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Director
Dario Argento
Year
1971
Country
France, Germany, Italy
Runtime
89 min

Also released as

  • Il gatto a nove code
  • Cat o' Nine Tails
  • O Gato das Sete Vidas
  • El gato de las 9 colas
  • De nio heta spåren
  • Cat O'Nine Tails

Filed under

The Cat o' Nine Tails

The middle of Argento's Animal Trilogy, and the one he liked least. A blind man and a reporter chase a killer.

A blind former journalist overhears a conversation that connects to a break-in at a genetics institute and a series of murders, and teams up with a reporter to solve it before the killer reaches them.

Argento made it right after The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and has said it is his least favourite of his own films, which is unfair: it has a genuine warmth in the partnership between the blind Franco and the young reporter, and Ennio Morricone's score is one of his eeriest.

The plot involves a genetic marker for criminality, an idea the film takes more seriously than it should, and the rooftop finale is a real set piece.

Karl Malden, an American star, plays the blind man, which was unusual casting for a giallo.

It is minor Argento and it is still better than most of the cycle around it.

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The same film, sold as a different film in each territory. Click any of them.

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IT · poster

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