The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971)
Franco Arno is a blind man that lives with his young niece and makes a living writing crossword puzzles. One night, while walking on the street, he overhears a weird conversation between two man sitting in a car parked in front of a medical institute where genetic experiments are performed. The same night someone breaks in the institute and kills a guard. Arno decides to investigate with the help of reporter Carlo Giordani. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Dario Argento
Written By: Dario Argento, Luigi Collo
Starring: Karl Malden, James Franciscus, Catherine Spaak, Horst Frank, Pier Paolo Capponi, Rada Rassimov
Genres: Drama, Crime, Horror, Mystery
AKA: Il Gatto a nove code
Country: France, Italy, West Germany
Where to Stream
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The Cat o' Nine Tails belongs to 15 collections
1. boobs (public: moderated by Pickpocket - 50 stars)
2. Psychotronic Film and Video Guides (public: moderated by Gregzilla - 38 stars)
3. Films available in HD (public: moderated by kubricksucks - 12 stars)
4. Giallo (public: moderated by edkrak - 10 stars)
5. Ennio Morricone (composer) (public: moderated by djross - 8 stars)
6. Blindness (public: moderated by djross - 2 stars)
7. Eurohorror (public: moderated by Shmendrek - 1 star)
8. Soundtrack featuring Edda Dell'Orso, Ennio Morricone's muse (public: moderated by mattburgess)
9. Versátil Home Video (public: moderated by allegreller)
10. Arrow Video (public: moderated by mattburgess)
11. Cinetheque (private: allegreller - 1 star)
12. Owned (BD) (private: bizarre_eye)
13. Tom's Movies (private: tomwalsh)
14. Forrest Watch List (private: ForrestQ)
15. Blu-ray Collection (private: TripEuphoric)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 2 |  |
TheDenizen | 65 51% |
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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.
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| 1 |  |
eveelun | 60 22% |
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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.
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| 1 |  |
terrymac | 70 58% |
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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.
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| 1 |  |
joseywales | 74 69% |
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Lots of nice photography and a decent Morricone score make this another early, solid Argento.
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| 1 |  |
tonydal | 80 73% |
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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...
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| 1 |  |
chemical404 | 62 64% |
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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.
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| 1 |  |
astrakhan | 71 20% |
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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.
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| 1 |  |
ribcage | 49 23% |
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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?
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| 1 |  |
Paxton | 69 56% |
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Early Argento is not up to Hitchcock standards yet, but he's getting there. Definitely worth a viewing.
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| Average Percentile 47.1% from 329 Ratings |  |