t. Between the music from Goblin and the audio cues it simply doesn’t get any better.

I could go on about the movie but I’m going to assume that most people have already seen it. What they likely haven’t seen is the new 4K transfer from Synapse that has been traveling the country. As I’ve already mentioned above the visuals are important to the story and seeing it on the big screen was already a treat. But getting a chance to see the new transfer was a game changer. Honestly it was like seeing the movie for the first time. The colors are vibrant and jump right off the screen. It isn’t so much what is front and center in the frame but the sets and what is in the background that I noticed for the first time. I was completely blown away. This was the movie that Argento shot and how he wanted an audience to see it.

To be fair based on what I’ve seen from Synapse before I expected this new version of Suspiria to look amazing. They do a great job and obviously love these movies as much as we the fans do. Remember I mentioned the sound and how important it is to the experience? It never occurred to me that with all the work done on this restoration that the sound would benefit so much. On some of the copies I’ve owned the music has occasionally drowned out the dialogue a bit. I’ve always assumed that was supposed to happen, but after seeing this copy I was wrong. The music is also more jarring in spots than I remember it being in previous viewings. They did such an amazing job.

Tried to get a decent picture of the theater.

Before I wrap things up on this review I want to talk about the Nightlight. I had never been to the theater before. It is a small art theater that can accommodate around 50 people (I’m terrible at math but did try and count!) and is located in Akron Ohio. This was my first experience with a venue like this as I’ve never been an artsy type and the sorts of movies that I would expect to play here likely wouldn’t appeal to me. Now I feel like a bit of an ass because the theater was great. The seats were comfortable, the crowd friendly, and the vibe was killer. The audio and video were top notch and overall I’d have to say it is a great place to see a show. Hell, I loved it! I noticed they are venturing off into some more special showings that are definitely going to encourage me to make the forty-five-minute drive north.

Recap time. Suspiria is a great movie that everyone should take the time to watch. The new transfer from Synapse is incredible and is almost like watching it for the first time. Finally, the Nightlight theater is a great place to watch a movie. If only every Friday night were this much fun.

© Copyright 2017 John Shatzer