The Cat o' Nine Tails

A handful of really cool sequences and a great Morricone score add up to a decent Argento murder mystery, but the big reveal falls kinda flat. For a movie that is paced so deliberately, the ending rushes past too quickly. Still worth a look for giallo fans.

One of Argento's lesser films where the problems outweigh the good parts. The film is simply too long for its content, with not much happening in the first half and an array of dull supporting characters who blur into one. There are 3 or 4 memorable scenes but none are really iconic. Franciscus is an ok lead but Spaak brings no spark. The whole eyes-vision-POV theme just about works but overall the story features too much mystery and not enough suspense.

More straightforward story/approach than you expect from Argento, but pretty gripping nonetheless. The usual analgam of striking/stylish shots/sets; Bianca's apartment (complete with Action Jackson Pollock wallpaper, that weird draped hallway and the rigorously dotty and symmetrical bedroom wall) has to be seen to be believed. The little girl is cute, Malden is nicely affecting, Franciscus makes for a thoroughgoing good guy, and Spaak is quite hot indeed. The XYY business got a bit silly, but...

Early Argento is not up to Hitchcock standards yet, but he's getting there. Definitely worth a viewing.

A quality giallo mystery from Argento. It's been quite a while since I saw it (forgot to rate it at once), but I still remember the plot and that's something. I find early giallo films of Argento to be criminally overlooked.

Lots of nice photography and a decent Morricone score make this another early, solid Argento.

had to stop, close my eyes, and think REALLY hard to remember it. Flashes came to me...a fall down an elevator shaft, a strangled woman then....a blind man...and the rest casually sauntered back to the forefront of my mind. But it didn't want to stay...I'm holding it by the lapels trying to keep it from slipping away again. Then my son woke up from nap and ran and jumped into my lap and I figured why bother trying to remember this passable, yet lesser effort from a master director?

Disappointing entry from usually dependable (at least in this period) Argento. The biggest problem I had with it was that the plot depended on stupid character decisions ("No, I won't tell you over the phone, I'll tell you in the abandoned parking lot in murder alley at midnight, duh!") and the big reveal was wholly unsatisfying.

Decent Argento effort where the positives outweigh the negatives. There is some fine camerawork, acting and the Morricone score is good, but it's let down a bit by a plot I didn't find engrossing, and a somewhat rushed ending. Karl Malden's mouth sometimes reminded me of that mad bastard from Breaking Bad played by Mark Margolis (Uncle Hector?), so it has that at least. Argento's early stuff is pretty cool, if imperfect, and worth checking out.

The Cat o' Nine Tails is an Italian movie in the giallo genre which means that this is a thriller/horror type movie that was made during the 60's and 70's. This is the first movie that I have seen like this so I don't have much to compare it to but I found this movie very thrilling. Karl Malden and James Franciscus become partners in their desire to put an end to the murders surrounding a genetics business. Both actors are great and have believable characters.

One thing I've learned watching this movies is that I really loathe 70's decor, but I love 70's cars. The movie itself is a pretty nice thriller and has a very awesome car chase involving a Porsche 356, so extra points for that. The soundtrack also has some iconic tracks by Ennio Morricone. Overall it's not really 'holding on to the edge of your seat' -type of thriller, but it's got some interesting shots and characters.

Mostly boring with some cool colours and some cool strangulations

Pretty enjoyable and much more of a straight forward mystery thriller than any of the other Gialli I've seen.

The colours and camera movements are great but this is definitely like a lesser Hitchcock movie. Need to watch more Argento

Like a pocky corpse in armani and mink, this Cat is a case of style mocking the substance that wears it. The story, acting, editing, and dialogue (dubbed, even when the actors are clearly speaking English) are all DOA. But good lord the sets and the photography and Morricone's insane score make this damn near worth recommending. I especially loved the jellyfish wallpaper.

69.500

Such an underrated Argento film. With the exception of an abrupt wrap up of the mystery behind everything, this is a really great Italian murder mystery. It has the music, the directional flair, especially the use of first person tracking shots, the murder sequences, and is completely engaging.

Can this film get any more tepid and depressing? Yes, it can - Karl and James are in it.

One of Argento's weaker thrillers, though it has a couple of bravura sequences.

O Gato de Nove Caudas estreava há 50 anos em Roma. Esse é um filme que caiu no meu conceito na revisão, depois do estupendo O Pássaro das Plumas de Cristal que era por sua vez um deslumbre de mise-en-scène com um roteiro com elementos deliciosamente bizarros, Il gatto a nove code parece domado demais em comparação e aquela coisa horrorosa sobre os cromossomos não ajuda em nada. Box Versátil A Arte de Dario Argento.

"Set against a backdrop of genetic research and espionage, Argento's formal obsession with allusions to seeing and sightlessness is on fierce display." - Ed Gonzalez

Too long, and slow at times but pretty decent in terms of camerawork and music.

good movie

Some great visuals spread throughout a plot that moves in a very linear and begrudging fashion, having to get from scene to scene without much lubrication to help. Still, I thought the characters were interesting and charming enough, especially Karl Malden's, but again, the plot was much more of a plod. I think Argento had some really cool separate ideas that he had to string a bare plot to connect them into any kind of movie.

This was my 2nd watch, and I appreciated it a bit more, but it still feels like a step or two down from "Crystal Plumage". The sterile office surroundings are no match for the previous film, nor are the characters or the mystery as intriguing. Morricone's score is decent but he's done better work in the genre. Also, I still don't really see what Malden's character's blindness added to the film. It's not a bad film by any means, but a lesser one within Argento's golden age filmography.